Video Transcript
They can be hidden in bushes, perched on top of peaks or concealed on one of San Francisco’s busiest street corners. They can be as small as a film canister, or as big as a box, and they are all filled with little treasures. They're called "caches" and the people who seek them are participating in a high-tech adventure sport called GeoCaching.
How the game works is simple. First, GeoCachers log on to a website such as www.geocaching.com to download GPS coordinates and to get cache clues. Then, GeoCachers use their global positioning system or GPS devices to guide them to cache locations. Finally, GeoCachers use their wits to find the actual cache. Caches can be camouflaged almost anywhere in the world. There are approximately 110,000 active caches in well over 200 countries around the world. And thousands of caches are waiting to be found right here in the Bay Area, many of them placed by a local group of GeoCachers called B.A.D.G.E.S: Bay Area Dining GeoCaching Enthusiasts Society. They organize dinners and events that are open to anyone interested in the sport.
On this day, I'm tagging along with some experienced B.A.D.G.E members to track down some of San Francisco's most scenic caches. Lee Van Der Bokke has been GeoCaching since 2001 and is ranked number one in the Bay Area and number two in the world for most caches found. "I call it better than fishing because at least you have an excellent chance of not coming home skunked," says Lee.
Once on the road, Lee's GPS guides us to our first cache at the bottom of Lombard Street. After a quick look around I spot it on the back of the stop sign. The challenge is retrieving the cache without anyone noticing. Once I have it, I open the small film canister to find a log with dozens of names. All caches include log books for people to sign their GeoCaching nicknames. I sign my new name "BABJeep" before returning the cache to its original location. I thought I got away with it undetected but a couple of tourists from Ireland spot me. The tourists agree to keep our secret, so the cache is safe for now.
Our next cache is tucked away in Alta Vista Plaza Park. We proceed on foot using our GPS device to get us within 20 feet of the cache. We check high and low in the bushes for the cache. With a little help from some BADGE members, I find a box in the bushes. Inside, I find small trinkets and a travel bug. Travel bugs are items that move from cache to cache and their journey is logged online for everyone to follow. Since we decide to take the travel bug with us, GeoCaching etiquette says we must leave something behind. BADGE member Fran offers a small soccer ball. With the second cache safely back in place, we take a quick coffee break before heading to the next cache.
While getting some coffee, some BADGE members plant a new cache and name it "Doug's Addiction" for my love of coffee. After a few minutes, I spot a fake sprinkler which holds the GeoCaching logbook.
For our next cache, the GPS leads us through the heart of the Haight and winds us up one of San Francisco’s highest hills: Twin Peaks. At the top of the peak our GPS tells us we are still 600 feet away from the cache. We realize we're on the wrong peak and trek up the second peak. Although it's camouflaged under a rock, I find the Tupperware cache. Inside this cache we find trinkets and toys and add something of our own, a Bay Area Backroads Travel Deck cards with a note from me, "Enjoy all the caches the world has to offer." Finding the caching at the top of Twin Peaks is not the only reward, "Look at the view, it's just such a great place; I love coming to places like this. And if it wasn’t for geocaching I wouldn't be here," says GeoCacher Nancy.
It's been a day full of big views, little treasures, new places and new faces – a high-tech adventure that offers all of us a chance to experience the Backroads in a whole new way.
