Outdoors

Hi-tech and seek

Geocachers scour land and sea for 'treasure' using modern-day equipment.

By TERRY TOMALIN, Times Outdoor Editor
Published November 23, 2007

WEEDON ISLAND -- Wading through a mosquito-infested swamp may not sound like your idea of having fun, but some people will do anything for treasure. "It has got to be here somewhere," said Michael Moule, an adventure racer from Tampa. "Sometimes, these hidden caches can be no larger than a pack of gum." Somewhere in the mangroves, perhaps even hanging over knee-deep water, Moule hopes to find a "cache" tied to a tree branch. Inside the container will be a small piece of paper. But don't expect to find the number for a secret Swiss bank account or map with the proverbial "X marks the spot." Usually, there are just a few names and dates of those who have followed the same trail before. The reward for all this effort: the right to log the discovery on a Web site. "This might be hard," said Moule, 35. "The cache is in a camouflage bag just to make seeing in the trees a little more difficult."

A map, GPS, good attitude

The modern sport of geocaching (pronounced geo-cashing) can be traced to the mid 19th century pastime called "letterboxing," in which travelers would leave notes or postcards in waterproof boxes along the popular trails of northern England for others to find and read.

The introduction of handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) units in the late 1990s made navigation on both land and water much easier for outdoors enthusiasts. But it wasn't until May 2000, when the U.S. government removed a built-in error factor that had been imposed on the nation's civilian GPS system for security reasons that geo "stash" hunts, as they are also called, really took off.

"The sport has grown tremendously in the past several years," said Darry Jackson, whose Pinellas Park-based outdoors shop caters to a small, but enthusiastic geocaching clientele. "Handheld GPS units have come way down in price, while at the same time, the quality has improved tremendously. Anybody can pretty much pick up a GPS and get started tomorrow if they want to."

But a GPS will only pinpoint coordinates on a map. The cache site may appear as if it is only 100 yards away as the crow flies, but getting there is another story.

"That is why you need a map," said Moule, who uses geocaching to sharpen his land navigational skills. "As you can see, there is a swamp between us and the cache."

Mud and mangroves

Weedon Island has several geocaches, one of which was located right along the roadway, near the memorial to the Ross family, which homesteaded the property 100 years before it became a county preserve.

"We call this type of site a park-and-grab," Moule said as he located the cache along a white picket fence. "You will find these all around the state. They are great for beginners learning how to use their GPS units."

Officially, there are 487,460 active caches worldwide. During a seven-day span last week, 250,395 users logged on to www.geocaching.com to record finding caches.

Sometimes, caches will contain a "travel bug," a small trinket that has a date and place of origin that is carried from cache to cache by various geocachers. Many caches just include a log book, where the participants can record the name and date of their adventure.

The geocache Web site offered a brief description of the route to our cache: "... if you decide to brave high tide, you will be wading almost up to your knees ..."

As we slogged through the mud, I wondered if it would be worth it.

"It is always worth it," Moule said. "You never know what you will find."

Eureka!

A half-hour later, we found ourselves on the edge of a tidal flat surrounded by mangroves that all looked the same.

"The GPS got us to within 10 feet of the cache," Moule said. "Now we just have to look."

The Web site gave us one hint. The cache would be hanging from a tree branch. The catch: It was camouflage colored. Stumbling through the mangroves, I found plenty of spiders. They are not hard to miss once the web wraps around your face.

"I give up," I told Moule. "The cache can be anywhere."

But Moule, the veteran, told me not to abandon hope. "It is probably right in front of our faces," he said.

With that, he pointed to a branch. There, about 6 feet off the ground, hung a little bag.

"Here it is," he said. "Now let's go find another one."

GPS units

The GPS unit we used was made by Garmin, which along with Magellan, has long been on the forefront of handheld GPS technology.

The Garmin GPSMAP 76 CSx is highly sensitive, which helps when there is a heavy tree cover. It also includes a barometric altimeter, electronic compass and color screen, a must if you want to discern topography on color maps. The unit sells for $482 at Bill Jackson Shop for Adventure on U.S. 19 N. in Pinellas Park.

Basic models, including the Garmin eTrex GPS and Magellan Explorist series can be found on the various Web sites for less than $100. For more information on GPS units or how to get started in geocaching, go to www.geocaching.com.

FAST FACTS

The Wild Side

Terry Tomalin's latest adventure segment, renamed "The Wild Side," will air on Bay Sports with Dick Crippen, on Monday on Catch 47 at 6:30, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.

Miss a segment? The series is online at outdoors.tampabay.com.

[Last modified November 23, 2007, 12:08:28]