North Augusta Today

Finds can be as small as a bullet or as large as a toddler, but each geocaching trip sends cachers on an adventure.

Called a "high-tech scavenger hunt," geocaching uses a Global Positioning System satellite receiver and clues to send cachers out on a treasure hunt.

The hobby officially began in 2000. Now, hundreds of caches are hidden in the Aiken-Augusta area.

North Augusta cacher Greg Godsey and his son Thomas, 8, are on a mission to complete 100 finds in 100 days.

They started the hobby in October when Thomas' Cub Scout troop took a trip to a cache off Martintown Road. As of Friday, Godsey had 282 caches to his credit.

"There's always a surprise," Godsey said. "Not every cache is identical."

Microcaches are so small that cachers have to make several trips to find them. Others are hidden in larger boxes, under stumps or in logs.

"There's one in the area that's even under a stake," Godsey said.

Godsey said the hobby has become a family activity. Geocaching requires compass readings, math and critical thinking. Going on a hunt also involves hikes and exploring unknown places around town.

"This has brought us closer," Godsey said. "Before, we spent days off around the house, but we've been bitten by the bug."

The Godseys are ready for a find anywhere. Godsey receives text messages alerting him to new caches. He has a tracking sticker on his car so other cachers can log in his code as a find.

"I even have a geo coin (traveling cache) on the way to the Space Needle in Seattle," he said.

After a few intriguing hunts in the area, Godsey decided to create some caches.

Larger containers usually include swag, or items such as toys and trinkets, for cachers to take. They then sign a log book with a message before moving on.

"Everyone has their own taste of what they want to leave behind as swag," he said.

Thomas keeps a bag full of toys to take on hunts with his dad.

The log books are what pique Godsey's interest, though.

The older the cache, the more messages and notes it contains, leaving a little piece of a past life behind.

"It really is like a photograph in someone's life," Godsey said. "I found one in Edgefield from 2002, and it is really amazing to read logs from then."

Reach Julia Sellers at julia.sellers@northaugustatoday.com.

GEOCACHING
WHAT IS IT: A hobby in which participants use a Global Positioning System satellite receiver to find a cache (pronounced "cash"). The GPS' coordinates and clues to the caches are found on the Web site www.geocaching.com.
WHAT YOU NEED TO GET STARTED: A GPS receiver, sturdy walking shoes, access to a computer and gas money to drive to the cache sites.
HOW EXPENSIVE IS A GPS? Expect to spend about $100 on a new unit. The Garmin is considered a good brand for newbies because it is user-friendly.
Source: www.geocaching.com
GLOSSARY
CACHE: Pronounced "cash." A hidden container with at least a log to sign. Might also contain a pen and possibly prizes.
FTF: "First to find," as in the first person to find a hidden cache.
MUGGLE: A nongeocacher who might look puzzled when he spots a geocacher circling a cache. Based on muggles (nonmagical people) from the Harry Potter series.
AREA LISTINGS:
- Aiken has 845 geocaches.
- The Augusta area has 538 geocaches.
- 2,343 geocaches are listed within a 10-mile radius of the 29861 (North Augusta) ZIP code.
- The first geocache in South Carolina is in Modoc, in McCormick County.