Sometimes reading geocache logs can be as tricky as deciphering top secret super spy codes. Check the geocaching acronyms in the log book below. Can you decrypt this geocaching lingo?
To reveal the answers…
Just.
Scroll.
Down.
…
You’re.
Almost.
There.
The answers revealed! Are you a geocaching super spy?
These are just a few of the gazillions of geocaching acronyms out there. Have you come across lingo not listed in this log book? Tell us about it in the comments below.
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Amsterdam Urban 2 – Under the bridge
1.5/4.5
One of the best ways to see Amsterdam is by boat. You can take in the sights on the many canals that flow throughout the beautiful city. Of course, if you can pick up a geocache (or two or three) along the way, that’s a bonus! This geocache is one of the oldest in the Netherlands and a favorite of locals and tourists. At one point it was also a favorite of local pigeons, but thanks to a clever anti-pigeon system, that’s no longer an issue. Earlier this year, Geocaching HQ’s videographer, Reid (reidsomething), and a Geocaching HQ Volunteer Coordinator, Kerb (KerbL), teamed up with two locals to find this geocache. If you don’t think you’ll be able to make it to Amsterdam soon, just kick back, watch the video (spoiler alert!) and enjoy the ride.
909
239
“Thanks for an amazing cache – definitely a Fave cache for the fun we had finding it. TFTC” – scrap happy annie
“Best cache in Amsterdam! We had so much fun to go trough the canals and search this cache!” – Team eeH
“Very pleased to find this cache! We’ve used it to start the journey of our first trackable. Very good cache and well hidden.” – Triage76
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, leave a comment below with the name of the geocache, the GC code, and why you think we should feature it.
Editor’s Note: No geocachers were hurt in the making of this story. Based upon true geocaching events that occurred on the Washington-Canadian border on October 26, 2013.
Guest Blog Post By Jayme Hewitt (Username: benandjayme)
I awoke with an uneasy feeling in my stomach on the morning of October 26th. The fog sat heavy in the fields and echoed the thoughts running through my head. Is this the end? Does the zombie apocalypse start today? Rumors spread far and wide about zombies invading the west coast, even as far north as the Canadian border.
With no time left to ponder humanity, we threw some supplies in the car and headed out the door. There was a job to be done and we heard that some geocachers were gathering nearby to make a plan. We met up with some friends in Lynden, WA at the Zombie Safe Zone and received our Zombie Hunting Permits.
We began our hunt at the Zombie Paintball Shooting Gallery, honing our skills.
We then carried brains with us through the forest to disguise ourselves with the smell of the dead. The zombies had set up tricky obstacles to slow us down, but we all made it through.
After a long day of finding survival clues and dodging the un-dead along scenic logging roads, beautiful harbor spits, and many, MANY places in between (more than 124 miles driven!), we decided that it was going to be incredibly cost prohibitive to continue the hunt. We put our heads together and came up with a new strategy…one that had never been tried before. We decided to make some new friends.
Hindsight is truly 20/20, but in the end we were so glad that we decided to give the un-dead the benefit of the doubt. Those s’mores were delicious.
How to survive a Zombie Apocalypse, er, I mean geocaching event:
The GeoZombie Run 2013 (GC497DT ) was a blast! Thanks for all the hard work in organizing this event, Half-Canadian and Scooter the Wonder Dog!
Three things can ruin any geocache. It’s true whether your geocache is a creative hide, a geocache that delivers hikers deep into the untamed wilderness or a fantastical Puzzle Cache with a big surprise twist. If your geocache is soaked through with water, the container is cracked or geocachers don’t know it’s a geocache because it’s not marked, it’s what some people call a #fail.
D2W isn’t a droid from some sci-fi movie. It’s a quick test for geocache owners. To avoid the #fail, check to make sure your geocache is D2W compliant. It should be:
Are you interested in a seeing a geocache that fits all three criteria? Check this out. Every once in a while at Geocaching HQ we hear the success stories of D2W geocaches. Look at the Geocaching Blog post about a geocache that was lost in a flood and then found, still intact, 30 miles away and three years later. Share your advice for passing the D2W test in comments after this article.
Isn’t a wet logbook the worst? Or maybe a geocache filled with water is the worst? Or a geocache that isn’t well-marked might be the worst? Or maybe even a geocache that can’t be found because it’s washed away by a flood is actually, really, the worst. Well then Sandra, aka junglehair‘s, geocache is the antidote to all those “worsts.”
She’s found more than 13,000 geocaches and hidden more than 70. She knows her geocaching stuff. Sandra’s knowledge includes using the right container for the right circumstances. They’re containers that are durable and last years. She says those containers are most importantly water-tight. None of that seemed to matter much though when a spring flood washed through Manitoba, Canada in 2010. Even though her geocache named Splashing New York Style was hidden high on the bank of a river, it was swept away. After a string of DNF (Did Not Find) logs, she replaced the geocache container.
Then the years rolled by, until an email popped into Sandra’s inbox. She says, “I found out that one of my caches that was washed away in a spring flood in 2010, was found on an island about 60 km North of where it was originally hidden.” The story goes, “The cache was found by Rob Bruce, Marsh Manager at Oak Hammock Marsh while he was on a hunting trip in Netley Marsh. He had been camping on the island where the cache was found.”
Sandra says the geocache survived those three years intact and water tight. It was well marked so Rob knew the container was a geocache and he also knew how to contact the geocache owner. The geocache just bobbed along for years before finding a resting place on an Island on the south end of Lake Winnipeg.
Sandra says, “The really amazing part of this story is that the log book and other contents of this cache were still fairly dry inside! It was hidden in a Lock & Lock container (the real kind, not a dollar store knock off).”
It’s a Lost & Found lesson about quality, well-marked, water-tight containers. It’s also a lesson about luck. It helped that it ended up in the hands of a friend who geocaches, a lot. OHMIC returned the geocache, but he happens to mostly find them with more than 15,000 finds.
What are your tips, advice, techniques, tools… well you get it… for placing a durable, water-tight, well-marked geocache?
