TREASURE AFOOT GEOCACHING - USING GPS DEVICES TO FIND AN OUTDOOR REWARD - HAS CAPTURED A FRENZIED FOLLOWING IN L.A.

Byline: JoAnn E.B. Yerem Correspondent

The age-old scavenger or treasure hunt has gone high-tech, and there's bounty to be found almost anywhere.

There are treasure caches in nearby mountains, local parks and just about any neighborhood. There's treasure hidden at shopping centers for mall rats, at Disneyland and even behind the Hollywood sign.

This is not a ``one man's trash is another man's treasure'' sort of thing. In this case, one man's hike is another man's excuse to use his Global Position System device to hunt down hidden cache in a sport called geocaching (pronounced geo-cashing).

What is geocaching? It's a high-tech game of hide and seek. Enthusiasts go online to find the longitude and latitude of a hidden cache; they plug the coordinates into a GPS device; and the hunt begins.

``It gives me a good reason to go out and take a hike,''said Patrick Malone of Thousand Oaks. ``Mainly it is just to get out, get some fresh air and have a good time.''

Using the GPS unit, maybe a map and any clues provided by the person who hid the cache, players search for the hidden bounty - generally, a cache can be any size container that can hold some sort of prize (key chains, plastic rings, fake jewelry) and a log book.

Geocaching rules are simple: If you take something from the cache, leave something.

Caches can also be virtual - players have to be able to answer a question about the site to prove they have been there. Or caches can be multilevel - players have to find one or more sites or solve puzzles to find coordinates to reach the final destination.

Gadget play

For The Mall Rat cache listed on geocaching.com, players have to identify photographs of stores in the Northridge Fashion Center, add up the store numbers and then plug the numbers into the coordinates to find the cache.

Malone, a member of a search and rescue group, was not unfamiliar with using a GPS device when a friend introduced him to the sport of geocaching; he was hooked. ``It's kind of addictive now. Anywhere I go, I have to take the GPS to see what I can find.''

He is not alone. The worldwide market for GPS devices is in excess of 2 million units per year.

The Global Position System was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense for military use. The signals were scrambled, limiting civilian access until Selective Availability was turned off in 2000 by the Clinton administration, allowing its use for many things - including navigation systems in cars and sports like geocaching.

Today, you can track down a GPS for about $100 at sporting goods stores or Costco. A unit with mapping will start at about $200. The market is growing at a double-digit rate, according to Thales Navigation, the maker of the Magellan brand.

A family affair

And with the availability of the equipment, geocaching has grown and quickly becoming a family sport, according to Karen Carbonnet, vice president of corporate communications for Thales Navigation.

``People see it as an opportunity to bond with their family,'' she said, ``not just hiking, not just fishing, but it gets the kids excited because it is a treasure hunt.

``Geocaching is about good citizenship, being careful of the environment, not leaving your trash behind, putting something in, taking something out. It's one of those things that the walk seems pleasant, and everyone can participate,'' Carbonnet said.

Studio City resident Dru Morgan often takes his 4-year-old daughter along on the easier trips.

``She likes the treasure at the end. I like that she's learning that you put something in to get something out.''

But it's not all about finding the cache. Morgan also said he found the sport addictive.

``I used to go every day. I used to go out to go somewhere just to do geocaching, but now if I am going somewhere I'll look to see what's there.''

That's not difficult to do. There are more than 68,000 caches in 185 countries, according to geocaching.com. A search on the Web site showed more than 2,000 in the vicinity of Granada Hills.

``I like the local ones because they really show me places I haven't been. I'm a traveler by nature and I have found places that I would have never gone to. The one behind the Hollywood sign, I never knew how to get to it,'' said Morgan, who teaches Web design through the Los Angeles Unified School District.

``There have been some great ones in the Hollywood Hills with some awesome views. I've done one which followed about six miles on the Pacific Crest Trail, with hot springs, really secluded. That was a great one to get to.''

Thales Navigation sponsored a Magellan's GPS Treasure Hunt this summer with prizes, and thousands participated.

Take a hike

One local winner, Stephen O'Gara, often takes his 12-year-old son and girlfriend out. ``It gets you outside. I liked hiking before, and geocaching people hide (caches) in their favorite places so it takes you to some great places.''

Agoura resident O'Gara says he has found more than 1,000 caches and has the most finds in the Los Angeles area. ``I'm compulsive in everything,'' he said.

He has been known to jump in the car as soon as he sees a new cache posted online, even late at night, so he can be the first to find it.

``There is an unwritten competition to be the first to find,'' said Bill Widger of North Hills. ``The caches are usually found that day.''

Widger is a software designer for the health-care industry. He has found more than 100 local caches. ``I enjoy the adventure. You're searching for something, and then the find.''

Others must share Widger's enthusiasm for the sport for it to have grown so popular in just three years.

The first cache was hidden outside of Portland, Ore., on May 3, 2000, and posted on the Internet to mark the occasion. Within days, the cache had been found several times and more caches were being hidden.

``There's something very alluring about going off looking for hidden treasure,'' said Carbonnet. ``There's something about the search.''

On the hunt

Here are some basic guidelines for geocaching:

1. Go online for coordinates to begin the treasure hunt. Here are some Web sites to get you started: Geocaching.com, Navicache.com, Brillig.com/geocaching/. For Conejo Valley geocachers:

Denniscoins.com/geocaching.

2. Finding the cache. Caches can be any size and form, but most contain small trinkets, coins or items that follow the theme of a cache (such as maps, books, puzzles, etc.). Some have disposable cameras to take a picture of those who found the cache.

3. Leave something in the cache. You can leave key chains, bottle openers, coins - anything small enough to carry with you. Many geocachers carry a signature item to leave in the caches they find. Some caches contain items with the request that you take them to another cache, helping them to ``travel.''

4. Write about it in the logbook. Logbooks can be one of the best parts of geocaching. Many participants describe how they found the cache or what the area is like - or they write stories or jokes. Originally, the Magellan contest this summer didn't have logbooks in the caches, but participants created their own and left them for fellow hunters to find. The logbook can be an intricate part of the experience for many geocachers.

5. Respect your environment. Leave the area as you found it and put the cache back for the next person. Don't move it unless it is part of the cache theme.

6. Go online where you found the cache coordinates and let the owner know you found it and what condition the hidden treasure is in.

- J.Y.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Agoura resident Stephen O'Gara, right, his girlfriend, Sandy Gude, his 12-year-old son, Matthew, and friend Keon Dorrani, 13, left, return from a geocaching trip in Chatsworth.

(2 -- 3 -- color) Dru Morgan of Studio City signs in upon finding a geocache at Franklin Canyon, top. Treasure seekers are supposed to take something from the booty, which usually includes tchotchkes or dime-store goodies, above, and leave an item in return.

(4 -- color) Matthew O'Gara, left, Stephen O'Gara and Keon Dorrani celebrate the end of a successful geocache expedition on a recent Sunday morning in Chatsworth.

(5 -- color) The Global Positioning System gave birth to geocaching almost as soon as the first devices came on the market.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer

Box:

On the hunt (see text)