For some, it was the first time they had ever held a compass. Others could give orienteering lessons to the most experienced mountain men.

These were among the 50 people who gathered Saturday at Flathead Valley’s Community College for a geocaching event.

The event was presented by FVCC’s natural resources conservation and management program and prizes were provided by Sportsman & Ski Haus for the fastest teams to finish.

What the teams needed to finish was a scavenger hunt on the college’s campus.

Geocaching is a relatively new activity, first played in May 2000. Participants take a Global Positioning System (or a GPS-equipped smart phone) and a compass and try to find very specifically located treasure stashes around the world. It’s basically a worldwide scavenger hunt.

Christina Relyea, natural resources assistant professor, estimates there may be more than 3,700 caches in the 59901 area code alone. The class out on a frosty Saturday morning was the recreation management course.

“We picked geocaching because instead of lecturing, we wanted an experiential lecture,” she said. “The students chose it, designed the course and the first years tested it.”

During the two-year program, the natural resource students in their first year take an introduction to GPS course, so the more advanced students got to have fun trying to stump them while designing the course.

Twin courses were designed for Saturday’s event, one with 10 caches for families and neophytes and a 16-station one for the more advanced treasure-seekers.

A cache is typically a simple box — be it an ammunition box, Tupperware or other relatively small container — that has small trinkets inside. At the FVCC event, small plastic toys were inside each cache for the children. Other boxes may have coins, stamps or other small, cheap items for geocachers to collect.

Braden Davis, a 19-year old natural resources management student who helped design the course, said geocaching is a good adventure for people looking at hobbies.

“It’s a great activity that gives you the opportunity to get out,” he said. “The discovery is the best part. We wanted to see how an event like this would work and how it would impact the environment.”

The 26 stations were spread all over the 216-acre FVCC campus, with reflective-vested students helping those who needed a little assistance.

Geocaching has been somewhat controversial, since authorities in several states see it as littering. With 2.2 million active geocaches and six million participants in the world, there certainly are a lot of boxes around.

To mitigate their own impact, many geocachers pick up litter as they hunt for the little treasure troves. The natural resources management class looked to make the event as low-impact as possible on the environment.

For Jared Fleury, a natural resources student, the event was a way to take his daughters Sierra, 7, and Katheryn, 5, to a fun event at the college.

“I’m a hunter and I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors,” Fleury said. “It’s a fun little game somebody set up, I really enjoy being out here.”

Sierra, hiding behind her dad’s coat and peering out with a cheeky grin, said she “likes finding stuff.”

Relyea, in her fifth year teaching at FVCC, said her classes get to do things such as trail management, whitewater rafting and other outdoor recreational activities.

To participate in geocaching, one needs merely visit www.geocaching.com and have a GPS to find the caches listed.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.