Hiking the Web
by James Roland
Twenty-four government satellites scan the Earth and lock down on my position. I am sweaty and covered in dirt. The jagged terrain and scorched underbrush cut my legs as I scramble up a steep hill. At the top I allow myself a mouthful of water, survey the paths ahead and determine to follow the ridge. I move again and the satellites track my direction, elevation, and speed. The U.S. Department of Defense launched them and they can track anything on the face of the Earth with an accuracy of fourteen feet. Now they are tracking me.
I'm not a fugitive from the law. I haven't blown anything up or even fired a gun (not since I popped off tin cans in my Grandpa's backyard), and I only owe two dollars and fifty cents in library fines. So why am I scrambling over boulders while the apex of a billion dollar defense program tracks me from outer space?
I'm playing a game.
To be more specific, I'm Geocaching, a modern treasure hunt that spans more than two hundred countries with more than 400,000 possible treasures.
The whole game is based on the Global Positioning System (GPS), which functions via those twenty-four satellites. They fly above the Earth in such an intricate pattern that, from any point on the Earth at any given time, there are at least five satellites within line of sight.
If you want to join the game, you'll need a GPS receiver. They vary in price and complexity. Five years ago, when they averaged $1,000 to $2,000, Geocaching was an elite game played by a few rich scientists who were just excited for a reason to go outdoors. Today, even the most basic handheld GPS device (starting out about ) runs on a technology so impressive it makes the average male hold onto his dreams of flying cars and laser swords.
Powered by two AA batteries, a GPS device must compute the distance of three separate satellites by timing their Pseudo Random Signal (which is to say, a signal that travels at the speed of light and is so complex that it appears completely random). The device must then cross-reference its measurements with a fourth satellite to eliminate error, sync itself with the satellite's atomic clock and pinpoint the correct coordinate by finding the single algebraic element that will allow all four sets of coordinates to intersect. It does this in about one minute; sometimes longer if you drop it. Which I did . . . a few times.
GPS has been in development since the 1960s and in full use since the 1990s, but the United States intentionally degraded the signal for commercial users until May 1, 2000, when the Clinton Administration ended "Select Availability."
As a result, commercial GPS devices became ten times more accurate. Two days later, a GPS user named Dave Ulmer decided to celebrate by hiding a box of prizes and posting the coordinates online. The first man to find the treasure was Mike Teague, who in turn posted about it online and, in July of that year, a man named Jeremy Irish found Teague's post, contacted him directly, and geocaching.com was born.
Irish took over fully in September of 2000 and created the company Groundspeak, which specializes in online outdoor games. This seeming contradiction attracted players from all over the world and the game grew at an incredible rate.
In an interview on Cape Talk radio exactly one year after the first treasure or "Geocache" was hidden in Oregon, Charles Merry, a university professor at the University of Cape Town and an avid Geocacher, claims there were less than five Geocaches in South Africa. A simple search on geocaching.com revealed that as of February, 2006 there were 650 Geocaches in South Africa.
In California, within a 50 mile radius of my house, there are over 4,000, with more appearing every week. This made it hard to choose, but I finally settled on one and started to play.
The rules are simple. Someone hides a Geocache, which is usually a large Tupperware containing random items of a particular theme. Then they log on to the Geocaching website to post the coordinates, name the Geocache, describe it, and rate its difficulty. Then another Geocacher finds the Geocache and removes an item, leaving an object of equal or greater value. There is usually a small notepad and pencil so the successful Geocacher can leave a message for the next person.
There are a few variations for the more experienced Geocacher. Geo Coins and Travel Bugs each offer a special reward for treasure hunters and both can be purchased through the Geocaching website and worldwide retail affiliates. The Travel Bug is simply a dog-tag with a serial number that you register on the website. Each Travel Bug has a specific mission set for it by its owner. Each Geocacher that finds the Travel Bug is required to obey its specific rules, or leave it where it lies for another to find. For example, a Travel Bug hidden outside Las Vegas is on its way to Amsterdam, one Geocache at a time. It is currently hiding in Michigan, waiting to hitch another ride.
There are also multi-caches, which use a series of Geocaches to provide clues and coordinates for a final Geocache that is not posted on the website, and mystery caches, which involve an intricate puzzle that must be solved before the actual Geocache can be found.
Even without these variations, the basic game is difficult and unsettlingly addictive. A slight variation in coordinates can mean the difference between a nice stroll down a well-worn path or a 200 foot vertical climb on crumbling rocks. A GPS receiver will show you the most direct route to a Geocache, but not necessarily the fastest.
One time my starting coordinates were blocked by a construction site and I was forced to start from a cul de sac less than a half mile away. But even this slight change in my approach made me miss the mouth of a wide ravine that would have led me directly to the prize. After scrambling up the wrong path, back-tracking, and collapsing at the top of a high peak, I was able to see the mistake. I promptly solved the problem by sliding back down to the car and driving home.
This wasn't my first mistake, but previous snafus had been correctable. For my first Geocache I drove to a local park and my GPS indicated I was less than a half mile from the prize. I parked and followed the trail directly to a brick wall. I crossed this hurtle, skirted private property, and pulled myself up a steep embankment of loose dirt by using a metal fence for a ladder. Then I crossed a housing development and climbed a ridge where I found the Geocache . . . and a nice paved road twenty feet to my right. When I logged online, later that day, I found what I'd missed: starting coordinates from that very same road. Still, snafus can make for a special experience. If I had started where I was supposed to start, the adventure would have been over in ten minutes. The obstacles are half the fun.
This is part of the reason why Geocaching is so addictive. For a few short hours your entire purpose lies before you in a straight line: find the prize. It doesn't matter that most Geocaches contain a few scribbled notes and random toys from those quarter machines at the front of supermarkets (although in some instances, Geocaches have contained CDs and rare coins).
You are part of a new culture, and when you go Geocaching you leave your old world at the trailhead. A new set of values sets in. When you're searching for a Geocache and you don't know what to do next, you can always put your right foot in front of your left and keep going. In this sense the Geocache takes the place of something greater, a very real, tactile accomplishment. At the end you can hold it in your dirty hands. No matter who you were before – back where the houses are, back with the cars and the paved roads and the white collared shirts and neck-ties – in the hills you are a throwback. You are Lewis or you are Clark. You are a settler, you are a soldier and, if the Geocache is found, you are a success.
For more information you can visit:
www.geocaching.com