Thousands have gotten onto the craze, yet you may not have heard of it. Geocaching is a hobby that has been around for over a decade now, and Shippensburg’s Geo-Environmental Science Organization (GESO) has caught on, as well.

GESO President Marisa Sames describes geocaching as a “scavenger hunt.” Participants use GPS coordinates to track down “caches” — containers holding special trinkets that can be swapped out with a trinket from the participant.

There are nearly a million caches hidden all over the world, and according to Sames, the Shippensburg area is overflowing with these hidden containers. Unlike many hobbies, geocaching is very inexpensive. All you need to participate is a compass and a GPS-enabled device.

Coordinates, clues and instructions specific to each of these treasure hunts can be accessed via the official geocaching app or the official geocaching website: www.geocaching.com. Sames explains that GESO has begun collaborating with South Mountain Partnership, an organization dedicated to maintaining the South Mountain region, which encompasses parts of Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York counties. One of its first collaborations is the South Mountain GeoTrail, a project that aims to educate the public about the South Mountain region through a series of connected geocaches.
The South Mountain GeoTrail puts a new twist on the geocaching formula. Participants pick up a free geocaching passport from local offices specified on the South Mountain GeoTrail website, www.smgeotrail.blogspot.com.

Nabbing 30 of the keywords hidden inside the GeoTrail caches and recording them in your passport caches earn you a one-of-a-kind GeoCoin. Sames says that there are numerous places near Shippensburg that are rife with geocaches, including the Cumberland Valley Trail and the Rail Trail.

If you are inerested in geocaching, attend GESO’s meetings every other Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in room 305 in Shearer Hall. For more information about GESO, visit http://clubs.ship.edu/GESO/.

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