Profile
by Rachel Martindale
Reading the signals of at least three satellites, the GPS "triangulates" the signals to pinpoint a geographic spot.
Previous Profiles | Send mail to The Voice
Assistant Registrar Finds Adventure in Geocaching
Carolyn Brock (right) and a friend unpack a geocache. Geocaching has become a world-wide hobby. --Greg Brock, photo
On the Internet, Mr. Brock had found information about two caches, items hidden for geocachers such as himself to find. The first cache was called "Bovine Rock Mooosic," according to the paper he had printed from geocachin.com.
As he drove toward the cache site, Mrs. Brock navigated using the map on the GPS screen. An arrow on the map marked the place of the cache.
The GPS was brown and green, the size of a television remote controller. Reading the signals of at least three satellites, the device "triangulates" the signals to pinpoint a geographic spot, Mr. Brock said.
On Northeast Prescott Street, across from St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Mr. Brock spied a sign: Senn's Dairy Park. The park's name fit the title of the cache they were seeking. He parked alongside the curb and looked at the GPS. "We're 158 feet from it," he said. The couple crossed the street and began to meander through the small park, following a gravelly path.
"Sometimes you've got to take a couple runs at it," Mr. Brock said. "I bet it's going to be somewhere around here." Mrs. Brock fished through the foliage with her black gloves.
Mr. Brock looked at the printout and read, "'How much does Paul Simon's mother love him?' That's the hint." Neither he nor his wife knew the answer.
They resumed their search, looking under rocks. Mr. Brock picked up an angular dark rock and turned it over. The rock was hollow and held a big, orange pill bottle.
He unscrewed the lid and dumped the contents into his hand: pins, a colorful eraser, a wood token and other various items, including a sign-in paper.
On the folded paper, Mrs. Brock wrote their code name and the token they left (a peppermint candle). After hiding the pill bottle again, they crossed the street to their car.
"That was a pretty good one. I'm impressed with their rock," Mrs. Brock said.
Mr. Brock's hobby began two years ago in February with the money he got for Christmas. Initially, he geocached with friends.
Mrs. Brock said she thought it would be fun if she and he could go together. Mrs. Brock still remembers the first venture. She thought the experience was really fun, and she -- not Mr. Brock -- found the cache.
Generally, the Brocks geocache once a month. "It's fun, cheap entertainment, and it gets you outside," Mr. Brock said.
He has yet to place his own cache, but he has everything ready.
Mr. Brock majored in Pastoral Ministry at MBC where he met Carolyn, an educational ministries major. Both graduated in 2001.
Mr. Brock, 25, is halfway through his masters of arts and counseling program at Western Seminary.
Mrs. Brock, 25, works at a chiropractic clinic. She said they want to have children.
From Senn's Dairy Park, Mr. Brock drove to Costco on Northeast 138th Avenue to search for the second cache. Smoky-blue clouds darkened the sky, and a cool, brisk wind blew.
They trekked through some knee-high grass, dodging and ducking pine boughs and leafless branches. "Not a very good pathway," Mr. Brock said.
After checking the GPS screen, he turned right and entered a tangle of trees and other foliage. Crouching slightly, he walked along the top of a hill that sloped down into the river.
They located two wide trees with a couple of feet of bark gnawed off the bases: the handiwork of beavers.
"This is amazing!" Mr. Brock said, explaining that he had never seen a tree that gnawed.
They started to walk the leaf-covered slope in search of the cache. Mr. Brock moved a Y-shaped branch and a pile of leaves to reveal a dusty, gray plastic box.
The contents of the cache included a shell, a Precious Moments pin, a Matchbox truck, a compass on a watchband, a fingerboard and a note explaining the game for anyone who accidentally stumbled onto the cache.
Mrs. Brock signed in using the mini composition notebook and pencil also included in the box; then they hid the cache again.
Done for they day, they walked back through the grass to the car. Their search was over, but they already looked forward to their next geocaching adventure.
Greg Brock. --Celeste Flint, photo
Previous Profiles | Top Of Page
Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website
© 2004 The Voice. No part of this publication may be reproduced in written or electronic form without prior written consent from the journalism adviser of Multnomah Bible College. All rights reserved.