Getting The Upper Hand!

The Cache page offers a wealth of information. (click to enlarge).

Have you ever wanted to get the upper hand in certain situations? Perhaps you are playing a game and losing terribly. You sit there and desperately try to find a way to get the upper hand. As a child, I was always trying to get the upper hand when I played a game of chess with my older brother. I succeeded only once in all my attempts and I suspect he may have let me win. I have witnessed it with my own kids. When playing games with them, they were always trying to get the upper hand. You might be asking what this has to do with geocaching. Well, have you often looked at veteran geocachers and wondered how they are able to find caches quicker than you and have found caches that you were not able to find? Well, there is a way for you to get the upper hand, so to speak, and it is all contained on the cache page. Many geocachers do not pay enough attention to everything that is provided on the cache page. While paying more attention to all of its information might not give you the actual upper hand, it should make you a better geocacher.

The following sections of the cache page deserve more scrutiny as they contain a wealth of information:

• Cache Name – You can often get a clue from the name of the cache. If you see a word in the name that is completely capitalized, it is a good bet that that word is a clue. One example of this is one of our own caches called
• Cache Hider – Sometimes, certain cachers have patterns to how thay hide their caches. Knowing this could give you an idea how to find the cache.
• Hide Date – When was the cache hidden? Much older caches probably have less accurate coordinates so you may want to expand your search a little.
• Difficulty Rating – If you can’t find a cache, check its difficulty rating. A rating of 1 probably means the cache isn’t here. If it is rated a 5, then it is a very tough hide.
• Terrain Rating – A terrain rating of 1 indicates that wheelchairs can get to it. A rating of 5 indicates extreme hiking or special equipment required.
• Related Web Page – Sometimes, the cache owner posts a hyperlink to a related webpage. Check it out as there might be some useful information there.
• The Attributes – Attributes are very important. You may not be finding a cache but the attributes may be telling you that the cache isn’t available 24/7.
• Personal Cache Notes – Might contain some valuable info.
• Inventory – If a cache has some inventory listed, then it is big enough to hold that inventory. The inventory will help alert you to its probable size.
• Maps – Satellite view is extremely helpful. On one particular cache, I kept going to the area and the GPSr told me the cache was inside a private parking garage that was gated. When I looked at the satellite view, I discovered the entire structure was a parking garage and that the cache was on the open, top floor and could easily be accessed.
• Logged Visits – A cache with a lot of consecutive DNFs likely isn’t there anymore. Also, many cachers record certain details such as a place being very wet and needing rubber boots.

As you can see, the cache page offers a wealth of valuable information. Taking a few minutes to look at them can save you from wasting countless minutes hunting for a cache that isn’t there. Give it a try! It will definitely give you the upper hand!

What is your story? How has something on the cache page helped you avoid countless minutes searching for a cache without success. Tell us by leaving a comment below. We would love to hear from you!

Happy Caching!!!

Frank (Jewel)

Caching Three Stars – April, 2013

Wow! It is been a fairly busy month, both on the personal front and the geocaching front. We were able to find 39 caches this month which is amazing! I have been so busy with work and family that there was little time for caching. Work, however, brought me to beautiful and historic Quebec City for five days to get some needed training. While there, I found 22 caches. Because of how beautiful Quebec City is, my three stars this month come from there.

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Château en vue (Castle view)

The Chateau Frontenac as seen from the cache.

One of the many sights that I planned to visit as soon as I found out I was going to Quebec City was the famous Chateau Frontenac. Lucky for me, LesMarcheurs.com placed a cache very near the Chateau! The cache was aptly called Château en vue (Castle view) (GC46BZ4).. It was located in a very busy spot filled with shops, restaurants and MUGGLES!!! It was easy to find the cache but took awhile to retrieve and even longer to replace. I managed to leave a couple of travel bugs in the cache and then sat and enjoyed both the view and the atmosphere. This cache, by far, was my favorite of the month!

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Oeuvres d’art de la St-Charles

The Wherigo cache takes you around this beautiful trail!

In my couple years of caching, I have found many types of caches. I have found traditional, multi, puzzle, virtual, earth, letterbox and event caches. There have been a few, however, that still manage to elude me. I haven’t been able to attend any mega-events and I haven’t been able to participate in any Wherigo caches…until now! What is a Wherigo cache, you ask. Well, it is sort of a multicache with one main difference. With a multicache, you must find a stage and then input the coordinates contained in that stage in order to find the next stage. With a Wherigo cache, you download a cartridge to your Garmin Oregon or Montana GPSr, or your smartphone, and everything you need is there. You must navigate to each of the stages and, as you near each one, the cache is automatically tick off as completed. As soon as you find the last point, you are given the coordinates to the final cache. As soon as I noticed this cache on the map of Quebec City, I had to try it. I had to use my Android smartphone with the WhereYouGo app installed in order to complete it. Finding all of the stages took me on a 4km hike around a river in the Victoria Park area of Quebec City. The cache is called Oeuvres d’art de la St-Charles (GC38RZA) and was placed by Zubulus. It was a great change of pace and allowed me to find yet another cache type. It was also fun to do! For that reason, it earns the Second Star for the month. Stay tuned as I am now in the process of creating one of these Wherigo caches near downtown St. John’s!

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Sous le manteau

The hint is written in the chair!

Our third star goes to another Quebec City cache that had a neat way of giving us the clue. The cache was placed by rigue and was called Sous le manteau (GC35PPN). The phrase “Sous le manteau” translates to “Under the cloak.” Therefore, when I arrived near ground zero, I immediately noticed a metal sculpture that resembled a cloak of some kind. I spent awhile looking for the cache there but the actual ground zero to me into the center of a bunch of stainless steel chairs, approximately 30 chairs. I looked at the hint again and began to wonder. Each chair had an inscription written on them that was a famous quote by a famous person. As I started reading them, I was very intrigued! It took me reading fifteen chairs before I seen a chair that started with the words “Sous le manteau.” It was a famous quote by Gilles Villaneuve, who was a famous Canadian Formula One race car driver who died in a car crash many years ago. I quickly found the cache after using a bit of stealth. I really enjoyed finding this cache and stayed for awhile and read all of the chairs.

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Caching Three Stars – March, 2013

Wow! It has been awhile since I wrote a true caching three stars post. Truth is, I haven’t done much caching throughout the winter. Between the demands of life and my wife having surgery, caching has not been possible. We did, however, manage to find 7 caches and attend one event during the month of March. Not many to pick from but I will still pick the best three. I am heading to Quebec City this month so the Caching Three Stars for April should be more interesting!

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Boil Up With Da By’s

A warm fire combined with hot chocolate and snacks made for a great day! (Click to enlarge)

As is the case many times, our first star goes to an event. The first event of the new year was held by Da By’s. It was held near the Holyrood exit and was aptly called Boil up with Da By’s (GC3NQ18).. It was a fairly warm day and we were treated to a warm fire, hot chocolate, weiners and tim bits. It gave everyone time to mingle and chat again about how they have been and what geocaching they have been doing. During the event, some went to get some nearby caches while others were captivated by a white weasel that was in the area. Afterwards, many cachers left to get some more nearby caches before heading home. It was a great event and a real pick-me-up from the geocaching blues! For more information about the event, please visit Treasure Island Caching, who did a great write-up on it.

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The Newfoundland Hotel

Out for some night caching with Gem and Dora. Dora had no trouble finding this one. (Click to enlarge)

As dusk was upon us, we decided to head downtown. We love the downtown at night and it seemed like a great time to finally get this cache. The coordinates originally took us away from the actual cache location but Dora had an idea where this one should be. Sure enough, it was right where she looked. The cache is placed near the original Newfoundland Hotel, now called The Sheraton, and is rightfully called The Newfoundland Hotel (GC3RF9K). The cache is placed by wiily1231 and was a great hide considering that there aren’t many places left to hide caches in the downtown. If you come down, though, bring your camera! The entire downtown makes for some great pictures!

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Which Way To Go And How To Get There

Gem displays the cache while Dora writes down the second set of coordinates. (Click to enlarge)

Our third star is a multi-cache placed by hisandhers along with The Boundary Hunters. It is called Which way to go and how to get there (GC27YPK). This cache involves two stages, the first taking you to St. John’s City Hall. I always love going downtown at night. The area looks so beautiful at night and it gave me time to try some night picture taking. After writing down the coordinates to the second stage, we moved on and found it easily. It felt great to be back out caching again after an eternity (it felt like it) away!

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Geo-Art: We Have Some Of It Here!

Recently, Geocaching.com posted some pictures on Facebook that illustrated various cache series that were placed in such a way as to create high-altitude art. In other words, if you look at the geocaching map, you will see various shapes and letters formed by the placement of caches. There are three cache series right here on the Avalon that, while not as elaborate as some of the formations produced in other areas, provide for some interesting artwork.

Google Earth is great for plotting cache series. (click to enlarge)

Two of the pieces of artwork are actually our own. The first was formed in the shape of a music note and is called Music is Life: Mega Series. The formation is comprised of a series of 20 puzzle caches that revolve around the theme of music. The cacher must first solve each of the puzzle caches before setting out to find the actual caches. The following caches make up this series:

#1. Guitar (GC3T488)	#11. Saxophone (GC3T4A7)
#2. Cymbals (GC3T48G)	#12. Genre: Christian (GC3T4AC)
#3. Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra (GC3T48N)	#13. Genre: Folk (GC3T4AD)
#4. Genre: Country (GC3T48X)	#14. Bagpipes (GC3T4AE)
#5. Sound (GC3T492)	#15. Harmonica (GC3T4AG)
#6. Genre: Classical (GC3T499)	#16. Drums (GC3T4AM)
#7. Genre: Hip Hop & Rap (GC3T49D)	#17. Digital Audio (GC3T4AR)
#8. Violin (GC3T4A1)	#18. Accordion (GC3T4AX)
#9. Genre: Pop (GC3T4A3)	#19. Bugle (GC3T4B2)
#10. Cajon (GC3T4A6)	#20. Trumpet (GC3T4B4)

The cross formation is inside the red box. (click to enlarge)

The next formation is also one of ours. After creating a puzzle cache series (which isn’t very hard), I set out to try and create a physical series of caches to make a formation. You see, puzzle cache series are easy because you can place the actual caches anywhere. A physical cache series is much harder as all of the caches have to be where the formation dictates that they be. Therefore, some caches might involve a bit of severe bushwhacking, which is the case for one or two of the caches in this series. The series is called The Way and resembles a cross. Since we are Christians, it was only fitting that we would honor God with our geocaching! The caches in this series are as follows:

• The Way #1 (GC3VABR)
• The Way #2 (GC3VAC0)
• The Way #3 (GC3VAC5)
• The Way #4 (GC3VAC7)
• The Way #5 (GC3VAC8)
• The Way #6 (GC3VACA)
• The Way #7 (GC3VACC)
• The Way #8 (GC3VACF)
• The Way #9 (GC3VAD4)
• The Way #10 (GC3VAD7)
• The Way #11 (GC3VADA)
• The Way #12 (GC3VADE)

Twenty caches form a musical note. (click to enlarge)

The next formation was actually the first one created here and was the creation of our geocaching friends Gilligan and MaryJane. It is called Newfoundland Who’s Who and is comprised of 17 puzzle caches that highlight a famous Newfoundlander. All of the actual caches are located on Bell Island which is worth a visit by itself. The caches in this series are as follows:

• Harry Hibs (GC3NVX1)
• AllanHawco GC3NW1H)
• Bob Cole (GC3NW30)
• Joan Morrissey (GC3NXBD)
• Rick Mercer (GC3NXCN)
• Wayne Johnston (GC3NY04)
• Cathy Jones (GC3NYET)
• David Blackwood (GC3NZVW)
• Ron Hynes (GC3P01A)
• Daniel Cleary (GC3P02G)
• Great Big Sea (GC3PA4G)
• Bob Bartlett (GC3PA4P)
• Bernice Morgan (GC3PA50)
• Christopher Pratt (GC3PA58)
• Minnie White (GC3PC26)
• Gordon Pinsent (GC3PC3A)
• Rick Hillier (GC3PE82)

If you would like to look at more creative cache series artwork, please click here. Also, why not try and create your own? If you do, please drop us a line and let us know. We would love to highlight it here at Caching Heaven.

Until next post, Happy Caching!

Frank (Jewel)

2012 Caching Heaven Geocaching Awards!

Hello everyone! Yes it is I! I do still exist! Any rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated! Honestly, I must apologize for the lack of posts over the last month. Work and family commitments have dominated the bulk of my time and I have not had any time to devote to writing a post. To make matters worse, January was my second month in which I found no caches. Since I have no Caching Three Stars again, I have decided to highlight some of my most favorite caches of the past year along with a few cachers that Caching Heaven has determined to stand out amongst the local Geocaching community. Without further delay, let’s get started.

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Best Traditional Cache

What a beautiful view! (click to enlarge)

Our best traditional cache of 2012 happens to be the winner of the first star for September, and was featured in our blog article entitled Milestone Marker 1500!. The cache is called View For The Gods (GC1YRJQ) and was placed by Ron 30207. Once you finally navigate the streets of Clarke’s Beach to find the entrance gate leading to the cache site, you will find that you are fairly close to the cache. Not so! Unless you plan on climbing some really dangerous terrain, your trek to ground zero will involve a 2.4km hike up a dirt road and through a windy trail. The long walk is well worth the trip. We were treated to a magnificent view of the Clarke’s Beach and surrounding area. It took us 40 minutes to make the trek in and 30 minutes to make the trek out. This cache provides a spectacular view accompanied by some great hiking. There was evidence of several types of berries along the way and the trek was very quiet. You could hear the birds chirping in all their splendor. If you go, make sure you bring a camera. I received a new camera for Christmas and wish I could make the trek in to get this one again.

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Best Event Cache

A great turnout for the event. (click to enlarge)

The vote for the best event cache of 2012, again, comes from our caching three stars for September. It was the second star and is special to us for the simple fact that it was an event hosted by our friends with a small bit of logistics assistance by us. The event was hosted by Diego and Dora and was a true geocaching event! The event was called Cabin Fever — Caching Meet and Greet — 2012 (GC3V1A6) and was held at Dora’s family cabin. For a detailed description of the event, please see our blog post devoted to the event called Cabin Fever: An Event To End The Summer!. The event struck the right balance of caching, food and fellowship. It started with a few hours of meet and greet, then a BBQ, followed by geocaching. There was even some more fellowship after some cachers finished finding the caches.This well organized event gets our nod as the top event cache of 2012!

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Best Geocacher

By far, the best geocacher of 2012 has to go to magicdog. The guy doesn’t know the meaning of taking a break. In 2012, he found 4774 geocaches and hid 100+ of his own caches. He currently sits at a whopping 7499 caches found since he started in 2010. He is often seen on the trails with his good friend, the Trailwalkers. He is also ready, willing and able to help other cachers in time of need, lending his time to accompany other cachers on finding caches he has already found. He has cached in multiple countries and has taken in many events over the last year. He seems to be an unstoppable force in the geocaching world and is rightly deserving of the award!

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Best Rookie

Our award for the best rookie geocacher goes to a pair of individuals that, most of the time, cache together. They go by the geocaching names Doctor Tee and RubyEmm. According to their profiles, they have currently racked up 347 and 213 caches respectively and attended 5 and 3 events respectively in 2012. Doctor Tee started geocaching in May of 2012 while RubyEmm started exactly one month later. I first started noticing them when, more often than not, they were beating us to some first to finds that were in my immediate neck of the woods. After doing that for a few months, I later realized that I knew these geocachers from outside the geocaching world. Imagine that! They seem to have caught the geocaching bug and I suspect that they will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

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And there you have it! The 2012 Annual Caching Heaven Geocaching Awards. We hope to make this an annual thing so please keep those hides coming for us to find. You never know, your cache might make it to our top. Also, if you see us out and about, introduce yourself. We might just feature your accomplishments in a future blog or next year’s awards.

Happy caching!

Frank (Jewel)

Caching Three Stars – December

First of all, let me take this opportunity to wish each and everyone of you a very Happy New Year and a safe and prosperous 2013! May you be blessed with an abundance of caches to find and weekends filled with great weather in which to find those caches. We did a little better finding caches in December than we did in November. We found five caches and attended two events. Any one of those would have been an improvement on November which saw us record a big goose egg, which seemed to shock many people, both geocachers and muggles. Nonetheless, the caches we found in December, although few, are worthy of three star material

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Christmas In The Park

Let’s hope this becomes an annual affair. (Click to enlarge)

Our first star for December has to go to the Christmas In The Park (GC41RBE) event! The event was held by Gilligan and MaryJane, along with Pip’n’Tif. It was held in Chamberlains Park, a beautiful wetland area that is currently being developed into a wonderful walking trail. Conditions were perfect for the event. A light snowfall had covered the ground which made the event location easily accessible. Upon arriving at ground zero, there were decorations in the trees and a real, live Christmas tree! Not an artificial tree or one that was cut down, but a Christmas tree that should be there next year. In a Kris Kringle type of Christmas, everyone was asked to bring a gift and place it under the tree. If someone forgot their gift, the hosts made sure there were enough presents for everyone. Names were drawn to give each cacher a turn to take a gift from under the tree. I opened mine to find a complete, ready-to-hide geocache container. I will have to find a spot in nature to hide it sometime in 2013. Gilligan and MaryJane had hot chocolate and Christmas cookies for everyone! Yum! It was truly a great idea, and one I hope will become a Christmas tradition. It was great to connect with cachers, both new and old. There was even time to get three caches that were scattered throughout the park. A big thank you goes out to the hosts for a job well done!

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Hospital Hill

It was a little too dark for me to attempt by myself. I will return with backup! (Click to enlarge)

It is true that geocaching often brings us to beautiful places, historic monuments and places we didn’t even know existed. They can also teach you something you never knew before. This can be said for our Second Star for December. The cache is placed by POKOS and is called Hospital Hill (GC3V35X). To quote the actual cache listing, In 1941, the U.S. Naval Base in Argentia commissioned a 100 bed hospital for the operating base. It was fully functional and had all the facilities of a complete hospital, with the added protection of being in the ground to keep it safe from bombing. The hospital is said to be three stories, although only the first floor and lookout point is available for exploration today. I never knew this before and was really intrigued! I found the cache at the main door which was blocked by boulders. I climbed up the hill and found the lookout. Once inside, I seen a stairwell heading down to the top level. I was tempted to explore but I was alone and my flashlight battery wasn’t the best. I will return with fellow cachers and a brighter flashlight to explore this underground hospital. Remember, if you decide to explore the hospital, you do so AT YOUR OWN RISK! You do not need to venture inside in order to find the cache.

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Firing Range

Awesome! Amazed at the reported accuracy of this gun! (Click to enlarge)

Across the main road from Hospital Hill, is a little parking spot that leads to another spot I didn’t know was here. The cache deserving of our third star is another one placed by POKOS and is called Firing Range (GC3V2Z4). To again quote the cache listing, Located right next to an abandoned bunker that is rumoured to be the old, underground jail, this gun was once intended to protect the U.S. Naval base in Argentia from enemy attacks. These cannons were able to fire 105 lbs of armor-piercing projectile up to 25 kilometers with a high degree of accuracy. At this time, there are only six guns in the world that are comparable. The cache was fairly easy to find and it was fun exploring the bunker. Be very careful of the open pits while walking in. You wouldn’t want to fall in one.

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Merry Christmas!!!

When I first started writing this post, I was sitting in my living room, early on a Sunday morning, as the wind blew and the snow fell. It turned out to be a snow day and there was no church in the morning. I struggled to wrestle my thoughts away from the horrible and senseless tragedy that unfolded in Newtown, CT just over a week ago. So many random thoughts were racing about my mind. I wondered how these families would cope with such a profound loss and prayed that they would find the strength to get through this ordeal. I wondered if any of those families were geocaching families and if they would ever geocache again. Like I said, a bunch of random thoughts. Well, suffice to say, the hustle and bustle of the season got a grip on me and I never got back to writing the post. A week has past and I still sit and wonder what Christmas will be like for them this year and in the years to come. I also think of Christmas and my own family, who are safe and sound with me, and I get a small reprieve from the heartache and a smile appears on my face.

As Christmas Day approaches and season pushes on, please know that all my geocaching family (any cacher that I have ever met) will be in my thoughts and prayers. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Ramadan, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or are one that simply celebrates a happy holiday, my thoughts and prayers will be with you all. I pray that you will have a very safe and enjoyable holiday season. But mostly, I pray that you will get to celebrate the season in the way that it was meant to be celebrated – with FAMILY! And as you celebrate the season, take time to remember those who are struggling this holiday season. If you know of anyone who could use some help or a visit, take the time to lend a hand or a smile. As Kevin said in that holiday classic, Home Alone, “nobody should be alone on Christmas.”

Caching Heaven wishes to thank all of you for taking the time to read our blog. We look forward to a new year of writing and caching. Merry Christmas, everyone!!! Happy Holidays!

Frank (Jewel)

Geocaching: Less Of A Challenge?

Like many things in life, certain concepts and ideas don’t last. Some are, perhaps, before their time and needed to come out at a later time when everyone was ready for it. Take Tablet PCs, for example. They came out years ago, long before Apple made them a cultural icon. They didn’t sell, however, and quickly faded into oblivion. Now, tablets are popular. Even Tablet PCs are becoming popular under the new name of Touch Notebooks. The same might now be said for Geocaching.com’s new idea of Geocache Challenges.

Great idea but didn’t catch on! Perhaps ahead of its time. (click to enlarge)

According to the Geocaching.com website, challenges require you to "Go somewhere, do something. You might be challenged to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, sing a song in the middle of Times Square, or take a picture of yourself walking through the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin." Challenges came out over a year ago and were pretty exciting when they first came out. It was something new and, most times, the challenge could be completed while on your way to retrieve a cache. The possibilities were endless into how zany one could make their challenge.

Well, challenges are no more! Geocaching.com issued an email to all users which stated:

"Occasionally, during this process, we are faced with the reality that certain ideas don’t catch on as we had hoped…Sometimes as a result, cool features must become casualties. In this spirit, we have decided to retire Geocaching Challenges."

And it is just as well. Challenges were a great idea but, like the early tablet PCs, failed to catch on and not many geocachers actually used them. We managed to find four challenges in the beginning but our interest in them quickly faded away. We even created two of our own challenges. The first, called Cruisin’, required you to get your picture taken in front of a cruiseship. Our second, called Monumental Statue, required you to get your picture taken in front of as many monuments and statues as possible. I must say that, in the beginning, I enjoyed looking at all of the pictures that were sent in. It was great! But, again, our interest quickly faded as our insatiable appetite for the cache hunt reasserted itself. While some of you might be disappointed that challenges are gone, don’t get too sad. Maybe they are like those early Tablet PCs, simply ahead of their time. Time will tell if, in the future, they might return.

How about you? What are your thoughts on the demise of challenges? Please let us know in the comment section below. Also, please take a moment to complete our poll.

Until next time, Happy Caching!!!

Frank (Jewel)

Caching Three Stars – November

The month of November has proved to be quite a challenge, both in actually finding caches and in writing this month’s Caching Three Stars. With all of the bad weather, short hours of daylight, and the everyday commitments of this peculiar thing called life, we were not able to find one cache. That’s right! Another milestone achieved, or not. Since we have seriously started caching, there has never been a goose egg in our monthly tallies. So here is my dilemma. How do I write the Three Stars of November when there are none? While contemplating what I was going to do, I started reminiscing about our most memorable caches – the ones with the most story behind them. Then it hit me. Why not write on my three most memorable caches. So here we go. I will endeavour to tell you the interesting stories behind our three most memorable caches.

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Jessica’s First Cache

I have seen these guys twice since I started caching! (click to enlarge)

We have been caching for almost two years and Jessica’s First Cache (GC330DB) is the winner of our first star for our most memorable cache finds. The cache was placed by Fast Finders and is located near a high school. Can you already see where this may be going? Normally, Geocaching.com doesn’t allow caches to be placed near schools unless you have special permission. The cache owners were students and were allowed to place it there. Well, the cache was released after midnight and, with us loving late night caching, we set out to find it. When we arrived near the school, I parked up on the road as to not create suspicion. My wife and I walked down an embankment and proceeded to ground zero. While we were standing in the parking lot, I looked up at the car and seen a police woman looking in the car with a flashlight. We just stood there waiting for her to notice us. She must not have seen us as she got in her car and drove away. We took off in the woods to find the cache. While we were searching, I heard the sound of brakes whistling followed by a car door closing. We stood and waited. After hearing another door closing followed by a car leaving, I decided to check it out. As I looked out from the trees, I seen the police car driving away again. I told my wife that if she came back, we would have to talk to her. Sure enough, the cop came back so we walked out to explain to her what we were doing. I told her we were geocaching and showed her our GPS device. She didn’t know what geocaching was and didn’t seem interested in knowing. She thought we were drinking in the woods. At 41 years of age, I assured her we could do that at home. At that moment, another police car showed up and a male cop got out and knew about caching. After that the K9 dog unit showed up followed by a fourth police car. I remember thinking that it was a bit overkill for two forty-something geocachers. The male cop told the female cop to let us get the cache and we would leave. The police woman would have none of that. She insisted that we leave. We told her it wasn’t a problem and apologized for our actions. The next morning, I came back, on my way to work, and still managed to get an FTF. To this day, this has been our most memorable geocaching experience.

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Thinking Outside The Box – It’s Your Lucky Day

Imagine trying to find a nano here. (click to enlarge)

In the summer of 2011, we travelled down the Burin Peninsula to attend a caching event that was being held by shantrent and shermandkim. There was an overabundance of caches placed for this event. Some were easy and a few were very difficult. Placed by shantrent, Thinking Outside The Box – It’s Your Lucky Day (GC30E8G) happened to be a very tough hide. It was a nano cache that was placed somewhere on the beach. I will not divulge the cache container. All I can say is that it was like finding a needle in a haystack. Upon arriving near ground zero, we started searching for the container. We knew it was hard but were excited. Our son, tiny seeker, got bored and started picking up pieces of wood and throwing them. There was one lone rock in the area and he picked it up and threw it. We told him to get back to searching again. After a fair bit of searching, we gave up and moved on to other caches. After finding a few more, we ran into the cache owners and told them we couldn’t find the nano on the beach. They decided to come over and see if it was still there. They couldn’t find it, their own cache. Been there, done that many times. The cache owners were puzzled. They said that they laid a rock next to the cache. I spoke up and said “Do you mean this rock that my son picked up and threw away?” We all had a great laugh as the rock was now one hundred meters away from ground zero with no idea where it used to be. We helped them look for it for awhile before moving on. We found out that they found it shortly after we left. We had a great time at the event and fondly remember the laughs we had at this cache site.

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Protect and Serve

Not an actual photo of the crash. (click to enlarge)

While attending the Coast Guard College in Sydney, NS in January of 2012, I went out in the town to do a bit of night caching. The cache I was looking for was called Protect and Serve (GCWCJY) and was placed at an abandoned police station. The cache was placed by bmn747 and was located in the front parking lot, near an intersection. When I arrived at ground zero, I quickly realized that not only was the cache buried under a bank of snow, its location was probably frozen shut. Without being seen by the traffic driving by, I proceeded to dig the cache location out. It didn’t take too long to uncover but my second assumption was right. It was frozen. Without drawing too much attention, I started to kick the cover until it broke free. I retrieved the container and proceeded to sign the log. While taking the log out of the bag, I looked up at the intersection just in time to witness a car T-boning a pickup truck. The police showed up mere minutes later. I quickly signed the log and put the cache back. I, then, stood around for awhile. As the police was questioning the drivers, I heard the truck driver blame it on the woman in the car. The truth was, the truck driver turned left and cut off the car coming towards it. The woman in the car tried to stop but couldn’t. It was then that I stepped forward and gave the woman my contact information. I also explained it to the policeman. That was the funny part of it. After I told him why I was there, he was trying to comprehend why I would sit there digging in the snow just to sign a log. I told him he wouldn’t understand unless he was a geocacher. This was my first time seeing a car accident firsthand and up close. Truly memorable!

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What about you? Do you have a great story behind one of you finds, or hides? If so, please tell us. We would love to hear about it! Use the comment space below.

Until my next post, I hope that the short days, heaps of snow, and life doesn’t prevent you from getting some caching done. Happy Caching!

Frank (Jewel)

Caching Towards Doomsday!

Here we go again! The end of another year is almost upon us and we have, yet, another prediction of the end of the world. This isn’t the first time we have had such predictions and I am sure it won’t be the last (unless they finally get it right, which I doubt). Personally, I don’t believe in such nonsense but many people do. I am sure that some of those who believe in such propaganda will also count themselves as geocachers. So, what will that mean for them. It will be interesting to see exactly how many geocaches are found on the impending date of December 21, 2012.

The most famous “end-of-days” prophet – Nostradamus. (click to enlarge)

There have been many predictions over the years, too many to count or delve into. For years we have had all of the predictions from Nostradamus, perhaps the most famous “end of times” prophet. So far, none of his detrimental predictions have materialized. More recently, we had the Christian pastor, Harold Camping, claim that, from the Bible, he deduced a mathematical formula that predicted the end of the world on May 21, 2011. Camping uses a mathematical formula linked to prophecies in the Bible. He once predicted Sept. 6, 1994 as Judgment Day, but that math didn’t quite work out. Neither did his new prediction. Frankly, being a Christian myself, I was somewhat puzzled by a self-professed Christian making such a claim about Judgment Day. Christians rely on their Bible. Well, the Bible tells us that no one will know or predict when that day is upon us. How could he, then, figure it out?

The Mayan Calendar. (click to enlarge)

The latest prediction of December 21, 2012 comes from many sources. The most important source is the Mayan calendars. Plural, you say? That’s right! The Mayans, an advanced civilization that flourished from 200AD to 900AD, inhabited a region encompassing southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize & western Honduras. For some reason, by 1200AD, their civilization had collapsed. Nobody really knows why it happened. The latest explanation suggested that climate change in their area caused severe drought. They failed to adapt and were plunged into anarchy where they killed each other over resources. Anyway, they actually used three separate calendars to mark their dates. The first two calendars, called Haab and Tzolkin run for 365 and 260 days respectively. Then they restart. Every 52 years, the two calendars coincide. The third calendar is known as the Long Count. It denotes distinct Ages and runs for 5126 years before a new Age begins. Well, on December 21, 2012, the Long Count ends and a new Age begins. This is where we get the notion that the world will end. Truth be told, the Mayans never actually predicted the end of the world but the end of the world as we know it, meaning some major change will occur. While they may be right about the calendar math, I firmly believe that a new Age can occur without the destruction of the previous age, which is opposite to what the Mayans believed. Also, who is to say that a fundamental change has to happen abruptly. This new Age might bring about fundamental change but it may do it over a period of many years.

No matter what you believe about this subject, we have to respect each other’s beliefs on it. While I find it to be foolishness, I respect the fact that many others take this very seriously. So, I would stress that this post and my feelings on the subject is, in no way, meant to belittle anyone who does believe in these sort of things. With that said, what are your plans as this deadline approaches? Will you be caching on December 21 or will you err on the side of caution and spend it with family? For me, I have to work so I may not get any caching done. I will try to get one cache on that date, however.

Caching on 12-12-12 will earn you this souvenir. (click to enlarge)

How about December 12, 2012? Are you planning any caching then? You should be? Some people have mistakenly confused 12/12/12 as being doomsday. Not so. The significance of dates such as 12/12/12 is the fact that it will be 89 years until one occurs again. January 1, 2101 (1/1/1) will be the next occurance. Why cache on that day? The answer is simple. Geocaching.com has created a special souvenir for that date. If you log any cache or attend an event on that date, you will receive a special online souvenir. For more information on it, please visit Latitude 47.

One of these trackables will be given away at our event. (click to enlarge)

To make it easier to get this souvenir and to celebrate this date with friends, we are hosting an event on this day called Twelve Cubed (12|12|12) (GC41PAX). The event has been submitted for review but hasn’t been published yet. Keep your eyes peeled for it. Obviously, you already know the date. The event will be held at Don Cherry’s on Freshwater Road in St. John’s. Instead of using the special occasion room, which has separate booths, we have asked for one large table made. This allows for better fellowship. We are even giving one lucky cacher a special unactivated 12-12-12 trackable. We hope you can make it. When it is released, please RSVP as soon as you can. We have it booked for 30 people but may be able to extend that number. If you are in the Happy Valley-Goose Bay area, please check out their event, 12-12-12 (GC3XYA5).

If you have any comments about this post or any of our posts, please leave us one using the form below. As always, we welcome your valuable input. Until my next post, Happy Caching!!!

Frank (Jewel)