Idea for 11/11/11 Event

UPDATE: Not happening because of Remembrance Day I guess, maybe 12/12/12

Last year for 10/10/10 Groundspeak held a "event" where all cachers were encouraged to log at least one cache that day in an attempt to set a record for most caches. Cachers were promised a new Souvenir. It succeeded and thousands participated. For the Groundspeak this must have been exciting, however for your average cacher the results were only shown through given statistics and the Lost & Found video.

So what can Groundspeak do for 11/11/11 that can top 10/10/10? What about getting everyone to log the SAME cache in one day. My suggestion: A one day only Locationless Cache. "WHAT!?" I hear people crying out in agony. Locationless Cache is the only cache type that would work in this instance, any other cache requires a specific spot, severely limiting your numbers.

Locationless Caches were "Grandfathered" (retired so to speak) several years ago for good reason. They don't really require you to go to a location. But this is exactly why a Locationless Cache would work in this case. The fact that they're Grandfathered is incentive for the thousands of cachers who don't have access to them!

I think that in light of how well 10/10/10 did, it proves that the Geocaching community can get the word out. I think it would take a tiny bit of work on Groundspeaks for this to succeed. Let's make this happen!

The FTF Code of Honor

Inspired by a topic thread on the geocaching.com forums I wrote up a quick FTF Code of Honor, FTF etiquette whatever you want to call it.

1. If two or more geocachers arrive at the GZ at the same time then out of respect the FTF should be shared. Regardless of who spots the cache first. 
2. To claim FTF the cache must be found and signed by a geocacher after the cache is published
    2.1 Beta-Testers or anyone given coordinates or information before a cache is published cannot get the FTF. COs providing a Geocacher with information not given on the Geocache Page is also forbidden.
    2.2 Exception: A Geocacher or muggle finds the cache inadvertently prior to publication and can claim FTF
    2.3 Exception: Event caches or caches placed at events and later published. See Rule 4.
    2.4 Exception: An Earthcache may be considered an FTF as soon as:
                                 A. The requirements are met.
                                 B. An online log is posted.
                           An Earthcache FTF may be revoked by the CO if conditions are not met.
3. No laws or attribute rules set by the CO shall be broken in the pursuit of an FTF. Examples: Running red lights, caching at night when told not to. If any attribute rules are broken by an "FTF hound" then it automatically moves onto the next eligible finder. See Rule 5.
4. Event cache FTFs are left up to the CO
5. Confrontation and debate is to be avoided, do not ask for FTF confirmation from a CO. If you believe you have claim to an FTF for whatever reason, mark it in whatever program you use as such and move on. See Rule 6.
6. FTFs are not an official part of Geocaching, relax and have fun.

Anyone else got anything that should be added?

Guide to Posting Geocaches

1. Scout the location
1.  Use GIS maps (many counties have them) or whatever you can find to figure out who owns the property
1. If private then make the request to the owner, have information like this Official Guide (pdf)
2. If public (like a park) then make an attempt to find out if they have a policy on geocache and try to find a way to contact the park manager.
2.  Go to the location yourself. 
1. Identify things that may be hazardous to cachers this could include roads, railways, a lamp post with wires sticking out, a minefield, who knows? 
2. Identify problems the cache itself may cause. This could be harm to the environment, muggle threats or issues the police may have with it.
3. If its a park, find out if there are certain open hours.
4. Consider the terrain rating. One spot may be better if it's accessible to those with disabilities or children. 
2. Make the hide
1. The right container
1. Your first concern is making sure you have the right container. A general rule of thumb is the farther the walk, the bigger the container. 
2. Make sure you container doesn't look dangerous. This means "pipebomb" containers are right out.
3. If it is a size small, regular or large, be sure to have some "swag" in the container
   
4. It's optional but many have a prize for the FTF (may be a gift card or geocoin)
2. The Spot
1. Make sure the hide isn't obvious, not only to keep muggles from finding it, but to give cachers some challenge
3. Get the coordinates
1. DO NOT USE GOOGLE MAPS OR ANY OTHER ONLINE MAP SYSTEM
2. Use your GPS to find the coordinates for a cache. Walk towards the cache from different directions and note whether or not the coordinates are right.
3. Note any issues with your GPS (the signal lose strength in the area?)
4. Also grab the coordinates of any parking lots or trail entrances in the are
3. Posting the hide
1. Cache Type: This is pretty simple...
• Traditional cache is where you simply have coordinates to find the cache
• Multi-Cache is a cache where there are multiple stages to find a cache.
• Puzzle Caches are caches which require you to figure out the coordinates from a puzzle.
• Events, Letterboxes, Wherigos and Earthcaches have their own guides later
1. Terrain/Difficulty use the information you got while scouting the area with the system provided
2. Short description this is a brief description of the cache, include its location, description of the container and any other must know information (how to get to the cache for example). If you don't have coordinates for a parking lot, recommend the nearest legal street parking here too.
3. Long description this can be as long as you want, you can put an interesting story or the history of the area here. What you put in the cache would also be perfect here.
4. Hints There are a couple factors that come into play here:
1. How easy is your cache?
2. Is the GPS signal strong in the cache area? If your cache is at the bottom of a canyon with a weak signal and is well hidden, for the love of god you better tell me exactly where that cache is in the hint
5. Note to Reviewer The saying goes "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" in other words save yourself some hassle and explain your cache to the reviewer. Example: "My cache is a standard micro in a park" or "This cache is behind a business I have the owners permission"
6. Above all else make it look professional. It should be easy to read, contain no spelling mistakes and have proper grammar.  My first thought when looking at your cache should not be "Did a three year old write this?"
7. Submit the cache
4. Activation
1. We're almost there! View your cache listing
1. Add your waypoints this includes your parking information or trail head information
2. Attributes. Totally under utilized feature. You have 10 attributes that you can place on your cache.
1. First mark any Equipment needed to get the cache (boats, climbing gear, etc.) and Hazards such as cliffs, animals or thorns!
2. Second mark any Conditions, especially availability at night, hike distance, winter availability and whether its appropriate for children.
3. 3rd is Permissions this is important for people with dogs or bikers
4. Finally add Facilities. This can be important for people who are planning trips and may want to make a stop in your area.
3. Give it a once over, are the coordinates right? Is spelling right? Is all the information there?
5. Enable the listing! You're done! Just make sure you read the logs and maintain the cache!

Long “Weekend” Geo-Fun

Last weekend was “Family Day” Weekend in Ontario. This was perfect for a good geocache trip for a big reason: there was an event near Toronto and I needed to find an unusual cache for the Ontario Public Holiday Challenge.

I started the weekend of right with a quick geocache FTF run on Sunday before work. Carnigrewal got the FTF (which I had called since FoamFollower placed the cache). But I was able to meet some cachers including JoeyF who teamed up with me to look for a nearby cache we hadn’t found yet. We came up short but it was still fun and got me in the spirit of going to a geocache event.

On Monday it was go time. I woke up and I looked like a blizzard outside. “Darn” I thought, “How am I going to find caches in this?”. Oh well, I packed my needed accessories and left (whoops forgot extra batteries, no way that could bite me later…). Luckily the snow died out completely as I left town.

I started caching of right with Wheel of Fortune ... Spins a tough yet but interesting Dex4 cache which prays on my fear of heights.  I moved on towards the event (I was running late as it was) but I wanted some caches! So I drove around Kilbride collecting the Kilbride Country Cache, a nice tricky hide, Grandpa's Cache which has a great cache container and Restin' in Kilbride a fun multi-cache. Kilbride overall is a good place for caching a couple of hours.

After that I had to speed it up. I drove straight to the event but was still fifteen minutes (fashionably) late. I walked up to the top of the hill. Met up with Rez2100, the event organizer and the other attendees. After a quick slide down the hill I was back to caching. I quickly found an event only cache and then moved on to try and find a letterbox. Big mistake, that whole area was still covered in two feet of snow. I moved on and got two more caches before heading back to the car.

Now my batteries are dying. Bah! I fill up on gas and then the search is on for batteries. I grab another quick cache by the event and then move towards home. I’m luckily able to grab Reservoir Ducks without needing my GPS on hand. I finally roll into Milton and buy a pack of batteries ($5! might as well steal my money) and finish off the day checking off two caches in Milton and Campbellville.

Tuesday was going to be tougher. I was going to Chicopee for some skiing. Just before I leave a new cache get published… in Brantford… on the way to Chicopee! Before I can even write down the hint or read the description I’m gone. Finally I’m in Brantford and I’m walking towards the cache. The first thing I notice about the GZ is the snow. There’s no footprints! I find the cache and open it up. I see that it’s been signed a whole bunch of times? Wha? Did I write down the wrong cache or something. Weird. I put a travel bug in and leave. More on that later…

Then its on to Chicopee, I arrive in Kitchener and move to find Tube Slides and Ziplines a thankfully quick find for me.

After my enjoyable day of skiing I return home and go online to log my caches. I come to the FTF cache and I see that some else has claimed the FTF? What?! First I examine the description, it’s a cache that was formally a multi that was republished as a Traditional. That explains the strangely full log book. Now to address the FTF controversy. How can I prove I was first, other than the “no footprints”? It hits me, the travel bug! I look at the travel bug page and sure enough the cacher claiming FTF picked the bug up from the cache. Meaning he had to have come after me! February FTF complete.

Geocache Challenges

Challenges are one of the most interesting 'unofficial' aspects of geocaching. Basically Geocache Challenges are a simple traditional cache with coordinates, anyone can go and find the cache. Logging it is the tricky part. There are various rules that a CO (cache owner) can create for geocachers to be able to log the cache.

For example, I've already said that I am taking part in the Ontario Holiday Challenge. But there is a literally limitless amount of challenges! Endurance challenges encourage you to find a cache once a day for a month or even a year! Chart challenges make you fill out your Difficulty/Terrain Chart (or your Year Chart or month (finding a cache for each day of the year or month (sometimes including leap years! 2012 here I come...).

A Vancouver Island challenge where you have to find a cache in every box

Keep in mind that these can all be in specific locations too. There's DeLorme challenges where you must find a cache in every section of a map. Challenges where you have to find a cache in every county of a state. Caches where you have to find caches with names that start with each letter of the alphabet. 

Geocache Challenges are pretty much unlimited. You could have ones where you have to find a cache on every mountain in an area, or the 10 highest mountains in North America, one on every river, who knows? They're a fun and interesting part of geocaching and it's only a matter of time before they're made a bigger part of the game.

Slow December, Even Slower January!

Since the first of January, I've only found 1 cache in 9 days. A big problem is of course the cold and snow. It takes a lot to plan out a caching route during spring-summer-fall. In winter though it's even harder. Your looking for caches that aren't going to be buried in snow. That are in trees or some other object above the ground. Maybe even looking for caches that have been found recently, not just for footprints but to know they can actually be found. Just leaving the comfort of your warm home is difficult.

Another problem is the lack of caches. In good season you'd get a couple of new caches every couple days. In January there's only been about 5 new caches so far. I'm not worried about my FTF streak yet, the month is still young.

Good news though. Yesterday I did get an important cache. GC22320  was updated by its owner who found out that the information needed to get the coordinates had changed. I've probably been trying to figure out this cache since April, and it's the last cache I hadn't found located in my home geocaching territory, so to finally cross it off my to do list is a huge relief.

2010 In Review

January & February- I was... a....... muggle!
March- Got my first cache (and first DNF) on the 19th. Sharon12's first cache was on the 26th. First Multi on the 30th.
April- First Puzzle and Series cache on the 1st. My first US cache and Earthcache on the 13th. On the 27th I went on my first power trail and got my 100th cache.
May- Started off with a bang getting 15 caches in Petrolia, Ontario.I got my first Virtual and I had my first event too.

At Introduction to Geocaching, my first event cache

June- I reached my 200th cache. I got my first FTF and did one of my favourite caches of the year.  I also introduced my friend Rob to geocaching.
July- An excellent month with dozens of fun caches, including more caches in New York and the amazing Devil's Punch Bowl Earthcache. The things right in our backyard that we don't even see.
August- I attended my first major event- Dairy Daze V and the last Harvestfest and got my first Letterbox cache.

Our first and last Harvestfest

September- Got 50 caches while on a trip including caches in Arizona, California and Nevada where I got my first Webcam Cache. I also placed my first cache!
October- I attended the Petrolia Discovery Event where I got my 500th cache. I set personal records for most finds in a day (38) and most in a month (95). No doubt getting my Magellan Triton 500 this month helped.
November- I started the Geocache Tribune and got my first puzzle FTF.
December- I hate the cold, I only got 12 caches for Dec. But one of them was my 600th cache and an FTF making it 7 months of FTFs

Looking at 2011: 2011 is going to be a good year. I plan on attending Geowoodstock and getting some challenging caches. My goal for the year is 2500 caches.  That would be 4 times more than this year. I have a bunch of ideas for caches and I can't wait.

Sharon12 holding up a cache

Have a good 2011 everyone!