So Much Geocaching Talk!

First off, let me be clear I'm not complaining!

That out of the way, I'm in fact sincerely thankful to have had the rare opportunity this week to appear on four different geocaching podcasts in one week. 

For those interested, here's the quick recap and links to each show.

Day	Podcast	Topic	Link!
Monday	Podcacher	Upvoting Logs	http://www.podcacher.com/show-651-0-geocaching-log-upvotes/
Wednesday	Geocaching Podcast	Favourite Caching Apps	http://geocachingpodcast.com/gcpc-episode-534-useful-apps-for-geocaching/
Thursday	GeoGearheads	Earthcaching	http://cacheamaniacs.com/ggh-356-earthcaches-iii
Thursday	Caching in the Northwest	Geocaching in Utah	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zy_nrVm2sg

If you'd like a little more insight into the process and contents before you click through to the links, here's the brief synopsis for each podcast appearance.

Podcacher:

I was contacted by my friends at Podcacher and asked, as a Canadian Geocacher, if I had any thoughts on the new upvoting innovation on geocaching logs. Of course I do! 

I offered to record some content for them and they graciously accepted and played it in show 651 (can you believe they have recorded over 650 episodes!!!). 

This episode contains some interesting and diverse opinions and feedback on upvoting from geocachers in Canada and Norway, the two countries where upvoting is currently enabled.

Take a listen to Podcacher episode 651, and check out log upvoting. Share YOUR thoughts on Twitter and Facebook, and please tag @LANMonkeyGC so I can hear what you think!

Geocaching Podcast:

In case you hadn't heard, the Gecoaching Podcast is back from the summer hiatus with a new format and (almost) the same hosts. Andy has retired from the show after contributing to it's success for several years, and Scott Berks and Taz427 are now joined by ShortyKnits.

The new format is a call in show - each week the hosts pick a different topic and encourage listeners to call in and share their thoughts, live on the air!

This week the topic was "Useful Apps for Geocaching" and there were some great ones shared. Check it out; if you didn't hear your favourite, or want to weigh in on that conversation, share your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter, and again, please tag me so I can hear what you have to say.

GeoGearheads:

Chris of the Northwest and DarrylW4 contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if I could fill in for Darryl (can anyone really ever fill in for Darryl?!) and talk about Earthcaches. 

Of course I can! And since GeoGearheads tends to be technology and innovation focused, I thought it would be fun to throw in a news story about China creating artificial moons to orbit the earth, and then dig into the numbers and stats about the 2018 International Earthcache Weekend.

This led to Chris and I each sharing some interesting stories about our adventures finding our Earthcaches for the souvenir that weekend.

I also answered a listener's question and gave some top tips about my own process/workflow for creating new Earthcaches. We then provided an update on the status of the GSA's Earthcache Academy.

Did you get your souvenir? Do you have questions about creating Earthcaches? I'd love to hear about your adventures, or your thoughts about Earthcaches. Again, please share those thoughts on Facebook or Twitter and don't forget to tag me in your post so I can make sure I read it!

Caching in the Northwest:

Last, but surely not least (?), is the podcast closest to my heart, the one I spend every Thursday night with my close and awesome friends WitzEnd and Chris of the Northwest.

This week on CachingNW we had show Patrons CampClan join us to talk about their recent adventure of going Geocaching in the amazing state of Utah. Having completed the Visit Utah Geotour myself, I had lots to share and discuss with them.

The timing couldn't be better as I had just received my official Utah GeoAmbassador jacket that very night and was able to wear it proudly during the podcast!

They shared their adventure of finding Potter's Pond on the cusp of winter, and some of the places they explored on their adventures. We then "shifted gears" to chat a bit about bike share services available in several cities, and how those can be used for Geocaching.

Have you visited Utah and have thoughts or pictures to share? Have you tried Geocaching using a bike or scooter share service? We're really curious to hear more about your experiences and opinions; share them on Twitter and Facebook, and remember to tag me @LANMonkeyGC so I can read all about it!

The Week of the Monkey

So in summary, a very busy but fun week in podcasting for me, and I am so thankful to each of the hosts/producers for making time to include me and my thoughts on their podcasts. 



I hope you enjoy listening to each, and make sure that you let the podcast hosts know what you think about their episodes.

And until we chat next, cache safely and cache often!

LANMonkey's Geocaching Adventures are written by Jay Kennedy, outdoor adventurer and photo-journalist. All content is affiliated with the Wander Network. Experience his adventures on Twitter and Instagram by following @LANMonkeyGC, and subscribing to LANMonkey on YouTube. He is also a regular co-host of the Caching in the Northwest geocaching podcast.

Alaskan Caching Cruise - Day 5: Glacier Bay

Well this took a little longer to get posted, but here we are.

OK, back to the adventure. Departing our most northern port of call in Skagway, we next headed further north into Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. As we first made our way into the park the clouds and fog were thick and we were quite concerned we'd not see some of the amazing sights we were hoping for.

Never-minding the weather, like a true Canadian, I bundled up after breakfast and went out on the lower bow viewing area to enjoy the salt air on my face and the beauty of the North.

As we continued northward, naturalists from the US Parks Service on board the ship (live, from the Crow's Nest coffee lounge) began sharing stories of the area, local heritage, and wildlife.

We passed grey whales, puffins, and increasing chunks of ice as the bay and fjords slowly narrowed on our way to Margerie Glacier.

At first the glaciers we could see (Reid, Lamplaugh) seemed quite distant from the boat, but were still spectacular to view. Would this be as close as we'll get to the glaciers here? We had hoped to get up close to Johns Hopkins Glacier but had been told that due to seal calving season we couldn't enter the fjord.

The ship took a slow and steady pace continuing northwards, and the weather continued to get better and better, and the views increasingly beautiful.

And soon we were able to take in the sight of the Johns Hopkins Glacier dipping into the Pacific - even from a distance a spectacular sight that brought a hush to the outside of the ship - all you could hear were shutters snapping and admirers whispering to each other.

The striped colours created by rock stripped from the mountains moved along in this glacier brought so many of the earthcaches (glacial erratics, anyone?) I've worked through before to life in a vivid and unforgettable way.

And onwards yet we cruised past more amazing glacial sights as us lucky passengers were held spellbound by these arctic wonders.

And soon we had arrived at our final stop; our most northerly waypoint of the cruise, Margerie Glacier. Extending through both Canada and the US into the icy waters of Glacier Bay, this was not only an amazing place to stop, but the ship was able to actually get very close to the glacier.

We stayed here for about an hour at this point. The sun was out in full, and many were debating whether to grab lunch, or just stand on the deck in amazement. Well, Mrs. LANMonkey and two of her new Geocaching friends decided the best option was to quickly go back to the cabins, and then return ready to complete the Earthcache here.
 

Oh, did I mention they were working on the Earthcache from the hot tub?

Now THAT'S cruise-ship geocaching in style!

So after enjoying ourselves at Marjorie Glacier, it was time for lunch as our ship began it's way back south. South, and eventually home, but not before one last Alaskan port of call.

Next stop?

Ketchikan!


Thanks for reading our blog, and stay tuned as the adventures continue!

Cache safely, and cache often.

The Alaskan Caching Cruise - Days 2 & 3

Welcome to our first full day at sea! Day 2 of the Alaskan Geocaching cruise started off with us learning the ropes of the breakfast buffet, and then joining the entire group for a meet & greet in the Crowsnest.

It was pretty distracting to look out the panoramic windows as we cruised along the north coast of BC to sights like these...

 Which frankly are pretty spectacular in person, and maybe don't translate as well to an image on a blog... However, the rest of the group on  board was a fun and interesting bunch with some cool stories such as:

• The person who placed the first geocache in Canada
• A couple on their honeymoon who had shared their proposal at the mainstage of a Mega event
• A cacher who had previously worked as the brakeman on the train we'd be taking as an excursion later in the cruise (spoiler alert)

Later Chris from the Landsharkz held a seminar for the group on how to take ideal vacation photos. Lots of great tips that likely helped all of us take better photos this cruise.

Then dinner. Then bed. Then breakfast. Then Juneau.

Welcome to Juneau!

Although slightly overcast, it was still a great visit in Juneau. Of course we were excited to get ashore and find some geocaches, but knowing that our primary excursion here was a trip to Mendenhall Glacier, and that we had a number of Earthcaches lined up... well, that was good news!

 We enjoyed the visit to the glacier, the park, and some wildlife (a trio of bears feeding on spawning salmon, then we got as close as we dared to a porcupine) and learned all about the park and the glaciers from the rangers who were very patient with us geocachers. I think it always helps to show a little interest in learning something beyond the required answers for the earthcaches.

Oh, and the Mendenhall Glacier earthcache was find #9,000 for the LANMonkeys. So we achieved the Geocaching.com souvenir for Alaska, and then our personal caching milestone!

A great time with a bunch of great new friends in the park, then we caught the bus back from the park to Juneau (and I should mention our bus driver was an absolute hoot).

Back in Juneau we then took the tram up Mount Roberts for some amazing views down over the city of Juneau, and then a nice loop hike where we met up with some other caching friends from the cruise and picked up some caches with amazing views. So glad we have lots of favourite points to award!

 After taking in the amazing panoramic views we made our way back down, toured the town (finding a few more geocaches, of course) including a fun group find at an iconic statue near the wharfs. 

Thanks once again to Chris from Landsharkz for taking so many great photos of the trip, including this one of RCA777 trying to figure out *how* Mrs. LANMonkey got that geocache out of *that* part of the dog statue...

And finally, after some more exploring and caching and even a stop for some local chocolate treats, it was back to the ship for dinner and another night's rest before the next adventure in Skagway!

But that story will have to wait for another day (or so)...

#GeocacheRoadTrip to Yellowstone Park - Leg 1

On the first leg of our summer #GeocacheRoadTrip we traveled from our home near Vancouver, BC Canada through Washington and Idaho, checking out some cool sights along the way. 

We took the "northern route" through Washington which allowed us to visit the North Cascades National Park.

On our way we visited a few virtual caches and Earthcaches, and had a number of amazing stops all of which we were able to capture in episode 84 of LMGA.

Take a look at that episode, and let us know about your summer #GeocacheRoadTrip adventures - we'd love to hear about what you've discovered this summer!

 

Caching Cuba

Recently we returned from an amazing vacation in beautiful Cuba. We wanted to share with you how to maximize your geocaching enjoyment while still experiencing everything Cuba has to offer.
 
It has been a long time since we posted here last - our attention has been focused on the YouTube channel and we realize that only gives part of the story! So back to the blog.

With travel restrictions from the US to Cuba imminently lightening, we expect it will be a more popular "North American" destination soon. One of the most amazing things about Cuba is the simplicity of life while visiting there. Hopefully that doesn't change too much, although admittedly there are many people in the country who could benefit from an economic boon (such as increased tourism investment would bring).

Varadero is circled in red at the top of the map.

We stayed in the popular resort area of Varadero, the peninsula on the North-East of the island nation where the majority of the resorts are located. A quick look at the Geocaching map shows  a number of caches all along that strip. 

You can easily spend a day just grabbing the 20+ caches along the Varadero Peninsula. We'd suggest renting bicycles from your resort as most of these caches are placed along or proximate to the highway that runs the length of the peninsula. 

You can also take the 5 CUC ($5 US) "Hop-On, Hop-Off" tour buses that run the length of the highway, but they are about 30 minutes between each other and will not be efficient.

Along this stretch is an EarthCache we highly recommend, Cueva de Ambrosio (GC2DDG4). This cache was our 5,000th find milestone, but it was also amazing to explore. Also 5 CUC (you'll quickly find a theme in Cuba of 5 CUC).

Most importantly however, is plan some time to get away from the resorts and see the rest of Cuba. One easy way to do this is to take some of the excursions - I won't kid you, they aren't cheap (do your research ahead of time) but the country of Cuba is amazingly rich in history and natural beauty so it's worth the investment.

Some of the excursion we took while in Cuba & Geocaches found:

Cayo Blanco Catamaran Tour

Cayo Blanco (Traditional - GC30VV2)
Cayo Blanco Beach Erosion (Earthcache - GC3BCWP)

Jeep Safari

 

Cueva Saturno - Karst Cenote (Earthcache - GC5NDGX)

Bellamar Caves

Cuevas de Bellemar (Earthcache - GC26P9D)

La Habana

San Francisco de Asis, Habana (Earthcache - GC53KP8)

Most importantly - ENJOY YOURSELVES!

There were several more traditional and Earthcaches in Habana, but we couldn't get to many others due to a tight itinerary on our tour.

So hopefully this blog will help you plan an enjoyable, relaxing visit to Cuba, where you can also pick up a few geocaches and have fun - like we did in this video!

And remember to cache safely, and cache often!

The LANMonkeys

Cave Caching Along the Chilliwack River

This past week, the LANMonkeys called up their caching friends and said "We've got an idea for an adventure..." After a phone call and a couple of emails plans were set and the first Saturday of 2014 was spent on a caching adventure along the Chilliwack River. So today's blog post is going to be about caches in the Earth, and about the Earth.

In the course of a very full day we discovered four EarthCaches, explored two caves for geocaches, found two of the "Back Roads Map Book GeoTour" caches, enjoyed some amazing scenery along the Chilliwack River, and had a fantastic time with great friends. In the end we made a total of 19 cache finds in an area that you could spend days caching in with all the different spots to go geocaching or just exploring.

Our caching location for the day was primarily the North side of the Chilliwack River, along the Foley Creek Forest Service Road, approximately 25 km's down Chilliwack Lake Road. Almost all of the area is accessible by pretty much any vehicle with decent clearance, but we went in Catapult Jeff & Iron Maiden's 4x4 Jeep, and were thankful we did. Plenty of spots on the roads and especially the wood bridge decks were icy.

Caching in the Caves

As part of our shared goals to try and complete our D/T grids, we were all happy to tackle caches with difficulties of 5 and 4.5 and a terrain of 5 - but mostly the guys were "psyched" to go spelunking in search of geocaches in both Hands and Feet caches (GC2X9HP & GC2X9H1).


As the cache descriptions indicate, it is very important to not go alone when exploring caves, and to bring the proper gear. Catapult Jeff & Mr. LANMonkey ensured we were equipped with coveralls, helmets, headlamps, radios, extra light, a long climbing rope, gloves, and of course, a video camera.

The video in this episode was primarily shot in Hands & Feet #2 as it was a deeper and slightly larger caving experience than #1. Quarters were tight in much of the cave and of course, the only light source was our headlamps, which made it challenging for shooting an episode, but we really wanted you to be able to join the experience of looking for caches in naturally formed, small underground areas.  It was most certainly a unique and awesome caching experience, but it likely wasn't for everyone - consider carefully if you'll be able to do this one both physically and mentally before attempting, and PLEASE do not try it alone!

EarthCaching in 2014

We are also grateful to Catapult Jeff & Iron Maiden for being willing to stop at four different EarthCaches in the area that they had all ready completed so that the LANMonkeys could discover them and learn as well. If you're not familiar with EarthCaches, they are a form of "virtual" geocache where you are not looking for a container with a log sheet to sign, but going to specific coordinates and stepping through a brief field-lesson in geology.  Watch this older episode of LMGA we filmed last fall when we were placing our first EarthCache to get an overview on EarthCaching.

In addition, check out the resources at the Geological Society of America's website EarthCache.org for the most comprehensive source of information about discovering and creating EarthCaches.

Speaking of EarthCaches, did you know that Friday, January 10th is the 10th anniversary of the first EarthCache? Educational and fun events are taking place world-wide to celebrate this anniversary on the 10th, 11th, and 12th. For a complete listing of those events, check here.  If you are in the Greater Vancouver area, it's not too late to sign up and come join us at the MetroVan Geocaching EarthCaching event at 7:30pm on Friday, January 10th.