GeoWoodstock IX

Opening Ceremony

We had a chance to attend GeoWoodstock IX last weekend.  It was held at the Warren County Fairgrounds near Warren, Pennsylvania.  We have attended the Midwest Geobash twice so far and thought that there were alot of cachers there.  At GeoWoodstock there were ALOT of cachers there.  I haven’t been able to find a final attendance count yet but I’m sure it is between 2,000 and 3,000 attendees.  You could see license plates from most of the states and could hear foreign accents as we were walking around.  As we were eating lunch under the big tent, a couple guys sat down next to us.  We started talking and found that they are from Germany.  After comparing caching in both countries, we found that it is pretty much the same in both places.  Maybe someday we can see what it’s like caching in Germany/Europe first hand.

There were classes held in the afternoon such as Intro to Geocaching, Meet the Reviewer, Whereigo, GSAK and Geocaching Etiquette.  They were held in the display barns and it did get quite warm inside.

Vendor’s from the three major GPS manufacturers were there along with geocaching supply, geocoin and pathtag, walking sticks and clothing representatives.  It was fun to see what new products are available.

Groundspeak was represented by Signal, the frog from the Lilly Pad.  I had a hard time getting a photo of Signal because he was very popular.  I finally did get him with an unknown cacher as she was taking a photo of the two of them.

Signal and an unknown cacher

We released a new travel bug at GeoWoodstock.  His name is Geo Woodstock and his goal is to visit events or caches near events worldwide.  It’s always fun to see where travel bugs go.

Geo Woodstock

We had a cache on our must do list if we ever were in the area.  Luckily it is near where GeoWoodstock was held.  It is GC184  State Game Lands #109.  It is the first cache placed in Pennsylvania which makes it the oldest in PA.  It is a nice hike back to the cache from a parking area and as we were returning, a bucch more cachers arrived to hunt for it.  We added it to our list of smileys we got over the weekend.  We enjoyed our trip to GeoWoodstock and are considering a trip next year to Indiana and GeoWoodstock X.  For now, it’s on to Mid West Geo Bash 2011.  Hope to see you there.

September Caching

We added a few more counties on our Quest for Ohio’s 88. One of the caches we did in Brown County was a virtual – Under Cover (GC5FD9). A neat covered bridge that is still in use.

Virtual cache "Under Cover"

In Scioto County we found a traditional cache at the Otway Covered Bridge (GC11BGX).  This was not an active bridge for traffic as it is in poor shape.  It was a nice place for a cache though.

Otway Covered Bridge

We did an interesting Earthcache called An Artificial EarthCache (GC15CQZ).  This was on the oldest concrete street in America, built in 1891.

Oldest Concrete Street in America

Then back closer to home, we visited Fossil Park Earthcache (GC134KE).  Another neat earthcache in a very nice park.  We found 2 pieces of shale with 3 fossils visible.

Brachiopods

At Fossil Park

Hope to see you on the trail…

GSAK

I use GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) for my cache database.  It is easy to add a pocket query to GSAK then load up my handheld and car gps and off we go.  You can have a database for different caching days, vacations, number runs or whatever.  It is a very versatile program especially when you add on some of the many macros available on their website.

The macro I use most often is FindStatGen3 which can provide all kinds of statistics from your geocaching.com finds pocket query.  It is fun to check out your stats.  Another macro I’ve started playing with is BadgeGen.   BadgeGen analyses your databases and outputs badges based on various criteria.  Badges are awarded for types and sizes of caches found, events, benchmarks, trackables and more.

Here are some fun GeoAchievement Badges we have earned:

Place your cursor on a badge for information.

Badges generated by BadgeGen V2.3.36.

You can use GSAK for free but as with geocaching.com, you have more features available if you purchase both.  As I explore GSAK and its macros more, I’ll post my findings.   Hope to see you on the trail!

My Top 10 Reasons to Geocache

I heard about geocaching a few years ago.  A co-worker mentioned that he took his kids out to find treasure with a handheld gps.  I did a little research and thought it sounded like fun but I didn’t think my wife would be interested.  I also wasn’t sure I wanted to do it by myself.  I didn’t think much more about it until August of 2008 when I finally told my wife about this activity.  She was all for giving it a try so we headed out with an old eTrex Legend C that I had.

The first cache we looked for was hidden at an old canal lock in an area metropark.  We found it and were instantly hooked on this hobby/game/sport or whatever you call it.  We found a couple more in the park and we were off on an activity we really enjoy together.

Here is our idea of the Top 10 Reasons to Geocache:

10.   You can do this with other activities-
If you are going camping or hiking or even on a vacation, you can check geocaching.com to see what caches are along your route.  Load up the co-ordinates and cache while you are enjoying the other activity.

9.    The feeling of a “community” is evident-
Most all geocachers are friendly and helpful especially if you meet on the trail.  Everyone has a common interest in gps and the outdoors.

8.    It is challenging and rewarding-
You may have a strenuous hike over varying elevations to get to a cache but once there the view may be spectacular or you may see some interesting wildlife.

7.    It can make you think creatively-
When looking for a cache, you try to think about where you would have hidden it.  You may have to solve a puzzle in order to obtain the co-ordinates or you may have to find multiple caches before you can find the final cache.  There are some sneaky cache hiders out there that keep you on your toes.

6.    Exercise without realizing it-
It gets you off the couch and outdoors.  Every cache has at least a short walk to find it.

5.    It takes you to new  places-
So many times, caches are located in areas you may have never known about or otherwise may have never visited.  You can see things you never knew existed.

4.    It gets you outdoors-
You can enjoy the fresh air and the wonders of nature while pursuing this hobby.

3.    Geocaching has something for everyone-
In the description of each cache, the level of difficulty and the surrounding terrain are rated.  One star being the easiest and 5 stars having the most difficulty.  A cache with 1 star in both categories may even be wheelchair accessible.

2.    It is great  family fun-
It is fun for all ages from kids to grandparents.

1      It is very affordable-
The initial investment is the most expensive part of geocaching.  You can get a good starter unit for around $100.00.  A basic geocaching.com account (which is needed to get co-ordinates for the cache) is free.

So, give it a try and hope to see you on the trail…

Our Travel Bugs

We enjoy picking up travel bugs and helping them along on their journey.  There are a couple that we check on from time to time to see where they are.  One is Polar Bear on Vacation (TB14RGA) . His mission is to go to Florida and then return to the great white north of Michigan!  We found him in Michigan and dropped him off in Ohio.  He made it to Florida last march and has been in the same cache ever since (if he is still there).

Another we were watching was CV’s Tigger (TBZB6J). His goal was to see as many places as possible.  He is now marked as missing from a cache in Greenland and traveled 16,170 miles before he vanished.

We released our first two TB’s last July in caches near the site of the Midwest Geobash.  So far, Measure Up (TB2J92W) with a goal of  (To move from cache to cache to see how big those containers really are!) has traveled 2,133 miles.  It has visited Ohio, Nebraska, Indiana and Michigan.  The other TB is My Left Sneaker (TB2J95A) with a goal of (Move me from cache to cache to help me find my other sneaker) has traveled 10,169 miles.  It has stopped off in Ohio, Michigan, Germany, Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania and is currently in Virginia.  They are a lot of fun to watch.

(TB2J92W) Measure Up

(TB2J95A) My Left Sneaker

On January 2nd this year we started releasing 5 more TB’s.  They are “brothers” and are trying to go farther than each of the others.  So far one has been picked up and is off to the races!

(TB29VQW) Billy the Off Roader

(TB2J8AZ) Policeman Bobby

(TB2J89C) Jimmy the Taxi Driver

(TB2J899) Fast Car Eddie

(TB2J89Z) Fireman Phil

Hope you find one of these guys and hope to see you on the trail…

January 2010

Wow, the first month of a new year.  Hopefully I will keep up this blog on a more regular schedule this year.

Yesterday, we made our 3rd caching trip this month.  We can only cache on Holidays and weekends and have 35 finds and 3 DNF’s this month.  The weather also plays a big factor in our caching.  Cold, snow, freezing rain and the like limit the time we spend outdoors and the areas we cache in.

In the winter, we enjoy the Spirit Quest type caches in cemeteries.  You can usually drive in,  jump out to hunt and then jump back in the warm vehicle.  Even so, some of these caches require extra time to find, especially when it is a multi-cache.

We went to Fulton and Williams counties yesterday on our quest for Spirit Quest caches.  We were in some more neat little cemeteries and we usually see some interesting and unique headstones.  At one cemetery, a neighbor lady came out to ask what we were doing.  She mentioned that she would see people go to the same spot, pick up something, put it back and then leave after a few minutes.  She was worried that it may be something shady or even illegal.  When she saw us she got up the nerve to ask.  After explaining geocaching to her she was somewhat relieved and even invited us back to the area for their annual 4th of July parade.  We are glad she came out to talk to us instead of calling the local Sherriff’s department.

We also visited Jacob Young Lived Here (GC1DNJ2).  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was constructed in about 1845.  It is a unique two-story log house that contains a basement and a birthing room.  Hopefully it will soon be fully restored.

Jacob Young Log House

While on our trip, we picked up 2 travel bugs and dropped off one.   Hope to see you on the trail…

Vacation Caches

A couple weeks ago, we found Smith Cemetery which is a Virtual cache in Madison County.  Smith Cemetery is a small pioneer cemetery that exists as one of the last remaining patches of tallgrass prairie in Ohio.   Here, in these pioneer cemeteries, the original prairie sod supports relicts of original prairie flora and serves as the final resting place for many of the first settlers in the area.

Smith Cemetery Virtual Cache

One of the caches we found in Logan County was Covered Bridge Cache.  Covered bridges are neat to see and there are a few left in Ohio.  This is the first one we visited that contained a cache.  As we were searching, a van drove through and the bridge shook and vibrated.  It was kind of scary for a moment but I don’t think they had a clue as to what we were doing.

Covered Bridge Cache

This past July, we released 2 travel bugs.  Measure Up (TB2J92W)  has traveled 2,038.6 miles.  The other, My Left Sneaker (TB2J95A) has traveled 9,868.9 miles (thanks to a trip overseas to Germany and back).  They are fun to track.  We will release a few more TB’s as soon as we find some neat hitch hikers to attach to them.

See you on the trail…

Busy Caching

It’s been way too long since I posted an entry.  We have been busy with our jobs, family and geocaching every chance we get.  We did work in some time for a “working” vacation and added 25 more counties to our quest of finding caches in all 88 of Ohio’s counties.

We cached at Edison Woods in Erie County where there are many great caches in a real nice park.  Edison Woods is a 1,300 acre preserve with more than 20 miles of  natural surfaced trails and a 1/2 mile boardwalk.  We found 8 traditional and 2 Earthcaches and hiked 7.21 miles.  We will go back because there are more to find!

Can you find the cache in this photo?

We visited Findley Lake State Park in Lorain County which is another nice park.  The park has about 900 acres of woodlands and a 93 acre lake.  There are over 16 miles of trails to hike.  We found all but one of the caches and hiked 6.28 miles.  The cache we didn’t find had been a DNF by the previous 5 cachers and is now archived because it was missing. We had a great time there and saw a few deer while we were hiking.

Findley Lake State Park Resident

 

Findley Lake

In all, during our week trip, we found 102 caches.  Mostly traditional but also some multi, puzzle and Earthcaches.  It sure was a fun vacation!

So far, we have cached in 54 of Ohio’s 88 counties.  We wanted to complete all counties by the end of this year but I don’t think we will.

 Hope to see you on the trail…

Father’s Day Weekend Caching

We were able to cache on both Saturday and Sunday and had a great time.  Saturday we were in Wood County, Ohio and stopped for a cache at the Bowling Green Wind Farm.  Four giant windmills have been erected here to capture wind power and convert it to electricity to flow back to the city grid.  These windmills are huge!  The total height is 391 ft. with an additional 32 ft. underground.  Each blade is 134 ft. long and weighs 22,000 lbs.  Energy production begins at a wind speed of 9 mph and peak energy production is at 32 mph.

Bowling Green Wind Farm

We had to wait for a large group of classic cars to leave the area before we found the cache.  The car group appeared to be on some sort of a scavenger hunt themselves.  Saw some really cool cars.

Another cache we found had a neat theme.  FMI-PEZ Cache (GC11KBE) contained a bunch of PEZ dispensers and if you took one you needed to leave one in its place.  That way it should remain well stocked.   There were some fun dispensers in the cache.

On Sunday we took a trip to Chelsea, MI to cache.  Chelsea is a nice little city with a neat downtown commons area at the Clock Tower.  It is also the home of Chelsea Milling Company, makers of Jiffy Products.  Jiffy Cornbread Mix is my favorite.

Jiffy MillJiffy Mill

We found thirteen caches and had two DNF’s .  One cache (a micro) we just could not find and the other I’m sure we were very close to but there was way to much poison ivy to deal with.  I’ve had the pleasure of poison ivy twice this season and I still itch.  We also passed another milestone.  At Which way to Montpelier??? (GC14KWJ) we celebrated our 300th find. 

We received our Bronze Earthcache Master pin from the Geological Society of America.  This was for completing these requirements: Visit and log three (3) or more Earthcaches in two (2) or more states/countries.  Earthcaches are very enjoyable and educational.

Bronze Earthcache Pin

Hope to see you on the trail…

Another fun weekend caching!

On Saturday, we headed a couple counties west of us to cache.  We visited the City of  Bryan, OH and found it to be a very nice small city.  Bryan has 11 parks and an ice rink for their residents to use.  The parks we visited for caches were very nice and well kept and well used.  One park we drove through was huge and packed with people for ballgames and picnics.  It is a growing city and is much larger than when we were here a few years ago.  We noticed a very large addiditon going up at the hospital and passed by some very nice neighborhoods.  We found a cache at a small park called Israel Gardens Butterfly Park.  This is a neat little park that was fairly well kept.  We watched a butterfly and bumble bee for a while while looking at the flowers. 

Butterfly Park

Pretty groundcover

On Sunday we went west again and did a number of Spirit Quest caches that I’ve talked about in previous posts.  We crossed the border into Indiana for some of their Spirit Quest caches.  We also picked up another Earth Cache near Hamilton, IN.

Golf Cart Friendly

 The Earth Cache was at the Fish Creek Gaging Station.  This is an automated USGS Gaging Station on  the West Branch of Fish Creek; AKA Hiram Sweet Ditch. With a  drainage area of 37.5 square miles and is the discharge for Ball & Hamilton Lakes to the west.  Fish Creeks primary stream channel is ~30 miles long and drains a total of 110 square miles of agriculture watershed covering three counties, one in Ohio and two in Indiana.

USGS Gaging Station at Fish Creek

Fish Creek has a diverse wooded corridor that provides shade, food and shelter for fish and wildlife and is among the top ranked biodiversity sites in the Great Lakes Basin.  The system harbors 31 species of mussels and 42 species of fish. (It’s the only known site, worldwide, for the White Cat’s Paw Pearly Mussel).

We did the virtual cache called Tristate Marker.  There we could stand in 3 states at the same time.

Monument

Witness Mark

 

Where Ohio, Michigan & Indiana meet

Williams County Ohio CR 1

We dropped off a couple Geocoins and Travel Bugs to keep them on their way and picked up a cool Geocoin that we will drop off soon.

Claire's Coin

Hope to see you on the trail…