“Geocaching 101” classes are held twicea year in conjunction with the St. LouisCounty Parks Dept. There you willlearn about GPS technology, howto use your handheld receiver andtechniques for locating and hidingcaches.

Picnics, lunches, group hunts andoutdoor expos are scheduled during theyear. Go to www.slaga.org for up-to-date info about caching in the St.Louis, Missouri Area.

www.geocaching.com

www.geocaching.com contains info aboutcaches placed around the world. Visitthem to locate or place a cache, getanswers to frequently asked questionsand other info related to geocaching.

St. Louis Area Geocachers Assn(SLAGA)

101 W. Argonne Dr. PMB226Kirkwood, MO 63122

slaga@slaga.org

www.geocaching.comwww.geocaching.com

Cache InTrashOut,(CITO)Geocach-ers showappreciation for public parksthat allow them to place cacheson their property by leaving thearea cleaner than when theyfound it. Organized CITOevents are planned bygeocaching groups for areasthat need special attention.

A great way to get started ingeocaching is to attendorganized group activities, suchas picnics and training classes.Visit www.slaga.org for our calendar

Gecachers are a fun group ofpeople who like the outdoors,have a sense of adventure andlike to go to places they havenever been before.

Go toww

and search for caches inyour area. Enter thecoordinates of a cacheinto your GPS receiver.

Using signals fromorbiting satellites, yourGPS receiver tells youwhere you are. Then tellit to take youto thecoordinateswhere thecache is!

Once you are in theimmediate area of thecache, you will need touse your skills to locatethe actual hiding spot ofthe cache, which may bein a dead log, under arock ledge, or ???.

When you find thecache, take a

trinket and replace itwith one you broughtwith you, of greater orequal value. Rememberto always trade familyfriendly items. Thecache has a logbook foryou to sign, too. Hidethe cache in the sameplace and try to leavethe area as undisturbedas you found it.

Back home, log into

to record your find andadventure and makeplans for your nextgeocaching trip!

A geocacher carefullysearches for an

interesting location tohide his cache. Thecontainer is filled withfamily friendly tradeitems (trinkets) and alogbook.

The geocacher entersthe coordinates of thecache on a web page atw ,along with info like agood place to park,history or other details,and hints on how to findit.

After it has beenapproved, it is ready tobe found by anyone witha GPS receiver and asense of adventure.

How Does Geocaching Work?Cache containers aretypically made of water-tight Tupperware andtransparent so the con-tents are visible.

An inexpensive handheld GPSreceiver receives signals fromthe 28 orbiting satellites -12,000 miles away.

For generations, kids of all ageshave enjoyed looking for hiddentreasure.

Thanks to the availability of inex-pensive handheld GPS receivers andaccess to the internet, you can eas-ily get started on a relatively newhobby called ‘geocaching’(pronounced ”gee’-oh-cash-ing”).

These hidden treasures are called“geocaches”. They are hidden allover the world, including St. Louisand surrounding areas, by peoplejust like you and me.

A GPS receiver can be purchased atmost outdoor or discount storesfor as little as $100 (additionalfeatures will cost more).

These receivers use satellite tech-nology available to the general pub-lic to pinpoint locations on theearth to within 20-25 feet.