The gurgling waters of the Credit River in Ontario, Canada tell a story of seafaring disaster. Nearly every 1/10th of a mile those floating the lazy waterway unlock the story of a shipwreck. That’s if they know the secret. The stories of more than 140 shipwrecks are recorded in geocache after geocache.
Tubing the Credit River
Keith Watson (username Keith Watson) and a crew of more than a dozen geocaching friends hid the geocaches. But their original intent was a walking tour, not floating the river in a tube or canoe. Keith says, “At the beginning of the summer a few of us decided to start placing caches along a local river. The plan was to walk down the river placing caches and others would have to walk down the river as well to find them. After walking down the first section we decided that walking down a river sucked and we would use tubes to do the next section. After using tubes to do the next section was a blast and we decided that was the best way to do it.”
The team used technology and old tales from the sea to make the string of geocaches more inviting. It’s an age-old recipe for geocaches: history + discovery + adventure. Check out this interactive map of the Credit River – Shipwreck Series the team created to help people navigate to river and unlock seven seas of history.
The Shipwreck series went live over the summer. It started small, Keith says, “Cachers are going out in groups floating down the Credit River having fun. I have taken my son a few times and he loves it.” Testimonials and videos started turning up, like, “This was probably one of the best caching days I have ever had, and I can’t wait to do more.” And, “You’ve created a unique caching experience that I really don’t think can be found anywhere!” And, “Thanks to all of the COs s[cache owners] for placing this fun-filled series of caches.”Keith says he and the other geocache owners were blown away, “The extent of the series has surpassed in size and popularity far beyond what we thought it would be.”
If you’re in Ontario during months warm enough to float a river, you too, can enjoy a river float with a side of history, that didn’t float.
Don’t worry, it happens in every relationship. Your geocaching game might fall into a rut. But geocaching has more to offer than you have ever suspected. Here are a few tips to take your geocaching game to the next level and make it more rewarding than ever.
Check out your Geocaching statistics and push your comfort zone. See how many finds you’ve had in your more productive months. Try creating a goal to add at least ten more finds than your highest monthly total. If quantity isn’t your game, add some variety to your finds. Geocaching offers more than a dozen different geocache types to find, like Traditional geocaches, Multi-Caches and Puzzle Caches. Have you found five different types? Ten? There’s at least one more option in the realm of numbers: difficulty and terrain ratings. Can you push yourself to solve a D5 puzzle or complete an epic T5 hike?
Keeping geocaching fresh isn’t just about expanding boundaries; it’s also about expanding relationships. Bring new friends along for the adventure. First send them the new “What is Geocaching?” video, then take them to find a geocache with at least a few Favorite Points. Next you’ll be standing back, receiving praise and high-fives for introducing your friends to geocaching. And you? You’ll enjoy new geocaching buddies.
Finally, add another layer to your geocaching adventure by releasing a Geocaching Trackable into the wild. Launch a Geocaching Travel Bug® with a goal of bouncing from geocache to geocache until it lands on your favorite beach, in a new city or even a new country—and then make the return journey.
What are your tips for spicing up your geocaching life? Share them on the Geocaching Facebook Page, and in comments below.
Editor’s note: Geocaching HQ staff are joining geocachers at Mega-Events around the world to celebrate and share the adventure of geocaching. Amy Faulkner, attended the 11th Annual Geocaching Hampton Roads Picnic (GC42NJJ). This is Amy’s account of her trip.
Amy (in middle) with the basket logbook
I recently traveled across the country from Geocaching HQ in Seattle, WA to Newport News, VA to attend the 11th Annual Geocaching Hampton Roads Picnic (GC42NJJ). This Mega-Event looked really interesting from the get-go but I certainly had no idea what a trip I was in for.
Upon arrival Friday evening for the event’s Meet & Greet (GC4FDA7), I was barely in the parking lot of the event venue when I was asked by a fellow geocacher to stop my car so they could take a picture of the trackable code I had placed on the window. As weird as this may sound, it was a refreshing welcome to the event and it gave me the comforting feeling that even though I was 3000 miles from home I was right where I belonged. The excitement as I walked in to the event only grew. I met the event organizers (more on them later) and attendees from all over the United States. I listened to some great geocaching stories and received my awesome registration pack that included a lunch tote, a t-shirt, a water bottle, a pen with a stylus, a geocaching hat and so much more. I had so much fun, but this was merely a glimpse of what was in store.
At the end of the event I set out for dinner with some fellow geocachers that are also the worldwide geocaching community reviewers for North Carolina and Tennessee. Although I had not met MonkeyBrad, NCReviewer and Dogwood_Reviewer before, we had exchanged a few emails prior to the event and decided that we would grab some dinner afterward.
Occasionally around Geocaching HQ or out in the game you hear that “geocaching makes the world smaller.” I have heard this in regards to folks getting out and exploring places they normally wouldn’t have and geocachers exchanging stories about similar experiences they have had in finding the same cache, but what happened at the random restaurant we chose for dinner is one of those exemplary stories that you almost can’t believe. Picture this: as the group of us sit down to dinner, our waiter approaches the table in the overly exuberant waiter style and introduces himself. He’s super friendly, he tells us the specials, asks for our drink order, makes a suggestion on a good beer to try and heads off to obtain the drinks. As he returns with the beverages, he inquires as to why so many of us at the table have on geocaching shirts. This was quite observant on his part as we were not sitting there in matching uniforms but in various different geocaching shirts.
We explained that we were in town for the event. We discussed with him where each of us traveled from and then, when the waiter did not ask us what geocaching was we inquired if he was a geocacher. Read carefully, here’s where it gets interesting… Our waiter then tells us nonchalantly that he’s “been a few times” and he continues to tell us that he once found a geocache in Chattanooga, Tennessee that required him to paddle out to it and he was one of only 40 some people to find it since it was placed in 2006.
Photo Op
Around this time I happened to glance across the table at MonkeyBrad to see a perplexed look on his face. He asked the waiter if the name of the cache was Island Booty and the waiter enthusiastically said yes. MonkeyBrad then explained that he was the co-owner of that geocache and the entire table erupted in laughter and cheer and sounds of disbelief that our waiter, who barely identified himself as a geocacher, had such a great and vivid story that he shared with us in the middle of Virginia about an elusive geocache that he found in Tennessee.
After a great dinner and a lot of geocaching stories we turned in for the night with great anticipation of what the next day and the big event would bring.
The morning started off with an event called a Muffin-A-Go-Go II (GC4AF43) right outside the camping area at Newport News Park. As geocachers arrived they would grab a brown bag that included the muffin flavor of their choice. My muffin bag simply included a muffin (it was delicious) but some also included special instructions that challenged the muffin holder to participate in some of the big event’s activities. I did not have the luxury of spending a lot of time at this event as I had to get over to the main area and assist with the setup of the Lab Caches that were going to be tested at this event.
Purple Shirt Club
Newport News Park is a park rich with history. Many Civil War battles took place in the park including the Battle of Big Bethel and the Battle or Burnt Chimneys. The organizers of the event set up the Lab Caches to take geocachers on a journey through the park while learning about its history. In addition to the Lab Caches, there was a plethora of activities from an Ammo Can Toss, a GeoSurvivor competition for teams of two and an egg hunt that tested a participants’ pure luck in choosing an egg that contained the coordinates for a cache that could possibly contain a prize. There were also a few works of art and pure craftsmanship that blew me away. The event’s photo wall and the handmade giant picnic basket event log simply cannot go without mention.
The community volunteer reviewers and I sat on a panel discussion in the afternoon which really started some great conversation about the game that continued on throughout the day with everyone I chatted with. I had so many great conversations and met so many amazing people it truly made the event memorable, but the real heroes in creating such an awesome event were the “purple shirts” that organized the event and ensured that everyone had a good time and felt like part of their geocaching family. I’m excited to go back next year.
I admit it, I really dislike clowns. For instance, if there’s one on the street handing balloons to children, I’ll cross to the other side of the street so I don’t have to get within a few feet of him/her. While I know I’m not alone, I think I’d definitely get over my dislike of clowns for a chance to find this week’s Geocache of the Week.
One of the geocache creators trying his luck. Photo courtesy of geocacher Paladium_
Pennywise the Clown (GC3XB2Z), hidden in western Germany, ranks pretty high when it comes to geocache innovation, fun, and skill. When asked about the time and commitment that went into creating this geocache, the creators, Paladium and Paulicacher, said “We think that we needed around three month’s from the scratch and around 150€. We think that the cache-building is only one part of the project. After a while you have to rethink parts of the cache according to experiences from loggers and update the cache. Also after some destructions you have to rethink the cache again and repair and rearrange parts of the cache. So it is a ongoing process.” When asked about the theme, it was a simple answer,”We think that every more sophisticated cache should have a story. So shooting a clown… hmmm… Stephen King’s IT??? :)”
At first glance, this geocache is pretty terrifying. However, once you get over the fear, you’re ready to have a great time—so long as you bring the right tools for the job. According to the geocache details page, geocachers wishing to earn their smiley for this geocache will have to come prepared with at least 10L of water, some sort of water-gun, six AA batteries and at least four people. Luckily, you won’t have to carry these items through any tough trails—the terrain rating is only 1.5. However, using them might prove to be a little harder—the difficulty is 3.5. Once you’re at the cache, it’s time to have some fun.
A brave geocacher next to the terrifying clown. Photo by geocacher -geosil-
So far, over 600 geocachers have followed the instructions, aimed their water-guns and defeated Pennywise. Of those, 463 have awarded this geocache a favorite point. One such geocacher is jumuyou, who said (translated from German), “Since we do not have the necessary equipment, we hired our 8 year-old nephew to accompany us on our mission to protect the world from evil. He was very enthusiastic and provided us with everything that was needed. Together we set out to search for Pennywise and eventually tracked him to his hiding place. Although he resisted and ridiculed us, we did not give in and, finally overwhelmed him even faster than I thought. It was great fun. Thank you for this great cache!”
More geocachers trying to defeat Pennywise. Photo by geocacher Team Ehreshoven
In response to all of the positive logs and favorite points, the geocache creators said, “We are really overwhelmed by all the positive logs and personal statements from other cachers. More overwhelming is the fact that a lot of cachers come from far away only to play this cache.”
This geocache requires you to perform a special task before you’re able to open the container. What’s your favorite geocache that also requires a special skill or task to open? Tell us in the comments.
Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog.
If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, send an email with your name, comments, the name of the geocache, and the GC code to pr@geocaching.com.
We did it! Whether you found one geocache in August or a geocache every day of the month, you joined a global team of more than a half-million adventurers who geocached last month. How many completed the 31 in 31 challenge? An amazing 26,228 geocachers found a geocache each day in August. That’s 10 times the number from August of 2012.
Don’t worry, it happens in every relationship. Your geocaching game might fall into a rut. But geocaching has more to offer than you have ever suspected. Here are a few tips to take your geocaching game to the next level and make it more rewarding than ever.
