Geocaching a world-wide hobby

What started as a hobby nearly 10 years ago has turned world-wide technological game that is growing in Fort Scott.

The City of Fort Scott gave Ryan Goodbody and his wife Amber permission to hide a geocache box at Bridal Veil Park for people from around the area and country to find.

Goodbody described geocaching as a, "scavenger hunt that takes place all over the world."

Geocaching is a game in which people from across the world use Global Positioning Sensor devices to locate boxes which have been hidden. Coordinates are posted on the Web site www.geocaching.com which can be entered into GPS devices. Clues are also given to describe the exact location because the GPS coordinates are accurate to about 20-30 feet from the box.

"It's basically, if you find it, that's the fun of it," Goodbody said.

According to Goodbody, cache boxes range in size from pill bottles to ammunition boxes. The boxes are filled with small items and trinkets. Goodbody said most of the boxes that are located in historic places generally have some historical information about the site in which it is located. Others contain miscellaneous items such as toy cars, ear rings, and gold dollars. The most important rule with geocaching, he said, is that if a person takes something from a box, they must replace it with something else.

"We go to the dollar store and buy little trinkets ... it's nothing special or expensive, just little things that aren't really on any value," Goodbody said. "If you take something you have to put something back."

The Goodbody's have created a geocache box for Amber's father who was a fan of fishing. The box contains fishing lures and contained a travel bug. The travel bug is an item which is taken from the box and placed in another. Goodbody said the goal is for the travel bug to make it to the ocean.

According to Goodbody, there are approximately 15 geocache boxes located in Fort Scott. He said there is one at the Fort Scott National Historic Site, one on the property of the Lyon's Twin Mansions, even one dedicated to Gordon Parks is located at the cemetery where he is buried.

Goodbody said that cemeteries and historic sites are among the popular locations for the hiding of the boxes.

"I haven't been to a grave yard where there hasn't been one," he said.

Geocaching is an activity which can be done as a family, Goodbody said. When planning a trip, they look online for any boxes in the area and search for them on the way.

"It takes it us to interesting places," Goodbody said. "It's just the thrill of finding them, our 5-year-old loves finding them."

Goodbody said there are geocache boxes hidden in Joplin, Mo., Nevada, Mo., and Pittsburg. Geocaching is something that can be done by anyone with a GPS device. For the Goodbody's it is a fun activity to do as a family on slow weekend.

"In our spare time, this is what we do," Goodbody said.