When someone talks of technology and an adventure game the picture is usually one of someone sitting in front of a computer. With the outdoor sporting activity known as geocaching, modern day treasure hunters travel the countryside to search for hidden treasures and report their findings back to a website.
Instead of using a map and a compass, the hi-tech treasure hunters use a global positioning system (GPS) receiver to find their treasures, called geocaches, or simply caches.
The cache, the hidden treasure, can be anything from a small waterproof container you might find in a lunch box, to a large metal ammo box. Inside the container is a logbook where the treasure hunter enters the date they discovered it. Also inside the container, the treasure itself can be some type of toys or trinkets that can be collected. According to the standard rules of the game, if you take something from a geocache, you leave something similar in its place for the next seeker.
Geocaches are currently placed in over 100 countries around the world and on all seven continents, including Antarctica.
The Birth of Geocaching
GPS (Global Positioning System) technology was created by the U.S. Department of Defense in the 1970s. Initially, the highest quality signal was reserved for military use. For national security reasons civilian use GPS signals were allowed at a lower level of quality. Selective Availability was name given to describe the intentional degradation of civilian use GPS signals.
In May 2000, to make GPS more responsive to civil and commercial users worldwide, the U.S. government turned off Selective Availability. Within 24 hours, Dave Ulmer placed the first geocache and posted its coordinates online. Within three days, two people used their own GPS receivers to find the container and shared their experiences online, and the sport of geocaching was born.
Geocaching Resources
Part of the way the game is played is to report back to the geocaching community and track caches as they are found. Currently there several websites used to track and report caches.
Geocaching.com proclaims itself as "The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site" began in September 2000. There is no charge for a standard membership which allows users to see coordinates for most caches in its database. A premium membership is offered as well which includes advanced search tools and caches designed for premium members. Geocaching.com catalogs geocaches from all around the world, listing over a million caches. Each cache is reviewed by regional cache reviewers before publication.
Navicache.com is the second oldest site for posting caches. The site offers a great deal of information on getting started in the sport, as well as a forum, and a database with thousands of geocaches logged for any region of the United States. Navicache.com does have international geocaches, but the majority of them are located in Germany. Free registration is required to access many features of the site.
Opencaching.com, a fairly new site created by GPS manufacturer Garmin, offers a free online community for creating, sharing and finding geocaches around the world. Caches are approved automatically and coordinates are available without an account.
Geocaching and Tourism
As geocaching is catching on and growing as an activity, tourism organizations are seizing the opportunity to promote their areas.
In Oregon, where the activity first started back in 2000, the communities of Estacada, Canby, and North Clackamas have launched a combined geocaching event to commemorate that first cache planting a decade ago. Participants can claim a commemorative geocoins from the local chamber of commerce after they find 10 caches in the area.
Recently Delaware tourism officials expanded the state geocaching trail, first launched in October 2009. To promote the trail, like the Oregon event, the first 200 participants receive a special limited edition coin for completing the event, in this case, to visit eight cache sites in each of Delaware's three counties.
Sources:
- Positioning, Navigation, and Timing
- Selective Availability explained
- Oregon Events on Geocaching
- Technology and tourism coming together in Delaware
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