field trip! Photo by MaryRose Lovgren
Come with us as a new generation teaches us how to explore nature... the high-tech way!
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You make your way down the trail, GPS unit held in your outstretched hands like some sort of 21st century divining rod. Coordinates
by MaryRose Lovgren Maggie Shields, experienced geocacher at only 10 years old, discovers the “cache” hidden beside a log on the trail.
geocacher. Not only does Maggie have her own geocaching moniker (“Meo Geo”), she has posted her own caches online. So how does she describe this phenomenon? “I think that it’s like a treasure hunt,” change as your position changes, unseen satellites your she explained. “You go out into nature looking for heavenly guides. Until, there! You are within thirty feet something-- usually you’re looking for a plastic container. of your prey. Rocks, branches, and pokey bushes are There’s always a log sheet and sometimes there’s prizes.” overturned and pushed aside until your Holy Grail is Not all geocaches are the same, however, states uncovered: a small Tupperware container whose contents Maggie. If you’re looking for one with a prize, make sure may include a Chewbaca Pez dispenser or handful of to choose a “traditional” cache. “Micro” caches are coins. small, usually just a film canister. There are even “loWelcome to “geocaching,” a technocationless” caches, where you either take a picture or logical twist on hide-and-seek with particifind the answer to a question, and e-mail that to the pants the world over. It all started in May cache designer. of 2000, when the US government officially Geocaches are also categorized by “difficulty removed “selective availability” from Global in terrain.” “If it has five stars, that means it’s really Positioning System satellites. The result? hard,” Maggie warned. “I try to do a one, two, or GPS units owned by civilians (you and me) three. The hardest one I’ve done is a five… We had suddenly become a lot more accurate. It to tie a rope to a bridge and climb up the rope to get wasn’t even a week before someone thought it.” to hide a container somewhere in Oregon For Maggie, this passion began a couple of years and post the coordinates on-line, with the ago, on their annual family hike at Table Mountain taunt: just try and find it! in Oroville. “My uncle Mike was a geocacher, and Now there are thousands of such he took us on a geocache,” she explained. “It wasn’t “geocaches” hidden around the world, listed really one of the best caches, though, because it was a at www.geocaching.com and arranged by zip really long hike and it wasn’t hidden in the right spot.” code, terrain, and difficulty. The Maggie and her family are now of“...your Holy Grail is uncovered: a basic premise? Pick a geocache ficially hooked. “On the weekends, small Tupperware container whose near you using the site, plug the contents may include a Chewbaca Pez if we’re not busy, we might go out coordinates given into a GPS geocaching. I’m in gymnastics, and dispenser or handful of coins.” unit, and start your hunt. Once I have to travel a lot, so sometimes you’ve found the cache, sign the we do caches while we’re gone.” log book and replace the container for the next person to So now you’re ready to start ‘caching in. Well, as find. you may have guessed, it all depends on your ability to Maggie Shields, ten years old and a student possess and use a GPS unit, which is a little more compliat Sierra Avenue Elementary in Oroville, is an avid
Even little ones can participate. Just be sure to pick a geocache that has a low difficulty of terrain.
Photo by MaryRose Lovgren
with them. Of course, they are to leave a trade item in its cated (and expensive) than a compass. So how does it all place. Popular trade items include plastic toys and unusual work? Basically, the GPS unit bounces a signal up to one coins. Maggie’s signature trade item: McDonald’s toys. “It of the over a dozen Global Positioning System satellites doesn’t have to be something really special, but you want orbiting the Earth, and the signal that bounces back indito do a fair trade,” she explains. “If you bring a McDoncates the unit’s latitude and longitude. ald’s toy, you don’t want to take something that’s really “Once you put in the coordinates, then it doesn’t nice.” So what do you do if you can’t make a fair trade? matter where you are, it will tell you the way to get there and the distance,” explains Maggie. “If you’re in Oroville, “Then you don’t take anything.” Now, considering the fact that all of this will and you’re going to a cache in San Francisco, then as you travel (the numbers) get lower and lower as you got closer be buried in the dirt or exposed to the elements, some thought should be given to the container. Tupperware-like to the cache.” containers are popular, as they are relatively indestructible It all sounds so easy—just punch in the numbers, and let the GPS unit tells you where the cache is hidden! and air-tight. Once it’s in place, you’ll need to post your cache on the Internet at www.geocaching.com. In addiWell, not quite. “There are some caches where you’re driving along and you see where you’re supposed to be, tion to providing the coordinates, you’ll want to come up with a clever or unique name. What’s Maggie’s? “Grape but you don’t know how to get there,” she cautioned. Ape.” Even if you get to the right coordinates, there is still the question of finding the cache—remember, the GPS unit So what does Maggie get out of this unusual activis only accurate to within 30 feet of your quarry. “We ity? “I like that you can get to meet new people and you usually pick fifteen caches,” advised Maggie. “That way, if get to go out into nature and find lots of neat things.” there are some that we can’t do, then we just go on to the next one.” Four Local Caches to Try Once you’ve gotten the hang I asked Mike Shields, Maggie’s dad and an avid weekend geocacher, for a small of the “sport,” you’ll probably want to list of caches for young ‘cachers (and their parents). Just go to www.geocaching.com and type in the keywords in bold below. construct a geocache of your own. I asked Maggie how one gets started. “You 1) “One of the caches in the area that kids would like is ‘Hans Brinker.’ To rehave to think of what kind of cache you treive this cache, you need to use a method made famous in the story about... want to make,” she instructed. “If it’s Hans Brinker! It is located in the 20th street park.” going to be a micro, you want to hide it 2) “‘Davey Jones Locker’ is another fun cache to find. It is located in the in a place that doesn’t seem very obvious. Genetic Research Center on Cramer Lane. It is a great area to explore. If it’s a traditional, it would be good to put it somewhere that is big.” Her cache, 3) “There are some great caches in Bidwell Park. ‘El Jeffe’s Cache’ is a named “Grape Ape,” is hidden at a park. good hike to the top of the canyon and has a fantastic view of Upper Park For a traditional cache such as including Horseshoe Lake. It may be too much of a hike for smaller kids but Maggie had a blast last year doing it.” Maggie’s, you’ll need to prepare a pen and a log sheet for people to sign as they 4) ‘Grape Ape’ is located at the Durham Park, which is a great park. Also discover the site. In addition, you should near there is the Barry R. Kirshner Wildlife Foundation, where they take in leave a “trade item,” usually an inexpenlarge animals (lions, tigers, mountain lions, etc.) with special needs. They do sive “reward” for the geocacher to take allow tours of their facility by appointment.”