It's called geocaching, a treasure hunt of sorts that can be played using handheld Global Positioning System devices, mapping coordinates and clues posted on the Internet.
Within a 5-mile radius of downtown Danvers, there are more than 24 containers filled with trinkets that are waiting to be found. And two residents of Riverview Avenue have the clues that will lead you to five of them.
"Until we started hiding geocaches in Danvers, there were none," Sandee Hanka said.
She and her husband, Gary, both 59, began playing the game about three years ago following a trip to South Carolina, where they were introduced to the hobby.
When they returned to Danvers, they visited the Web site geocaching.com and found out that Massachusetts has thousands of "cachers" who play the game. But there were no hidden items, or caches, to be found in their hometown.
Caches can be as small as a plastic film canister or as large as a metal ammunition box. Inside, there is usually a log book where visitors can leave their name and a message. There are also items that are left behind for swapping, such as key chains, highway tokens and coins.
For about a year, the couple laced up their sneakers, placed their 9-month-old grandson, Brayden, in a backpack carrier and headed out in search of treasure. Eventually, they found it was just as much fun to hide caches of their own.
"It's taken us to places that we never would have been before," said Gary, who has found 776 caches with his wife over the past three years. They have found them in every New England state, Ohio, Michigan, South Carolina and overseas in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
On Wednesday evening, the Hankas, also known by their Internet name "Danvers Duo," turned on their GPS devices and headed out to check on their caches. It is the owner's responsibility to maintain them and make sure they haven't been damaged, stolen or moved.
Lost in Danvers?
The couple's "Riverview Cache" is hidden along a busy stretch of town-owned waterway, near the Riverview Marina. Since it was first hidden on March 25, 43 people have visited the cache and signed the log book.
Many of those cachers tried to remain discrete while bending and squatting to look on the ground, according to a neighbor who often sees people "looking for something." But until she met Gary and Sandee this week, she had no idea one piece of a worldwide game was just steps from her home.
"We always think that people are lost," said Katharine Phillips, who sits on her porch and watches as the cars come by the water's edge. One time, cachers even ran from her when she tried to offer them directions, she said.
The Hankas try to keep their caches away from private property and in places that are easy to locate. But they do take care of a more difficult cache that was designed by a woman from Billerica. It's called "Salem Witch Trials of 1692," and those searching for it must visit six different historical sites in town, all of which played some part in the witchcraft hysteria.
Cachers must answer questions at each spot, and the answers - all numbers - become the coordinates needed to find the final prize. And along with each question posted on the Internet, searchers get a lesson in history.
The final hiding place isn't too far into the woods, they said, but it's far enough that a healthy dose of bug spray wouldn't hurt.
"This is what we call bushwhacking," said Gary as he marched through waist-high brush behind the soccer fields at the Witchcraft Victims Memorial. "There's no trails."
Under a pile of branches, by the foot of a tree, he uncovered a green ammunition box. Inside, there were key chains, children's stencils, the log book, a gold coin, a pen from the Salem Women's Health Association and a plastic lizard. McDonald's Happy Meal toys are another popular item for families to leave behind, they said.
But it's not the prizes that keep them interested.
"It really isn't the treasure, it's the challenge of the hunt," said Sandee Hanka, who spent more than nine hours looking for a cache near Chebacco Lake in Essex. "Then it became a matter of principle."
They are currently working on another cache with multiple steps. This one will place 50 or 60 plastic film containers at each site, with a proverb written inside of each. But only one container will have the coordinates needed for the next clue.
"They're going to hate me," Gary said.
A geocacher's world
Cache: A container filled with items organized in a sealable plastic bag. They are usually waterproof containers, like ammunition cans, Tupperware or plastic buckets.
Multi-cache: A cache that requires a visit to more than one location to learn the final coordinates.
Muggle: From the Harry Potter books. It means someone who does not participate in geocaching.
Travel bug: A trinket that is placed in a cache with a tag that describes its desired location. The travel bug is moved from cache to cache, and its progress can be tracked online. Sometimes it will be placed there with a goal, such as reaching 10 different countries.
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