November 11, 2014 / Carly /

How to Claim a Geocaching FTF (First to Find)

Ping! That’s the sound of your phone or email notifying you when a new geocache is published nearby. Grab your geo-bag, gps device, and get moving… you want to be the FTF (First To Find).

Discovering new geocaches before anyone else. Image by @gc_steph

Why would I want to be FTF?

Being FTF on a geocache is an exciting experience. You get to discover the newly published geocache prior to everyone else in the community and you get to brag about it 😉 . On many occasions, geocache owners will leave a small gift for the first geocacher to discover their cache. Prizes? Heck yes!

Cash prize! Image by Instagrammer @ruznuz

How do I set up instant notifications to let me know when a new geocache is published (only applicable to Premium Members)?

You can custom build notifications under Premium Member features.

Go to the Add Instant Notification page
Name the notification
Choose a cache type to monitor (e.g. Traditionals, Events, etc.)
Choose the types of logs you want to see (if you are just looking for newly published caches, choose “Publish Listing”)
Set the location (central point) and distance (around that point) you want to watch.
Check the email listed in the “Send to” drop-down menu. (If you would like to send Instant Notifications to an alternate email,you will need to manage your email addresses first.)
Check “Enable Notifications”.
Select “Create Notification” and you are set!

For addition information on Instant and Text Notifications please go here.

How can I add FTF to my statistics?

Geocaching.com does not have a feature that showcases FTFs, as Geocaching HQ does not regulate or manage FTFs. However, many geocachers use outside statistics-generating sites such as GSAK.net or MyGeocachingProfile.com to display their FTFs on their profile pages.

Now go and search, young grasshopper.

How will you celebrate your first FTF? Pancakes?

October 29, 2014 / Alex /

The Travel Bug that Survived a Wildfire

When CarpeCrew and #36 set out in search of GC3CZ72, they weren’t expecting to find anything. The geocache was placed in February of 2012, on National Forest land just northwest of Colorado Springs. 13 finds and four months later, the Waldo Canyon Fire tore through the region. It was one of the most destructive fires in the state’s history. There was little to indicate that the geocache had survived—no finds, no DNFs, no comment from the geocache owner.

fdsfds

Two years later, a forest road near where the geocache was placed was reopened, and CarpeCrew and #36, saw their chance to explore the area, visit an old personal landmark, and perhaps find an EarthCache in honor of International EarthCache Day. When they saw that GC3CZ72 was supposed to be nearby, they took a chance and trotted toward where their phones were putting it.

And there it was…right on the spot. The charred and blackened ammo can was spotted and opened, though not without a bit of difficulty. The identifiable geocache inventory was as follows:

Charred remains of a logbook (visible in the photo)
Several key rings
Pens and pencils
A button that belonged to a local geocacher
A charred and pockmarked Travel Bug tag

After a full treatment of sprite, baking soda, and vinegar, the Travel Bug’s tracking code was almost complete. It only took a few guesses as to what the last number could be, for the TB to reveal itself. CarpeCrew and #36 posted their story to the Geocaching Colorado – GCCO Facebook page, immediately generating dozens of comments from other geocachers.

The bug had originally been placed in a geocache in Colorado Springs in 2007. At the time, it contained the clues to a Mystery Cache in Colorado Springs. That Mystery Cache has since been archived, and the original owner of the TB doesn’t play much anymore.

CarpeCrew and #36 have yet to decide what they’re going to do with the trackable, but re-releasing it into a geocache nearby is definitely an option. So unless this was an elaborate experiment to test what type of trackable was the sturdiest, we think this was one lucky Travel Bug. Keep an eye out for it if you’re geocaching in Colorado in the next few weeks…and if you’re concerned about the fire safety of your trackable, a TB tag might be a good investment. 😉

October 20, 2014 / Eric Schudiske /

New Challenge: Leave Your Keyboard at Lunch – Find a Geocache

Before lunchtime geocaching, and after lunchtime geocaching

Ready, set, lunch break geocaching

by: Bri Suffety

You should remember one thing, your keyboard won’t miss you if you leave for lunch. It never does. If you don’t share that dry sandwich, and unfulfilling old piece of fruit with your keyboard, it’s going to be alright. In fact, it probably needs a break and so do you, enter: Geocaching.

School is back in session, the weather is still begging you to get outside and geocache.

Much like the recess bell, lunchtime at the office is a much anticipated moment of our day. However, all too often it gets pushed aside for meetings, workouts or altogether forgotten with a just you, a sandwich and your desk. Ready for something that might make you gasp? Why not take your lunch break back?

There's a whole world to explore through geocaching — There’s a whole world to explore through geocaching

5 easy ways to shake up your midday break and earn a smiley along the way

Walk that Way. Pick a geocache within walking distance. Even if you come up empty you can still got to stretch your legs, get some fresh air and exercise a little DNF (Did Not Find) pride. Can you say win win situation?
Fun Run. Already grabbed all of the geocaches within walking distance? Need to squeeze in a workout in? Find a geocache you can run or bike to; you’ll have a reason to push yourself to go further or faster and you can’t forget the glorious reward of a new find. Look at you multitasking!
How far can you go? Want something a little more adventurous? See how far away from your office you can get. Jump on a bus and stare out the window as you travel into uncharted territory. Allot ⅔ of your break for travel time and ⅓ for finding the geocache and exploring. You might even discover a hidden park or your new favorite food cart.
Make a Date. Lunch can be a great time to catch up with friends or your significant other. Next time you’re looking to schedule a lunch date, pick a restaurant with a geocache nearby. You can grab it while you wait or use it as an excuse to walk off your lunch. Invite your date to help. Yes, even if they’re are a muggle; you never know who geocaches and who may be become your new caching partner.
Outsmart the weather. Weather isn’t cooperating? Use your time to savor your meal, create a space for yourself mentally and solve that puzzle cache that has been on your to-do list all summer.

Set aside your excuses; a busy schedule doesn’t have to be a roadblock. You can spare at least one lunch break this month to go out, stretch your legs and up your geocaching game. Are you up for the challenge?

Do you have a lunchtime geocaching adventure to tell? Share your stories in the comments.

October 6, 2014 / Eric Schudiske /

Geocachers Find a Message in a Bottle from 1970. It says… (Part 2)

Part 2 or 2 [read part 1]

A message in a bottle captures the imagination…

…and apparently, the attention of media. Last week we published Geocachers Find a Message in a Bottle from 1970. Its says… (part 1). Jean-Francois Cianci (known in the Geocaching word as Monkeyturtle) detailed how he discovered a bottle while clearing garbage from a wetland at a Calgary, Alberta area CITO event.

The bottle contained a very clear note from 1970. It also contained a request, a mission even. And Jean-Francois took the mission seriously. The note read, “Anyone finding this bottle please contact: Darilyn Yates and Georgia Love… ”

The message in the bottle

Jean-Francois, who discovered geocaching in 2003 and now has more than 250 logged geocaches finds, is used to finding. As determined geocachers often say, he wouldn’t DNF this (Did Not Find). An online investigation began but success didn’t come easy, “(I) did a search online with the name and the city where they were from. I found the name of Darilyn Yates’ father and found he had moved to another city. From there I contacted a Darilyn from the same area but with a different surname and it was a match!” Darilyn says she dropped the bottle in the Bow River while on vacation in 1970. She was just 14 years old, and according to news reports, not sure exactly where along the river she tossed the bottle in.

Darilyn had moved hundreds of miles away to Vancouver Island. She fondly recalled the trip she took back in 1970 when she dropped the message in the bottle in a river. Jean-Francois says, “Darilyn has contacted Georgia’s cousin to let her know about the find.”

Since finding the message in the bottle, the story has spread across Canada.

calgary herald article — The story first appeared in the Calgary Herald (Click the image to read the story)

You can hear and see Darilyn and Jean-Francois. They’ve appeared on CBC radio together [click on Part Two in the link]. And even in this CTV television story.

The stories is not over yet though. Jean-Francois plans to hand deliver the bottle back Darilyn. He’ll drive to Vancouver, securing his first to find and reuniting Darilyn with a 44-years-old memory – that had patiently waited for her in a bottle.

Click to meet Darilyn and hear from Jean Francois — Click the image to see the news story featuring Darilyn and Jean-Francois

October 1, 2014 / Eric Schudiske /

Geocachers Find a Message in a Bottle from 1970. It says… (Part 1)

(Part 1 of a 2 part story… read Part 2)

Sometimes history sneaks up on you… while you’re trying to preserve the future.

It happened to a group of geocachers clearing garbage from a roadside marshland just west of Calgary, Alberta. The geocaching event is called a CITO (Cache in Trash Out). The group cleans up geocaching friendly locations. They had already found and removed a room-sized carpet, a fractured row boat and a steel rope. The location they chose to help cleanup is a wild space frequented by migratory birds. Jean-Francois Cianci (known in the Geocaching word as Monkeyturtle) was headed back to the meeting area when his team decided to clean up one more patch of land.

Team Monkeyturtle1 — The Geocachers at the CITO (Kathy, Laika and Chomper the other members of Team Monkeyturtle pictured) removed this discarded rowboat

That’s when a patient message’s 44-year wait to be opened ended. Jean-Francois said, “The message in the bottle discovery came towards the end of the event. We were walking back to the gathering point, alongside the road, and decided to pick some of the garbage we had missed. The bottle was in plain view, near some bushes so I decided to pick it up. That’s when I noticed it had a piece of paper in it with a date. I was in bit shock to find a note with such an old date on it.”

He said the mystery began immediately, “The bottle looked old and we pulled strange enough things that day that we thought it was real from the beginning.” When he opened the bottle and removed the note, he also unlocked a nearly 50-year-old challenge by two girls from July 7, 1970. The note asked the finder to do some finding of their own. Thankfully geocachers are known to be especially good at finding. Jean-Francois had to contact the two girls, now women, who dropped the message in the bottle nearly a half century earlier.

The note read:

“Anyone finding this bottle please contact: Darilyn Yates and Georgia Love… ”

The message in the bottle sparked a small quest that would take weeks.

Read Part 2 of the story now.

message in a bottle cito 2 — Geocachers, Gumbydude, Mr. Caneohead and Pokey and Reese(the event organizer), were among those that helped cleanup 25 bags of trash. The group plans to make this CITO a twice-annual event.

Official Blog

Category: Extreme Geocaching