CachingCentral

May 28, 2004 In this week’s Cybershake, we take a look at a new high-tech version of the old game of hide and seek. Plus, we note a new piece of software available for all those who secretly dream of a life as an air traffic controller.

The Global Positioning System, or GPS, network of satellites have helped many recreational boaters, fliers and hikers navigate their way home. But die-hard fans of the space-based location system are finding new and fun uses for the technology.

The latest is called geocaching. (Pronounced “geo-cashing.”)

“Geocaching is treasure hunting for the 21st Century,” says Roger Voss, a travel agent and avid “geocacher” in Olympia, Wash. And all that is required to join the hunt is a GPS unit, a set of map coordinates, and a sense of adventure.

Geocachers, such as Voss, create hidden caches containers which hold a log book and assorted knick-knacks in publicly-accessible places like parks and hiking trails. The locations the longitude and latitude readings taken from their personal GPS units are then posted on Web sites such as www.geocaching.com so others with GPS units can find the hidden treasures.

The appeal of the game, says Voss, is its adventurous nature. Since GPS locators give precise locations, most geocaches are cleverly hidden say in the hollow of a specific tree at the coordinates listed online and require players to truly hunt around.

Full story…

By Shannon Murphy
Times Herald

WALES TWP. — “I got it!” Drew Manfrin shouted as he grabbed a camouflaged box the size of a Band-Aid container that was tied to the side of a tree.

Drew, 9, of Kenockee Township was participating in the first International Geocaching Social on Saturday in Goodells County Park. The Michigan Geocaching Organization sponsored the social.

Geocaching is an outdoor event in which people use a global-positioning receiver to search for a cache — usually a box filled with trinkets and toys. Players plug the cache’s geographic coordinates into their GPS units to locate the cache. Once it’s found, most people usually take one of the trinkets and leave behind one of their own.

Manfrin, along with his mother, Sally Morgan, and family friend Joe Horner, are known to other geocachers as Team Encore and usually leave behind their signature item of a card with a monkey fist — a colorful knotted rope — attached.

“It’s fun getting the prizes,” Drew said. “It doesn’t cost any money, and you get a lot of cool things.”

Drew remembers his first cache using a GPS unit. He found a watch that showed military time and had a radio.

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by Senior Airman Stacia Zachary
100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

5/19/2004 – ROYAL AIR FORCE MILDENHALL, England (AFPN) — Pirates sailed the high seas looting ships and left the bounty for future treasure hunters: Indiana Jones, Lara Croft and geocachers. What do all these have in common? Well, if X marks the spot, then buried treasure is the answer.

Techno junkies have reinvented the wheel with geocaching, combining geography and the process of concealing items in a cache, or hiding place. The adventure applies technology to the art of treasure hunting — a new twist that encourages people to get out of the house and explore nature.

The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches worldwide and share the locations of these hiding places on the Internet. Global Positioning System users can then use the location coordinates to find the hidden treasures. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they take something with them, they should leave something for the next explorer, said geocaching participants here.

The wonderful thing about geocaching is it encourages people to discover their surroundings, said Maj. Anthony Gatlin, 100th Air Refueling Wing deputy director of staff. Being in England, there are so many things that go unnoticed, and going out in search of nature has allowed me to discover an entirely new setting that I live in.

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By KCRG-TV9 News Reporter Craig Brown – from the Iowa City Newsroom

Chances are you’ve heard of “GPS” it stands for “Global Positioning System”.

Iowans use the satellite technology in many ways.

Farmers use GPS receivers to plant crops. Many people have them in their cars for directions and paramedics use them to find people who need help.

Now some Iowans are using GPS to go on a high-tech treasure hunt.

Joe Rienhardt got a GPS receiver for Christmas, but at first wasn’t sure what to do with his new gadget.

Then he heard about a new high-tech hobby called geocaching and suddenly the hunt was on.

“Well we’ve been to caches in Pennsylvania, New York, Florida. So when we travel sometimes we take the G.P.S. with us and try to find a cache when we go.”

For this hunt, we searched Ryerson’s woods south of Iowa City.

The target of course is the cache. That’s c-a-c-h-e, as in geocache.

Full story and a high quality video clip…

By Rob Wheary , Staff Writer 05/12/2004

SHAMOKIN Treasure maps of olden days featured dotted lines, cryptic landmarks, paces and the always important X that marked the spot where, hopefully, a pirates gold might be found.
Todays treasure hunters still use maps, but now they are found on a liquid crystal display and feature coordinates and waypoints. And while there may not be any gold, there are still some prizes waiting at the end of the hunt.

The activity is called geocaching and is catching on throughout the world. This high-tech treasure hunt takes advantage of the very popular global positioning system (GPS) devices in order to find small gifts.

Currently, there are geocaching hunts going on in more than 200 countries throughout the world.
Bill Titus of Sunbury, known in the geocaching circles as Geo-Packrat, recently met with Northumberland County Tourism Director Tom Kutza to scout different locations in the area that can be utilized for a hunt.

From what I understand, this is becoming very big time, Kutza said. Hopefully, this will bring people into our area and show them the beauty that this area has to offer.
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Two active grandparents have created a novel method for reconnecting with their descendants decades into the future. Most every summer, while their young grandsons remain anchored to the urban lifestyle of their parents, these energetic grandparents escape to wilderness areas of Washington, Idaho and Montanato bury a few more time capsules. Here is an adventure to bridge the generations.

(PRWEB) May 6, 2004 — Two active grandparents have created a novel method for reconnecting with their descendants decades into the future. Nancy and Alan Bixby of Whidbey Island in Washington State wanted to leave a legacy that would prompt their city-based grandsons to experience the western wilderness. So five years ago, they started preparing time capsules to bury near their remote campsites in some of the most spectacular areas of the American West. Our guess is that several decades into the future those two boys will likely be curious enough to search out the capsules with their own young families, says Alan Bixby, a semi-retired video producer. As theyre having fun, theyll also be able to revisit memories of their grandparents.

Every summer while the young boys and their parents remain anchored to an urban life in Portland, Oregon, their energetic grandparents escape to wilderness areas of Washington, Idaho and Montanato bury a few more time capsules.

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