This video follows Ohio, USA geocachers Keith Lemons (keithlemons) and Nancy Steyer (27jack) as they visit the three caches required to complete the Triad. Beware, the video containers spoilers.
The Triad is one of the crowning achievements of geocaching. Geocachers must log three specific geocaches: the APE Cache Mission 9: Tunnel of Light, Groundspeak Headquarters and the Original Stash Cache. Each find is rich in geocaching tradition. The geocaches do not need to be logged in any particular order.
The Original Stash Tribute Plaque hides outside of Portland, Oregon. The plaque there commemorates the placement of the first geocache in 2000.
Project APE cache
Geocachers must also log The Mission 9: Tunnel of Light Project APE Cache, hidden outside of Seattle, WA. Twelve APE caches were originally placed around the world in 2001 to generate publicity for the remake of the movie Planet of the Apes. Mission 9: Tunnel of Light is one of only two APE caches still active in the world. The other, Mission 4: Southern Bowl is in Brazil.
The geocache at Groundspeak HQ
Geocachers need to also visit the geocache at Groundspeak Headquarters. Groundspeak HQ is also known as the Lily Pad. It is home to the offices of Geocaching.com.
Geocachers who complete The Triad says the accomplishment not only earns them personal satisfaction and but also bragging rights.
Have you ever completed The Triad? Do you have plans to do so?
A photo from geocacher Troy Tomita (t-prime), geocaching with his son in Hawaii
Take a moment to think back into the Kodachrome snapshot memories of your childhood. There’s something there. It’s clutched in your hand in the split-second flashes of family and friends and bursting sounds of laughter. It’s the one item that helped define your childhood. For me, it’s a brightly illustrated children’s book. My mother read the book to me as a toddler. Not long after, I’d read the book to her over and over and over. The yellowed price tag on the book must have read less than a dollar.
A wonder of the world is that there’s often little relationship between what something costs and its value.
The book was priceless to me, not because of its retail value, but because of the experiences that the book nurtured and bonds it cemented reading after reading after reading. In your childhood memories, most likely, there’s a snapshot of a similar item. Whether it was a worn doll or a battered soccer ball or a small half-broken toy, it brought more happiness than the price could ever suggest.
Odds are, if you’re a geocacher, your fingers curl around an equally powerful item now.
The New York Times just published an article about the relationship between happiness and spending. The lessons we’ve pulled from the economic ruin of the recession taught us that more money doesn’t necessarily mean more happiness. According to the article, one major finding of recent research is that spending money on experiences, rather than objects, provides longer lasting happiness than just buying stuff like a couch.
Picture taken by geocacher, Kevin Smith (follieus), with his kids in Scotland
Experiences may, in fact, triple your happiness. You anticipate an experience, live it and then remember it. The value grows over time as you reminisce. A couch’s value only declines.
Geocaching offers a life time of experience growing closer with friends and family and requires only a GPS device and a willingness to explore. There are countless stories among the four to five million geocachers around the world about the value that geocaching adds to their lives.
Geocacher Martin Pedersen has lost nearly 30 pounds and now hikes with his three kids more often. Bruce Alexander began geocaching three years ago, when he was 85. He now geocaches with his son and granddaughter. Thousands of geocachers visited Seattle one weekend in July to attend GeoWoodstock VIII and Groundspeak’s Lost & Found Celebration, where they shared their own stories about finding a little more happiness by following a GPS device to a geocache.
Thinking back to your childhood provides clarity about value. Now, think about the future. Do you choose to “have” or to “do.” Few of us get to choose both. Holding that GPS receiver in your hand might just mean holding years of memories that you haven’t made yet. If you choose to “do” you could end up finding more than geocaches, but more happiness, at the end of your treasure hunt.
Winning entry by geocacher Ellemmiire, “FTF gets… JAZZ HANDS!”
This is the ninth installment of our Geocaching Caption Contest. This picture was taken at “Signal Studios” during Groundspeak’s Lost & Found Celebration on July 4th.
What caption would you write? “Mommy, the SWAG scares me!” You can do better.
Barely coveted prize
The winner receives this Barely Coveted Prize. The Trackable commemorates Groundspeak Headquarters (the Lily Pad) and ten years of geocaching.
Good luck! Please include your geocaching username in all entries.
The winner will be chosen by an ad hoc committee of Lackeys.
19 Lackeys voted to crown the winner of the eighth Geocaching Caption Contest. Take a look at the Latitude 47 blog post to see who won. Explore the wit and wisdom of geocachers by checking out all the Geocaching Caption Contests.
Geocachers from around the world celebrated ten years of geocaching at Groundspeak Headquarters in Seattle, Washington on July 4th, 2010. The Lost & Found Celebration brought together thousands of geocachers, dozens of Lackeys, Groundspeak’s mascot Signal the Frog, the Bubbleman, a dunk tank and The Founders of Geocaching.com.
Geocachers were also able to explore the Fremont neighborhood and earn a trackable HQ tag by completing a scavenger hunt.
Groundspeak CEO, President and Co-Founder Jeremy Irish gets dunked.
There’s more celebrating to come. Stay tuned for additional plans to commemorate ten years of geocaching.
Tell us, how have you celebrated a decade of geocaching?
You can see even more geocaching adventures by watching our Lost & Found video series here.
Winning Caption: “Thank you, Great cache, took Geocoin, left old man in the woods unable to walk” – slicksps
This is the seventh installment of our Geocaching Caption Contest. Here’s a little background to help mold your hilarious captions. According to the geocacher pictured, dova dov, this photo was taken at the Washington State Project APE Cache Mission 9: Tunnel of Light GC1169. He attached a Travel Bug to the cane.
What caption would you write for this photo? “I didn’t know the cane was electrified.”
You can do better. The winner receives these barely coveted Trail Cards I found in my desk. Please include your geocaching username in all entries.
Barely Coveted Prize
The winner will be chosen by an ad hoc committee of Lackeys.
18 Lackeys voted to crown the winner of the sixth Geocaching Caption Contest. Take a look at the post to see who won. Explore the wit and wisdom of geocachers by checking out all the Geocaching Caption Contests.
