When Donald Stauffer's kids opened their Christmas gifts in December, they found them to be a little different from in previous years. Wrapped in the holiday paper were sets of geographical coordinates. To find their gifts, they had to use a global positioning system (GPS).

Dad had hidden their gifts at Grove City Memorial Park, and the coordinates were their only clues to the gifts' whereabouts.

For one of Stauffer's sons, it was a little taste of his own medicine -- his fiancée had to search for her engagement ring in the same manner.

The activity is geocaching, which Stauffer says is the fastest growing new outdoor activity.

"It's the sport where you are the search engine," Stauffer quoted from the sport's Web site, www.geocaching.com

"Geocaching consists of using a GPS to find remote sites that have a hidden cache," Stauffer said. "Using latitude and longitude coordinates, you can get within three meters of the hidden site. In the cache are small prizes -- trinkets, toys and different items. When you find a site, you write in the logbook inside the cache, and you can remove an item and leave an item. This way the prizes recycle."

Geocaching began in 2000 after the government deregulated satellites, Stauffer said.

A "newbie" (novice geocacher), Stauffer went on his first geocaching expedition in early December. Since then, he's visited about 20 different sites. He said there are caches hidden in just about every city and state, and in 161 different countries. With 40,139 active caches, 25 of them are within a 30-mile radius of Grove City, Mercer and Slippery Rock. He's found most of the local ones, and now he plans visits to caches hidden farther away.

The Web site lists caches by proximity to a zip code. The cache locations are briefly described, and two ratings are given -- one for difficulty to find and one for difficulty of terrain. One is the easiest rating and five the most difficult.

People of any age or skill level can do it. "Kids just have a ball with it," Stauffer said. "They really get into the prizes."

Different things make geocaching exciting to Stauffer. On one trail along the northeastern edge of Lake Arthur, Stauffer found several grave sites. One belonged to a soldier from the War of 1812. Another, that of an infant who died in 1867, had been decorated with items such as a ceramic angel, a plastic Santa and a Catholic medallion.

He recently retrieved "Count Mobile" from a cache. It's a figurine of the Count from Sesame Street, and attached to him is a log book. The book records where he originated from -- the Black Hills of South Dakota on Nov. 14, 2001 -- and where he's traveled since then. His destination is Canada. Stauffer plans to move him to a cache closer to that destination.

Some caches are harder to find and take more time, and the weather can make a big difference. Snowy weather can make a cache harder to find, but Stauffer was disappointed on a recent excursion to find footprints in the snow leading toward the cache.

"I tried not to watch the tracks, because I wanted to find it," Stauffer said. He did, and on his way back out he met with a man and his 5-year-old son enjoying a walk in the woods. In his conversation with them, he described what he was doing, and the father said it was something he would like to try.

Sharing what he loves to do is one of Stauffer's greatest joys.

"I'm a teacher. I love fly tying, I teach fly tying. I got into rock climbing, I had to teach it. When I get a passion about something, I have to share it with someone else."

Most recently he has shared geocaching with his brother. He found a second-hand GPS on eBay and sent it to his brother, who is planning a trip to Tucson, Ariz., in March. Stauffer plans to send some cache coordinates to him.

He hopes to be able to get a few extras to give to the YMCA or to Slippery Rock Parks and Recreation so that families can rent one to try geocaching. He's also offering geocaching presentations to local organizations, which can be geared to any age or interest level.

"It's individually competitive," Stauffer said. "You're competing with yourself."

Stauffer's next step in geocaching is to hide some of his own caches.

"I have four containers, and two are ready to go," he said.

He's waiting for better weather so he can find good hiding places, then he has to go through an approval process before he can post the site.

For more information about geocaching, call Stauffer at 724-748-4479, e-mail him at donaldstauffer@myepath.com or log on to www.geocaching.com