Published: May 03, 2008 06:32 pm         

Area part of worldwide treasure hunt game

I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago so I missed a Hampshire County Commission meeting there.

On the agenda for the meeting was a scheduled appearance by Angela Barbe to talk about Worldwide Treasure Hunt.

The item caught my attention and I called County Clerk Sharon Link to find out what it was about. She suggested I get in touch with Barbe and ask her.

Still curious I gave her a call and she told me that her request to the county commissioners was for a site in the county for a hiding a geocache.

Geocaching, she said, promotes tourism, healthy lifestyles, family involvement and education.

Geocaching is, indeed, very much a family-oriented activity that promotes learning and the environment with technology.

I learned about geocaching during a weekend at Canaan Valley Resort about a year and half ago where the relatively new pastime was being promoted as an alternative to some of the more strenuous activities on the ski slopes.

It offers lots of opportunities to get up off the couch and go and enjoy the scenery and use your imagination to follow clues that will lead you to find the caches that can be located just about anywhere.

If you like a mystery, it helps.

Defined as a sport, geocaching also is very much a worldwide activity and there are unique opportunities for geocachers to gather and get to know one another.

Basically, geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for Global Positioning System users.

If you don’t know how to use a GPS unit, this is a good way to learn.

Individuals and organizations set up caches around the world and share the locations on the Internet.

GPS users then use the location coordinates on the Internet to find the caches.

What one might find in a cache is pretty much up to the hiders and finders and it is ever changing as new people join the game.

Finders of caches may take something from the cache but must leave something in its place.

Now, I don’t use a GPS device but I understand that if you have one in your car it can provide the directions to get you where you want to go if you program in your destination and want to rely on it to give you accurate directions.

In defining the GPS unit for geocaching it is described as an electronic device than determines your approximate location (within about 6 to 20 feet) on the planet. Coordinates are given in latitude and longitude and you can use the unit to navigate from your current location to another location, in this case to find the cache.

Some units have their own maps, built-in electronic compasses and voice navigation depending on their complexity.

GPS units cost from $100 to $1,000, depending on the capabilities you want in one. You can find the devices at boat supply stores and some camping stores or you can purchase one online.

A GPS phone will also work.

In geocaching all you need to do is be able to enter what is called a “waypoint” where the geocache is hidden.

To play you need to know how to enter waypoints into the unit, instructions for which should come with the GPS unit.

Rules are pretty simple:

• Take something from the cache.

• Leave something in the cache.

• Write about it in the logbook.

Where you place a cache is up to you and that’s where the Hampshire County Commission comes in.

Barbe requested permission to hide one in the county and received blanket permission to hide a cache in any location that doesn’t interfere with other people.

Caches can come in many forms but the first item placed in it is the logbook and in its simplest form there is a logbook and nothing else.

The logbook contains information from the founder of the cache, in this case Barbe, and notes from the cache’s visitors. It can contain much valuable, rewarding and entertaining information. It might contain information about nearby attractions, coordinates to other, unpublished, caches or even jokes written by visitors.

If you get information from a logbook you should give some back, according to the etiquette of the game. At the least, you are to leave the date and time you visited the cache.

Larger caches might be a waterproof plastic bucket placed within the local terrain. There will be the requisite logbook and any number of more or less valuable items from maps and books to CDs and videos, photos, money, jewelry, antiques, tools and other items. Items should be individually packaged in clear plastic zipper bags to protect them from the elements.

Common sense indicates that there are some things that should not be a cache since people of all ages, from youngsters to senior citizens find the caches. Food is a definite no-no because, for the most part, the cache will be located in an outdoor area and you don’t want the animals finding it first and destroying the cache.

Caches should never be moved, they are basically the property of the hider and a responsible cache owner will check on it periodically to make sure it remains intact.

More information about the game and its variations, including more specific instructions for participating, can be found on geocaching.com.

Let’s welcome geocaching to Hampshire County and enjoy!

Mona Ridder can be reached at monaridder@verizon.net.