» On Trail September 2008 » Trails www.wta.org

Geocacher Abby Wolfe (nickname “hydnsek”) signs the logbook at a geocache with GPS in hand. Photo by Deb Brubaker Geocachers hide and seek out trinkets hidden all over the state. High-Tech Discovering the phenomenon of Some people hike for a view, an adrenaline The sport is relatively new. Before May 2000, rush or a victorious summit, and some combine satellite signals used by civilian and commer- that with the prospect of discovering hidden cial GPS units were intentionally corrupted by treasure. Troves of trinkets such as tiny plastic the U.S. military for national security reasons. animals, rhinestone jewelry and bent bottle Once the military perfected its ability to selec- caps are scattered over the globe, with more tively scramble the accuracy of GPS signals in than 6,000 of these geocaches in Washington. high-security zones, President Clinton discontin- Cachers use billion-dollar satellites to find ued the practice of degrading civilian GPS sig- Tupperware containers, or so the joke goes. nals, or what was called Selective Availability. After downloading coordinates from a website, This has allowed private and commercial GPS cachers use GPS units to find hidden caches. users to get readings that are accurate within Erinn They buy traveling stamped with their 10 to 20 meters. Before, the error could set you Unger cacher handles, not to mention clothes and off track by hundreds of meters. WTA Editorial Intern bumper stickers. It’s a fervent subculture, down Besides giving hunters and hikers more accu- [email protected] to the fact that outsiders like me who don’t rate readings, this decision had a more curious, have a clue are called “muggles.” and perhaps unanticipated, impact. It allowed www.wta.org September 2008 » Washington Trails On Trail «

GPS-toting civilians to search out more than those who may have a difficult time navigating 600,000 plastic containers full of tchotchkes hid- backcountry trails. There are caches that are Where is it den across every continent—including Antarc- handicapped accessible; others require seekers tica. to scuba-dive, paddle or even rappel to their lo- off-limits? Geocaching.com is the primary site for geo- cations. Many are cropping up in the middle of Use common sense. cachers to log caches they’ve placed and caches cities, strapped to parking meters or lampposts. Don’t lurk around they’ve found, plus communicate with other There are even virtual ones—including one in schools, or possible members. The website, and the company that Nepal, near Mount Everest—that require cach- terrorist targets manages it, called Groundspeak, was started in ers to take photographs or answer questions to (this includes large 2000 in . prove they found the correct location. bridges). The sport had its origins when, soon after Se- There is no right or wrong to caching, Wolfe lective Availability was turned off, a computer said, though she prefers caches that require a Railroad tracks consultant named Dave Ulmer hid a bucket full hike to get to. Her background is in orienteer- require a 150-foot of trinkets, including a can of beans (alas, no ing, and she likes getting “dirty and twiggy” in buffer on either longer allowed by geocaching regulations) in the woods. side of the tracks for the wilderness near Portland, . He gave “I’ve been to every county, done tons of back- safety. out the GPS coordinates on a web forum and country hiking, summitted Mount St. Helens Don’t cache on had one rule that has stuck: “Take some stuff, and climbed to Camp Muir on Mount Rainier, private property leave some stuff.” and more,” Wolfe wrote in an e-mail. “There (this includes Indian In recent years, the practice of geocaching are hikes of the month, annual trips to Mount reservations) has soared in popularity. There used to be Rainier [where she only hikes—geocaching isn’t Geocaching is pro- fewer than 15 caches on Whidbey Island and allowed there], loads of one-off hiking outings, hibited in now there are at least 60, according to Abby plus I do a lot of hiking just on my own, as do National Parks, Wolfe, an experienced geocacher, orienteer and other cachers,” she said. National Wildlife member of WTA. “While geocaching may have been more Refuges and Forest Her geocaching name is “hydnsek” (which is prevalent in the Northwest in its early years, it Service wilderness also, I discovered, on her license plate), and she is now a worldwide phenomenon,” said Laurie areas in the Cascades has found more than 4,000 caches and has hid- Freeman, the president of the Washington State of Washington. den 50 since she began geocaching in 2003. Geocaching Association “Being an Internet- She and I trekked around Cougar Mountain based sport, it has spread quickly across most Little Spokane River Regional Wildland Park to find just a small frac- of the globe.” Natural Area (this tion of those. “A lot of families got into it, that’s what made area within Riverside While I was on my hands and knees, comb- it take off,” Wolfe said. “It would be hard to find State Park) is closed ing through duff and feeling blindly behind a hiking area that doesn’t have caches these to caches. stumps, she stood behind me, offering vague days.” clues. When I finally found one of the caches Some cachers, Wolfe said, “wax nostalgic” For more and pried it open for inspection, she beamed, about the old days when there were fewer as if I were a child who had brought home an urban caches and when the activity was less info excellent report card. My prize was a small, popular. Check out: scuffed plastic crab, which I zipped into my “Early placers were more hikers, climbers and www.geocaching. jacket pocket for safekeeping. outdoor people,” she said. com Cougar Mountain isn’t the wildest place As with many recreational activities that oc- to cache, squeezed as it is next to Bellevue, cur in what can be delicate habitat, there are Get connected Newcastle and Issaquah, but it is accessible to critics and supporters of the practice. locally with the Washington State Geocaching Cachers seek treasure in high places as well as low. Caches can be found at the Red Top Association: Lookout in the Blewett Pass area, offering views and hidden treasures. Photo by Abby Wolfe www.geocachingwa. org » On Trail September 2008 » Washington Trails www.wta.org

“In my opinion, as a land manager, geocach- caching altogether, instead allowing only Sometimes it’s the ing is a great tool, as it allows us to connect virtual and earth caches (caches that educate journey that counts. with our users and to build bridges to poten- visitors on the geologic features of a location). Geocaching can tial users,” said Jim Smith, a ranger with King These areas include national parks and national involve everything County Parks and a geocacher. “When rules and recreation areas, national wildlife refuges and from gentle hik- guidelines of the geocaching organizations are U.S. Fish and Wildlife areas. The Forest Service ing to summiting followed, it turns out to be a win-win situation does not allow geocaches in any wilderness mountains to rap- for all.” areas in the Cascades in Washington state. pelling down cliffs. However, sometimes, there are those who “Most user-based activities in state parks Here, a hiker seeks don’t follow the rules. require a mutual give-and-take between users geocaches on the “All in all, most land managers have had and the agencies that govern these public Pacific Coast Trail great success with geocaching, although you lands,” said Laurie Freeman, or “halfcanadian,” to Sourdough Gap. always get a bad apple in every bunch,” Smith the president of the Washington State Geo- Photo by Abby Wolfe said. caching Association. “We all want to make Wolfe said that she is very conscious of sure that activities—whether they be mountain where she places her caches. biking, hiking, geocaching, , or even “Are they going to trample stuff [when look- bird watching—don’t leave a footprint behind. ing for the cache]?” she asks herself when Permits for geocaching are one way to educate selecting a site. everyone on the importance of no-trace activities.” Geocaching.com and the Washington State Responsible cachers abide by a code similar Geocaching Association place strict guidelines to the familiar Leave No Trace rule: Cache In, “Different agen- on cachers. If an improperly placed cache is Trash Out. On their way to a site, participants cies have dif- submitted for review or found, the Web page are asked to pick up trash, and there are orga- will be archived. Caches are prohibited from nized clean-up events. fering opinions being placed near possible terrorist targets “Geocachers put in many volunteer hours on geocaching, (like bridges) and instead of unmarked ammo of service to help the environment by doing although this is cans and capped PVC pipes, caches are usually service work from picking up litter … to large stored in clearly labeled containers, because in events that entail days of pulling noxious due to the origi- the past, geocache containers have been mis- weeds, removing garbage dumps or rebuilding nal visions on taken for explosive devices. trail systems,” Smith said. “These volunteers how the lands In Washington state parks, permits are re- save agencies thousands of needed dollars.” quired, to ensure cache owners maintain their “The impact of geocaching, in theory, is mini- are to be man- caches properly and so rangers can make sure mal,” Wolfe said. aged. that caches aren’t placed in environmentally or Wolfe tries to place caches in rarely fre- historically sensitive areas, Smith said. quented scenic areas where hikers would not —Ranger Jim “Different agencies have differing opinions on normally go or on trails with rich histories. ” geocaching, although this is due to the original “I try to take people to interesting spots that Smith, King visions on how the lands are to be managed,” they might not have seen,” she said. “Some- County parks he said. times it’s about the journey.”  Some agencies have banned physical geo-