Hidden treasures await in geocaching adventure at Inks Lake State Park
DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR
HOOVER’S VALLEY — At one point in a person’s life, he or she wants to find where “X” marks the spot. Treasure hunting fills our psyche with hopes of riches and adventure. But most people abandoned those dreams when the credits rolled on the latest Disney movie.
Sean Jones, a park interpreter with Inks Lake State Park, wants to rekindle those dreams. A global-positioning system (GPS) or smart phone replaces the treasure map while GPS coordinates become the “X.”
Geocaching is the modern twist on treasure hunting.
“One of the great things about it is it combines the outdoors with technology,” Jones said. “So it appeals to kids who just love to have some type of technology in their hands. But it’s also an adventure that families can do together.”
In geocaching, a person uses a GPS device or a smartphone application to navigate to specific GPS coordinates. Once he or she arrives at the coordinates, the challenge becomes finding the actual “X” or treasure.
“As good as GPS is, they still only get you within 20 or 30 feet,” Jones said. “Then, finding the actual cache is up to you. Some of them could be as small as a match box or as large as an ammo container. You may have to hunt for them. And sometimes, you don’t find them. That’s what makes this so fun.”
Jones is hosting a geocaching instructional program 9-10:30 a.m. Sept. 28 at the park, 3630 Park Road 4. During the workshop, Jones will demonstrate how geocaching works and how, with a brief introduction, individuals, groups and families soon will be part of the world’s biggest treasure hunt.
While people can use their own GPS units or smartphone apps, Jones said the park will have several units on hand. That way, people who are just looking into the fast-growing hobby can get a taste of it before purchasing any equipment. But, he pointed out, the apps are fairly cheap, and the newer units often are in the $100 range.
“I’ll have the GPS units set up with the coordinates programmed in already, so all you’ll really need to do is push a couple of buttons,” Jones said.
As part of the workshop, Jones will have stashed several caches around the park store. After a brief introduction and instruction, he’ll hand over the GPS units to the participants (typically the youngest in the group gets the device) and send them out on their first treasure hunt.
“These caches will be fairly easy to find,” he said. “I just want people to get familiar with geocaching.”
But that’s one of the great things about geocaching, it’s rather simple. The excitement comes in the hunt and search for the treasures, or, in this case, caches. People can locate cache coordinates through various websites, including www.geocaching.com. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has the Texas State Parks Geocache Challenge.
People can find those points at the TPWD geocaching webpage. Participants can earn prizes through the parks geocache challenge.
When a person or group finds a cache, they typically sign a log book inside it and take a “treasure.”
“Usually, you take a trinket that’s in the cache,” Jones said. “But, in return, you usually leave one as well.”
While trinkets might not seem like the treasure of years past or the ones dreams are made of, Jones pointed out the value isn’t just in what you find but what you experience along the way.
“It encourages you to get outside and explore the world around you,” he said. “It encourages you to go to places you’ve never been before. It gets you to go down a new road.”
Jones said he plans on hosting a geocaching workshop every other week. Call Inks Lake State Park at (512) 793-2223 for more information or more dates.
daniel@thepicayune.com