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Editor’s Note: Updated in September 2013 with additional DNF numbers.
Another Editor’s note: Updated August 2014 to include the second find!
In this week’s Geocaching Weekly Mailer, we talked about logging DNFs (did not find). While no one yearns to log a DNF, they’re a necessary part of the game. DNFs can mean all sorts of things: the geocache has been moved, needs maintenance, or in the case of A Real Challenge (GC1764C), it could mean that it’s incredibly hard to find.
With 247 DNFs and only one find, A Real Challenge lives up to its name. In fact, it took nearly four years for the FTF. This geocache was hidden near Peoria, Illinois, USA by geocacher Fuzzy B, who set out with the goal of creating something he’s never seen before, which, with nearly 46,000 finds, is hard to do. “I have felt a little guilty that so many people have spent so much time searching for it,” he said when asked how it felt to be the owner of such a difficult geocache.
In the geocache description, Fuzzy B writes, “Please, to hold down the level of frustration, anger, etc., just put this on your ignore list, it’s not very findable.” But he goes on to reassure us, “Yes, its there. It’s a shelter Cache, a log in a container. Cache is not in, on, or touching any part of the electrical equipment. It’s not on the roof, or under the shingles, nor the drip edge. Cache is exposed to light and air. Cache is within the footprint of the roof. There is NO reason to damage or destroy Park property.”
A Real Challenge has only one find so far by geocacher BransonAdventure. “We found at 8:07pm, but waited to log so we could confirm with owner it wasn’t a decoy or mistake. All the way from Nebraska on vacation we extended the Eastward travel just for this cache,” they said in their log, “I will say we spent just a little under 2 hours looking when my husband found it and then to unroll the log, being so excited and shaking felt like it took about as long. The husband and kids did a little jig.” After the find, Fuzzy B came to meet the lucky geocachers.
Even if it’s a little discouraging, DNFs are an important part of the game. Just think, if all the people that had searched for A Real Challenge hadn’t logged their DNFs, the FTF wouldn’t have been as special.
There’s only one way to find out where this geocache is located, but in the meantime, we can speculate. Where do you think it’s hidden?
On August 11, 2014, a second intrepid geocacher made this nearly impossible find. This makes only two finds after nearly 7 years and 327 DNFs. Congratulations to wcs24fan for being only the second geocacher to conquer the odds and sign their name on the logbook. In their log, wcs24fan writes, “As the sun was retreating behind the clouds and beginning to paint them hues of various pinks, we were still searching for this well hidden treasure. Hope has a way of making one think they can achieve the unachievable. On this evening, for us, the unachievable was struck down as we made the find! Upon opening the container and seeing the log of the BransonAdventure team in the FTF spot, it was confirmed that we had found what we had hoped for. Excitement and elation bathed us for several minutes as we signed the log and pondered what we had just accomplished. The first to find in 3 years and only the second to find overall! Those feelings would travel with us for hours to come as we made our way through the winding back roads to the interstate and our way home. Thanks Fuzzy for giving us the hope that we could pull this off and the great adventure!”
Whether you’re geocaching in a park or grabbing a T5 from a rappel, having right tools may be the difference between a smiley and a DNF. In fact, thanks to some clever geocache hiders, some geocaches may require certain tools to be found. The tools in the photo above are some of our favorites that help make geocaching easier and more fun. Here’s a look at 9 essentials for your geocaching pack (smartphone with Geocaching App and/or GPS device not included):
1) Flashlight
2) Spare batteries (occasionally used to power motors that open geocaches)
3) Camera – Don’t forget to post your photos on our Facebook page
4) Utility tool – this also includes a tweezers to remove log books from micro caches
5) Pen – often best to bring more than one
6) A log roller – use this to help re-roll logs for micro caches
7) A magnetic pen – sometimes metal geocaches hide in hard to reach locations
8) Swag – bring this along to place in geocaches after you’ve found them
9) A retractable mirror – a smart geocachers tool for looking under benches
The funny thing is, when you ask people at Geocaching HQ for essential geocaching gear, sometimes… okay, all the time, there’s always even more gear. So here are four more pieces of gear geocachers at HQ use out on the trail. And if you’re a shorter geocacher or just need to extend your range a little – number 1 might be perfect for you.
1) Grabber thing – it really works!
2) Headlamp – Free up your hands for searching
3) UV light – This is mostly for night caches with special UV reflectors
4) Metal poking device – Sometimes it’s a good idea to poke things before reaching in with your hands
In the comments below, tell us what else people should bring along while geocaching!
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.
This is a 10 second video that may change how you train your dog. Geocacher of the Month, coast2coast2coast, shared this video of his dog Stewie, going into the final push for a geocache and coming out with the cache container.
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