The Green Bag

Hidden Treasures

Geocaching -- an electronic geek's treasure hunt -- offers intrigue for 40-year-olds.

Erin Sullivan | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted August 5, 2006

Greg Hammack and Ed Harris tromp through the woods at Black Hammock Trailhead in Seminole County, looking for a trail that used to be there. Branches hit them in the face. They sidestep poison ivy. It's hot and humid, around 5 p.m. The sun seems to be gearing up instead of winding down. Insects buzz in the explorers' ears. And who knows what creatures lurk under the fallen leaves and bushes.

The two men are businessmen by day. But by night -- and during lunch breaks, after work and on weekends -- they are treasure hunters.

They've come across snakes, deer, alligators and a stampede of wild pigs. They've been on the hunt at night -- trying to be the first to the treasure -- when neighbors have come out with flashlights and dogs.

Hammack, 44, and Harris, 45, are geocachers. They met through the activity and became friends. Both are married and have children, who usually accompany them on geocaching hunts. Geocaching can be both a team or solitary activity. It's inexpensive -- it can take less than $100 to get started -- and doesn't take much planning.

"A great thing about geocaching is that anyone can do it," Harris said. "All ages, all walks of life.

"You get to see places you would never otherwise see."

Geocaching is a modern version of treasure hunting. Enthusiasts use hand-held Global Positioning System units to find and hide "caches," which are waterproof containers filled with trinkets, notebooks and other small objects.

Geocachers who hide stashes add the latitude and longitude coordinates of their small treasures to geocaching Web sites such as geocaching.com or floridacaching.com. Then hunters can input those coordinates into their GPS units, presumably leading them to within a few feet of the cache.

Logbooks are often included inside caches, which treasure hunters sign as proof of their find.

"Treasure" is a relative term. Typically packed inside caches are keychains, stickers, erasers and other small trinkets. Geocaching's cardinal rule is that if you take something, you leave something. But geocachers don't bushwhack through woods for the treasure; they do it for the hunt and for bragging rights in the geocaching community.

It is thought that geocaching first started about six years ago. Today, there are more than 200,000 caches hidden in 220 countries across the world.

Geocaching has found a following among 41- to 50-year-olds. This busy group, in the midst of their careers, sometimes struggle to stay active.

And "when you get to be 40 or 50 years old, it might be more difficult to find a group of people to play basketball or volleyball with," said Paul Giannotti, senior athletic trainer at Rollins College.

Giannotti suggests that people find an activity they enjoy doing -- anything -- just to stay active.

Geocaching fits the bill for this group because it is competitive but not intimidating to those who may not have spent a lifetime exercising.

"Moderate exercise improves your mood," said Dr. Natalie Indelicato, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Florida Counseling Center.

"Part of exercise is feeling good about taking care of yourself and your heath.

"Whether you are exercising at a gym or doing activities with a group with people, it's a way to increase social connections and also to stay healthy and contribute to establishing a routine."

Hammack and Harris say the appeal of geocaching is both the competition and seeing nature.

Caches are well-hidden, and not just in the woods. Urban caches are everywhere: light posts, trees, stop signs.

Hammack and Harris used to fight each other to be the first to find a new cache. They would leave work mid-shift or venture out at 2 a.m. just to be able to brag that they found it first. But now they're a little older and wiser.

"We've passed the torch to some other nut jobs," Hammack said.

For more information on geocaching and an explanation of the basics, go to geocaching.com or floridacaching.com.