Top Caches in Any Area

Now that we've been bit by the geocaching bug, we of course want to "go caching" whenever we visit somewhere - whether it be a different country, province, state, or city than we call home, we want to check out the caches available.

Initially, we did this by simply puling up the Geocaching.com map, toggling the side panel, and typing in the name of the region we were planning to travel to in the "Search by Address or Coordinates" box. Then we'd manually inspect the caches nearby where we'd be staying, and try and see what is accessable, available, and interesting.  subsequent to that, we'd load them onto our GPSr one-by-one.This was a tedious process, and it wasn't always super effective... for the most part it's worked out, but it is very time consuming.

More recently, we've been learning how to take advantage of Pocket Queries to give us much more refined lists of the caches we should try and find while visiting.

Not only does creating pocket queries (reminder: this is a Geocaching.com functionality that may not be available on other geocaching related sites) allow enormous granularity and flexibility in the types of caches and containers, but other important criteria can be set including:

• difficulty (greater than or equal to, equal to, or less than or equal to 1 - 5)
• terrain (greater than or equal to, equal to, or less than or equal to 1 - 5)
• date of placement
• inclusion/exclusion of any of the geocache attributes

Once your pocket query is configured in the simple & effective interface, you can have it emailed or download it directly from the site in either gpx or loc format, for quick upload into your GPS or tools such as GSAK.

This has become a much better way for us to plan our caching trips to different destinations, including the ability to sort those caches by order of "most favourite" so that we can make sure we visit the "top caches in any area."

We've been able to use exactly that mechanism to identify the most "favourited" caches, so stay tuned to our YouTube channel for an upcoming series of videos on the top caches for some different geocaching destinations.

If you have tips or tricks for how to plan your geocaching away from home, please share them with us!

Thanks for stopping by, and remember:
Cache safely, and cache often!

It's Not About the Numbers...

Recently, a log entry on one of our caches in the Vancouver area piqued my interest, and resulted in a story I wanted to share with all of you who read our blog.

In the caching community, I've learned we have an expression that "it's not about the numbers" implying to me, that a major part of the fun of the geocaching hobby/sport is the relationships you forge, the experiences you have, and the stories you learn.

In that spirit, I wanted to share a story that was shared with me recently by a visiting geocacher.

"We were looking for the cache when this gentleman came along and asked if we had found it. Apparently he had been here looking for it so he could bring people here to find it. He said he comes and looks for the caches ahead of time so he can bring people here using geocaching as a therapy. We had not found the cache at that time but kept looking. The cache container had been pushed way back and we need something to get it out of it's hiding spot. We found a handle from a bucket but it was to big to fit in beside the container so the gentleman said he had a coat hanger in his car a went and grabbed it. We had the cache in hand shortly after that and signed the log. I went to pass the log to the man but he said he never signs the log as he takes people numerous time to find the caches so I have no idea who he is or even what his name is. but we are always happy to meet up with fellow cachers. ... I think this would be a fine story to tell about a wonderful man doing great things for other less fortunate people."

As far as I know, we aren't sure who the man is, or where he works/volunteers, but the cache itself is proximate to both Children & Women's hospital and G.F. Strong.  I thought this was a really neat story about someone using our recreational fun of geocaching for more than just a little fresh air and exercise.

It is really refreshing to hear a little more than the usual (although always appreciated) "Thanks for the cache."  So thanks to Harleymama for sharing this story, and allowing me to blog about it, and thanks to the mysterious stranger for the work he does and for inspiring us all to "keep on caching."

Cache safely, and cache often!
LANMonkey

Ogden Point Victoria - Video Blog Episode 001

Hey Geocachers!

Thought I'd let you know that on a recent trip to Victoria I filmed my first video blog.
Is that what we should call it? I'm open for suggestions on that.

LANMonkey Video Blog - Ogden Point Victoria

I was on a mission to find GC23RBJ "Jaiden's Cache" in order to place a specific TB in that cache. It was my first time using GeoSense on the BB as well, and everything went pretty smoothly. So please watch the video, and let me know what you think...

Do you have any cache or cache type suggestions that I should record? Caching technologies you'd like to see used?  Any types of content you'd like to see? Interviews with cachers from BC?

"The Willow Series - Bonus"

The weather this winter has not been kind to cache contents that are not extraordinarily protected. On that note, I was out performing some cache maintenance today and found that, as per the reports, the log scroll for "The Willow Series - Bonus" cache of ours was more pulp than log. 

I brought it home and was able to dry it out, and will bring it back soon, but in the meantime, the handy  hint sheet for finding the final wasn't holding up well either, so I've taken a different approach.  

In the cache itself you'll find a WELL laminated card with a short URL & QR code that will take you to a Wikipedia site that will walk you through how to perform the cipher we've used.

As for the extra content that we had in the cache to help you all out, I've posted it below in this blog entry where it will be completely weather & muggle proof. ;-)

"Welcome to "The Willow Series - Bonus" by team LANMonkey. To solve the puzzle you will need to have the ciphered text found in cache#2 (GC3YVWE), and combine the clues found in caches #1 (GC3WREV), #2 (GC3YVWE), & #3 (GC3YVTT).  Using the right side of your brain, think about what those clues have in common, and you will arrive at a 15 character phrase.
That phrase, without spaces, is the running key.  You will need to use the tabula recta as your tableau.
Once you've decrypted the ciphered text, you will need to perform one more decryption, which is a simple a=1 Caesar substitution cipher. 
If you get stuck, contact the COs."

Puzzled Over Puzzles

So we get it; these are supposed to be difficult.

We're OK with difficult, and frankly, having the GeoChecker site sure can help with the "trial & error" approach, which is much better than the "trail in error" approach.

But some of these puzzles just don't make sense, and we don't even know where to start.  Some are just a photo of a Geocacher, or seemingly random list of places. We've searched the photo for hidden numbers, or we've scoured the clues for mathematical symmetry, and just come up stumped, because there doesn't seem to be a place to start.

We've tried to read through the Discussion Forums to get a nudge in the right direction for some of these more obscure puzzles but can't seem to get any traction there either.

I'm guessing we're left with two options - PaF or email the CO.

Any advice out there?

Logging is Blogging - How to Not Shoot Yourself in the Foot

After five months in the geocaching community on GroundSpeak's site, but also on other sites, blogs, forums, and on-line resources, I've noticed a similar trend that I've seen in many other on-line communities in my 25 years of participating to electronic communities.

There exists a certain percentage of geocachers who don't realise (or perhaps, simply don't care?) that the content they post in logs is a representation of themselves to the world. And sometimes, the representation is quite unflattering.

It is simply a fact of life today that how you represent yourself online is going to affect your "real" life. The two have become intrinsically intertwined (for better or worse), and can impact your employment or your personal life. Sure, some are extreme examples, and one could argue "How could a geocaching log entry impact my real life?

Well, negative comments have far more "sticking power" than positive comments, and rarely result in a constructive movement forward of the topic at hand. Imagine you've just flamed (intentionally or not) a CO in a log entry. Months later, while caching, you bump into someone else on the trail or at an event who happened to have read your log entry. You introduce yourself, and instantly they've framed a judgment about you. Likely not a flattering one. You can extend the scenario in many directions from here, but I'll tell you directly; I've seen this happen in other social media scenarios, and not end well for the author of the comments.

So, in an effort to help coach those who may be new to this idea, I've presented three simple but important tips I've learned over the years about interacting online and building a positive social media image for yourself, modified for application to our geocaching logs.

1.  Don't Log Angry. If you've just had an unpleasant or frustrating experience while out caching, don't log it right away. Geoaching.com allows you to backdate log entries - so take advantage of that feature. Type out your feelings in a text file, then save it on your computer and go do something else. Something you enjoy, that relaxes you.  Come back to it a day later. Give yourself time to relax, and likely, things won't seem such a big deal.

2. Measure Twice, Cut Once. Great advice for carpenters, and the advice also applies to the online world.  As in suggestion #1 above, don't hit the "submit" button for your log posting right away. Re-read it. Check for grammar and spelling. Have a spouse, friend, or other proof-read your log entries for you. Any of these methods will give you the opportunity to re-consider content that may negatively reflect on you once posted.

3. Use Honey, Not Vinegar. Make sure your comments are rational, reasonable, and worded humbly. If you feel that a cache or something the CO has done endangers others, or simply displayed poor judgment, then phrase your feedback in a way that "offers feedback in a spirit of humble exploration rather than declaration, dialogue rather than monologue, curiosity rather than certainty." - Tony Schwartz. Certainly you've heard that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar? If you haven't heard it before, you've heard it now.

Stat Bar Update

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