PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE Outdoor enthusiasts who practice the hobby of “geocaching” use GPS tools to look for hidden objects like this rock-colored canister, center, which sometimes are camouflaged to enhance the challenge. With a very active Internet account and two sets of GPS equipment, Jesse Hurst and his wife Leona prove that scavenger hunts aren’t just for kids.

Based on modern tools of means of communication, the hide-andseek adventures the Hursts and other area residents pursue are known not as “scavenger hunts,” but as “geocaching.”

Hurst and his wife are part of what they call a loose network of Central Texas hobbyists who travel city streets and dirt roads looking for deliberately hidden objects. After creating a free account on a geocaching Web site, a geocacher receives notices whenever a new “cache” has been left in the area. Latitude and longitude coordinates posted on the Web site help the geocacher locate the hidden item.

Caches -- typically small, watertight items like empty film canisters or pill bottles -- contain pieces of paper on which geocachers write their name and the time they discovered the hidden item. Caches, which sometimes are painted to blend in with rocks or foliage, can be left in or on a variety of objects, from fence posts to hollow tree stumps to road signs.

Participants sometimes leave behind a small object, such as a coin or ballpoint pen, to mark their visits.

Geocaching is kind of like a treasure hunt -- without the treasure. For many fans, however, the hobby proves rewarding just for the time it allows for exploration.

“It’s so much fun,” Hurst said. “I know every back road in Lampasas County and so many other places.”

He and his wife enjoy traveling, and their hobby gives them an excuse to see new locales. During a trip to Durango, Colo., the couple spent a full week geocaching.

Those who search for caches can find plenty of activity without leaving Central Texas, however.

The Hursts spend much of their time looking for caches in Lampasas County, although they also enjoy forays into Burnet, Llano, Mason and Mills counties. In the less than three years the couple have been involved in geocaching, they have found more than 1,800 caches. The Hursts have hidden more than 75 in Lampasas County alone, and with many other geocachers in the area, Hurst figures there never will be a shortage of caches to seek.

A wide variety of people, from retirees to families with young children, enjoy geocaching, Hurst said. Aside from the initial expense -- sometimes several hundred dollars -- of GPS equipment used in locating a hidden item, geocaching can be an affordable hobby, he said.

A hand-held GPS tool helps a geocacher navigate within a few feet of the spot where a cache has been hidden. From that point, human instinct takes control.

Experienced geocaching enthusiasts generally know where to look and can find scores of caches in a single outing. Geocachers especially compete to make the first discovery of a newly placed item and compare records of “first finds.” (The Hursts’ one-day “first find” record is 38.)

Like all search parties, though, geocachers encounter occasional obstacles. The Hursts have been stung by hornets while seeking a cache. Some geocachers hide their canisters so well that only the craftiest hobbyists can detect them. Sometimes, as Hurst has learned, caches get pushed from their original coordinates by road construction crews.

Other times, just explaining what geocaching is can be a challenge.

When a group from Austin searched on Farm-to-Market Road 580 East for a cache Hurst had hidden, a sheriff’s deputy stopped them to ask why they were poking around in the middle of the night. Hurst noted, however, that many law enforcement officers have heard of geocaching and can tell when people are pursuing their hobby legally.

Geocachers are supposed to hide items on public property or on private property only with landowners’ consent, Hurst said. They also try to avoid railroads and military bases, he added.

Nevertheless, some property owners, especially near ranches or urban shops, express suspicion when they see people rummaging around, Hurst said.

Geocaching is intended to be a family-oriented activity, Hurst said. Geocachers try not to disturb the areas where they search, and many carry trash bags with them while they play so they can remove litter and harmful debris.

Contacts through online geocaching sites and at occasional “meet and greet” events allow geocachers to develop friendships with those who share their interests.

“I usually get to know the people who are geocachers pretty well,” Hurst said.

Their technology may be more advanced than the average scavenger hunter’s, but geocachers’ goals -- camaraderie and a little bit of adventure -- are exactly the same.

Geocaching on the Web

To learn more, visit www.geocaching.com .

To contact Austin-area geocachers, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CentralTexasgeocachers .

The Texas Geocaching Association’s Web site is www.txga.net .