A treasure hunt, the high-tech way

Geocaching is family fun, but it requires various skills and provides unexpected rewards.

from the July 16, 2007 edition

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Geocaching operates on an honor system. A cardinal rule dictates that if you remove an item, you must replace it with something else. The vast majority of caches also contain a log for the finders to sign.

This day's adventures were simple geocaches, not the more coveted "First-to-Finds." Those – referred to as FTF's in geocaching jargon – usually yield items of greater value, but are also harder to come by. Competition to acquire them is fierce, not only because of the upgraded booty, but also because the finder can then lay claim to the bragging rights that FTF's command.

Our day's adventure began at 9 a.m. in an upscale, gated development with a pedestrian easement. This allowed us access to the open-space preserve that began at the end of the street. The trail, initially flat and parallel to a golf course, quickly rose in elevation.

After a 15-minute trek, we were rewarded with panoramic views of the course and the valley below. The golfers we had initially encountered became mere blips in the 180-degree vista we now enjoyed.

We continued onward, eyeing a lone chimney 500 feet ahead – the remnant of a homestead from decades ago. Taking a side trail off the main path, we descended an embankment thick with brush to get to it. The two boys in our party demonstrated their caching prowess by ferreting out a cache stealthily hidden among the cinder blocks.

Then we set forth on the last leg of our journey. This cache was named "Honey and Water Don't Mix," which seemed a peculiar name until we arrived at a large eucalyptus tree adjacent to an old watering trough.

From this vantage point, we could see a bee farm in the clearing below us – and the meaning of the cache's name became clear.

Neither of this day's caches was in­ordinately difficult to find. Like Moses in the reeds, a little bending back of the brush was usually all that was necessary to reveal the bounty we sought.

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