The website: www.geocaching.com will give you a detailed explanation of this fun/educational – family/individual - recreation/hobby, but I learned about it first hand from Murphy resident, David Hawkins.

When I asked David about his favorite pastime and sport, and yes, geocaching is considered a sport, he said, “If you like orienteering, a compass, being sneaky and scavenger hunts, you’ll like geocaching.” The website, mentioned above, defines geocaching as an entertaining adventure game for GPS (Global Positioning System) users.

The term geocaching is formed from “geo,” the part that refers to geography, and “caching” the part that pertains to a “cache” or storage, and also means a place to hide things. That part of the game I thought might be easier until I saw how a “cache” is often disguised and hidden. “If it was a bear it could bite you,” comes to mind.

The nuts and bolts of this adventure hobby involve two parts. You can be a “finder” or you can be a “hider.” Chances are you will want to be both. If you are the “finder” you will need three things: 
1- Access to www.geocaching.com where you will find the location/coordinates for a “cache” that is already hidden. There are various skill levels, often with themes.
2- A --GPS  (they begin in price at $89)  to enter the location of the cache. These are snazzy hand-held devices that can do everything but make coffee—but maybe what you’re looking for came from Starbucks.    3-  Tenacity – it’s not always easy to find the hidden treasure!  David says sometimes he has returned to the coordinates of a hidden cache several times before actually finding the logbook to record his find. 

If you are the “hider” you will need three things:
1- An item and/or just a logbook to hide for “finders” to find/sign.  The cache is never removed from it’s location as the sport is either in finding what has been hidden or being “sneaky” as David says, to hide something where it’s so obvious that’s it’s completely overlooked. Not only camouflaging the cache but protecting it from the elements is important for longevity of the cache..
2- A GPS to tell you the coordinates of where you are hiding your cache.
3- Access to www.geocaching.com to post the listing of your cache. You’ll post the coordinates for your cache on the website in hopes finders will be intrigued with your chosen theme or a particular clue you might include. It may take a couple of days before your cache actually appears on the website for “finders’ to see since the website founders receive many listings every day.

According to David, there are about 50 caches hidden in Murphy right now that he is aware of.  He has been finding cashes since 2000 and to date he has found/logged about 550. Since this is a worldwide sport, wherever you travel, you can always play.  And it’s a great family activity that is not only fun but educational. 

David also “hides” caches and he enjoys going back to the log books to see the comments and notes left by “finders.” For example on the day of our interview, David purchased a small tin of mints from Starbucks that he was going to take the mints out of and paint/camouflage the tin before hiding it. He was considering using a magnet to place the tin underneath “something” where it wouldn’t be visible upon first glance. He showed me what might be a typical hiding place where geocachers would place a cache. Don’t get excited, he didn’t leave the tin there!    PHOTO

The GPS device will get the finder up to 6 feet of the cache. Then it’s up to the sleuthing skills of the finder to pinpoint the exact location of the cache. David said it wasn’t unusual at all to see people wandering around a tree or crawling along on the ground when looking for a cache. He said he has been asked many times what he was doing – from police officers as well, when he was trying to find a cache.
 
There are many variations of this game as well.  I’ve just mentioned the basics here, so  again I refer you to the geocaching website that will give you all of the simple ways to have fun this summer and all year long. And if you see David Hawkins (or others) walking around in circles, looking high and low, or just seemingly studying poles, benches or bushes - chances are he/they are adding to the list of “found” caches or deciding where to “hide” the newest cache.

Visit:  www.geocaching.com