GeoCache. . . Build it and they will come

Over the time I have been Geocaching I have found that I get just as much fun out of creating and placing caches as I do hunting for them.  I never saw it coming, in fact, when I first started Geocaching I never gave any thought to placing caches.  One winters day it was too cold to go caching I found myself checking out Google Earth and started thinking of interesting places caches could be placed.  Well, it wasn't, long before  placed my first Cache, a Camo taped pill bottle in a spruce tree.  When Geocachers started finding it and leaving comments about their journey and find, I was hooked.  I then started contemplating how I could make the Caches more interesting and fun.

The next thing I knew I created a James Bond 007, theme of caches.   There are so many movies and characters that I have just scratched the surface and I have even drawn from a YouTube video called "the Duck does James Bonds dirty work"  http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jH7HrsXf48k  , yeah it's a duck, a decoy floating in a ditch in the country, I get lots of fun comments on this one.  Another called Miss Money Penny, which is filled with pennies and while it is not too difficult too find I have been asked for hints.

All in all, the many facets of Geocaching make it a most rewarding hobby, so if you haven't already, start putting out some caches of your own and try being creative you'll love the comments.


James Bond - GOLD FINGER

The Duck is doing James Bond's Dirty Work

James Bond - Man with the Golden Gun

Miss Moneypenny

For Your Eyes Only


Keep Cachin'
  Bill

Your Comments are Welcomed and Appreciated

3 Little Geocaching Letters that say “I Care"

Log Your DNFs

You’ve looked. You really have. The geocache is not a container magnetized under the park bench. It’s not that funny looking rock, and of course it’s not under the lamp post cover. You’ve checked the previous logs and the hint. The geocache could be there, but you can’t seem to find it. You give up (for now). Geocaching doesn’t stop there though. Here’s what you do. You log a DNF on the geocache page. It’s “Did not find” and it means, “I care.”

When you log a DNF, you’re telling geocachers that the geocache may be more difficult to find than anticipated or may even be missing. You’re also letting the geocache owner know that they may need to double check that their geocache container can still be located at the posted coordinates.

If you’re a geocacher who logged any of the more than nine million DNF’s posted to Geocaching so far, thanks from the geocaching community. It’s a small way to help ensure the quality of geocaching. Plus, you can always go back and search again. Who knows, maybe this time you’ll catch a break and log a “Found it!”

Add a comment below and share your DNF strategy with other geocachers. When do you log a DNF?

* This is a Repost from Latitude 47

Your Comments are Welcomed and Appreciated

Sharing the Geocaching Hobby

I have met a number of business people at a local business lunch group I attend each week to share ideas and business leads.  At each luncheon someone takes a turn at doing a talk to the group about their business, they are always interesting and informative.   I also take my turn at doing these 30 minute talks but I am not always talking about business, I also talk about my interests which never fail to introduce others to hobbies they had never considered.
Not long ago after hearing about my interest in GeoCaching one of he members asked for more information on how to get started, which as you can guess, I was more than happy to share.  It's been a few months now and she has managed to get her daughter out GeoCaching and ding one more Geocacher to our hobby.   Last Tuesday she was telling me that her parents had expressed an interest in GeoCaching and she was going down to visit them in Arizona, then they were taking a road trip to San Diego.  She asked, if I would help here put together a pocket query with he caches along the route from Phoenix to San Diego.   I was so pleased that the interest is still there and that she is introducing even more people to GeoCaching that of course I was glad to help.   I have even loaned her my Garmin GPS for her trip since she was just using her iPhone.   I am sure they are goig to have a blast and some great stories to share when she gets back.

Bill

Your Comments are Welcomed and Appreciated

5 years, 176 DNFs, 1 Find — A Real Challenge (GC1764C) Repost from Latitude 47

In this week’s Geocaching Weekly Mailer, we talked about logging DNFs (did not find). While no one yearns to log a DNF, they’re a necessary part of the game. DNFs can mean all sorts of things: the geocache has been moved, needs maintenance, or in the case of A Real Challenge (GC1764C), it could mean that it’s incredibly hard to find.

With 176 DNFs and only one find, A Real Challenge lives up to its name. In fact, it took nearly four years for the FTF. This geocache was hidden near Peoria, Illinois, USA by geocacher Fuzzy B, who set out with the goal of creating something he’s never seen before, which, with nearly 46,000 finds, is hard to do. “I have felt a little guilty that so many people have spent so much time searching for it,” he said when asked how it felt to be the owner of such a difficult geocache.

In the geocache description, Fuzzy B writes, “Please, to hold down the level of frustration, anger, etc., just put this on your ignore list, it’s not very findable.” But he goes on to reassure us,  “Yes, its there. It’s a shelter Cache, a log in a container. Cache is not in, on, or touching any part of the electrical equipment. It’s not on the roof, or under the shingles, nor the drip edge. Cache is exposed to light and air. Cache is within the footprint of the roof. There is NO reason to damage or destroy Park property.”

BransonAdventure after their find.

It’s there somewhere…

A Real Challenge has only one find so far by geocacher BransonAdventure. “We found at 8:07pm, but waited to log so we could confirm with owner it wasn’t a decoy or mistake. All the way from Nebraska on vacation we extended the Eastward travel just for this cache,” they said in their log, “I will say we spent just a little under 2 hours looking when my husband found it and then to unroll the log, being so excited and shaking felt like it took about as long. The husband and kids did a little jig.” After the find, Fuzzy B came to meet the lucky geocachers.

Even if it’s a little discouraging, DNFs are an important part of the game. Just think, if all the people that had searched for A Real Challenge hadn’t logged their DNFs, the FTF wouldn’t have been as special.

There’s only one way to find out where this geocache is located, but in the meantime, we can speculate. Where do you think it’s hidden?

Geocache owner Fuzzy B meets the only geocacher to find A Real Challenge, BransonAdventure.

Your Comments are Welcomed and Appreciated

Geocaching provides motivation, exercise

Geocaching provides motivation, exercise Erin Allday   Geocaching has taken off in the past decade or so among adventure seekers and treasure hunters. But it's also a pretty decent fitness tool, says Sam Drake, who took up the hobby nine years ago after reading a story about geocaching in The Chronicle. Since then, he's tracked down more than 1,000 geocaches around the world and walked thousands of miles, many of them on Bay Area trails. He also lost 40 pounds and developed a passion for hiking. Drake teaches classes on geocaching at Santa Teresa County Park in Santa Clara County. For more information, go to the Geocachers of the Bay Area's website, thegba.net, or geocaching.com. Name: Sam Drake Age: 52 Residence: San Jose Occupation: Software architect for Oracle Activity: Geocaching Describe geocaching: It's a game that's played with a handheld GPS. A geocache is a container that is hidden. The latitude and longitude of the geocache are recorded online at geocaching.com. You put the coordinates into your GPS, and it'll give you an arrow and a distance. But the GPS is only accurate to 15 or 20 feet, so then you have to open your eyes and think like a spy to find it. Getting started: The No. 1 thing you need is a GPS. If you have an iPhone or Android or any smart phone with GPS in it, there's actually a geocaching app you can download and install. If you want something a little sturdier, you can buy handheld units that are a little more rugged. You also need an account at geocaching.com, which is free. Geocaching for fitness: Anything that gets people outside is a good thing. Too many people spend all their time inside watching TV or playing on their computer. Geocaching is a nice bridge, because it's a computer-related thing, but then after fiddling around on your computer, you have to get up and go outside. For me and my wife, it was the hook to get us out there. We started hiking in the park next to our house. I also used to travel a lot on business, and every time I traveled, it was a good way to explore a new place. Geocaching for adventure: I did the Grand Canyon down to the bottom this summer, and I just did a 12-mile hike with some friends in the Sierra. When I was traveling, I used to go to Asia a lot, so I've gone geocaching in Japan and Korea and the Philippines. Once I took a subway in Seoul to a park and hiked to the top of a mountain by myself.

Keep Cachin'
   Bill

Your Comments are Welcomed and Appreciated

Don’t have GPS? Try Letterboxing

In 1854, rambling man, James Perrott, hid a bottle in a stone cairn beside a hard-to-reach pool in southern England. A guidebook mentioned the cache and soon people swarmed to the site, leaving messages behind for future visitors. The idea went viral and “letterboxes” popped up all over the surrounding moorland, their locations described in terms of natural landmarks, rather than geocaching’s numerical coordinates. With just 24 letterboxes hidden in the Edmonton area, the root of geocaching may not be as popular, but it is simply more accessible. Visit letterboxing.org to find one near you.

* This post is a portion of a complete article on AvenueEdmonton.com

FTF GEOCACHING MAGAZINE

I just finished reading the last issue, of my first years subscription, of FTF GEOCACHER  the magazine for Geocachers.  If you haven't heard of this magazine yet, let me introduce you to it.   FTF GEOCACHER Magazine published bi-monthly and contains a myriad of Geocaching stories, commentary by fellow Cachers and updates on national Geo-Events.  While FTF GEOCACHER does have advertising it is not over bearing, most ads are small and are tastefully sprinlkled throughout the magazine.  All of the ads are related to Geocaching you won't find ads that are off topics such as cars, make-up or swim wear.    When you subscribe to FTF GEOCACHER magazine, you receive a really cool , Path Tag with your first issue.  The cost per year is $24.00 USD or $36.00 CDN, you may be asking if you are in Canada why are we paying more?  It's simple, I am located in Canada and my last issue came to me with USA Postage of $2.25, that's quite an additional cost and I sure don't mind paying less than it costs to send it to me for my years subscription.    Now instead of describing each and every section of this terrific magazine to you, I want you to check it out for yourselves, Keith Petrus, the publisher of FTF GEOCACHER, has made available for Download the November/December issue right for the FTF GEOCACHER website. Follow this Link to get your Free Download of the Nov/Dec 2011 issue  http://www.ftfgeocacher.com/ Then leave a comment here and let me know how you liked it.     Bill Jones - Geocacher B&CJONES Email: NationalGeocacher@gmail.com