If you've been looking for fun in all the wrong places, here's a cool way to "cache" in on new adventures in the great outdoors.

Geo-caching is high-tech treasure hunting that uses a Global Positioning System (GPS) or other handheld navigational device to locate booty placed in weatherproof containers and hidden in hollow logs, beds of leaves or other natural nooks and crannies.

Web sites such as www.geocaching.com guide folks both in hiding and seeking the treasures (caches) and enables them to share their experiences online. Whoever finds a cache is expected to replace it with a new item -- a coin, toy or other trinket -- for the next geo-cacher. The Web site provides coordinates for more than 920,500 hidden treasures worldwide, and lets members establish new cache sites.

"Geo-cachers typically choose locations that mean something to them, or are places of natural beauty," said Jen Sonstelie, spokesman for Groundspeak, which owns www.geocaching.com. "Geo-caching isn't as much about the 'find' as it is the journey."

GPS use can be a challenge for the non-techie. While geo-cachers often adventure alone or with friends, organized events, such as those sponsored by Venture Outdoors, are a great way to get started.

Although it does not post coordinates at www.geocache.com or any public venue, Venture Outdoors gears its geo events -- including one scheduled for Oct. 31 in North Park -- to beginners. The group provides GPS units plus a lesson in how to use them. Rated "easy" and open to children 8 years old and up, the goal of the Halloween event is to find pumpkins filled with treats at various points along a trail a little more than two miles long. A pre-Steelers game geo-cache is slated for Nov. 29 in Mellon Park.

"Geo-caching is becoming more and more popular," said Venture Outdoors' Jeremiah Morrison, who arranges geo-cache outings for corporate, church and scouting organizations seeking to build camaraderie and leadership. "A lot of people -- kids especially -- like the high-tech aspect. But at the end of the day, I think the appeal is that geo-caching makes getting outdoors more enjoyable."

"You're having so much fun, you don't realize how much exercise you're getting," said Marian Gumina of Banksville, whose first Venture Outdoors geo-cache event was an Easter egg hunt last spring. "It was awesome."

Mike Henderson of Franklin started geo-caching in 2002 as something to do between beach and ski seasons. Now he geo-caches year-round. As a heritage program manager for the Oil Region Alliance, he helped develop a geo-cache trail that promotes tourism in Venango County, including Oil Creek State Park. With federal funding, the program has expanded to include 10 counties across Pennsylvania's northern tier, each with a trail that showcases the assets of the region. Coordinates can be found at www.alleghenygeotrail.com and www.geocache.com.

"The Elk County trail features elk-viewing. In Venango County, it's oil wells and other relics of our oil history," he said. "Once you come for the geo-caching, you'll see the great fishing, camping and other things an area has to offer. Geo-cachers may be techies, but they're also people who love being outside."

The caches placed along the Allegheny geo-trails are stamps participants use to fill passport booklets they ultimately redeem for commemorative coins.

"A lot of people have completed trails in all 10 counties," Henderson said. "I'll bet we've had close to 50,000 'finds.' "

It's free to join www.alleghenygeotrail.com and www.geocaching.com, which also offers a geo-caching tutorial. Basic GPS units cost about $100. Caches typically include a log book to sign as well as an item, and those run the gamut, Henderson said.

Many cachers leave behind signature items, like the highly sought after "cache man" characters created by an Erie-area cacher. They're small human figures constructed by hand from square-cut nails."

"Weapons and illegal or adult-related items are forbidden. If things of this nature are found, the person who discovers them will typically remove them and send a note to the cache owner," Henderson said. "Geo-caching is a family-oriented activity, and participants are very good at looking out for each other."

Hiding a cache requires going to a desired spot, using GPS to get a coordinates reading, and then logging those into the database on a geo-caching Web site for others to access. Folks looking to go on a geo-caching adventure can search the same Web site by address, postal code or keyword and a list of caches will come up.

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