naturalpet

The Hunt For

BURIED TREASURE

Geocaching With Man’s Best Friend

by Patricia Komar

S

ummer trailheads can tempt even the most diehard computer fans to push away from desktops, lace up hiking boots, pack dog treats and trek into the great outdoors to become their own search engines in pursuit of hidden treasures. What they’re after is the next geocache. Geo means “Earth” and cache is French for “a hiding place to temporarily store items.” This year, Geocaching.com celebrates its 10th anniversary, with nearly 2 million Earth- friendly hunters seeking a current total of more than a million active caches around the world.

A geocache searcher ventures forth equipped with a handheld global positioning system (GPS) receiver, a set of designated longitude and latitude coordinates, trail descrip- tions and cryptic clues posted on the website. New Jersey geocacher Jeff Smith also takes along his Scottish terrier mix. “What fascinates me is that there’s a goal to the hike,” he grins. “My pooch loves it.”

42 Collier/Lee Counties swfl .naturalawakeningsmag.com

But he adds that it’s important to be a bit secretive and avoid attracting attention from non-geocachers who may become alerted to the presence of treasure. “Bringing a dog can be helpful; after all, you’re ‘just out walking your dog.’” The fast-growing sport started in 2000, when Dave Ulmer, a computer consultant, filled a container with soft- ware, money and a video, book, cassette recorder and can of black-eyed peas, as well as a slingshot handle and a logbook with the notation “GPS Stash #1.” He hid it in the Oregon woods, made note of the coordinates using his GPS, posted it on a website and called it “The Great American GPS Stash Hunt.” His only rule: “Take something, leave something.” The idea took off like wildfire and the word stash soon changed to cache. Delve deeper and we discover the story of a 19th-century traveling salesman who left his calling card hidden in a jar in the English countryside with instructions that whoever found it should add his own card. Soon, people

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