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The city of Roseburg will begin its second geocache treasure hunt Saturday, with high-tech treasure hunters getting directions to 20 locations.
Players will be able to obtain a “passport” and begin using GPS or smart phones to pinpoint the coordinates of each geocache. The event is free and open to the public.
“It's just a really fun, family friendly activity,” said Roseburg City Councilor Mike Baker, a geocache enthusiast who helped plan the city's game. “You just get to see different parts of the city. It's all about discovering the city of Roseburg.”
Five of the caches are hidden containers with small “treasures” inside. Players can keep what's inside if they replace it with something else, said Val Ligon, city parks and recreation program coordinator.
Fifteen of the caches will be “virtual caches,” spots with no tangible treasure.
Players prove they've found the virtual caches by answering questions about the spot. Last year, for example, one of the coordinates led players to a piece of the World Trade Center outside Mercy Medical Center.
Players who find all 20 locations, whether on Saturday or as much as one year later, will receive a commemorative coin until supplies run out.
Ligon said the event drew about 125 participants last year. The game draws tourists, Ligon said. “It brings in a lot of people from out of town.”
Last year, several were from Washington and one was a Texan who read about the Roseburg event while vacationing in Eastern Oregon and decided to drive over to join the search.
The city's geocaching event is part of a larger, worldwide game. In this area, there are about 1,000 caches that are not part of the city's event. Players find coordinates online and often a clue.
One cache in Roseburg, for example, is a pill bottle wrapped and camouflaged in tape and stuck in a tree off Harvard Avenue. The name for this cache is “Up Periscope,” which describes the tree's appearance. The bottle contains plastic insects, which the finder can leave or replace with a new item.
Baker said some caches contain a dog tag, referred to by players as a “travel bug,” which the person who placed it hopes will be moved from cache to cache. The mission of a “bug” might be to reach all 50 states.
Commemorative coins and travel bugs have numbers that can be tracked online to discover each item's mission and where it has been. Often caches holding these or other articles are made from ordinary objects, such as sprinkler heads, which appear to belong where they're placed.
Baker said the game has its own language. The player uses his or her “geosense” to discover the caches and non-players are referred to as “muggles,” after the non-magical humans in the Harry Potter series.
• You can reach reporter Carisa Cegavske at 541-957-4213 or ccegavske@nrtoday.com.
Players will be able to obtain a “passport” and begin using GPS or smart phones to pinpoint the coordinates of each geocache. The event is free and open to the public.
“It's just a really fun, family friendly activity,” said Roseburg City Councilor Mike Baker, a geocache enthusiast who helped plan the city's game. “You just get to see different parts of the city. It's all about discovering the city of Roseburg.”
Five of the caches are hidden containers with small “treasures” inside. Players can keep what's inside if they replace it with something else, said Val Ligon, city parks and recreation program coordinator.
Fifteen of the caches will be “virtual caches,” spots with no tangible treasure.
Players prove they've found the virtual caches by answering questions about the spot. Last year, for example, one of the coordinates led players to a piece of the World Trade Center outside Mercy Medical Center.
Players who find all 20 locations, whether on Saturday or as much as one year later, will receive a commemorative coin until supplies run out.
Ligon said the event drew about 125 participants last year. The game draws tourists, Ligon said. “It brings in a lot of people from out of town.”
Last year, several were from Washington and one was a Texan who read about the Roseburg event while vacationing in Eastern Oregon and decided to drive over to join the search.
The city's geocaching event is part of a larger, worldwide game. In this area, there are about 1,000 caches that are not part of the city's event. Players find coordinates online and often a clue.
One cache in Roseburg, for example, is a pill bottle wrapped and camouflaged in tape and stuck in a tree off Harvard Avenue. The name for this cache is “Up Periscope,” which describes the tree's appearance. The bottle contains plastic insects, which the finder can leave or replace with a new item.
Baker said some caches contain a dog tag, referred to by players as a “travel bug,” which the person who placed it hopes will be moved from cache to cache. The mission of a “bug” might be to reach all 50 states.
Commemorative coins and travel bugs have numbers that can be tracked online to discover each item's mission and where it has been. Often caches holding these or other articles are made from ordinary objects, such as sprinkler heads, which appear to belong where they're placed.
Baker said the game has its own language. The player uses his or her “geosense” to discover the caches and non-players are referred to as “muggles,” after the non-magical humans in the Harry Potter series.
• You can reach reporter Carisa Cegavske at 541-957-4213 or ccegavske@nrtoday.com.
