Agnew's Mind He's got a long journey ahead of him.

The Hunt…is in Your Own Backyard

    by Mike Agnew Jr.

Did you ever watch a movie like The DaVinci Code or The Librarian and think to yourself, "I wish i could solve mysteries like that."  Well... you can't.  Your life is boring and you will never be chased by ninja assassins on motorcycles.   However, if you are still down for riddles, math, decrypting messages, and sneaking around then I think we may have found the answer.

It's called Geocaching (Ge oh cash ing).  Bill discovered it the other night and spread the word to me.  I, in turn, became very intrigued.  I did a little research and realized that this is not a new concept and actually a lot of people participate in it.  Geocaching is kind of like a worldwide scavenger hunt.  People go out and leave what are called caches in different spots around the globe.  Most consist of a 35mm film container with a piece of paper in it.  When you find it you can add your name to the list of successful hunters found on the inside.

But, Mike, How do I find these beloved treasures?

Well, I'm glad you asked.  For the most part you need GPS.  You will need some sort of device that you can use to look up various longitude and latitudes.  Even Garmins and Tom-Toms can join in on the fun.  Here's the deal.  You go onto a geocaching website like geocaching.com.  From there you can search for caches in your area and even look at them on a google map.  You can even download the listing to your Garmin, Iphone, Droid, or other App-phone with GPS.

I tried this last night.  I looked up about a hundred caches in the Warminster-Hosham area.  I dropped them on my phone and left for the (crowbar).  Then I went to pick up Amanda at the Warminster train station.  When I got there I had some time to kill so I opened up my cache tracker (GeoBeagle).  To my surprise, there was a cache not 30 feet away.  I was not really prepared to walk out in the cold but I could not resist getting a cache under my belt while waiting for the train.  As I got closer to the "X" on my map the app switched over to a compass mode and led me right into a street sign.  I looked the sign up and down.  I could find nothing out of the ordinary except a marines sticker and Obama bumper sticker.  Rats!  I ran back to my car to warm up.  What am I looking for? It was positively nerve racking.  The train pulled in and I had no more time for my hunt.  I told Amanda about this world wide scavenger hunt as soon as she sat in my car.  (On a side note, watching people, grown men and women, get off of the 6'o'clock train and trample each other as they race to their cars and peel out of the parking lot is an amazing sight.  I never get sick of it.  It probably deserves it's own post and video.)  Amanda told me that her dad used to do something similar to this back in the day called "rallying".

So, we get back to my apartamento and eat some food.  Bill gets home and I tell him about my adventure.  I also tell him that from watching a few videos I found that caches could be magnets and that I probably overlooked the cache thinking I was looking for a sticker or tube of some kind.  We instantly strap on hats and mittens and race out the door to continue the hunt.  We make it out to the sign and reexamine it with flashlights like true treasure hunters.  Again, we find nothing.  We try another cache on the way home and still nothing.  Eventually we think that maybe these caches are stolen or missing.  We all decide that more research is needed.

When we get back to the apartment, Amanda quickly discovers the flaw in our technique.  I, apparently, did not scroll down the webpage far enough to see the clues that actually lead you to the cache.    This is what they read:

Trackside at Warminster

The above cords ARE NOT THE CACHE LOCATION The cords are the entrance to the train station.

This quick multi-cache is within walking distance from a Train Station. One of many in a series of caches with the commuter in mind. Please only attempt during daylight hours.

The listed cords are the entrance to the train station to help get your hunt started. Once you have arrived locate parking location sign with the number 111 and follow the instructions below.

1. Add the sum of the number to the right of 111 on the parking sign and the parking number on the reverse of the sign to the left. Then add this to the NORTH.

2. Subtract the number to the right of 111 on the parking sign from the parking number on the reverse of the sign to the right. Then subtract this from the WEST.

Update your cords using the following: N40 11.348 W075 05.332

The final Container is a very safe distance from the active railroad tracks. Contains LOG ONLY so bring ye writing thing. Use stealth in this very nice outside atmosphere. As always please return the hide as it was found so other may continue to enjoy the game. Happy Hunting.

So it turns out that there is actually a riddle to solve at each location not just using your GPS to find the hiding spot.  The GPS just gets you closer to the mark.  I can't wait to try this again.

Let's just say Geocaching will be one of my new weekend activities.

*Update - Jon has pointed out that Geocaching does not really roll off the tongue so we will be calling this activity....."Getting LOST" instead.