by Jeff Nelson

In today’s digital age X no longer marks the spot of hidden treasure. Now all you need is an internet connection, a GPS receiver and the drive to get up and get out. The sport is Geocaching and since its introduction in 2000 it has swept the world and developed of following of tens of thousands.

The Global Position System was developed for military use and was allowed to be used by civilians with limited accuracy due to a program called Selective Availability. Due to the scrambling effect of SA Civilian GPS receivers were accurate within about 100 meters. On May 1, 2000 President Clinton announced the abolishment of Selective Availability after which we could enjoy GPS accuracy in the neighborhood of 10 Meters. Two days later Dave Ulmer hid the first Geocache, a bucket full of trinkets, just outside of Portland, OR and posted its location on the USENET newsgroup sci.geo.satellite-nav. By the end of the day someone else had found it and within days others had hidden more and the sport of geocaching was born. Today there are over 900 thousand active geocaches worldwide and they can all be found at www.geocaching.com.

So what does it take to get started geocaching? First and most importantly, a GPS receiver. GPS receivers start at around $100 for a basic model such as the Garmin eTrex H. Basic models will do everything necessary, but as with any hobby, as you become more involved in the sport you may find you’ll want a GPS with more advanced features. Whatever device is right for you, once you’ve picked it out, learn to use it well.

Now that you have your GPS power it up in your yard at home and record your location. Now go online to geocaching.com and choose Create a Membership. Basic Membership will work just fine but like GPS receivers you may find down the road that you’ll want the advanced options that come with the Premium Membership. Setup your account using the home coordinates you’ve already recorded with your GPS. Now go to your profile page and select Search for Nearest Caches From Your Home Coordinates on the right side of the page.

So what does all of this mean for Rexburg? Using the coordinates of Main and Center Street to base my search there are thirty-two active geocaches in a two mile radius of that intersection. Extend that radius out to ten miles and there are fifty-seven active caches. Take another step to a fifty mile radius and there are an amazing four hundred eighty-four active geocaches. That’s enough to keep any Geocacher busy for a while Caches come in many varieties. Among the caches found around Rexburg there are caches dedicated to our servicemen, caches dedicated to love struck BYUI students and caches dedicated to heart broke BYUI students. Caches come as large as ammo cans and rubbermaid containers.

They also come as small as custom made containers called nanos not much bigger than a pill capsule. There will be caches that you’ll spot as soon as you walk up to them and caches you’ll look right at and not know it because they are disguised so well. All containers contain some form of log for the user to sign to show that they have found it. The larger ones will contain trade items were the rule is take an item and leave an item of equal or greater value. When looking for caches it’s a good idea to be as discreet as possible and beware of muggles. Yes Harry Potter fans, muggles, and no it’s not my idea. In this case muggles are those who find a cache and remove it from it’s intended hiding place rendering it useless and causing great frustration for those of us looking for something that just isn’t there.

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