Cache-ing on- Popularity of high-tech treasure-hunt game growing in area
Although the craze has swept worldwide in the past five years-invading some 217 countries with more than 209,653 active caches- local participation is purveying interest to the tune of 1,414 sites in Kansas and numerous sites in and around Marion County that include virtual, puzzle, multi-caches and traditional caches.
Doug and Debbie Evans of Canton know all about geocaching, having been actively seeking hidden treasures since August 2003.
“We had a gathering down in Tulsa, and there were a lot of people there that were already into geocaching,” Doug said. “Two ladies kidnapped me and took me out looking for my first cache and that was all it took.
“By Thanksgiving I had a GPS unit of my own, and we haven’t stopped since.”
There is no typical “geocacher.”
“We know of a sheriff officer, an accountant, a pilot for the Galicia Medical Group-just anyone can do this, and it’s done worldwide,” Doug said.
Debbie shares Doug’s enthusiasm.
“Anybody and everybody can play,” Debbie said. “It’s actually supposed to be moving towards an executive game where they’ll look for a cache instead of playing golf or something like that.”
Locally, sites are administered by Glen Soldan, or “RattlingCrew,” as he’s known to his cache cohorts, and veteran finder of over 1,000 cache sites.
Soldan has worked for the Salina Police Department for the past 21 years and is the Kansas reviewer.
“My duties include checking the cache listings to make sure they meet the guidelines and checking the cache logs to make sure the necessary maintenance on the caches is getting done,” Soldan said. “Things like damaged or missing caches, wet logbooks, etc.”