Geocaching Hunting for stuff in all the right places
By Daisy Welch In your travels, you may come upon a person looking all over the place for something they have apparently misplaced, perhaps out on a hiking trail, or on a city street. They will be carrying what looks like a fat cell phone and muttering “It says it is right here…” You have found a geocacher, and although they may look a little flustered at this moment, they are enjoying a hobby that is a natural for Airstreamers on the road. Geocaching (pronounced JEE-oh-kashing) is a fast-growing hobby descended from the sport of Orienteering, and pirate treasure hunts which used a compass, a map and some clues to find a “treasure.” Geocachers take a more high-tech approach and use handheld GPS receiver units to find treasures, and explore the world. Early GPS use was limited to military use. For security reasons, the satellite data had a variable error of 500-1,000 feet, which limited civilian use. But after the Korean Airliner Flight 007 wandered into Russian air space and was shot down in 1983, it became apparent that GPS receivers should be available to everyone. Finally, on May 1, 2000 President Clinton signed an order to remove the security variable, making possible today’s inexpensive handheld units, which can calculate your position within about 20 feet.
Two days after the presidential order was signed, computer engineer Dave Ulmer dreamed up the idea of burying a bucket containing a logbook and some treasures. He posted the coordinates (latitude and longitude) on an Internet user group, inviting others to go find it using GPS receivers. The idea took off, and geocaching was born. Recently, geocaching.com (the biggest website for the sport) reported there are more than 96,435 active caches listed on their site, in at least 202 countries around the world. Today’s caches are hidden in cities and the woods, in large ammo boxes or tiny magnetic containers as small as the end of your finger, and everything in between. Some of them require extreme physical effort to get to, or even a boat, and some you can almost reach from your car. Some are right out in the open and some are so well camouflaged that they are nearly invisible. Caches always contain a log to sign, and often trinkets (usually aimed at the kids in the family) and sometimes trackable items. The point of finding the cache is to find it and write in the log, not really for the “treasure” inside.
The Fun of Geocaching Some people like the statistics of geocaching: How many you found, most found in one day, in what states, etc. Others like the challenge of the hunt. Although the GPS will get you to within about 20 feet of the cache, you still have to find your way to it without climbing a cliff or crossing an interstate, and once you are close, you still have to look for it. Others like the technology part, which can get pretty wizardly, with specialized software, and ever fancier hardware. Geocaching is great for families and other groups, and events are organized all over the country to make it even more social.
AIRSTREAM LIFE SUMMER 2008
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