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photo by Steve VanGunda
Geocacher Tim Eubanks shows one of the geocaches he placed earlier this year south of Sibley.
Geocacher hunts treasure
Published Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Natchez — An old coin, small dinosaur and folded up card. While most would considered these things junk, to Tim Eubanks they are pieces of buried treasure. Eubanks is a geocacher, someone who uses a GPS device to find locations where others have hidden small trinkets.
“I loved scavenger hunts as a kid,” Eubanks said. “It’s only natural that I’d enjoy geocaching.”
Eubanks has hunted for caches all over the state of Mississippi.
“A friend of mine got me started in geocaching,” he said. “I asked one day why he had a small box of junk and he told me they’d been left by other geocachers for people to find. I asked him when he was going out next and have been hooked ever since.”
Web sites dedicated to the hobby list coordinates for caches all over the world. The caches are usually some kind of watertight container that contains a prize. Some contain only small trinkets like the ones Eubanks has found. Others just contain notes from other geocachers.
“I think the appeal of geocaching is that you’re like a modern day treasure hunter, except instead of a map you have a GPS unit and coordinates,” Eubanks said.
Even though they use GPS devices, the geocachers will sometimes not find the cache.
“Some of the people who place their own geocaches go to great length to make it difficult to find,” Eubanks said. “There are a few south of Woodville that I’ve not been able to find yet, even though I have the coordinates.”
Not always buried, caches can be placed in hollow tree trunks or under rocks.
“I remember looking for a cache in Louisiana for almost a whole day earlier this year,” he said. “After hours of searching I turned over ordinary looking rock and found it was hollowed out and the cache container was glued to the underside.”
Comments
Posted by Swapmeet (anonymous) on September 16, 2008 at 12:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I have to admit (with the trepidation of being poked fun at) that this sounds like a pretty cool little hobby. I can definitely see myself enjoying something like that. I guess the main reason would be because I like going places I've never been and it would rekindle a spirit of adverturism that apparently died out in me when I became an adult.
Posted by grrbrts (anonymous) on September 16, 2008 at 12:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Welcome to to club Tim. Just getting started myself. Try this one: 07-19-08, TRI-STATION REFERENCE MARK1, USCGS, STOUT, NO.2, 1929
Posted by danielsbasketry (anonymous) on September 16, 2008 at 12:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It is fun and sometimes you do not have to go far. We found one at the top of Roth Hill Road. It was very well hidden also. We signed the note, and replaced it for others to find. Our son had given his dad a GPS and told him about the caches he had found in Europe. You could usually find the odd Altoid box in my husband's truck, waiting for a note and a tiny treasure.
Posted by lookingout (anonymous) on September 16, 2008 at 1:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
that really does sound like fun......just wish i had a gps to do it with......good luck hunters
Posted by Hardcorps (anonymous) on September 16, 2008 at 2:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sometimes I can't find the bathroom.
Posted by Blasterhappy (anonymous) on September 16, 2008 at 3:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I have a cousin that does this up in Springfield, MA and has a great time with it. If you do decide to get into this go ahead and buy a good quality GPS. There are a Lot of trees that can block the GPS from accessing the satellites. It would be nice to have included a website to find the coordinates of the caches in the area though.
Posted by Blasterhappy (anonymous) on September 16, 2008 at 3:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Another thing they do also is a put a disposable camera in the cache and publish the pics to a website to show who have been there. I thought that was pretty cool.
Posted by svangunda (anonymous) on September 16, 2008 at 3:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
http://www.geocaching.com/local/default....
It has the major cities in Mississippi listed and you can find cache co-ordinates there.
Posted by crawgator (anonymous) on September 16, 2008 at 6:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i have to say this sounds kinda intresting. I have always been an avid treasure seeker. Over my years I have found the usual indian beads, arrow heads, old coins, but I have to say my most treasured find was the lower left complete (with all it's teeth) jawbone of a baby Mastadon. Smithsonian aged it at 1.3 million years old. May have to look into this.
Posted by DavidMac (anonymous) on September 16, 2008 at 8:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I saw a link to this article from a forum post at the Mississippi Geocachers Association. I've been "caching" for almost 6 years and have hunted for caches all over the state since moving to Starkville from Tennessee three years ago. What a great way to get familiar with a new area and to discover interesting locations that I otherwise would have never known about!
If anybody is interested in geocaching but doesn't have access to a GPS, don't worry. We regularly hold events all over the state ranging from evening meet-and-greets at restaurants to weekend campouts and cache hunts at sate parks. Events are free and open to all. We're not shy, so feel free to get in touch with a local cacher if you have questions about getting started (or hiding your own cache).
I should mention, however, that we ask that caches are NEVER buried. This helps reduce our environmental impact and fosters our relationship with the various parks and land managers who have given us permission to hide caches on their land.
Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on September 16, 2008 at 12:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
geohunting is fun too
using your gps to find spots deep in the woods for hunting, and finding your way out safely also
I enjoy navigating the Nat'l forest,- which is really big, and you can easily get turned around and lost,- with a gps.
So I can relate to this
Posted by Gimmeabreak (anonymous) on September 16, 2008 at 1:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Very cool, what an interesting way to get folks off their butts-beats aerobics
Posted by southernbelle (anonymous) on October 12, 2008 at 8:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I would like to know more about it too . I hope the Democrat will follow up with more about this . Sounds like great fun !
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