Vous souvenez-vous de la première cache que vous avez trouvée ? Que six mois ou six ans se soient passés depuis ce jour fatidique, vous pourriez être dans la situation parfaite pour aider un tout nouveau géocacheur.
Après tout, être un nouveau peut être dur—il y a tant de questions qui demandent une réponse ! Où puis-je mettre cet objet voyageur ? Qu’est-ce qu’un FTF ? Et qu’est donc une Multi-Cache ?
So you’ve been geocaching for six months now… or is it six years? Whatever the number, there comes a time when you stop saying, “I go geocaching” and start saying, “I am a geocacher.”
At this point, you’ve probably found quite a number of geocaches and hidden a few as well. You’ve dipped your toes into different cache types, and you’ve played around with logging trackables. You’ve grown from a wee geo-acorn into a strong geo-oak tree.
Capitalize on your experience by mentoring newbie geocachers you encounter along the way. These five tips should help you get started.
So someone just logged “Found It!” on a geocache but in their log they wrote, “We searched everywhere but couldn’t find it today.” Did this person just log a find they didn’t actually earn? Yes. Did they commit a cardinal sin? No. Take a moment, give a newbie the benefit of the doubt, and kindly remind them that to log a find, they have to find the log! Your interaction with this person may be the first contact they’ve ever had with another geocacher, so be kind and pay it forward.
Are newbies always writing short logs (TFTC) on your geocaches, and you want more, more, more? Send them this friendly link to motivate them to channel their inner Billy Shakespeare: 5 Tips for Writing the Best Log in the World.
If you own a geocache that’s big enough for trackables, include a friendly note about trackable etiquette. And better yet, include a description of what trackables are and how to log them! New geocachers are often confused about the difference between trackables and SWAG, and what better place to have information about this than in the geocache itself.
Whether you’re hosting or attending an event, make sure new geocachers are welcome, included in the conversation, and feel comfortable. As a host, make a new geocacher’s life easier by putting up a “We’re Geocachers!” sign at your table so they know where to find you. As an attendee, take ownership of making the new cacher feel comfortable, especially if you’re lucky enough to live in a tight-knit geocaching community.
5. There are no stupid questions — and newbies have TONS of questions“What does ‘TFTC’ mean? What’s a ‘Jasmer‘? What are those question-mark geocaches in the middle of the lake?” We all know the jargon like the back of our hand, but all this geo-speak can be overwhelming to a new geocacher. Be a Jedi to padawans and teach them to use the force. The way our community grows positively is by educating those who actually want to learn. And don’t forget to tell them about our forums, Help Center, and the online geocaching glossary.
Any serious geocacher probably has a list of geocaches they wish to find before they “kick the bucket”, so to speak. We’ll be doing an intermittent series dedicated to bucket list geocaches, and today’s theme is “Greatest Hits”. Have you found one of these famous geocaches or do you plan to?
If you are curious about nature, keen on open spaces, and dream of wandering through green forests, then the North New Caledonia area was made for you. This untamed natural land is breathtaking and home to endemic plants & wildlife stemming all the way back to prehistoric time. It’s also an an area with a strong sense of culture, incorporating much of the local Kanak people’s historic traditions and beliefs into modern day life.
Three words describe this Geocache of the Week in Spain: GPS. Guts. Glory.
Grimpant per La Mola, or “Climbing La Mola”, is a T5 multi-cache that has geocachers following secret trails across Mola Mountain, collecting clues along the way that will lead them to the final location of the cache.
The journey takes most groups about 5 hours—making the 5 terrain stars well-earned. Along the way you’ll be forced to shimmy straight up narrow channels of rock, squeeze through holes in outcroppings that barely exist, explore damp and dark caves, and tamp down vertigo while walking along a barely there trail on a steep mountainside. This is not a cache for the faint of heart.
When did you first follow the route of your geocache, and why did you decide to make this a multi-cache?
“We often go hiking in a mountain called ‘La Mola’, so we knew some pretty unknown trails where it is necessary to do some moderate difficulty climbs (no rope needed), and it seemed to be a nice idea to create a multi-cache that linked all those interesting sections, what resulted in a nice and exciting circular route around La Mola.”
What’s the most interesting part of this route?
“The route has several interesting places, but perhaps the most interesting one in ‘Mal Pas Superior de Can Pobla’, an exposed section protected with a chain, that can be a nightmare for people with vertigo.”
Are there any funny stories from geocachers who’ve done your multi-cache route?
“Yes, a lot! In this cache, the logs are usually pretty long and funny, specially those from people not used to climb, and for them this cache usually is a mix of fear and happiness, resulting in a great experience for them. Doing this cache has represented a challenge and a great experience for several teams, and we are specially proud of having been a part in that.”
Do you have anything you’d like to share with the geocaching community in general?
“It has been 12 years since we started this activity, and it has been a great way of discovering beautiful places, and meet new friends, so we are really grateful to Geocaching during all these years. We would like to thank geocachers as Garri, Marc Longarón and Galtanegra, that have contributed a lot to ‘quality’ geocaching in Catalonia.”
Continue to explore some of the most amazing geocaches around the world.
Check out all of the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog. If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, fill out this form.
