Mitchel Zimmerman stumbled into geocaching, or rather, geocaching stumbled into Mitchel Zimmerman.
He says, “I learned about geocaching when a group of geocachers stumbled out of the woods and into our backyard. They explained what they were doing, and the idea of ‘treasure hunting’ captivated me.” And what a fateful encounter this happy accident would turn out to be for the Pennsylvanian geocaching community.
Mitchel, a.k.a. mzairboy is now the creator and owner of the world’s largest replica ammo-can geocache.
One freezing January morning in 2011, Mitchel attended a Trackable discovery flash mob event. He was there to unveil his giant-sized Travel Bug. Yes, a giant-sized Travel Bug. Mitchel recalls, “During the event, a geocacher told me that all I needed was a geocache big enough to hide my giant travel bug in. That’s when the wheels in my head started turning.”
Over the course of a year, Mitchel secretly designed and assembled his masterpiece. He says, “Deep in the cornfields of Lancaster County, a geocache of massive proportions was being built and no one knew about it.”
When it was finally completed, Mitchel invited geocachers to “The Grand Unveiling” (GC3WYY1). On October 6, 2012, geocachers arrived for the big event. While only a few guests knew what to expect, most were completely astonished by what they encountered.
A geocacher who attended the event writes, “This was certainly an event with a difference. Just the name ‘Grand Unveiling’ captured our curiosity. Happily, we were not disappointed. This ammo-can cache must be a candidate for the Guinness Book of Records. Thanks to mzairboy for thinking outside the box, organizing, and hosting this event.”
So, what’s next for this really big cache? Mitchel plans to eventually hide it as a geocache for everyone to find. For a sneak preview of Mitchel’s creation, check out this video.
