CachingCentral

GPS gadgets lead users on new adventures

By Kari Huus

A high-tech gadget that appeals to the inner nerd, it also prompts the user to get off the couch and into the great outdoors. A GPS gadget can be a catalyst for family outings, but also a hip present for teens who want no part of parents and siblings. It’s even, potentially, educational.

That’s because these hand-held navigation systems are not just helpful for finding the way from point A to B but an entrée into the world of 21st century treasure hunting, known as geocaching.

At one time limited to technology buffs, the appeal of geocaching has widened with the availability of cheaper, more easy to use GPS devices.

“I get e-mail from people saying they’ve reconnected with their kids, they’ve lost weight, that they are getting more exercise,” says Jeremy Irish, founder of the Web site geocaching.com. “The idea is that technology doesn’t mean you have to be chained to your entertainment system at home.”

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Posted By: Jim Forsyth

A man out on a scavenger hunt ends up dying while searching for the treasure. Police say it looks like 64-year-old James Max Chamberlain fell off a small cliff at Eisenhauer Park, off Northwest Military Highway.

Chamberlain went on the scavenger hunt Saturday morning using a hi-tech GPS system he had just bought. His wife called police Saturday night after he didn’t come home.

“From the evidence, just leads us to believe right now, that he was walking along the trails, got to his destination, and he either slipped and fell down the ravine, or was trying to walk back up the little incline and slipped back,” said Lieutenant Rosie Vasquez.

Chamberlain’s death appears to be an accident.

He found the scavenger hunt online and was alone when he died. His death has shed light on a fast growing activity called ‘geocaching’ which is enjoyed by thousands of people in central Texas.

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Hobby combines hiking, treasure hunting and rubber stamping

By Jim Warren

HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

Letter boxing — a hobby practiced by a few hard-core enthusiasts around the country — is part treasure hunt, part puzzle, part scavenger hunt and part chain letter, with a little mystery and a walk in the woods thrown in.

Last summer, Stephanie Corbett ran across a magazine story about the hobby. Intrigued, she went online and obtained a list of clues. A few days later, she went out on her lunch hour, followed the clues and in 20 minutes found her first box, near her office in Louisville.

Just like that, Corbett fell in love.

“Somehow, it just sounded really interesting, and I thought it would be something I could do with my husband, Brian, and daughter, Haylee,” she said. “Now, we’re out letter boxing every chance we get.”

Letter boxing is deceptively simple, and the rules are very flexible. No equipment is required; you don’t have to join a group or organization. In fact, it’s possible to enjoy letter boxing without ever meeting, or even seeing, another letter boxer.

Just get a small plastic container. Put a pencil and a logbook inside for people to sign when they find it. If you’re really serious, you can carve your own rubber stamp, which people who find your box can use to stamp their logbooks.

Hide the letter box somewhere — parks and highway rest stops are popular locations — and compose some clues for finding it. Some hobbyists write their clues to require the use of a compass. You should make sure your directions are at least a little vague — finding the box is supposed to be a challenge.

Now, go online to www. letterboxing.org and post your letter box and clues. You also can check the Web site for other boxes in your area and try to find them.

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By Allen O. Pierleoni — Bee Staff Writer

It is perhaps ironic that it took technology to get some people off their couches and into the outdoors.
We’re talking about a sport called “geocaching,” made possible by the global positioning system, a $20 billion Department of Defense network of 24 satellites, and the growing sophistication of hand-held GPS receivers. And one other vital element: When President Clinton ordered the DOD to turn off “selective availability” – deliberate, random errors designed to reduce the accuracy of nonmilitary GPS receivers – in May 2000, recreational GPS users were allowed the joys of greatly improved precision.

“To call geocaching ‘treasure hunting’ is probably not accurate,” said avid geocacher Gary Hobgood of Folsom. “We call it ‘pleasure hunting.’ It’s the anticipation, the planning of the trip, the goods and gadgets you need to bag the game. It has enriched our lives.”

Hobgood and his wife, Vicky, have been involved in the sport for about 18 months and now have a dozen caches hidden. (“There are some people who have 100.”) They have themselves tracked down an incredible 1,600 caches in California, Nevada, Arizona and Idaho.

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Brian Handwerk
for National Geographic News

The key to hidden treasure lies in your handheld GPS (global positioning system) unit. GPS-based “geocaching” is a high-tech sport being played by thousands of people across the globe.

To the uninitiated, the sight of people circling methodically around a local woodland or city park, GPS device in hand, is a bit puzzling. But this strange behavior has a purpose: They’re people in search of a hidden a cache—one of tens of thousands of hidden treasures planted by other players.

“I go out with my five-year-old and nine-year-old as a family,” said geocacher Rich Ness, assistant manager of Bloomington, Minnesota’s REI outdoor-gear store (GPS coordinates: latitude 44° 51.6′ N, longitude 93° 17.3′ W). “I haven’t come across a kid yet who didn’t think it’s the greatest thing ever.”

Adults are hooked too.

Interested? There’s a cache near you. In fact you might be amazed at just how many caches are near you.

But just what is a cache? The answer is as different as the people who hide them.

The cache, often a piece of Tupperware, might contain only a logbook with some amusing stories of geocaching adventure. Others are stocked with prizes like books, software, CDs, videos, money, or toys. (Food is frowned upon, as are such restricted items as alcohol and fireworks.)

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