Bill Bolton revels more in the journey, rather than the final destination.
An avid geocacher, the Long Grove, Iowa, resident takes satisfaction in hiding over 100 caches, or treasures, during his eight years on the hunt in eastern Iowa.
"One of the things that has always intrigued me is finding these places you never knew existed," Bolton said.
Bolton is one of the trailblazers in the activity of geocaching, which has grown immensely since its inception in the early 2000s.
Geocaching is an outdoor activity where participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to hide and seek caches, otherwise known as hidden treasure items, according to the Jackson County Conservation office.
When caches are found, the visitor signs the log book, takes something from the cache and leaves items there of equal value.
The popularity of geocaching is surging on a worldwide scale. There are more than 850,000 hidden geocaches around the world, according to the Web site geocaching.com.
"It's amazing what the technology has done
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Wagner's office hosted its first geocaching event on July 18. Since it doesn't own GPS systems, the office had to borrow the devices from the Clinton County Extension office.
Since the sport is fairly new, Wagner asked two local geocaching experts to perform the demonstration at Hurstville Interpretive Center in Maquoketa.
Bolton was asked to be one of the guest speakers at the Jackson County Conservation demonstration.
"Some of these areas you can hike several miles in trails," Bolton said. "It's good exercise, and it allows you to get outdoors and enjoy scenery."
Geocaching is attracting newcomers like Madison, Wis., resident Adam Reinstein, who started searching for caches in early July with his friends.
Reinstein performs searches on a daily basis between Dubuque and Platteville.
"The (caches) are cleverly disguised and hidden," Reinstein said. "It's pretty interesting that you can do it from anywhere. It's kind of like a scavenger hunt."
Geocaching isn't a fool-proof activity, however.
Reinstein found that out the hard way in a recent cache hunt in Dubuque. He thought the hidden cache was located somewhere near the Finley Hospital, but it was nowhere to be found after a search of its parking lot.
"I was looking around, and nothing really made sense," Reinstein said.
His chase proved unsuccessful because of wrong coordinates posted with the hidden cache, diverting him roughly five miles away from the intended location.
Reinstein said GPS devices have varying rates of accuracy, ranging from 30 feet to 100 feet.
"It seemed like it would be easy because you have the coordinates," Reinstein said.
For participants searching through public and private properties, Wagner asks them to be considerate of the natural environment.
"You can get off the trail to geocache. Travel lightly and clean up after yourself, so we can give geocachers a good name," Wagner said.
