Eleven-year-old James "Trey" Miller shows the cache he found in Greece. Small, inexpensive items are usually the prize, but for geocachers the joy is mostly in the journey and the search. Submitted photo.

Hide and seek craze a global game

Think of it as a global Easter Egg Hunt. Think of it as hide-and-go-seek mixed with a trip to the park, mixed with the Internet and other modern technology.

Whatever makes it easiest to understand, Geocaching is a craze that is catching major attention.

Thousands of people in more than 200 countries are discovering this new adventure game that was launched in May 2000. Locally, Rachael Woodams, communications director for the New York Geocaching Organization, said there are 20 caches within an eight-mile radius of the Village of Hilton.

Geo-huh?
Geocaching combines "geo," meaning earth, with "caching," meaning treasure. The game has also been called the GPS Stash Hunt or the Global Positioning Stash. It is an adventure game that utilizes Global Positioning Satellite technology formerly reserved for military work. A hand-held GPS unit can be purchased at most sporting goods stores and is able to guide the game player in the general direction of whatever coordinates he or she enters into it.

Anyone interested can get involved by searching out a cache, or by hiding one. Once a cache is hidden, its coordinates are posted on the Geocaching website along with some pertinent information.

Got game?
Geocaching has few rules and most are simply etiquette. The basic game requires a participant to go to www.geocaching.com and look for a cache nearby. Once a cache is selected, the player can download the directions that provide coordinates to the cache, clues and ratings for level of difficulty and terrain.

The player then programs the coordinates into the GPS unit and takes off. Most caches are hidden in public parks. A cache is usually a canister containing a small treasure of under $3, such as child's toy. The joy doesn't come from the prize, it comes from the search. A cache cannot be buried, but it should be hidden. Since GPS units can only provide an approximate direction, game players get to see a lot of whatever area the cache is located in.

Once a cache is found, the player may take the prize and replace it with another. The intent is to leave the cache viable for other players. Each cache has a logbook that every player is asked to sign.

It is important to first check the degree of difficulty before taking off on a geocaching adventure, because caches range from easy finds, to those that require rock climbing or scuba gear.

Like in other games, variations of Geocaching are popping up. Some of these are:

• Offset caches - The published coordinates reveal an existing historical monument, plaque, or some type of benchmark. From this location the cache hunter must look to find offset numbers stamped or written on some part of the marker site, or continue based on instructions provided on the website.
• Multi-caches - The first cache gives coordinates (or partial coordinates) to the next cache, or multiple caches have hints to a final cache.
• Virtual caches - A cache is actually an existing landmark. The player answers a question from the landmark and lets the cache owner know as proof that you were there.

Gettin the gear
Geocaching can be a relatively inexpensive pastime. The only required gear is the GPS unit. The unit can be purchased for as little as $100 or as much as $1,000. Two of the names brands in the industry are Garmin and Magellan. More expensive units include maps, built in electric compasses, and voice navigation.

"The only difference between a really cheap system and an expensive one is bells and whistles," Woodams said.

Get in the game
For Sandra Forbes, president of the New York Geocaching Organization, the obsession for Geocaching could be seen as an occupational hazard. Forbes is a GIS analyst in the Transportation Planning department of a local company.

Her search for caches has taken her throughout New York and to Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Nevada, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Canada. In total, Forbes has uncovered 358 caches.

"I've always been into hiking," Forbes said. "This is a great way for me to discover many different parks."

Woodams, of Hilton, learned about Geocaching for the first time on the Internet. She is a professional senior caregiver. She began playing in February 2003 and has already discovered 225 caches.

"I like the idea of finding something that other people might pass by," Woodams said. She said the game is starting to be recognized by organizations such as the Boy Scouts and in Physical Education departments in many different school districts.

"It combines the outdoors with technology," said Woodams. "So a kid who only likes to play video games might take a GPS unit and go for a walk."

Give back
Geocachers are encouraged to adopt a "cache in, trash out" philosophy. The organization holds events to promote this, but as a general rule of thumb encourages those playing the game to collect any trash they see while in the park and dispose of it, as a way to give back to the park system.