In The Beginning...The Switch Was Thrown
On May 1, 2000, the White House released a Statement by the President of the United States regarding the decision to stop degrading Global Positioning System (GPS) accuracy. President Bill Clinton approved the decision to discontinue Selective Availability in an ongoing effort to make GPS more responsive to civil and commercial users worldwide. It was stated that "among outdoor enthusiasts... with 20 meter accuracy or better, hikers, campers, and hunters should be able to navigate their way through unmarked wilderness terrain with increased confidence and safety. Moreover, users will find that the accuracy of GPS exceeds the resolution of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) topographical quad maps."
The termination of Selective Availability was effective at midnight (EDT), May 1, 2000 (going from May 1 to May 2). Before this date, civilian GPS accuracy was intentionally degraded by the U.S. government to about 100 meters (328 feet) horizontally and 150 meters (492 feet) vertically. Discontinuing Selective Availability improved civilian accuracy tenfold, immediately narrowing precision to about 5 to 10 meters. See this post about the Big Blue Switch!
To some of these tech-savvy outdoor enthusiasts the idea that their GPS receivers would become exponentially more accurate was fascinating, and the possibility of new uses were realized by a few.
From a Conceptual Idea to a Worldwide Activity
On May 3, 2000, the day after President Clinton's order was implemented, computer consultant and GPS enthusiast Dave Ulmer, living in the Portland, Oregon area, posted the following to the sci.geo.satellite-nav newsgroup:
From: "David Ulmer" <daveulmer@ccwebster.net> Newsgroups: sci.geo.satellite-nav Subject: GPS Stash hunt Stash is Here! Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 21:16:34 GMT Well, I did it. I hid the first GPS Stash Hunt Stash!
Location: N 45 17.460 W 122 24.800
It is a black plastic bucket buried most of the way in the ground. Take some stuff, leave some stuff. The contents are: - Delorme Topo USA software - 2 Cassette tapes - A VHS videotape "George of the Jungle" - A notebook and pen (the logbook) - A slingshot - A plastic can of beans (food) Go get it!! Dave...
The stash, buried not far from the side of a rural county road, was also covered with some leaves.
The Original Stash
(Notice the can of beans next to the container [buried] in the ground)
Within a day, the original stash had been found by Mike Teague of Vancouver, Washington.
On May 4, 2000, Dave created the following post:
From: "David Ulmer" <daveulmer@ccwebster.net>
Newsgroups: sci.geo.satellite-nav
Subject: GPS Stash hunt Stash is Here!
Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 21:16:34 GMTGlobal Position Stash Hunt (GPSH) The name of the Game !The results of the Name the Game is wonderful, we now have a Formal name for the game!
GPSH is the new name of the stash hunt game. Stash boxes can be
imprinted with 'GPS' to indicate a Global Positioning Stash.
I need help putting together a FAQ and a Charter document for
the game. I need WEB help to put up a web site to host the list
of stash locations. Software will be needed to identify stashes
in your area or along your route.
Especially need people to create new stashes so the fun can
really begin. Its really easy, just stash a plastic bucket
somewhere, put in a log book and some stuff, post the location
on the net and you are done.
Stash #1 is at N45 17.460 W122 24.800 loaded with goodies!!
WSG84 by the way.. and we need to decide on the exact format
for announcing the location of a stash.
Thanks,,
Dave[These first two posts were later copied to the GPS Stash Hunt eGroup. Here is the first post, and here is the second.]
Over the next several days, more stashes were hidden in California, Kansas, and Illinois. Within a month, a stash had been in hidden in three more American states as well as in New Zealand, Chile, Ireland, and Australia.
GPS Stash Hunt
On May 8, 2000, Mike Teague created the “GPS Stash Hunt" homepage and formed the GPS Stash Hunt eGroup mailing list. Here, he collected, consolidated, and shared the locations of all known worldwide posted stashes. On May 30, 2000, member Matt Stum suggested in the eGroup that the term "stash" be replaced due to its potential negative connotations. He coined the term "geocaching" by joining two familiar words: the prefix geo (for Earth, geography, and GPS) and cache (for a hiding place or computer storage). Many users shared their opinions in the eGroup about how they felt; some were opposed to a name change while many were for it, but on the next day, May 31, 2000, Dave Ulmer posted his proclamation of giving the "GPS Stash Hunt" the formal name of "Geocaching."
From: David J. Ulmer <daveulmer@ccwebster.net> To: Gpsstash <gpsstash@egroups.com> Subject: [gpsstash] Just Formalities my friends! Date: Wednesday, May 31, 2000 8:00 AM The results of the Name the Game is wonderful, we now have a Formal name for the game! Stash and GPS Stash Hunt are informal names. Geocache and Geocaching can be the formal name. We can have various informal names for the game, whatever a webmaster wants is ok but we do need a formal name for the black-tie affairs. Formal names are usually boring but can be useful for getting financing and the like. There can now be both formal Geocache sites and informal Stash sites and it can all be fun. Even formalities can enrich the game! Dave...
Geocaching.com
On September 2, 2000, Jeremy Irish, a web developer and e-commerce specialist working in Seattle at a dot-com start-up business with friends Bryan Roth and Elias Alvord, launched and registered a new website named geocaching.com. In the eGroup, he posted the following message:
From: Jeremy Irish <jirish@ccwebster.net> To: Gpsstash <gpsstash@egroups.com> Subject: RE:[gpsstash] GPS Stash home page Date: Saturday, Sep 2, 2000 8:12 PM
Yesterday it looked like the site had gone down, so I sent Mike an email. I also noticed that the root of the site looks like the machine went through a reinstall. Haven't heard anything more. I was hoping to wait until there was more functionality available, but I might as well plug Geocaching.com - All the stashes are available on the site (and hopefully current), and I added some new capabilities to help you find each stash. Some of the stuff works (like you can log a find online) but some of the administration of your own stashes doesn't work quite yet. Any input would be appreciated. The geocaching phenomenon is starting to get too big to maintain on multiple sites - hopefully I can add some functionality to take it to the next level and make it easier to grow. I already talked to Mike Teague via e-mail and he likes the direction so far. Let me know what you think! New capabilities: Nearest placenames (US only - trying to get other country data) to caches Closest caches by zip code (US only again) All caches have their own page with mapping data. You can log a cache online (owners of caches will be able to remove bogus logs) Will be adding the ability to add your own stashes, update content, add pictures of your visits, etc. http://www.geocaching.com (it also works at www.geocashing.com - the way it sounds) Cheers, Jeremy
In private conversation Jeremy had with Mike, it was decided that the stash/cache listings from Mike's database were to be imported to a geocaching.com database. Jeremy managed the growing list from a lone computer on his home DSL line. The new website was pronounced to be the main listing site of geocaches around the world, with 75 known caches at the time, and each new subsequent cache listing added individually and manually.
Jeremy's web development skills, Elias's IT infrastructure knowledge, and Bryan's business background helped to build the company, first registered as Grounded, Inc., and later changed to Groundspeak, Inc. The trio's diligent work and constant updates to the website allowed for additional features, like searching for caches around zip codes, to be made allowing geocachers to find listings for nearby caches easier. Additionally, the website provided a page that described geocaching, a page for submitting new caches, and a user's profile page, and links. The main page also provided the newest caches listed around the world, and geocaching news.
Geocaching.com Homepage (circa November 2000)
Change is Inevitable
There is no argument that geocaching has grown since its conception in 2000, not only in name and popularity, but also in dispersion across the planet (and space), and enjoyment by it participants. It has also evolved from just simply going out to seek a hidden container into an activity that has included Locationless and Moving Caches, Webcam Caches, EarthCaches, gadget caches, smart caches, Adventure Labs, Wherigo caches, Challenge Caches, MEGA, GIGA and CITO Events, trackable clothing, cars, and dogs, and even a variety of media, to include magazines, books, movies, podcasts, and vlogs - all dedicated to this activity/hobby/game we enjoy. Many people have even forgone the use of a dedicated GPSr and instead now use just their cell phone and an app to geocache.
Who would have thought that 25 years ago a simple concept of placing a container outdoors with a logbook and some trade items, marking the location with a GPSr, posting the coordinates online, and waiting for someone to find the container could become a world-wide hobby with millions of people participating? Probably not Dave or Mike or Jeremy, but here we are, with over 3 million active geocaches the world over!