Geocaching is like a high-tech treasure hunt

Have you ever tried geocaching? It's a great outdoor activity that combines elements of orienteering and a high-tech treasure hurt.

Joel (l) and Daniel Brewer

Fourteen-year-old Joel Brewer and his 9-year-old brother, Daniel, have been participating for two years. So far, they've been on about 15 outings.

Joel said he was introduced to geocaching by kids in his Creve Coeur neighborhood about two years before he actually participated.

"I didn't go on my first one until I got a GPS (global positioning system) for back-packing," the home-schooled 9th grader said. A GPS instrument is needed to find out where the geocaching routes are located.

His first geocache outing was in nearby Creve Coeur Park. He admits that he didn't find any containers but "that didn't stop me," he said.

Daniel said their first successful geocache outing was in Tilles Park in St. Louis County. He said both he and his brother found the Tupperware container that was filled with mermaid toys.

Daniel said his favorite prize was a pocketknife, which he still has.

Some geocaches have only one container to find. But, others start you at one place and then point to a series of other locations before you find the container for that route.

Joel said, "There's a real neat one in Queeny Park (in west St. Louis County). It has four stops with the container built into a stump."

Mike Griffin is the president of the St. Louis Area Geocaching Assn. He said the idea of setting up geocaching routes started in Oregon in 1998. He said there are now over 200,000 geocaches in 200 countries.

Mr. Griffin said, "There are over 900 geocaches within a 50-mile radius of St. Louis.

He said geocaching is an outdoor fun activity "that is about 90% kid-related."

Jon Henke

Seventeen-year-old Jon Henke of Rolla said he's been geocaching with his family since he started in 1999 when he was 11. Jon is the nephew of former St. Louis Cardinal relief pitcher, Tom Henke.

Jon said he's been on "between 200 and 300" outings. But, he's got a long ways to go to catch up with his dad, Dan, who's been on over 500.

Jon was in St. Louis last month when the St. Louis association held its spring picnic at White Cliffs Park in Crestwood. The park has a number of geocache routes.

He said his favorite location for geocaching is Whispering Pines Park in Rolla. That's because it's located right near a national forest that has lots of goecaching locations.

One of the attractions of geocaching is that once you find the final container, it will contain a prize.

You get to take one prize and then you're to replace it with a prize of your own. He said he usually leaves Pez containers for the next person to find. "I keep a supply of them with me. I'll go to Wal-Mart and buy a bunch," the Rolla High School senior said.

Jon said his favorite prize that he found was a miniature radio. "I've still got it. I gets better reception than a car radio," he said. He found it while on a geocaching outing in St. Louis' Laumeier Park, which features giant outdoor sculpture.

Lindsay Griffin

The same sort of "key-chain radio" was the favorite prize found by 11-year-old Lindsay Griffin of St. Charles. She will be a 6th grader at Francis Howell Middle School. She's the daughter of Mike and Bridget Griffin, who head up the local geocaching association.

She said her first geocache outing was in Kansas when she was 8. "We were with friends who had moved to Kansas," she said.

Lindsay said she has her own GPS instrument. "I got it for my birthday," she said.

She's been on geocache outings from Minnesota to Texas. She said her toughest geocache search involved looking in a bamboo thicket near a river in Missouri.

Linda Bennett

Six-year-old Linda Bennett was one of the younger searchers at the association spring picnic. She said she started when she was 3 with a Harry Potter outing at a park in O'Fallon, Mo. She and her family live in nearby St. Peters.

She said her favorite object from one of her outings wasn't found in a geocache container. Near one of the containers, she found an empty turtle shell. She's got it at home and "my stuffed animals like to sleep in it," she said.

If you'd like to know more about geocaching, you can go to two websites. The group's international website is at www.geocaching.com To contact the local association, you can go to www.geostl.com or call the Griffins at (636) 485-9998.