Game players use system for treasure hunting trips

COLUMBUS - Unbeknownst to most local residents, treasures are lying unclaimed in Columbus.

Nestled in trees, hollows and other nooks and crannies are geocaches - stashes hidden by enthusiasts for enthusiasts.

Geocaching is a modern-day, global version of hide-and-seek. Using global positioning systems, hiders provide the coordinates, or clues to the coordinates, of caches, for others with GPS units who want to find them.

There to coordinate the effort is Geocaching.com, a Web site that lists the cache sites. The site allows individuals to search by area. There are 12 such caches within five miles of Columbus.

David Therrien thrives in the great outdoors.

"I always liked hiking and nature, and I started letterboxing, which is kind of similar, but you don't use a GPS system," Therrien said. While browsing the Web about letterboxing, which requires a compass to pace off distances and clues to solve the puzzle, he came across a link to geocaching.

He found that the number of geocachers far exceeded letterboxers, so he purchased a GPS unit and jumped on the bandwagon.

That was two and a half years ago. Since then, he has found 250 caches in at least five states.

"I'm from Massachusetts originally, so when I went back there for the holidays I took my dad out geocaching and showed him what it was about. I've been in Chicago and Minnesota on business trips, so if there's one around there I go after work," Therrien said.

Through his searches on the ground and on the Web, Therrien has become acquainted with the geocaching community, which in part inspired him to hide his own stash. The joy lies, he said, in challenging his fellow hunters and seeing who finds his stash.

But Therrien admits his are easier finds than most. Often when he goes, he takes his children with him. By planting a cache that kids can help find, the adventure is shared by the whole family. Others are not so obvious. One cache in Nebraska, titled Mission Impossible, has yet to be found to his knowledge.

Some geocachers, Therrien said, are more hardcore than others, and quite a community has built up around the game.

In July, he will be going to a party in Mahoney State Park to celebrate two participants who have found their 1,000th caches.

With GPS units in one hand, and a printout from the geocaching Web site between us, Allan Vyhnalek and this reporter program in coordinates and head off to make our first find. We are seeking a micro-cache, or one in which there is no treasure, only a log to sign.

"We're just looking for a little vial. It's not going to be very big," Vyhnalek said.

First, we must find a landmark, where a mathematical clue provides us with another set of coordinates for the actual stash.

Our circular ramblings lead us to a grove of trees, all of which are in the 20-foot accuracy zone for the coordinates. An encoded clue on the printout gives us some idea of where the vial is, but still it requires some searching.

We decide the vial must be in the crook of one tree, although neither of us is tall enough to peer in.

"I've got to be brave for a minute, I'm sticking my hand where I can't see," Vyhnalek said.

Better him than me, I think, looking at other places in the area that are less risky for unprotected fingers. When I find the cache, scraping some of the skin off my knuckles to retrieve it, we sign the log and replace the vial, hiding it back where we found it for the next seekers.

Part of the fun is the secrecy surrounding geocaching.

"When you're out on the weekends and when there's a lot of people around, you have to be careful to hide the stash so that no one who doesn't know what you're doing comes over and takes it," Vyhnalek said.

Bitten by the geocaching bug, we retreat to the car for another clue for a different stash, this one located more than a half-mile away.

Because there is an actual treasure stash at the next site, Vyhnalek grabs a pen to leave, as it is rude to take a prize without leaving one.

The vial had been located in a park, where poison ivy, snakes and general creepy-crawly nuisances are at a minimum. The next cache was located in the woods.

We finally find the jug, open it up and sign the log book.

The last signature read, "Took lock with keys, left bracelet ... Thanks, it was a nice walk." The entry was dated June 14, 2005, which Vyhnalek recognized as the same day. It had been almost a month since it had been found prior to that. The stash has been in place since April 2003.

Once a stash is located, the finder can log on to the geocaching Web site and log their discovery (although keeping the location secret) and the number of finds they've made thus far.

Vyhlanek said that these finds were cakewalks compared to some stashes. In the cities, he said, people hide them in parking garages, and at that point, elevation readings on the GPS unit come into play. "You're within 50 feet, but you're not on the right floor," he said.

Reach Heather Koontz at 563-7528 or hkoontz @columbustelegram.com.