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By Joan Trossman Bien

Geocaching is hot right now; more than 830,000 geocaches currently are registered on various Web sites devoted to the activity. Geocaches can be found in more than 100 countries on all seven continents, including Antarctica.

The activity can be simple and straightforward, or it can be elaborate and require a lot of intrepid travel. But the object of the game is always the same: find the geocache using a GPS device. This sounds easier that it actually is, as some geocaches often can be disguised and well hidden.

Geocaching began after the U.S. government stopped Selective Availability, thus improving the accuracy of the satellites for civilian use. This created a lot of excitement for GPS enthusiasts, and ideas about what could now be done with such accuracy began to fly around the community.

Dave Ulmer, one of the enthusiasts who wanted to test the accuracy, hid a bucket in the woods in Oregon and posted the coordinates online. He dared people to attempt to find that bucket using GPS, with only one rule: “Take something--leave something.” Geocaching was born.

Geocaching is a community-run activity. Anyone can hide a cache; they must simply follow commonsense guidelines about where it can be placed. For example, it may not be smart to hide an ammo box at the gate of an Army base.

Geocaching is a healthy and educational way for children to spend time outdoors.

After a suitable area for hiding has been selected, the coordinates must be recorded using a handheld GPS with averaging for better accuracy. All the information then is submitted for review before it can be published for the public to find. Whoever hides the geocache then is the “owner” of that geocache, and they’re responsible for maintaining it and responding to comments left from finders.

How to Play

The cost of the geocaching is mostly limited to purchasing of a handheld GPS device. The traditional way to play is to go to one of several official geocache Web sites, where you must register to obtain the latitude and longitude coordinates to enter into the GPS device. Enter the ZIP Code of where you want to search, and you will see maps and coordinates and logs of previous geocachers. Most of these destinations are rated for difficulty.

Download the information into the GPS device, and remember that the navigation is “as the crow flies.” It doesn’t take into account any barriers between the starting location and the desired geocache, and therein lies the adventure.

The GPS device will get close to the general area. Then the search begins for the geocache, which sometimes can be hidden with a lot of creativity. Geocaches can vary from micro to bucket size, but they must at least contain a log book to sign. Some may contain trade items for kids or “hitchhikers,” an item that’s meant to travel from geocache to geocache.

After a geocache is found and captured, players sign the log book, take a prize, replace it with another prize of equal or higher value, and return the container to precisely the same location where it was found.

Playing with Gadgets

For those who have never gone geocaching, the procedures can seem complex and not worth the effort. You have to download, find the coordinates, pick a Web site that’s appropriate, sift through all of the various permutations of geocaching (there are at least a dozen) to find the simpler ones--it’s a lot of work. But the reward of actually finding a geocache is worth it.

The price of handheld GPS units drop each year, and there are inexpensive options such as the Geomate Jr., which is a “just for geocaching GPS” that comes preloaded with geocaches and the ability to update with new geocaches.

Introducing kids to geocaching is an easy way to create an interest in navigation and GPS technologies. Inquiring minds will be fascinated to learn about satellites and all that we use them for. Remember, children can’t know that geocaching is an educational, healthful, family friendly activity. This will result only in regret and instant opposition to the activity.

A warning should be posted. Apparently, when law-enforcement officials see adults skulking around a parking lot or other public place, looking in bushes and under benches, their activity may seem odd. There have been cases where law enforcement have been called to simply scour the area where a geocacher was seen placing a suspicious package. Legend has it that a number of caches have been blown up by bomb squads, so please use common sense.

Get Outside and Play

Obesity in children is growing at an alarming rate, but they love to play. Instead of getting muscular thumbs from saving the universe on a computer screen, they can search the Earth for geocaches.

Geocaching children will learn about navigation, cooperation, working toward a group goal, and replacing prizes as a way of giving back. There’s also a movement called “Cache In, Trash Out.” Each member can take an empty bag as they head out to geocache and fill it up with other people’s garbage as they go. There are the dual benefits of cleaning up the environment and the satisfaction of doing something good.

So for the price of dinner and a movie for the family, adults and children can have an entire summer of healthful, challenging, fun and family friendly adventures. Another idea is to have the children keep a journal, so they can track their progress and remember where they have already gone geocaching.

Who doesn’t remember playing pirates in their youth, running around with hand-drawn maps, hunting for treasure? Geocaching is just treasure hunting 2.0.