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My two married friends have been bugging me for the past couple of months to join them in their new hobby. No need to worry, they are not swingers. At least I don’t think they are. No, it is something much less insidious. They have wanted me to join them in something called geocaching. I was vaguely familiar with the term, but was not really sure what it was all about. I took the plunge the other day and my eyes were opened to something I had not expected.

Geocaching requires that you have a GPS unit of some kind. What you are basically doing is treasure hunting. Throughout the world people have left boxes, cases, or trinkets (i.e. caches) for others to find. With their GPS unit they have logged where they have left behind their cache. It is now up to you to find what they have left behind. Because they have a log book (or log scroll depending on how small the cache is) you record your name and the day that you found it. Now, this all sounds relatively simple. However, let me tell you, some people like to make it a tad difficult. I call those people sons of bitches.

I went with my friends to a larger park in the city to an area where there were a few caches in close proximity to one another. The GPS that we were using had a built in compass so that it made it easier to zero in on where we needed to go. I was let known sometimes, depending on the quality of GPS the other person was using, the actual location of where the cache is can have a three meter radius. Our first cache was supposedly located in a grouping of spruce trees. Not knowing what I was really looking for I began scanning for anything that may look out of place. The more experienced Cachers were able to find it within a few seconds. I felt anxious. Why can I not see it? Suddenly it just jumped out at me. (Not literally, because that would have been terrifying). There, tied to a branch near the base of the trunk, hidden by the overhanging limbs, was a plastic box. I tentatively reached in and unhooked it from the branch. I was really hoping I would not find a human finger as I unsnapped the lid. Luckily there were a bunch of small knick knacks including a small ball, keychains, and dog toys. The more experienced Cachers will take one of the objects and replace it with one of their original objects. My group had not attained that level yet (how very World of Warcraft that seems), so we simply wrote down our names and the date.

Well, that had taken only a couple of minutes. I did not really see why this was so hard… then came the second try. This was called a micro-cache. These caches are about the size of your thumb and are, sometimes, intentionally hidden. I was told stories about them being hidden under false rocks, or hollowed out branches. We spent a good ten minutes walking around the new group of trees but we were unable to locate where the cache was. I was dispirited. After our first success, I expected all the others to fall into place. Alas, we had to walk away defeated.

Our third cache was also a micro-cache. We began the same process, trying to scan the evergreen with our eyes, and trying not to get poked too bad by the sharp needles. Suddenly one of my friends cried out that he had found it. I glanced over and the sun reflected off the metal of the tiny bauble that was hanging off a branch about five feet up the tree. Those sneaky bastards, I thought. He reached in and unscrewed the chamber and unfolded a small piece of paper where people had recorded their visits. We followed suit.

We were able to find three caches out of the five we searched for. You would think that you would just move on if you were not able to find the cache. I challenge anyone to just move on. It becomes a challenge, and you do not want to leave until you find it. It is as if there is an epic battle between you and this inanimate object. You are definitely not going to let it “win.” Because if it wins, so do the terrorists… well, maybe not, but that’s what it feels like. For instance, can you spot the cache in the picture to the right?

Geocaching is a really fun hobby. I had not realized how far we had walked until we had to go back to our car. We had trekked about two kilometers without even realizing it. The fun part is people passing you wondering what you are doing searching for something in the trees. You are to call these people Muggles and not let them in on the secrets that are all around them. We broke this little rule constantly, and were met with a variety of different reactions. Some seemed legitimately interested, while others seemed a little scared that three grown people were searching for treasure.

If you have a GPS device or app for your iPhone, I definitely recommend trying it out and see how you do. I guarantee that if you live in a city, there are probably a few that are not that far away. Let me know how it goes!

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