“Those people we call muggles,” the 65-year-old remarked Thursday morning of two people passing by while he was out on a geocaching search near Hamilton. The term “muggles” is a reference from the Harry Potter books and movies for people who “aren't in the know.”
Kingdon, owner of the Grubstake restaurant west of Hamilton, and others like him are in the know when it comes to geocaching - essentially a worldwide game of hide-and-seek. There are probably between 15 to 20 dedicated geocachers living in the Bitterroot. Missoula, a geocaching hot spot of sorts, has many more.
“You can get a good one for about $120,” he said. “It just won't have all the bells and whistles.”
The participants in the game, sport or activity (there is some debate as to what to call it) hide-and-seek geocaches, or caches anywhere they so desire. Kingdon has found and hidden caches in many states, including Hawaii.
A cache is usually some type of a waterproof container. They can be small, like a film canister, or somewhat larger, like an ammunition box.
The cache usually contains some type of treasure, like small toys or trinkets costing around a buck or two. Almost all caches contain a logbook, in which geocachers are asked to sign their name, list the date the cache was found, and write a short message.
Geocaching is a 21st-century phenomenon that began in 2000 when GPS technology was released by the military to the general public.
Geocachers find the coordinates, latitude and longitude, for the cache locations at Web sites like geocaching.com, terracaching.com, and navicache.com.
There are now more than 306,000 caches hidden in 222 countries, according to geocaching.com. Almost 100 of those are in Ravalli County.
Ron and Peggy Martino, a couple from Missoula, spent last weekend backpacking and searching for caches in the Bitterroot. The caches always have names, and one they found 10 miles up a trail near Bass Creek was called “Room with a View.” Many times the names themselves are hints as to the contents or the location.
Among the contents of “Room with a View” are various organic treasures such as mountain goat hair, animal teeth, and a coyote skull. The cache also contains Nepalese coins, a tin whistle and a disposable camera.
“The caches in the (Bitterroot) pretty much run the gambit from easy ones in local parks to ones in the backcountry requiring multi-day hikes to get to,” Ron Martino said.
The Martinos also found cache a short distance inside River Park in Hamilton called “Ca$h Cache Money Exchange.” That small ammo box contains a variety of foreign currency and coins. Finders are supposed to bring similar items to trade.
“Geocaching is a fantastic way to explore,” Peggy Martino said. “People tend to hide caches in their favorite and most interesting places, or in places that they want to show off to others. Often, these are places that the rest of us are completely ignorant of or have never taken the time to stop at.”
Ron Martino likes geocaching because “it gets (him) out of the house.”
“Local geocachers often know fun, out-of-the-way places perfect for containers,” he said. “I often find myself returning to spots I haven't visited in years ... it's really great to have an excuse to go hiking with my wife - just the two of us.”
His wife agreed and said it's also great exercise.
“There are many tough hikes that I might never have done without the added incentive of a cache at the end,” she said.
People can get pretty creative hiding and disguising their caches.
“One cache we found was a weighed fishing box that was suspended by a float in the water under a dock,” Peggy Martino said. “We have found caches in caves, caches in bullet ridden old cars way back in the hills, and caches that you had to climb 30 feet up in a tree to for.”
Other strange locations, according to geocachers, include hollowed out bolts on fences, coffins and weather vanes.
“The most unusual thing I ever found was a living spider in a clear box in a geocache in Arizona,” said Michael Lindquist, of Corvallis.
Kingdon, whose computer name on geocaching sites is Mr.Grubstake, has put out dozens of caches since he started in 2002 after buying a GPS unit for his boat. A Ham radio friend turned him on to geocaching. His most popular caches have to do with Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.
He did a series of Lewis and Clark caches that are placed at sites believed to be the campsites of the famous explorers who toured the Bitterroot some 200 years ago.
“This is my camp No. one,” Kingdon said Thursday as he strolled in the general area of the site where Clark and his party stayed July 3, 1806 on their return voyage to St. Louis. The site is just north of Hamilton.
“We know they camped close to the Bitterroot River and this side of Blodgett Creek,” he said. “It is pretty safe to say that if you were here that night, you would be hearing their voices, hear the clanking of their pots and pans, their horses neighing ... I think that is pretty neat.”
To find the site, Kingdon makes you do a puzzle by researching Lewis and Clark history to find dates and facts about them.
“They are easy things to look up,” he said. “(People) will e-mail me and say, ‘Thank you for making me look up a date. We read a lot of stuff.'”
About the time Kingdon was ready to leave the site, another man parked off the side of the road and approached him. It was Ken Oldham, a 58-year-old retired utility manager from Seattle who was trying to find the same cache.
Oldham and a friend were doing a geocaching loop all the way from Seattle to Missoula to Reno, Nev., then back home over a week's time. They also planned to visit relatives during the trip.
“I've found 1,100 (caches),” Oldham said to Kingdon. “I could have 3,000 or 4,000 but I took a break for a couple of years.”
Kingdon, who has discovered more than 800, nodded and said with a laugh, “It's a fun way to do a trip.”
Richard Kingdon is hosting a geocaching party and several searches on Oct. 14. If you are interested, contact him at grubstake@juno.com
Reporter Perry Pearson can be reached at 363-3300 or ppearson@ravallirepublic.com
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