Hidden in plain sight

Armed with his handheld Global Positioning System device, a Green River resident embarked on a short cache hunt.

Local geocache treasure hunter, Ellis Nelson, didn't even know what a cache was until 2006 when he went on a four-wheeler trip with friends in Utah.

It was on this trip that Nelson got hooked on the hunt and the find for geocaches.

Long before Pokemon Go, geocaching was the fun finding game people not only across the country, but across the globe have played and continue to play.

According to the website http://www.geocaching.com, "Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache hidden at that location."

Nelson explained it as using a GPS to find hidden caches or using multimillion-dollar satellites to find tupperware.

Before heading out to find caches, one must go to the website http://www.geocaching.com and find the coordinates of a cache. In Green River alone, about 200 caches are hidden; and in Rock Springs about 300 caches. The cacher can then download the coordinates to a GPS or a GPS-enabled phone.

Next, it's time to get in the car and drive to the coordinates; and start looking for the cache.

Nelson said the caches can range in sizes, including those as small as a tip of a finger to some that are hidden in ammunition cans.

Last week, Nelson was busy checking on his friend's caches and his own. As he looked for and found the caches he chuckled.

"We're good at hiding things in plain sight," Nelson said.

That is one tip a potential geocacher must remember. Sometimes it is right in front of them and they just don't know it. In fact, it can be a simple geocache marking on a container that gives the cache away.

Nelson described the process as a miniature treasure hunt. He said one may not be finding a million dollars at the end, but finding it was still fun.

According to Nelson, Green River probably has caches hidden in every single park and along Wild Horse Canyon Road. He said Evers Park has plenty of them in it, all one needs to do is know where to look.

On the website, not only will the geocacher get information about local caches to find, they can keep track of which ones they have already found and if the caches they have hidden are found.

Sometimes, if the cache is hidden in a tough location, the person who hid it will leave a hint. Some will say the cache "is magnetic" or "look high" or "look low."

"It's frustrating to look and look and look and not find it," he said.

This is why some of them have hints.

"The majority of them don't give hints," he said. "The more you find the more experience you get."

Nelson said caching is a way for the whole family to have fun. Some of the caches have toys in there for children to take with them. However, one rule of geocaching is if one takes something, one must leave something of equal or lesser value.

The grandkids think it's a big Easter egg hunt, Nelson said.

The only one you can take and not replace is the traveler bug, which one takes and moves to another location. The traveler bug moves from location to location and is tracked by its coordinates.

Nelson said one can find out all of the places a traveler cache has been by writing down the code on it and then searching for the code on the geocache website.

One of the traveling caches, which happened to be a Fred Flintstone figure, was from Belgium.

"It's worldwide not just in the United States," Nelson said.

He said there is even a cache on the space station.

Nelson said he knows people who go geocaching when they are camping or having a fun day on the four-wheeler.

"The best part is it takes us to places we didn't even know existed," Nelson said.

It is hard for Nelson to even pick a favorite geocaching experience because he has had so many wonderful and memorable ones.

Nelson, usually goes caching with his wife Linda, as do many couples he knows.

"It's something we can do together," he said.

An experience Nelson wanted to share was when he and his grandkids were in Disneyland they searched for and found virtual caches. This is where a coordinate takes someone to a place to see. He said he and his family got to have a unique Disneyland experience they won't forget.

As for placing caches throughout the area, Nelson has numerous out there. He said a new cacher will want to make sure to obtain permission from property owners before hiding a cache on someone else's property. He said the geocaching website doesn't allow for caches to be placed within less than a 1/10 of a mile. He said before placing a cache its best to obtain permission and check the website.