Friday, Aug. 27, 2010

The thrill of the hunt

Geocachers marry technology with the great outdoors

They play a high-tech, hide-and-seek game, in which participants go by nicknames reminiscent of citizens band handles such as digndirt, EZtrack, preacherspal and Marvin J & Zephyr. These folks, though, might go way off road with GPS devices in search of and to place hidden treasures across the Grand Strand and around the world. The activity is called geocaching, and the number of folks who enjoy it is growing.

One of the area's leading geocachers, Sean Torrens (aka Cache And Dash SC), has immersed himself in this treasure-hunting hobby that combines elements of sport, recreation and environmental appreciation. He has met many area residents and tourists who like to search for strategically placed geocaches outdoors and log reactions about each find.

"As a hider, you get to read what somebody felt, what they experienced when they found it," Torrens said.

As of Tuesday, geogaching.com listed more than 1.1 million active caches around the world. A survey of area ZIP codes revealed an active local community of caches including 442 in Myrtle Beach (29577), 409 in Conway (29526), 404 in the Socastee area (29588) and 201 in Georgetown (29440).

Taken by a tunnel

Torrens can never forget one of his first hunts that had him hopping back and forth across Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, by 13th Avenue South outside Sea Mist Oceanfront Resort.

"It turned out there was a pedestrian tunnel I had never seen for the 17 years I had been living here," Torrens said, remembering his bewilderment.

"I'm looking at the road reflectors, thinking there was some mistake. I found out the darned thing was below me; coordinates don't give altitude. Once we found that cache, my wife and I were completely sold on the hobby at that point."

Their 8-year-old daughter also joined in on hunts for three years.

Torrens said caches can be microsmall, making a pillbox seem big, and they might be tucked in coves such as a hollowed-out bolt under a bridge, under the skirt at the base of a lamppost in a parking lot, or in the bark of a palmetto tree.

Caches should turn up no closer than one-tenth of mile to one another, Torrens said, noting they can be camouflaged, but not buried underground. He said concentrations of caches have gotten dense in some areas.

"The trouble is there's nothing left without a cache in it," Torrens said.

For anyone encountering a treasure, he stressed the importance of leaving the find in good shape.

"If you take something, you have to leave something," he said, whether it's a T-shirt, a CD, or for children, a set of crayons.

Torrens, who works for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, likes to turn people of all ages on to this pastime. He led demonstrations, for example, in April into a maritime forest at Myrtle Beach State Park's annual Park Palooza!

"In Myrtle Beach, it's a great way to get people out to learn about the area," Torrens said.

Giving back

Placing caches in his travels locally and long distance, Torrens sees it as a way to return something to the community, with no boundaries.

He recalled one e-mail logged from a Denmark citizen visiting the United States for the first time.

"'Thank you for taking me to a place I never would have seen,'" he said, quoting the writer, and adding, "When I go out of town, I do the same."

Torrens shared an acronym popular among geocachers to state their thanks ever so simply: TFTC - "Thanks for the cache."

Andre Pope (aka ahhyea777) of Myrtle Beach, like Torrens, stays active with the Grand Strand Geocachers Association. The group, which meets about every month to exchange stories, is gathering nominations for its inaugural Gems Of The Grand Strand Awards 2010 through Sept. 6.

Pope said geocaching grabbed his attention four years ago.

"I was looking for a way of using technology and getting outdoors. It was a marriage between the two."

Geocaching has let Pope discover historical tidbits about the Waccamaw River, for instance.

"I wanted to explore the geographic regions around me," he said. "It's a great way of getting your family together and seeing in your backyard things that you might not know exist."

Pope has appreciated the historic references creative geocachers give when placing their treasures to enlighten other searchers.

"I've learned about the Myrtle Beach Race Track and the Myrtle Beach Colored School," he said.

As much as Ann Malys Wilson, the longtime interpretive park ranger at Myrtle Beach State Park, reminds beachgoers to dispose of litter properly upon departure, Pope said geocachers also are encouraged to help clean up garbage when enjoying their activity to help make the world greener and cleaner.

"C-I-C-O," he said, letter by letter, elaborating: "Cache In, Trash Out. That includes your surroundings."

The advances in technology continue to make geocaching more convenient and less wasteful in preparations. Torrens said only a few years ago, participants would have to download and print information, but the pursuit has gone paperless and beyond GPS, thanks to hand-held, personal digital assistant devices.

"They have everything they need in their hand," he said, "...and you don't even need a pen."

Contact STEVE PALISIN at 444-1764.

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