Families discover geocaching

“It’s good exercise and it’s fun. You get to find something.”

Kathy Dusey

Canonsburg, Pa.

Geocaching is similar to treasure hunting but uses global positioning systems.

FINLEYVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Deep-six the Nintendo and the computer games.

It’s time to properly break in those fancy four-wheel drive SUVs and new hiking boots because geocaching is more popular and family-friendly than ever.

Previously reserved mostly for high-tech extreme sports junkies, geocaching is becoming more accessible to a larger segment of the population, as beginners discovered earlier this month at Mingo Creek County Park in Washington County.

About five years ago, there were four geocaches hidden in the park. Now, there are 22, at least two of which were hidden for or by children.

A group of about 17 participants learned how global positioning system devices work and the history of geocaching, and got some hands-on experience finding hidden geocaches.

The program was sponsored by the Washington County Parks and Recreation department and the Three Rivers Informal Geocaching Organization, or TRIGO for short.

Geocaching is similar to treasure hunting. Players use global positioning systems to zero in on certain locations where geocaches, sometimes called just caches, are hidden by other players.

The devices work on the same principle as automotive global positioning navigation systems — they gather location data that’s triangulated from satellite signals. As more satellites became available for nonmilitary use, a GPS can now direct a user to within 9 feet of a location in the woods.

Usually, the caches are waterproof plastic containers or ammunition canisters full of swag, such as small toys, trinkets or other mementos of nominal value that players trade for other items. Each cache also contains a log book that players must sign to prove they found it.

Caches can vary in difficulty. Some can take repeated attempts in underwater or other difficult environments to find.

Purists prefer locations such as Mingo Creek County Park where walking on unpaved ground and communing with nature is required.

Occasionally, caches contain geocoins or travel bugs, special items identified by serial number that move quickly from cache to cache, sometimes with a mission.

“It’s like hiking with a purpose,” said John Motto, of Hempfield, Westmoreland County, better known as “Quest Master” on Internet discussion boards where many enthusiasts gather to discuss everything geocaching.

As with computers and other electronics, some of the children who turned out at the program seemed more adept at learning how to use the devices than the adults.

Dennie Dusey, 11, of Canonsburg, designed a Star Wars cache in Mingo Park that features an ammunition box covered with stars and a “dark galaxy” atmosphere around the cache with glowing stars affixed to nearby trees.

“It’s good exercise and it’s fun,” said his mother, Kathy Dusey. “You get to find something.”

The Dusey’s became interested in family-caching through Lenore Dressel and her daughters Heather and Brenda, or the “Dressel Dragons” as fellow geocachers call them.

Lenore Dressel, of Canonsburg, said 5-year-old Heather has been geocaching since she was 2 years old, when she thought of the caches as treasure.

“When we were going geocaching, we were finding treasure,” she said. “I was carrying her with me.”

As part of the hands-on portion of the program, Jim Wellington, of Union, one of the organizers of TRIGO, and Jeff Donahue of the parks department, led the McAnulty/DeCortie family, of North Strabane, on an expedition to solve the “Toddler Toon Trivia” cache.

Placed by Wellington in 2005, the cache is nearly impossible to solve without children.

“I wanted to make this one very, very family-friendly,” he said.

With hand-held GPS devices, the family walked a trail following on-screen arrows until they are within about 10 feet of the target. At that time, Wellington said, it’s better to put away the GPS and start looking for hiding places or things that look out of place.

Almost immediately, a camouflage spray-painted, plastic container was found in a hollow area of a downed tree by Virginia McAnulty’s and Rob DeCortie’s 8-year-old son, Jonah.

But, it’s not that easy.

This cache turns out to be a “puzzle cache,” meaning the player must solve a puzzle — in this case it’s six multiple-choice kid questions — to receive the coordinates of the real cache.

The questions aren’t easy for the grown-ups: Can you name all of the Wiggles? And, who is the host of “Disney’s Playhouse?”

Even for the McAnulty/DeCortie children it isn’t easy — they usually watch public television.

But, after much conferring, Jonah and his sisters, Esmee, 7, and Siena, 4, and Wellington’s daughter Cierra, 6, decide on the answers and the corresponding coordinates. Without even realizing it, they’re learning geography and some math.

On the walk to the second stage of the cache about a quarter-mile away, the children get a lesson in nature as well, when Donahue points to marks recently left in sugar maple trees from yellow-bellied sapsuckers. The pure syrup pours down several trees.

Children also learn history because caches are often left at important historical and cultural sites and can now be found in 100 countries. The sport is becoming so popular, there are more than 900 caches in a 50-mile radius around the Point in Pittsburgh.

In October, western Pennsylvania will host an annual geocoin exposition that’s expected to draw more than 500 enthusiasts to the Holiday Inn Meadowlands in North Strabane, Wellington said.

Following the frozen trail to a small, icy waterfall, Esmee complains every few minutes about the cold, but declines her mother’s offers to return her to the car to warm up. She’s especially thankful a moment or two later, when she discovers the final cache, also hidden near a log.

This one is a .50-caliber ammunition box full of toys, balloons, stickers and the like.

The kids are excited and the parents are thrilled, too, to find an activity that’s fun for the whole family.

“I’m already pretty addicted,” said DeCortie.