A treasure hunt that isn’t just for pirates

Hide and seek reaches a whole new level in this high-tech global game

Story by Kate Via, photos provided by Kate Woodward

Lisa Fisher is addicted. On The Appalachian trail, she returned two times and searched for nearly two hours to find the source of her addiction. And finally, she found it, disguised as the stalk of a cattail.

Lisa isn’t alone. Nearly two million people worldwide spend weekends and afternoons, Global Positioning System in hand, in search of hidden film canisters, ammo boxes, and Tupperware containers. This is the world of geocaching, a global GPS treasure hunt game, of which all seven continents, including Antarctica, are represented and more than 100 countries play.

Fisher geocaches with her husband, Bill, and her two daughters, Nikki and Kira. Inside each cache is a log, and on each log Fisher and her family record their visit with the date and their codename, BLINK4f, a play off their initials. Caches may also include “swag,” small tokens of little monetary value, which can be taken by the finder.

“If you take a piece of swag, you’re supposed to replace it with other swag,” Fisher says. “And most of the time, the swag is little trinket-y kind of stuff. People put their own personal tokens; because my name is Fisher I have these little wooden fish.”

A cache must also be replaced exactly where it was found, Fisher explains, and then the find must be logged on the geocaching Web site. Checking the site before heading out to find a cache is also helpful, she says, since it can give you clues as to what you’re looking for and will tell you if a cache has gone missing.

“You always want to read the logs before you go to find one because you could go to find one and make yourself crazy looking for it, and then go back and realize that the last three people who went looking for it also didn’t find it, which means it was probably stolen and you’re wasting your time,” Fisher explains.

People unfamiliar with geocaching may stumble upon caches, and not knowing what they are, remove them from their location. This is what geocachers call “muggling,” in reference to non-magical people from Harry Potter.

“There’s this thing called CITO. It means cache in, trash out. Geocachers are usually very environmentally-conscious, and you would usually cache with at least a plastic bag to use whenever you find trash. So while you’re out there caching, you’re also trying to help clean up the environment.”

Because of this, geocachers try to remain discreet while on the hunt, often picking up trash along the way, as not to draw attention to themselves. “There’s this thing called CITO,” Fisher explains. “It means cache in, trash out. Geocachers are usually very environmentally-conscious, and you would usually cache with at least a plastic bag to use whenever you find trash. So while you’re out there caching, you’re also trying to help clean up the environment.”

She described a CITO event she went to last spring, where she helped clean up a state park in Vermont. “I actually got to meet a lot of these people,” she says.

Fisher also finds geocaching a good form of exercise and a way to get out of the house. “When you’re out there, you’re thinking, if I weren’t doing this, I would be sitting inside.”

And one doesn’t have to be a hiker or marathon runner to geocache, with terrain difficulties rated from one to five on the geocaching Web site. Fisher’s mom has neuropathy and is losing feeling in her feet and legs, but she geocaches with Fisher on occasion, choosing to seek out caches with low terrain ratings.

“It’s a sport for everybody,” Fisher says. “Anybody can do it. A terrain rating of one, by geocaching guidelines, means a person in a wheelchair should be able to get to it.” But she says those up for more of a challenge have plenty of caches to choose from. One cache, hidden in a cave in Lake Champlain, is only accessible by kayak, she explains, while others require major hiking, such as one she found hidden on the top of Poke-o-Moonshine. “You had to commit to an hour of hiking straight uphill,” she says.

Other caches around the world, Fisher continues, require more intense sports such as scuba diving or rock climbing, to get to.

Kate Woodward, who geocaches with her boyfriend, Brandon Trombly, has been geocaching for six months, after family friends from Massachusetts got them hooked. Woodward has yet to plant any caches, but enjoys finding them. “We haven’t had a chance to plant one yet, we’re waiting for the snow to melt so we can find the ideal hiding spot,” she says. “For Christmas, Brandon had me go geocaching for my presents in the woods behind his house.”

“It has given us something new and interesting to do together. On several occasions, we have included our friends and family, hoping to get others interested in geocaching — they seemed to enjoy it very much.”

So far, the couple has found 46 caches in New York, Montreal, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Woodward and Trombly, like the Fisher family, have their own name that they log each time they find a cache. “It has given us something new and interesting to do together,” she explains. “On several occasions, we have included our friends and family, hoping to get others interested in geocaching — they seemed to enjoy it very much.”

Jack Barrette, who has been geocaching for two years now after getting involved through the Boy Scouts, encourages others to get involved. “Try it and you will enjoy the hunt and the information and treasures left by geocachers,” he says.

While geoaching can be enjoyed year-round in the Adirondacks, both Fisher and Woodward agree that it’s easiest in the spring and fall, since some caches get hidden by snow during the winter months.

“We have done some caches in the winter and found it much more difficult with the snow, yet we have found several in the snow and when you do, it’s extra rewarding,” Woodward says. “Living where we do, the freezing temperatures make it difficult to spend much time outside caching as well. The easiest time to geocache is in the spring when plants and such haven’t taken over.”

Barrette says he only geocaches when the weather permits.

“It’s so much fun to be outside enjoying nature and also looking for caches, not to mention getting some exercise and spending time with friends.”

But despite the limitations of the North Country winter, all agree that it’s a great form of exercise and a new way to explore different areas. “You can find many caches that actually require you to hike various distances,” Woodward explains. “It’s so much fun to be outside enjoying nature and also looking for caches, not to mention getting some exercise and spending time with friends.”

She described one multi-cache, a cache with various steps, which took her nearly four hours of hiking to complete. “We’ve been able to stumble upon beautiful places in this area we never even knew existed because of geocaching,” she says.

Have you ever heard of geocaching?