With a GPS and map in hand, students scramble around Woodward Park eager to find the nearest geocache during the last PE adventure of the year, May 2.

Scott Callisch, head of the PE department, chose to include this activity in the Adventure PE itinerary. With five preceding activities, Callisch chose to add geocaching due to its growing popularity.

?A friend of mine said there were things hidden all over Fresno,? Callisch said. ?I went to the website and I decided to get on my bike and search for some. I like finding things and I get good exercise while riding my bike and searching for geocaches.?

The treasure began in 2000 when Dave Ulmer, a computer consultant, placed a bucket near Beaver Creek, Oregon and released the coordinates online for others to find it. Once word had circulated about this high tech treasure hunt, the idea?s popularity increased, and the GPS Stash Hunt was established.

A few weeks later, Matt Stum coined the term ?geocaching? to describe the hunt. The combination of the prefix ?geo-?, meaning earth, and the French root ?-cache?, as a place of storage, describe the activity.

Tyler Combs, ?10, has found a total of 55 caches since he began in April.

?I first heard about geocaching when my neighbor told me about it,? Combs said. ?I wasn?t able to find my first cache, but the rest of them are pretty easy. Some caches are more challenging then others.?

A group of 14 students participated in the geocaching unit offered on campus. The participating students split up into four groups and raced to find all of the geocaches.

?It was really fun,? Rachel Guthrie, ?10, said. ?I have done this before, but this was more intense, because we were racing against each other.?

As the groups fought to find the geocaches in the fastest time, some experienced unexpected surprises. First time geocacher Trevor Bodi, ?09, and his group found themselves in an island adventure. According to Callisch, Bodi is the “king of Adventure PE”.

?Zach (Camden, ?11) had the GPS and it was pointing across a lake 0.17 miles away,? Bodi said. ?We followed the shoreline until we came to a little peninsula where there was a piece of concrete covered with about two to three feet of water. We decided to take our shoes off and walk across it to dry land.

?After looking around, we found ourselves surrounded by water on ‘Goose Island,’ Bodi said. “With the cache still unfound, we had to cross the concrete ‘bridge’ to get back on the right course.?

Although not every group encountered such adventures, each overcame obstacles in order to complete the quest.

?They got easier as we went,? Guthrie said. ?After finding a few geocaches we knew what kind of container we were looking for. We got second place. That is pretty good since only one out of the four of us had gone geocaching before.?

Callisch encourages students to participate in this growing activity. With over half a million geocaches in the world, this activity is available within a biking distance.

?Geocaching is something that anyone can do,? Callisch said. ?You can do it with friends while getting good exercise. You don?t have to have a GPS. From the geocaching website you can prints off pictures and maps of where they are located.?

The PE department plans to continue Adventure PE next year with some returning activities and possible new winter sports.