This cache was hidden for the 16th Annual Vancouver Island Hide-&-Go (or HAG).
Have you heard about this thing? The US government is setting up a navigation system using satellites in space that can tell you where you are on the globe. Can you believe that? On April 17, 1973, the US Air Force was put in charge of developing the Global Positioning System (or "the GPS" for short). Well, the Air Force calls the system NAVSTAR, but "the GPS" is shorter. They'll be launching a whole bunch of satellites into orbit around the Earth (that will cost a lot!). They're planning to have all of the satellites up there by 1985, but this is the government, so I'm sure there will be delays. To use the system, you'll need a special device called a GPS User Receiver that can measure how far you are from various satellites in order to triangulate your position. Isn't that crazy? They claim the GPS will be accurate to within 7 metres, but I doubt it will be that good. They'll also be using a feature called Selective Availability that limits the accuracy for civilians, so we won't get very good accuracy (I wish they would just turn that off!). Still, I bet this could come in handy for figuring out which town you're in if your car breaks down. Who knows, maybe someone will come up with other uses for this kind of navigation. I'm using it to point you to a box in the woods to see how it works out. I doubt this insane GPS system will be good enough to be able to find it, but let me know if you manage to locate it.