The wind chill makes it feel like ten below zero in Rochester, and yet over 50 men, women, and children look eager to begin an expedition into the woods of Mendon Ponds Park. Clad in snow pants, puffy down jackets, hats, gloves, neck warmers, and sunglasses, they look like Eskimos on an ice fishing expedition as they hoist up their backpacks and head outside into the bitter January air.
These Western New Yorkers have discovered Geocaching, the outdoor adventure phenomenon that uses hand-held Global Positioning Systems (GPS) as guides on a search for hidden treasures. The game, which involves about as much “treasure” as the Walden Avenue flea market, is not so much about the reward as it is the thrill of the hunt.
Geocaching (pronounced “cashing”) is a relatively new hobby—or sport, as some will insist—that has collected a large following in its seven years of existence. Geocaching is, in a sense, a modern day treasure hunt; treasure-seekers use a really fancy map (GPS) to find a container (cache) hidden in an unknown location.
The best part—anyone can join. All they have to do is put something in a container, hide it, and post the coordinates along with a short clue online at Geocaching.com. Since its inception, Geocaching has gained serious momentum, and has grown to become a complex organization with specific rules. Today, there are nine different types of caches as well as events and groups all regulated by official Geocaching rules.
Geocaching came to the forefront of outdoor activities in May, 2000 when President Clinton removed selective availability of GPS systems. This made GPS navigation available to everyone in the United States, not just government officials. Geocaching spread from there and today boasts over 40,000 registered users on Geocaching.com, and over 500,000 active caches worldwide.
Dave Ulmer, a native of Beavercreek, Oregon, planted the first documented cache on May 3, 2000. Ulmer, a participant in a 150-year old game known as letterboxing (which uses clues printed in letterboxing magazines or on websites to locate a hidden object) decided to take his hobby to the next level by noting the coordinates of his “stash” and posting them online at a site he created. He originally called it the “Great American GPS Stash Hunt” and his rules were simple: find the cache, take part of the treasure with you, and, to be fair, “leave some stuff.”
Ulmer’s original cache, hidden near Beavercreek, contained a logbook, a pencil, videos, books, software, and a slingshot. By May 6, 2000 it had been found by Mike Teague of Vancouver, Washington.
Teague started a website for the expansion of GPS treasure hunting; this site was then stumbled upon by Jeremy Irish, a web developer from Seattle, Washington. Irish decided to apply his professional web skills to start Geocaching.com and improve the cache hunting experience.
Once the website was up and running, Geocaching expanded faster than Irish ever could have imagined. According to Geocaching.com, by the end of 2000, the site had tripled its member count. It’s even expanded here in WNY. Adam McGoldrick, a freshman civil engineering major who received a portable GPS for Christmas in 2006, has been Geocaching ever since. There are 500 caches in the Western New York area including three that are located on UB’s North campus. Since 2006, McGoldrick has found 80 caches in total while Don MacFarland, a junior electrical engineering major who has been Geocaching since February 2003, has found just 36. Macfarland notes that the game has skyrocketed in the past few years, marking “hundreds, if not thousands” of caches within a 25-mile radius of Buffalo.
Today, Geocaching has become much more than a box in the woods. It now supports humanitarian efforts, clubs, events, and it’s own glossary of Geocaching lingo (such as a “Geomuggle,” a term borrowed from the Harry Potter novels used to reference a person unfamiliar with Geocaching).
So, what’s the appeal of digging around in the woods for a piece of Tupperware?
As MacFarland puts it, “The best part is that it gets people outside and doing something somewhat active. It’s an excellent blend of technology and the outdoors for people who are easily bored, like me.” Oh, and it’s completely free, minus the cost of a GPS. McGoldrick agrees, adding that to him, “Geocaching is all about the hunt. I know many people participate in Geocaching just for the potential prizes, but I just love knowing there are caches out there and having to use various skills to find them,” he says.
Mary Ann Christman, of Rochester, has different motives for Geocaching. “I have two very young kids,” she says. “My four-year-old is in pre-school so during the week I might go find some easy caches and take her out. She likes to come as long as it’s not too long of a walk or too cold.”
While each person Geocaches for their own reasons, the common theme among cachers seems to be a love of the outdoors. Tim Gardner of Webster, New York has found well over 1,000 caches and loves Geocaching because it gets him outside. He has even traveled in order to Geocache and has located caches in California, Nevada, Canada, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio. “It’s great exercise and it brings you to interesting places that you probably wouldn’t have discovered otherwise.” He says. “I like a nice, long, walk in the woods.”
Geocaching is a practical blend of modern technology and old school treasure hunting. This versatile activity serves to challenge, as well as to provide free entertainment, to its followers. And, of course, there’s the added bonus of playing with a complicated toy like a GPS. MacFarland agrees; “I really just like the concept of using multi-billion dollar constellation satellite technology to find a box full of junk in the woods.”
