Cache Up NB

The History Of Geocaching

Zor — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:42:02 +0000

It’s rare that I re-post information from another site, but while reading about geocaching challenges today, I came across this article about the origins of geocaching. I thought some of our readers would be interested to read this. The original article can be read on geocaching.com.

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The History of Geocaching

Based on excerpts from

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Geocaching, Second Edition

GPS Users get an Instant Upgrade

On May 2, 2000, at approximately midnight, eastern savings time, the great blue switch* controlling selective availability was pressed. Twenty-four satellites around the globe processed their new orders, and instantly the accuracy of GPS technology improved tenfold. Tens of thousands of GPS receivers around the world had an instant upgrade.

The announcement a day before came as a welcome surprise to everyone who worked with GPS technology. The government had planned to remove selective availability – but had until 2006 to do so. Now, said the White House, anyone could “precisely pinpoint their location or the location of items (such as game) left behind for later recovery.” How right they were.

London, Paris, New York, Beavercreek?

For GPS enthusiasts, this was definitely a cause for celebration. Internet newsgroups suddenly teemed with ideas about how the technology could be used.

On May 3, one such enthusiast, Dave Ulmer, a computer consultant, wanted to test the accuracy by hiding a navigational target in the woods. He called the idea the “Great American GPS Stash Hunt” and posted it in an internet GPS users’ group. The idea was simple: Hide a container out in the woods and note the coordinates with a GPS unit.

The finder would then have to locate the container with only the use of his or her GPS receiver. The rules for the finder were simple: “Take some stuff, leave some stuff.”

On May 3rd he placed his own container, a black bucket, in the woods near Beavercreek, Oregon, near Portland. Along with a logbook and pencil, he left various prize items including videos, books, software, and a slingshot. He shared the waypoint of his “stash” with the online community on sci.geo.satellite-nav:

N 45° 17.460 W 122° 24.800

Within three days, two different readers read about his stash on the Internet, used their own GPS receivers to find the container, and shared their experiences online. Throughout the next week, others excited by the prospect of hiding and finding stashes began hiding their own containers and posting coordinates. Like many new and innovative ideas on the Internet, the concept spread quickly – but this one required leaving your computer to participate.

Within the first month, Mike Teague, the first person to find Ulmer’s stash, began gathering the online posts of coordinates around the world and documenting them on his personal home page. The “GPS Stash Hunt” mailing list was created to discuss the emerging activity. Names were even tossed about to replace the name “stash” due to the negative connotations of that name. One such name was “geocaching.”

The Origins of Geocaching

Geocaching, first coined by Matt Stum on the “GPS Stash Hunt” mailing list on May 30, 2000, was the joining of two familiar words. The prefix geo, for Earth, was used to describe the global nature of the activity, but also for its use in familiar topics in gps such as geography.

Caching, from the word cache, has two different meanings, which makes it very appropriate for the activity. A french word invented in 1797, the original definition referred to a hiding place someone would use to temporarily store items. The wordcache stirs up visions of pioneers, gold miners, and even pirates. Today the word is still even used in the news to describe hidden weapons locations.

The second use of cache has more recently been used in technology. Memory cache is computer storage that is used to quickly retrieve frequently used information. Your web browser, for example, stores images on disk so you don’t have to retrieve the same image every time you visit similar pages.

The combination of Earth, hiding, and technology made geocaching an excellent term for the activity. However the “GPS Stash Hunt” was the original and most widely used term until Mike Teague passed the torch to Jeremy Irish in September 2000.

The Birth of Geocaching.com

For the first few months, geocaching was confined to existing experienced GPS users who already used the technology for outdoor activities such as backpacking and boating. Most users had an existing knowledge of GPS and a firm grasp of obscure lingo like datums and WGS84. Due to both the player base and the newness of the activity, players had a steep learning curve before going out on their first cache hunt. Tools were scarce for determining whether a cache was nearby, if one existed at all.

As with most participants, Jeremy Irish, a web developer for a Seattle company, stumbled upon Mike Teague’s web site in July while doing research on GPS technology. The idea of treasure hunting and using tech-gadgets represented the marriage of two of his biggest interests. Discovering one was hidden nearby, Jeremy purchased his first GPS unit and went on his first hunt the following weekend.

After experiencing the thrill of finding his first cache, Irish decided to start a hobby site for the activity. Adopting the term geocaching, he created Geocaching.com and applied his professional web skills to create tools to improve the cache-hunting experience. The cache listings were still added by hand, but a database helped to standardize the listings. Additional features, like searching for caches around zip codes, made it easier for new players to find listings for nearby caches.

With Mike Teague’s valuable input, the new site was completed and announced to the stash-hunting community on September 2, 2000. At the time the site was launched there were 75 known caches in the world.

If You Hide It, They Will Come

Slashdot, a popular online magazine for techies, reported the new activity on September 25, 2000, introducing a larger group of technology professionals to the activity. The New York Times picked up the story and featured it in its “Circuits” section in October, starting a domino effect of articles written in magazines, newspapers, and other media outlets around the world. CNN even did a segment in December 2000 to profile the new hobby.

However, because there were so few caches in the world, many would-be participants discovered they didn’t have a cache listed nearby. Many wondered whether anyone would bother looking for a cache if they hid one in their area. The growing community chanted the mantra “If you hide it, they will come” to the newer players. After some reassurances, pioneers of the hobby started placing caches just to see whether people would go find them. They did.

Through word of mouth, press articles, and even accidental cache discoveries, more and more people have become involved in geocaching. First started by technology and GPS enthusiasts, the ranks of geocachers now include couples, families, and groups from all walks of life. The excitement of the hunt appeals to both the inner (and outer) child. Today you can do a search on just about anywhere in the world and be able to walk, bike, or drive to a nearby hidden cache.

The Creation of Groundspeak

After the increased traffic from Slashdot, Irish realized that the ongoing management of the web site would quickly grow out of the lone computer on his home DSL line. So in late 2000, he partnered with Elias Alvord and Bryan Roth, two coworkers at Sunrise Identity, to start a new company called Groundspeak Inc. (originally “Grounded Inc.”). With the proceeds from sales of 144 geocaching t-shirts, they moved the machines into a hosted environment in downtown Seattle. The founders continued to work for Sunrise Identity while managing the new company and the web site in their off hours.

After several years of working on the web site, Jeremy and Elias were able to raise enough through Premium Memberships to make Groundspeak a full time job. In late 2005, Bryan Roth finally became a full time employee at the company.

Jeremy Irish, Elias Alvord and Bryan Roth continue to own and operate the web site today. They are supported by a small team of Groundspeak Lackeys and over 100 geocaching volunteers worldwide.

Special Thanks…

Special thanks goes out to Sunrise Identity who was gracious enough to support the Shop Groundspeak site in the early years, and Killerlink, who continues to help us with network operations, bandwidth needs, and security on the web site.

Special, special, thanks go to the unsung heroes who maintain and review the ever-growing list of caches listed on the web site. Additional thanks goes to Moun10Bike (Jon Stanley), for donating various Microsoft software licenses that help run the web site. Thanks Jon!

*there is no actual blue switch

2 comment(s) for this post:

PA:
17 Feb 2012 Here is the original post on the usenet where Dave Ulmer announces that he hid a container http://groups.google.com/group/sci.geo.satellite-nav/browse_thread/thread/9e5c0d725457e91e/f6ef813d5fb0b6cd
cableguy1:
17 Feb 2012 Great posts, Zor (and Pa's as well). I knew the history, but certainly not as detailed.

Groundspeak Pulls The Plug On Google Maps

Zor — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:56:28 +0000

If you haven’t noticed already, you will soon enough. The geocaching maps previously used by the official geocaching website are no longer powered by Google. As a result of this, many of the previous map options are now gone. They have been replaced by OpenStreetMaps. If you want to read the official statement from Groundspeak about this change, click here.

Now, before people go off and start complaining about GSP’s change, please be aware that this is not something that they had any control over. It is in fact a change to Google’s map API license. If you are using the map API for more than 25,000 hits per day, you are now required to pay a fee for usage. This did not exist previously. According to GSP, they do about 2,000,000 (two million) hits per DAY on Google maps. In order to prevent having to offset the costs by charging more on geocaching.com, they opted for the OpenStreetMaps which are still available for free.

The biggest issue folks are having with the new maps appears to be the fact that it is slower, has far less detail than was available with Google, and the satellite view is no longer available. If you have concerns about streets that are missing, OpenStreetMaps does have the ability for you to update their maps directly with new map data. If streets are missing, you can go in and add them yourself if you have the time and effort to do so. I have not explored the specifics about this but will be looking into it soon.

For those still looking for satellite maps with Google, feel free to download a copy of Google Earth and install Groundspeak’s geocaching viewer. It will provide you all of the caches available on geocaching.com from within Google Earth. It does not filter finds or your hides, but it is still better than nothing. The other option is to simply use your pocket query or GSAK GPX file and open it in Google Earth and it will show you those caches on the satellite map.

There is also a GSAK macro which will place your GSAK database on a Google map.

Feel free to post your comments on this subject here and if you have any suggestions/alternatives to the new map feel free to post them as comments as well.

11 comment(s) for this post:

Zor:
15 Feb 2012 I posted my own thoughts on the official forums. http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=290410&view=findpost&p=4973263
heathtree:
15 Feb 2012 I agree with your forum post. This is a decision forced on Groundspeak by Google's change in licensing policies. As much as I will miss the Google maps (especially terrain view), I find the Mapquest and OSM maps are adequate replacements. In fact, I'm actually happy that the new maps will actually show the cache icons on my iPad, as they didn't previously show on the beta maps. Now the icons aren't clickable yet, but I'm sure that's coming. Now if they'll just move the puzzle icons on the maps for the ones that I've solved, I will be a happy customer.
Rev Slippery:
15 Feb 2012 It has really messed up the apps that used Google maps. C:GEO will only show the nearest 20 and the official app will show whatever you get when you call up the "nearest caches" and use the show on map function.
PA:
15 Feb 2012 I hate the choices that they give us. None are as good and clean as Google
cableguy1:
15 Feb 2012 I can understand the decision. This will take some getting used to. Hopefully there will be a solution soon so I don't have to get used to the alternative maps. In the meantime, I'm glad there are a few P&Gs out there that I haven't found yet.
evulc:
16 Feb 2012 the google maps api stance on FREE usage has not changed. the problem groundspeak has, and will continue to have is with the openness/freeness of the data provided free to them by us, the users. if they'd show the data for free, they'd be allowed to use google maps for free. see section 9.1 of the google maps api terms of use http://code.google.com/apis/maps/terms.html
coopsquared:
16 Feb 2012 Groundspeak doesn't charge for the use of the maps though, evulc. Never has. Premium and basic members have the same maps. Only difference is premiums can hide found caches, and display PQs - which isn't a function of the map but of the groundspeak page. So, I guess I'm now more confused than before about this decision, as it made sense if groundspeak was going to be charged for the use of them - but not if they could get away with it for free!
Madpuck:
16 Feb 2012 Maybe because there is a user fee for premium members Google is taking a hard stance and is going to bill them for the usage. Who knows..
forestfauna:
16 Feb 2012 Someone create a script for use with FireFox: http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=290410&view=findpost&p=4973878 It gives you the option of selecting google and google satellite images on the drop down, when enabled. Tried it and it works fantastic.
evulc:
17 Feb 2012 a site that charges money and uses google maps api will need to pay google. a site that charges no money is able to use google map stuff everywhere as long as the result is open.
cableguy1:
17 Feb 2012 Ha! My countrymen in the Czech Republic are caching nuts, the sport is reaching hardcore levels there.

Cache Up NB v2.0 Coming Soon

Zor — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:14:11 +0000

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Within the last few weeks, there has been a few mentions of a “new” version of Cache Up NB coming soon. Between it being mentioned on the podcast, the event being held in Moncton on March 3rd, and just general conversations amongst cachers, many users are now aware that something is going on. Well, I’m here to tell you a bit about it.

For starters, the same Cache Up NB you have been a part of for the last two years is still going to be here. We’re still providing news items, podcasts, and other ways to interact with your local caching community. All of that is going to remain the same. What is going to change is some of the look and feel of this site. We are overhauling the general look to help brighten the place up a bit. Part of that will include a new banner which has been seen in the Riverview Winterlude caches recently published. It is the same banner you see above.

But our “relaunch” is not just about changing the paint on the site. It’s about adding some new functionality that we are excited about, and trying to fill in a few gaps where the site has always lacked. We also have a couple of big announcements which relate to both the site itself, and how Cache Up NB as a community is taking a more active role in geocaching within our province. All of this information will become publicly available on March 3rd. That having been said, I’m here to give our readers a sort of heads up on what will be happening in the next few weeks.

As we get closer to our deadline, there will be periodic times when the site may be inaccessible and you will simply receive a message about the site being under maintenance. Do not be alarmed by this message. It simply means that me and the other administrators are running some tests with regards to some of the site’s new functionality. Generally speaking, these maintenance windows sh0uld be less than an hour or so.

On the evening of March 2nd, the site will go into a longer maintenance cycle as we cut it over to the new site. This process may take several hours but the site will return and when it does, you’ll see all of the new features and look and be able to see what we’ve been working so hard on for the last few months.

I have to tell you that I am actually pretty excited about the new site and our announcements and it’s driving me nuts not being able to talk about all of it with everyone so I really hope folks like what they see and hear.

If you are in the Moncton area on March 3rd, come on out to our Relaunch event at the old Don Cherry’s (GC38GY2) where we’ll give you the full lowdown on everything that’s changing, what’s not, and what our announcements are. If you can’t make it to the event, all of the information provided there will be available here as well.

10 comment(s) for this post:

milosheart:
13 Feb 2012 Looking forward to hearing about what's new, seeing the new and improved site and getting together for your announcements! Thanks for all you do for all of us cachers, Matt!
incepit:
13 Feb 2012 A friend of a friend of a friend told me the new site will have an app that will allow you to actually launch TBs and coins into space, also William Shatner will now host the podcasts!
evulc:
13 Feb 2012 Crap. Was i supposed to write that app?
PA:
13 Feb 2012 Tha app was very easy to do, but it had to be abandonned when it was realized there was an extra function that would take years to program. The app was supposed to garantee that incepit would win at poker
PA:
14 Feb 2012 The biggest news for me is the success of a website devoted to caching in new brunswick and/or for New Brunswick cachers. This site is more active than sites covering larger areas.
kimberswift:
14 Feb 2012 Looking forward to this event!!!
forestfauna:
14 Feb 2012 Zor, who are the other admins beside yourself? I've always been curious about that.
Zor:
14 Feb 2012 Rev Slippery is the other official admin. Pa, milosheart, and paulandstacey are moderators/editors which are kind of like admins but manage content only, not the site itself.
Nemodidi:
14 Feb 2012 OH NOs! PaulandStacey is also an editor? Goodness, I was already afraid about Pa (yes, another Paul) editing Nemo's inappropriate content/behaviour, now I'll have to deal with another Paul! I better get Didi read my stuff before I post! Joke aside, I love Pa's comment about all the activity/success of this site. Chapeau to Zor, but to the other helpers as well, including sideshow rev. Looking forward to attend the event.
Rev Slippery:
14 Feb 2012 Side Show Rev, I love it!

Come Out & Play Geocoin – Latest & Greatest Info

coopsquared — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:08:02 +0000

It’s high time I posted an update for the winter challenge geocoin. Preorders are going so well that I’ve decided we’ll be ordering 150 geocoins – if you haven’t placed an order yet, please do so in the near future to ensure you get on the list! The coins are $10 each, and will be available at the Bye Bye Winter events.

I’ve been working on getting the final proof to share. It’s been a trial, as a shaped coin is quite difficult I’ve learned! This is the most recent version, and – if my questions about it are answered to my satisfaction – the final version too. For a more detailed version, check out the Fredericton Region Geocachers facebook group, where a copy of my official order form is also posted.

What a weekend of caching!

Rev Slippery — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:46:09 +0000

This past weekend has to be the best winter geocaching weekend ever. Three great events, perfect weather and a free coin who could ask for anything more?

It all started off with the amazing 6th Ice Walk , with 63 attendance logs, so far and probably close to 80 people there throughout the day. For those of you who could not make it, you missed a fantastic time. Some of us only went out to socialize while others went out to one of the two nearby islands. There was plenty of delicious food and sweets, I think Pa’s squares are the best There were cachers from all over NB, PEI and NS.

The next day was the Geocachette a Dieppe Geocaching event for the public as part of Dieppe’s Friendship Carnival. I could not attend but a few people did and shared there knowledge of Geocaching with the public. I am sure there will be some new cachers come out of that event.

On Saturday evening 5 new caches were published as part of the Town of Riverview’s winter carnival, these five caches had stickers to collect and then used to claim a trackable geocoin. I think this may have taken away from the turnout in Dieppe as there were dozens of geocachers hitting the Dobson Trail on Sunday to get the finds and then the coin. There are only 1oo coins so they will go fast, about 35 finds in the first couple of days. Also along with the release of the five caches and the coin there was an event held at the fire pit on the Dobson Trail Monday night, The Riverview Winterlude event. This event had a great turn out of old and new cachers along with about 5 new families to learn about geocaching and a local Beaver group. I would guess about 50 people in total were there. It was the most perfect night that you could imagine, mild, bright and dry and everyone had a great time.

I hope these type of weekends keep happening, the next one will be the end of April for the Bye, Bye, Winter bash events in Fredericton, hope to see you all there!

What an awesome geocaching community we have!

5 comment(s) for this post:

E.B.E 51:
08 Feb 2012 Yep, it was quite the weekend. And I did it all. Half of Shediac Island and the 2012 ICE WALK - # 6 event on Saturday. Found the 5 caches for the Riverview Winterlude event with Snake9 on Sunday and went to the Geocachette a Dieppe Geocaching event. And then attended the Riverview Winterlude event with Snake9 at the Dobson Trail Monday night. Three events in three days, a bunch of caches, lots of hiking, and a geocoin. Oh, and I got to meet some geocachers from out of town on Shediac Island. Some I have only heard of by name, some I haven't. And of course all the locals. Oh, and I finally got to meet Hillbilly Bob. This was a geocaching weekend that probably will not be topped for a long time.
herrminnz:
08 Feb 2012 Rev, you hit the nail on the head! Even with my geo caching injury, I attended the Ice Walk figuring on drinking coffee and spending time with Ma & Pa and helping around their home .... oh, how that change! Pa & I became the Emergency Response Team and Ma kicked us out! Thankfully no mishaps, as we went geo caching around town with Belladan & Mr. Chignecto Duo. There were also cachers from Rimouski and Grand Riviere, Quebec. Sunday had Chatelaine and I in the Dobson Trail parking lot where there was enough cachers to have an event! Monday evening was a huge hit and kudos to you for making such a success! This without a doubt will be one tough act to follow ...
PA:
10 Feb 2012 It was a great weekend of caching. I wont say more because I will be writing something about winter caching and winter activities, including those mentioned here. Meanwhile, if someone has a picture of the beautiful cake that Nemo brought to the Ice Walk, could they please post it on the cache page.
Freedom Five:
10 Feb 2012 Thanks Rev for the information about the Riverview Winterlude caches (and coin). Hubby went out caching today and and he got the 62nd coin so there are only 38 left.
chatelaine:
11 Feb 2012 Right on Rev. It was a weekend made amazing by all the incredible caching options available to us, not to mention the wonderful cooperation of Mother Nature. Imagine walking across to Shediac Island with no wind and, once on the island, the sun glistening off the snow in the trees turned it into a magical winter wonderland. Sunday we missed the Dieppe event choosing, instead, to head out in search of the Riverview Winterlude series. It was great to see so many people on the trails enjoying the sunshine, getting a little exercise, finding a few caches and meeting up with so many other cachers - half the Moncton caching population greeted us in the parking lot, the other half were on the trails, along with a few out-of-towners (got a few good tips along the way). And Monday night! Even had the trail not been so well marked we would have only had to follow the sound of laughter out to the firepit. A great gathering and a perfect ending to a perfect weekend. Thanks to all the organizers, it was truly extra-ordinary.

BBW Accommodations/Billeting

milosheart — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:11:03 +0000

The Bye Bye Winter Weekend is fast approaching (April 27-29, 2012) and we’re looking for some ways to encourage as many folks as possible to come to Fredericton to attend the events. It’s a weekend of events and caching starting with the BBW Bowling Shindig on Friday night, the CITO and Flashmob during the day Saturday and the BBW Bash (potluck and BBQ) Saturday evening and ending with the Helloooo Spring Brunch on Sunday.

With so many cachers from “away” we’d like to make it as easy, and inexpensive, as possible for them. To that end, we have a couple of questions for all you wonderful cachers out there:

1. If you live in the Fredericton area would you be willing to billet or host a cacher (or 2 or more) in your home for the weekend? Please post a comment with your “yes” and state how many you would be able to accomodate and in what area of the city you live.

2. If you live away from Fredericton would you be willing/be comfortable staying with another cacher/couple/family for the weekend? Would you be more willing to attend the events if you had a free place to stay? Please post a comment with the number in your party and number of nights you would potentially be staying.

Keep in mind, some folks may need 2 nights worth of accomodations (Friday and Saturday) and some may need only one (Saturday).

This is all on a completely voluntary basis and right now we’re just trying to see if it’s something we can do to help out cachers who have to travel to attend these events.

12 comment(s) for this post:

milosheart:
07 Feb 2012 We have room for 2, in one bed, Fredericton North.
PA:
07 Feb 2012 no comment LOL
PA:
07 Feb 2012 Actually this is a wonderful idea. We are looking forward to that weekend but we will not need to be billeted.
Zor:
07 Feb 2012 I think it would be funny to just randomly pick two people from a hat that get to stay there.
milosheart:
07 Feb 2012 LOL I wondered who would make the first smart-arse remark. Glad to know you've still got it, Pa! :)
milosheart:
07 Feb 2012 Hmmmm....... :)
PA:
07 Feb 2012 FUNNY???
evulc:
07 Feb 2012 eeek!
Madpuck:
07 Feb 2012 Tag Along 2 and I have 2 beds and a hide a bed to offer if anyone needs a place that weekend.
Nemodidi:
09 Feb 2012 I have a gift certificate here, for a one night stay, on a weekend, at the Delta Fredericton. The best deal they have now is $129plus tax for a night when you are from the Atlantic, they call it the "atlantic deal or something". I would let go that voucher for 75$. If you say nothing and just ask for a 2 double bed instead of a king, you could sleep 4 in the room! (I already checked if my voucher was good for 2 double beds instead of a king and it is) Don't say I told you to cheat, as this voucher is for double occupancy. This voucher HAS to be used before April 30th. Email me if you are interested.
Zor:
09 Feb 2012 Booked my room for the weekend at the Best Western. Whole family will be in tow :)
denislan:
09 Feb 2012 We hope to be there at least on Saturday and Sunday. I'll only know like a week before so we'll just book something at the hotel. I hope to pick up some caches till then, I'm only at two finds so far in 2012 :(. I'll have to take a day off and pay a visit to Bathurst or Miramichi to pump that up. Keep up the great work on this nice contest!

Visiting the world via trackables

Nemodidi — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:49:13 +0000

In geocaching, besides the activity of going out to find a geocache, it seems we all have our little favourite side activities. Some like the challenges, some like benchmarking (not that I think it’s possible here, does it even still exist?), some are FTF fanatics, and so forth. As for me, I am a “trackable” guy. I LOVE trackables, both geocoins and Travel bugs. I (or should I say we) own 20 geocoins, 11 dog tags travel bugs, 2 of the latest fancier travel bug tags (in the shape of a butterfly for instance) and one geogem. We have found some 300 trackables, and we (or should I say I) follow each and every one of them! Yep that’s right, besides all the email I get because I keep an eye on who finds what down here, I get an email each time a TB I found or discovered is either moved or discovered. And I love it.

I must admit that I do not read each and every email (most of the ‘’discovered’’ I just delete), but I tend to keep an eye when they are moved. Not only reading the post which is 90% of the time without any pictures and just the ol’ saying “moving along”, but I go on the actual cache page where the trackable is being dropped to look at where on earth it is. I essentially travel vicariously through the trackables. It’s always fun to see that a trackable you once held in your hands is now hidden near a castle in Germany. I like to check the pictures of the area when there are some (and sometimes where the scenery is great there are a lot of pictures, and some cachers take the time to take pictures of the TB as well). I check the map where it is, the area, use Google earth and street view to check out the surroundings and sometimes Google about the general area to learn about that spot on earth that I did not know anything about before. I also check the map on the actual Trackable page and I’m amazed at the distance some of them have traveled.

Of all the trackables, I prefer geocoins by far. Unfortunately, most of them tend to disappear, get lost or stolen. I think of all our 20 geocoins, there are only 4-5 that are still alive. On the other hand, it’s the opposite with the Travel bugs, only a few are missing and most are still in top shape and travel the world. Because of this, I tend to no longer buy geocoins. First I do not have ‘’collections’’ of anything, and I strongly believe that the purpose of a geocoin is to be out there. Although I know they tend to disappear, If I have one (either the ones I purchased in the past or the ones I get as gifts or as prizes etc), I let it go in the wild for others to discover and move along because this is what they are meant for. But I also understand people who like to have a few just to hang on to because they like them.

I also tend to take good care of the trackables. I might be a bit extreme about the maintenance subject, but I’d say I am probably as intense about trackable etiquette. I try to make sure they are always placed in a well maintained cache, a cache that gets a couple of hits (although I have placed some in less frequented caches but they were places of interest, well hidden from muggles, and which will surely get a find one day or another). I also do all that I can to respect the mission that is very often given to the trackable by the owner. I have been so frustrated with cachers not really giving a sh** about the mission of some of my trackables, that I now tend not to give them a mission that is too specific.

Here is a couple of links for a few of our trackables that are doing well. Check out some of the pictures that geocachers took. I always send a thank you note to a geocacher that takes the time to post a picture of my trackable in the area where it was found or dropped:

TB-Shadow of a Dodo Bird

TB-White Rhinocerous

TB- The Real Bug Travel Bug

TB-Panda Bear Cub

Nemo’s Sunfest

Nemo’s Dive Bomber

Here is some that we found that traveled great distances.

Tuk-Tuk

Little GG’s Lamp

Cheers!

funkypancake emigration race – esther’s phone box

Neat eh? What’s your take on trackables?

8 comment(s) for this post:

Madpuck:
02 Feb 2012 If your GG Lamp one gets a little further south in Germany I would have a chance to get it back closer to it's goal in sept, lol
Rev Slippery:
02 Feb 2012 I have released about 4 trackables and 3 disappeared in Nova Scotia and one is still alive and not moving much in the southern US. I do not discover, I don't see the point. I am trackable but never have the patch on me. So I guess I am not a trackable fan.
heathtree:
03 Feb 2012 I'm with you, Nemo. I wish people would put their trackable's mission on the trackable itself so that I can decide if I should be grabbing it or not. It's easier now that I have an iPhone and can check their missions when I find them, but otherwise I just hope for the best. I've been fortunate enough to do some traveling and when I do, I try to take photos for the trackable owners. Here are two good logs to show you what I mean: http://coord.info/TLX1Z12 http://coord.info/TL10V2H6
PA:
03 Feb 2012 We like to have trackables travel so we grab all we find, even if the cache owner has rules about taking them. We pick up tons before going on a trip. We brought 40 to California and 30 to UK. and we bring as many as we can back here with us. We have most trackables visit the the giant lobster cache in Shediac virtually, although long ago we used to bring them all to have their picture taken there. We do not discover trackables, which sometimes disapoints people with trackable vehicles and clothing. We say that we dont collect coins, but we have a lot of them, all at home. We won some, got some as gifts, and got some from challenges, and bought some to commemorate special caching events
cableguy1:
03 Feb 2012 I also like picking up and passing on TBs. Coins as well. I have 5 trackables. 3 coins, and 2 TBs. I thought the TBs would get better mileage, but not so, the coins are doing much better. One TB is travelling the Maritimes OK, but the other seems to be stuck in "a local cacher's" pocket and has been since last September. The coins on the other hand....One has a mission of going to Hawaii then to finish in a friend's cache in Oregon. It's only on state away from its goal, but someone dropped it in a remote, non-winter friendly cache. Another has a goal of reaching my birth city of Prague, and the coin is in England. The third coin has no mission, but the Winnipeg cacher who has it is taking it to South Africa. We'll see about that one. http://coord.info/TB3MEX2 http://coord.info/TB3T286 http://coord.info/TB1HEEW http://coord.info/TB3VZG6 The AWOL one: http://coord.info/TB3MEWK To me, trackables are a fun aspect of caching, but not a focus. But I do pay attention to missions, and track a few of the interesting ones.
chatelaine:
03 Feb 2012 I LOVE trackables, for all the reasons that you describe, Nemodidi. I keep track of every trackable that I have found and it is great fun to see where they end up. It is also totally mind-blowing to grab a trackable from some cache in the woods somewhere in rural New Brunswick and discover that it has been to Abu Dabai or Australia or somewhere else equally as "exotic" to me. Like you say, it is a great way to travel vicariously.
chignecto duo:
03 Feb 2012 We set forth one coin, it was gone almost as soon as it left our hands and one TB that did travel quite a bit before it too bit the dust. But, we do enjoy taking them to Europe where they never seem to disapperar and travel all over and really rack up the miles. We keep track of a few, mainly ones we dropped off in really neat places. I for one, do not get picking up a TB or coin and then never moving it on. We've left many a TB in a cache just because we knew we were going to be too busy to place it in another within a reasonable amount of time.
Madpuck:
03 Feb 2012 Funny you mentioned putting its' mission on the trackable, when I was in Ireland I was in a hurry and grabbed what was in the cache and figured I'll look later, thinking i'll bring them back to Canada as I was leaving early the next morning. Low and behold when I looked at them on the train back to my place one of them had the mission attached and it wished to only travel around Ireland and its stops would decide where they will vacation the next time they are over. Well it was late and dark and I had no caches close by to drop it in so it made it's way back home and I had to contact a local cacher in Ireland to mail it back to them and let it continue it's journey. I'll pay attention closer from now on lol

The Ice Walk

PA — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:22:57 +0000

I have been including my Ice Walk information in my other posts. Today someone posted a question about ice safety. As this is an importnt item, I thought I would post an item dealing exclusively with the event.

Here is the note that was posted on the site today.

Hey,

I see that a lot of people want to attend the Ice Walker event. I don’t want to be a bummer, but I am not sure that the ice will be thick enough to hold a large group on this saturday. I spoke with a fisherman last week and he told me that the ice is about 6 inches thick at some places between Edgewater drive and the Island. He metionned that he would not even try to cross from Grande-Digue. I would like to attend the event can anyone reassure me about the ice thickness?

****************************************

And here is the response I put on the cache page.

Safety is our main concern.

As hosts of this event, it is not our goal to convince people to cross the ice. Rather, we want to make sure that everyone has as much information as possible in order to make a decision about crossing to either of the islands. We therefore try to keep up to date on conditions and we pass that information on by our updates. Also, we welcome all comments regarding the ice conditions.

Shediac Island

We ventured to Edgewater area today and spoke to a couple of people. A gentleman informed us that he has walked over to the island a few times this year. He has been going over for the last 25 years. He says that he always heads straight across but that there would be no problem heading towards Skull Island. He noted that there have been snowmobiles and ATV’s on the bay for quite some time. I mentioned that I had walked over there last week, and we discussed the conditions on the island. We agreed that snowshoes may not be helpful because of the lack of snow.

We have been mentioning the crossing from Edgewater rather than from our place. This afternoon from our window we spotted a truck in the middle of the bay between our place and the island.

Cocagne Island.

Yesterday, incepit and Rev Slippery went over to Cocagne Island. Incepit informed me that the ice seemed very solid and that an ATV had recently been on the island. Early tomorrow morning Belladan and I will be heading over to the island to check the caches on the north section prior to the predicted snow storm. On Thursday we hope to check the caches on the south section.

If heading to Cocagne Island, we highly recommend leaving from the waypoint provided (Surette St)and heading for the central section of the island and then proceeding to the north or south sections.

And one final point about safety, when crossing ice, it is always better to be a little spead out. If an individual has a problem, the others will be Ok and will be able to help

28 comment(s) for this post:

coopsquared:
31 Jan 2012 Based on your updates, Pa, I'm not worried. Sounds a lot more sturdy than it did two years ago! :) Definitely looking forward to the event. Very excited for this one.
Belladan:
01 Feb 2012 Pa and I made it to the Northern part of Cocagne Island this morning. All caches were found and maintained. The ice conditions are good, with ATV and snowmobile tracks noticed along the way. As far as thickness goes; Well Pa never fell through and he's quite a bit heavier than me. I always let him lead the way by 10 or 12 paces. (just kidding). Note to Belladan from PA: Did you know I am able to edit posts. I was sooooo tempted to fix this one, but didnt.
forestfauna:
01 Feb 2012 At 270 pounds, I have the feeling that if I show up, people are going to say, "No, that's okay, I insist, you first."
forestfauna:
01 Feb 2012 With the amount of snow falling now (20cm predicted here in Fredericton), looks like snowshoes will be a must for caching on Saturday. Curious: are service roads in the Shediac region passable by car in the winter? I am asking about the Looney Toon series.
perks19:
01 Feb 2012 Forestfauna, Looney toons should be fine as there are a few people that live at the end year-round...
PA:
01 Feb 2012 Yep Looney toons will be OK. The road is plowed and is actually very wide, with lots of room to park if you do it by vehicle. The road with the SM series from 1 to 10 (18 caches) is not as good but it is also plowed and the snow will actually make it more drivable.
Belladan:
01 Feb 2012 Err, What I meant to say is that I'm so much heavier than Pa and would never let Pa take the lead.
PA:
01 Feb 2012 I had not checked the caches on Cocagne Island and today a storm was predicted. Our pal Belladan was aware of my concern and called last night and said he would pick me up at 7 am this morning, so we could do the caches on the north section before the storm got bad. So we spent a few hours checking and fixing the caches on the north part of the island. The snow started and the wind blew a bit but we enjoyed our trek. We didnt need snowshoes today as we walked across the ice and as we walked along an ATV track down the center of the island. but Ma and I may need them when we go back tomorrow to check the rest of the caches. You just gotta love geocaching for the adventures and for the friends you make. BTW I hid another cache over there. Hope it gets approved in time, otherwise, I will give out the coords
PA:
02 Feb 2012 We got over 30 cms of snow in the Moncton area yesterday, so it really looks like winter out there. Saturday forecast says sunny. Here is a video by Newschaser in Moncton http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1lhgtIdtXc&feature=g-all-u&context=G24fc323FAAAAAAAAAAA
coopsquared:
02 Feb 2012 So, snowshoes are likely necessary now?
PA:
02 Feb 2012 This is what I have been telling people who have emailed me about the snow *********************************** We got 30 cms, but it was also windy so not sure if needed to cross the bay and on the island. Sorry I cannot be more helpful at this time. MA and I may do a maintenance run on Cocagne island tomorrow and we may bring our snowshoes, so we may be more able to answer your question on Saturday morning. PAul
PA:
03 Feb 2012 Pikpik ia interested in going to Cocagne island and is wondering if anyone else intends on going there.
Belladan:
03 Feb 2012 My daughter Isabele and I just got back from Shediac Island. We parked at Edgewater and walked approximatly 20 meters onto the bay when we decided that snowshoes would be required. I did notice boot prints in our snowshoe track on the way back so you may be able to cross to the island by boot but snowshoes or cross country skies will work better once on the island. From Edgwater we headed to view of Grande Digue Church(GCN3C1) and completed the northern loop maintaining caches along the way. From the Sneaky Thorny Old Man cache to the North West cache, I decided to back track and cut across but that brought us through heavy brush. It may have been easier to follow the coast around the North West tip. From the North West cache, we bushwhacked (easy going) our way back to the Quiet Spot/Endroit Paisible cache (GC10MR8) which brought us back to the same trail that we came in on. Lots of deer tracks and even a couple areas noticed where they beded down. From coast to coast, it took us 22 minutes to cross the bay. The only open water noticed was in an area known as La Batture. This is where the current from Shediac River and the current that runs between the island and the mainland converge. If you follow our tracks, you will be well, well south from the open water. As mentioned on the cache page, When leaving from Edgewater, head for Skull Island or View of Grande-Digue Church. This will give easier access to the North South trail that runs down the middle of the island. 28 dgrees below this morning with the wind chill but with the sun in our face, we were never cold. I guess the hardest part of our morning adventure was getting a 19 year old out of bed early on a day she has no courses. Brings it all back to a thread posted here a while back about those special times of Geocaching with your kids. Even if she is no longer a kid :).
PA:
03 Feb 2012 Great post Dan. Thanks for the info. We have five pairs of snowshoes that people can borrow if hey want to use them.
Zor:
03 Feb 2012 Big thanks Dan. I put my snowshoes in my car that's waiting for me at the airport. Glad to know I'll need them.
Rev Slippery:
03 Feb 2012 Did you put a shovel in your car to get out of the parking lot, probably covered and plowed in...lol
PA:
03 Feb 2012 We did a couple of Looney toons today. The road is plowed and wide and sanded. But you will definitely need boots to get the caches as the snow is over a foot deep. All the caches are very close to the road and are winter friendly
PA:
03 Feb 2012 And of course everyone is welcome at our place after their caching. We will have hot drinks, chili and fricot and snacks.
coopsquared:
03 Feb 2012 Who's planning on hiking the big island? We certainly are, but would prefer to hike with others too! We'll be getting to Ma and Pa's a little before 9.
triple ccc:
03 Feb 2012 We are,maybe we can meet up same plans for us
chatelaine:
03 Feb 2012 I'm planning to do Shediac Island and looking for company. Herr Minnz has a bum ankle so will be drinking coffee at Ma & Pa's. We plan to arrive at their place by 8:45.
cableguy1:
03 Feb 2012 Chatelaine, NBGamer22 and I will be there about the same time, Shediac Island is on the radar. Definitely leaving from Edgewater, should be a blast!
coopsquared:
03 Feb 2012 Awesome! Sounds like a party. We'll be there shortly before 9.
perks19:
03 Feb 2012 I have about half the lower end and ONE lone wolf "North West" at the top of Shediac Island to get... see you in the AM...
Madpuck:
03 Feb 2012 We'll be at Pa's shortly before 9 as well and plan to do Skull Island and some of the main one, We'll continue as long as the kids last but we didn't bring our snowshoes, lack of space.....
forestfauna:
04 Feb 2012 Once again, Thank you to MA and PA for being incredible hosts. The caching was great, the food was fantastic, the company was enjoyable.
cableguy1:
04 Feb 2012 If anyone has photos to share, I would like to use them for a slide show/video of the event that I will put together. The video will then be posted on Youtube for all to enjoy. If you have pix that you'd like to share, please send them to: monctoncableguy@hotmail.com Thanks all!
HeavyMetals:
06 Feb 2012 Posted some nice pics from the ice walk on gc.com: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=35f16e8d-f319-4bd8-9ba3-b99622eeccb9

January 29 News: People/ Ice Walk/ Stuff

PA — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:19:00 +0000

Kfdcanada

We went to the great GSAK session by Team BikeFast last weekend in Quispamsis. A big turnout and a really good session. We did a bit of caching before and after the event. We intended on spending the night in a local hotel, but we received an invitation from KfdCanada and his wife Grace to spend the night at their place. We had a wonderful time and a great supper. Ken even let me watch the Senators lose. It turns out they are also Big Bang Theory fans, just like us. (I sometimes watch 3 or more episodes per night. I guess it is my other obsession). Thanks to Ken and Grace for the hospitality. It was nice seeing him at the Moncton Brekkie this morning with a bunch of other out of towners.

***********************************************

Ice Walk

I will add a new update to the Ice Walk page. Everything looks great for crossing to Shediac Island. The snow and rain has made a nice crust for traction crossing. There is not enough snow for snowshoes on the island. It may snow everyday this week but only traces. Weather looks good this week with very cold nights..

WayMoreJean sent me a satelite map of the island and the caches. Belladan and his daughter added some lines to the map to show a suggested plan of attack and then made a large copy of the map. He then printed a bunch of copies to hand out to cachers arriving for the event.

We are hoping to get to Cocagne island this week to check on the caches and ice conditions. We will post that info when available. As a last resort, if we cant go ahead of the event, we may hand out caches to the cachers to replaces any that are missing. LOL

We are suggesting that people show up at our place before crossing to the islands, even if they will be crossing from Edgewater. This will allow cachers to team up (for safety and for fun) and maybe even carpool there.

If anyone doesn’t feel up to crossing to the islands, but wants to cache, check the map of the area to see the large number of new caches placed during the last few weeks. If not interessted in caching, why not drop in during the day for coffee.

Belladan will again be making a big pot of Fricot and Ma will be preparing some Chili. We will also have some sweets.

**********************************************

More news

Ma and I are still picking up one cache a day in our new streak and checking the calendar to fill it up by the end of February. We are still walking 6 kms everyday on Beaubassin Rd picking up one of Belladan’s Looney Tune caches each day, and dropping off TB’s in those caches for the cachers for the Ice Walk event.

Tomorrow we meet up with Jim for lunch at the Casino. Jim will be bringing Geocoins and a few TB’s with him to Florida and on his cruise. That includes the new bugs from Belladan and from our grandkids Jake & Ben

********************************************************
Introduction to Geocaching Session

There will be an introduction to geocaching session in Dieppe next Sunday. Tiger Tracker is shown as the responsible person, however he is unavailable and Pikpik has volunteered to take his place. If you would like to show up and offer some help, I am sure it will be appreciated

http://coord.info/GC3AR80

**************************************************************

The Cookers

We often hear comments about writing logs on a series of caches. The Cookers went after our new caches in the SM series. The logs were not long, but together they told a story so here it is.

Log Date: 1/29/2012
I saw this series come out yesterday and thought NOOOOOO, we’ve already done the Shediac to Malakoff trail and it was brutal, we don’t want to do it again. Most of it is driving so the CO says. Yes, I seem to remember, we had decided to walk all the way though. We figured this place would be crawling with cachers today but it was not to be. We are FTF on all of them but as all cachers say, we don’t really care about FTF. TFTC

Log Date: 1/29/2012
Good timing for these caches, got studded snow tires put on the little Golf just last Friday. The road is icy but but no huge pot holes to contend with. Picked up TB, dropped off two. TFTC

Log Date: 1/29/2012
These are like P & G’s, well for the most part. We’ll do a couple of hikes before the afternoon is over. TFTC Dropped off 2 TB’s.

Log Date: 1/29/2012
Lot’s of people, bikes, trikes, dogs and cars. There must be a few cachers. Nope, none so far. Very puzzling. TFTC

Log Date: 1/29/2012
OMG, where are all the cachers? Beautiful day for caching, sunny not too cold if a bit windy. TFTC

Log Date: 1/29/2012
OK, so some other cachers started from the other end. We will be meeting up with them in the middle somewhere, right? After all, these are Ma & Pa caches. Maybe there’s no logic to this after all. LOL TFTC

Log Date: 1/29/2012
We see people in the distance, coming the other way. AHA, cachers, I knew it. TFTC

Log Date: 1/29/2012
Nope, not cachers. A few hikers and an ATV. Oh, I forgot to mention, a few of the micros had no log sheet. We didn’t have any either but I did find a couple of pieces of paper with my grocery list on them in my pocket so used that. TFTC

Log Date: 1/29/2012
Still parking and grabbing and still FTF so far. Is there a caching party somewhere that we didn’t know about. LOL TFTC

Log Date: 1/29/2012
Well, what to say about this one? Still no other cachers, still nice out. Still FTF which we don’t care about because we already have so many. [:D] TFTC

Log Date: 1/29/2012
Looked quickly at the map before heading out. I knew a couple of caches were off trail but didn’t realize we had arrived to one of them so quickly. We did this one and didn’t do the River Cache until we were on our way back. TFTC

Log Date: 1/29/2012
We usually like to do the last cache first and work our way out. Did this on these two. Nice hike, a bit slippery but feels good to walk for a bit. TFTC

Log Date: 1/29/2012
No trouble finding any of these. Good coordinates and we left lots of caching prints for the next cachers, which we still haven’t seen any of. TFTC

Log Date: 1/29/2012
Last of the series, still no other cachers to be found. Almost to the river and we spot ATV’ers down at the bottom. Do we keep going? Nah, we don’t know who they are. So we wait. They finish their beer and get on their bikes, we hide. Mr. Cooker finds the cache and just as we go to leave we hear more ATV’s, a whole bunch of them. We stay in the woods and leave without them ever seeing us. Fun stuff. TFTC.

15 comment(s) for this post:

E.B.E 51:
30 Jan 2012 Snake9 and I met the cookers as they were on their way back out the road. Nice people. I liked their description of their ninja skills in the last log.
coopsquared:
30 Jan 2012 I've been made to promise to bring a cheesecake to the ice walk this weekend too, Pa. Looking forward to it greatly! What time do people tend to head out to Edgewater for the crossing? We'll be leaving Fredericton that morning, so just want to plan that part - as we'd rather cache with others, certainly!
PA:
30 Jan 2012 Here is the log by EBE51 for those who may want to know the rest of the story. As for the two caches with no log sheets, well I think it was MA's fault ************************** Log Date: 1/29/2012 Well I am back to finish this series. I did SM#9 to SM#29 nine days ago. Today Snake9 and I did SM#0.5 to SM#8.5, plus the new 10.5, 11.5 and river cache. A few old ones from 4 years ago and a few new from 2 days ago. Oh, and we also did the Alleluia Bridge Micro. I got all the caches on the other side of the old railroad track last summer and just needed this one to finish it. Like the cookers wrote in their logs, we were suprisied there wasn't any other cachers around. It was a really nice afternoon. Snake9 and I did meet the cookers when they were on their way out. Chatted for a few minutes. This was the first time I had met them. We also talked to a man out walking to get some exercise. He had double hip replacement surgery a while back. And we met some people on ATV's near the SM River Cache. They were not cachers but one of them knew what geocaching was and even asked if we found the cache. These were quick finds for this series, so there isn't much to write for each one. Each was pretty much the same as the last. I would look for the cache and Snake9 would look for a stick to whack stuff with. 21 cache finds and 21 sticks needlessly died. Actually, I think he found two and signed two himself. But it was a nice afternoon to be outside. And we also got to read the cookers grocery list in two caches. I guess ""someone"" forgot to put a log sheet in the containers. I was a little confused when I first tried to figure out who the heck these cachers were. I didn't have my backpack with me so I didn't have any spare log sheets with me. I also didn't note which two caches these were, but they were two of the new ones. Thanks Ma & Pa for the series. I had fun doing the whole thing. The rest of my logs will be short. TFTC.
PA:
30 Jan 2012 I suggested people come here first but of course, people can go directly to Edgewater, It seems there will be a big crowd this year, so you should be able to meet people over there. We usually give a 9 am start time, but it will be a long day and many people start earlier. So if you show up here or at Edgewater around 9 you should meet up with other cachers. Thanks for the cheesecake offer. Much appreciated. PAul PS We added the map to the cache page showing the plan of attack from Edgewater.
coopsquared:
30 Jan 2012 We'll likely still head to your place first, at least to drop off the cheesecake! How long a drive is it to Edgewater from there?
chatelaine:
30 Jan 2012 Herr Minnz and I will certainly be attending. If anyone would like to carpool from Riverview/Moncton, just drop us a line so that we can arrange something. Ma/Pa, I'll bring some dinner rolls with me, to help mop up the chili and fricot! Cheers.
Rev Slippery:
30 Jan 2012 Incepit and I just got back from Cocagne Island, no problem with the ice. We did DNF a cache that has been missing for a while now from Crlyl. I added a needs maintenance log but probably should have put a needs archived log. We had a container with us but I hate throw downs so I didn't leave one, just in case we missed it but I don't think we did. The owner doesn't appear to be doing much or any maintenance so a throw down will just prolonging the inevitable.
Nemodidi:
30 Jan 2012 Didi and I will bring a Costco birthday cake.
Rev Slippery:
30 Jan 2012 You could just bring a regular cake, unless it is someones birthday.
Nemodidi:
30 Jan 2012 I wonder if I should bring chicken wings instead of the Costco slab REGULAR (birthday) cake? Ma? Pa?
PA:
30 Jan 2012 Whatever you wish to bring would be appreciated.
Freedom Five:
30 Jan 2012 We will bring some brownies and some Wheaton wine...named after the Wheaton's from Sackville who were friends of ours in university. And in case you wondered - there is nothing in the brownies and the drink is a non-alcoholic punch.
denislan:
30 Jan 2012 Won't be able to make it to the Ice Walk this year, hope you guys will have a lot of fun and that the weather will be cooperating. Caching has been pretty slow so far in 2012, only two smilies so far. There have been a few new caches in the Bathurst area but I haven't been that way lately. Hopefully thing will pick up shortly :).
PA:
30 Jan 2012 Here is a copy of the map showing plan of attack from Edgewater to Shediac Island http://img.geocaching.com/cache/large/88f2431a-91d8-4286-a7c1-2e765d38bf49.jpg
PA:
30 Jan 2012 I contacted Crlyl and adopted his cache. We will go and replace it before the Ice Walk. We also intend on checking and fixing all the other caches on that island. This is what we did on shediac island last week

Help me please!

chatelaine — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:12:06 +0000

I want to put out some traditional caches for the Come Out and Play contest, as well as a couple of puzzle caches. If I put clues regarding the coordinates of the puzzle cache in my traditional caches, do the traditional caches still qualify as being “unique” for purposes of the contest or do they become part of a “multi”? I’m thinking of the Blue’s Clues series by Ron568 where each cache was unique unto itself but you also collected six coordinates so that you could solve the puzzle cache. My “series” would be along that line. I would appreciate any input in this regard so that I don’t inadvertantly break the rules. Thanks for your help!

3 comment(s) for this post:

milosheart:
29 Jan 2012 When put into the context of Ron's series it makes sense to me and would be fine. We also mentioned it to Matt, as we're not terribly familiar with how puzzles and multis work, and he saw no problem with it either. So, as long as Groundspeak publishes them you're good to go. Sounds fun!!
Rev Slippery:
29 Jan 2012 There are many series of caches around that will give you clues to a final or some other reward such as a coin. Just make sure that the clues are going to last a while so that no one does it and can't get one section and makes the final impossible to find. These types may require at little more vigilance and maintenance in order to keep the series working. I had some one from PEI replace a container with a clue in it and not tell me therefor one of the clues had gone missing and I had no idea.
chatelaine:
30 Jan 2012 Thanks for the input, greatly appreciated, I'm a real newbie at laying caches (these will be my first). Rev, good point about vigilence and maintenance, I will certainly bear that in mind.