There are many reasons for living in or traveling to Hawaii. The usual – sun, sand, surf, sights, geocaching … huh? Geocaching? You bet! Hawaii has a very active geocaching community.

There are caches on all of the major islands, and there is something for everyone. The terrain varies from barren lava fields to dripping rain forests, from the beach to the highest mountains. The distances range from a few steps to an eight- or 10-hour hike. Difficulty goes from easy to mindbending.

What could be better? There’s no snow, no snakes and no poison ivy. (We will not mention the mud and the mosquitoes).

I owned a GPS receiver for many years, an ancient Garmin GPS45, but never really did anything with it. Then about a year and a half ago, I read an article about this new activity called geocaching. I realized that this was the ideal combination of my craving to play with high-tech toys and my liking of the outdoors.

Now, 200 caches and about the same number of benchmarks later, I am still hooked. I have found a group of like-minded friends with whom I can share ideas and go on the long hikes that we try to do about once a month. However, the old GPS45 is now gathering dust on the shelf and has been replaced by a GPS MAP60CS with Gilsson external antenna.

The best part of caching and benchmark hunting for me is getting to go places where I would not ordinarily go and to see things that I would not likely see. You can sit on the top of a mountain and have your lunch while enjoying a panoramic view of the east end of the island. And We Have Liftoff! is named for the nearby spot that is popular with hang gliding enthusiasts as a launching pad.

Our hike started on the other side of the hill in the background at the first cache of the day, Pele’s Chair . The cache is named for Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, and the large rock formation that looks sort of like a chair. After climbing up a ridge you pick up an old road that leads to the Makapuu lighthouse and the ruins of what was a thriving Coast Guard station. If you squint and look very closely, you can just see the lighthouse about halfway down the cliff. This is now a popular whale watching spot during their annual trip to the islands from about November and March.

About halfway up the back of the hill in the background is Zippy’s Tub. After finding that cache, we continued up to the top of the ridge where there are several crumbling, pre-World War II concrete bunkers. We sat on the top of one of those and had our lunch while enjoying a panoramic view of the east end of the island.

At the base of the ridge near the road is the Makapuu Bug Jar. When we approached that cache we found two other geocachers searching for it. They were complaining bitterly about all of the thorns guarding the location. No one gets away from this cache without leaving some skin along with their trade goods or travel bugs.

This picture is of the folks who did that hike, going through the Pele’s Chair cache. The players are DadWrap (with hat and walking stick), 27Jools (with back to camera), J-Girl (with hand in cache), Paxwithlove (deciding what to trade), dageek (with camera) and BPer (supervising). Queen’s beach and Koko crater are in the background.

Along with the macro sights you see along the way, there are the micro sights that we sometimes miss in our quest for the cache. This is a picture of a passionflower we call lilikoi. These grow wild along many of the trails in Hawaii along with mango, banana, avocado, guava, mountain apple and coffee.

The trail to Sound of the Knee Drum. starts in Kuliouou valley and winds up the steep ridge through seemingly endless switchbacks. Soon the dry brush and scrub trees give way to a cool forest of ironwood pines and later to towering Norfolk pines mixed with strawberry guava bushes. Along the way there are abundant signs of the wild pigs that inhabit the area. The last steep climb to the Koolau summit is through native Ulue fern with stiff stems that make the unprepared wish they had worn long pants rather than shorts.

So you have this great geocaching paradise, but what is the down side? Well, besides the previously mentioned mud and mosquitoes (which are not unique to Hawaii) the terrain can be unforgiving. The mountains are made up of steep valleys and narrow ridges. The narrow valleys and dense tree cover can make for difficult travel and impossible GPS reception. The trails running along the ridges can be only a foot or two wide with steep slopes of several hundred feet on either side.

However, the thing that gets the most people in trouble is the darkness. Unlike more northern latitudes, in the tropics there are no long twilights. When the sun sets, you have about half an hour until full darkness. In the valley where I live, you can often hear the search helicopters buzzing around the surrounding mountains early in the morning and you know that a hiker did not make it out the night before.

But this is not meant to discourage anybody. Every location has its dangers and rewards. You just need to be aware and plan ahead. So when you come to Hawaii, bring your GPS and your laptop. Many of the hotels have wireless hotspots so you can geocache all day and then log your finds while sipping Mai Tais by the pool. If you want to get in contact with the geocaching community in Hawaii the best way is to visit HawaiiThreads.com and introduce yourself. You might be able to enlist a guide, but you will have to find the caches yourself!

Thanks to DaGeek, 27Jools, DadWrap, and BPer for use of their pictures.