Pioneer

Issue date: 6/4/09 Section: Center fold

Media Credit: Aaron Knowles The GPS led to a pencil box containing a dinosaur and a tag. The tag stays with the item that replaces the toy. Cache containers can be as big as a trunk or as small as a mint box. People participate in geocaching around the world. There are there are more than 800,000 hidden treasures.

X marks the spot.

Exploring and uncovering is human nature. Christopher Columbus, the Vikings, and Indiana Jones are just a few examples that prove this is true. Why not make it a hobby?

Geocaching (pronounced geo-cashing) is a community hobby and a sport. It is great for exercise and exploration. Geocaches are containers hidden all over world, ranging from Altoid-container sizes to trunks and are filled with an even wider range of items.

There are missions to discover something from nature and missions to leave a personal item for someone else to find while taking the one found originally.

To find these containers, geocachers plot given coordinates on a handheld GPS device, and locate it.

GPS devices can be slightly costly, but skip the bells and whistles, because all that is needed is a basic GPS. With the right software, an iPhone can be used to geocache. Yes, there is an "app" for that too.

To obtain coordinates, there is a search option on www.geocaching.com to obtain local caches. After locating these caches, users of the website are able to log found caches and even track that caches logs.

Student Katharina Kuntz is new to Geocaching.

"It rekindled the child in me. It's a treasure hunt," she said.

Kuntz sought her first cache in Steilacoom.

"These caches are everywhere. You might not know it yet, but there could be one right next to you," Kuntz said.

There are over 800,000 Geocaches hidden all over the world including Germany, Japan, Hawaii, and even Iraq.

It's free to create a Geocache and post at the website, and it is free to become an entry level member with limited access.

But to become a member on the website, it is $30 for a year and this allows access to all coordinates for all caches.

Geocaching is a fun, inexpensive, and anyone that picks it up will become instantly addicted. It is great exercise and a perfect way to explore the world around as well as a new neighborhood.

It is an opportunity to create a perfect playlist, strap on some comfortable shoes, and go on a treasure hunt.

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