Friday 28 August 2015

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers and more Numbers

Geocaching Stats


Geocaching stats are all about Numbers, not only how many caches you've found, how many caches there are in the world, or how many cachers are out there hunting for caches. Its also about many other numbers and statistics. This months blog, I look at some of my numbers.
So far to date I have found over 3600 Caches since starting in Sept/2008

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Are you an avid geocacher? Do you have a favourite cache type? According to the Groundspeak website, there are 20 geocache types to find – that’s right, TWENTY!! Although some are much more rare than others, of course, and some are not even listed on the geocaching website (such as waymarks) This is a list of my current finds of the different cache types.



 
The overwhelming majority of caches I have found are traditional: 88%, in fact. This comes as no surprise, as traditional caches remain the most common type of cache.
I still have a few kinds to find:
  • Wherigo (I had planned on doing one of these on my trip to Alberta, but did not get the time)
  • Giga-Event (These are fairly new and very rare)
  • Locationless(Not available anymore)
  • Lab Caches
  • 10 Years! Event (Too late for that one now) I was on tour at the time, but I did get some 10years! caches including a couple FTF's. The only event near me that day was in the same town(Castlegar, BC) I was in but I was performing elsewhere at the time of the event.
  • Lost and Found Event
  • *Waymarks (not available for logging on geocaching.com, but on waymarking.com – Groundspeak describes waymarks as the ‘new locationless caches’)


I have found caches on every day of the year, including February 29th on a leap year.


As well as I've found caches that have been placed(published) on every day of the year.
(Just a few weeks ago I searched out a cache to finish this chart so I could log a challenge cache while I was in Alberta)



My best caching day was with Jenna (Angelcheeks) on May 21st, 2011 when we found 200 in one day. Our previous best was 71.
My longest geocaching streak was 400 days in a row finding at least one cache per day, but in that time I found a total of 1105 caches. So as you can see I was doing more than one a day most of the time.
 




I've found caches from as close as 220 metres away from my home to as far as 6013 Km away from home, while we were in Panama to get Married. These stats changed a bit when we moved from Courtenay to Victoria and then to Port Moody, BC where we live now.

 
 
As you can see in the picture above, I have traveled a total distance of 161,431km between caches(in a straight line) which would be farther when you factor in roads and such. WOW, that's a lot of walking!!! LOL
The chart below looks at distances away from home and shows how many caches I have found in distance, and what percentage each group is. This chart is not very accurate as it has changed because of our move from Vancouver Island, Most of my caches to date have probably been found in and around the Courtenay, BC area, where I got started caching, but now show that they are 100km to 250km away because I now live in Port Moody, BC


 
I have found many different Terrain/Difficulty combinations(Difficulty and Terrain levels go from 1-5) I still have some combinations to find to fill in this chart!!! There are several geocaching challenge caches that you need this chart filled in, so I may need to set another goal, cause as you know from a previous blog I love doing challenge caches. lol
 
 NOTE: After writing this I went out and found 4 caches that has reduced this chart to only needing 14 more from the 18 it shows in the pic, although one was a liars cache, so I will still want to get that combination for real.
Note: A liars cache is where the story or write up of the cache says its almost impossible to get at the cache, and the D/T is made up and exaggerated. And the cache owner wants you to write up a story in your log to reflect the story of the cache. Usually these are easy to get, and not as difficult as it shows in the write up. Not a big fan of these, although I have found a couple.

 
I have also found some very old caches as well as a few firsts. I have found the First cache ever placed in Alberta(Strathcona Wilderness 1) which is also the second placed cache in Canada. The first in Canada is in Nova Scotia. I also have found the first in British Columbia(Tree Hugger) and I have visited the location of the very first ever cache, down in Beavercreek, Oregon. One day I wish to go to Nova Scotia to find Canada's first ever cache!!!
 
 
 
Speaking of first's I have found many FTF's(First to find)
This is something that is not governed by Groundspeak(Geocaching HeadQuarters)
A FTF is when you are the first to find a newly published cache. Sometimes there is a prize in the cache from anything such as a loonie, townie, lotto ticket to something with more value. But usually finding it first for the bragging rights is just reward enough. As of writing this blog I have accumulated 340 FTF's(Ya, I like being first. lol)

I have 77 souvenirs(Souvenirs are virtual pieces of art that can be discovered and displayed on your profile)


Six of my 77 souvenirs
 


My most Icons in a day was 7 different cache types and we(Jenna and I) also found a challenge cache for this on the same day!!! We were the first cachers to do all 7 icons and the challenge cache on the same day!! (The requirements were to find 7 icons in one day but you did not have to find the challenge cache the same day, anytime after was fine) We traveled from Victoria to Duncan to Cowichan Lake to do this.
 


 

My most well rounded container type day, I found 6 different types of containers in one day:

These were found while caching on a Magic shows tour, did not even try to accomplish this, it just happened, as I was caching on route from one show to another. lol


I have found caches placed in 169 out of the 183 months since geocaching began in May/2000
Apparently there are only 3 caches remaining in the world that were placed in May of 2000. I have set a goal to find a cache that was placed in October of 2003 to fill that blank spot in the middle of nowhere. After that I will have to start searching for some of the others, I will keep you posted. lol
 
 
 NOTE: Shortly after writing this I went and did a multi cache called Fort to Fort with caching friend Close Up Matt, which was published in October of 2003 to fill in that space!!
 
Although there are a lot of different numbers, I think the best number of all is the number of friends I have made through Geocaching!!! 

 
Well that's it for this month
Keep on caching
Chris Yuill
Magicman65

Friday 14 August 2015

Road Trip caching and Las Vegas trip


 

Road Trip '15

I'm still working on getting all the souvenirs for the Geocaching Road Trip '15 that started June 19 and runs until sept.2nd ( #GeocacheRoadTrip15 )
(Check out a previous "Blog" to get the beginning story, on the Road Trip '15 Caching)
The plan to get the D5 or a T5 was to go with another cacher out on Burnaby Lake to get the 5 caches in the lake that are all Terrain 5 caches. I arrived at the lake early, and went to the boat launch area and it was super busy as I pulled into the parking lot at 830am. They stopped me in the parking lot and said there was a rowing regatta going on and no one was allowed to enter the lake with any type of boat. I will have to go another time.
Well now what, I headed back home a bit depressed as I was looking forward to gaining the souvineer for getting a Terrain level 5(T5) or Difficult level 5(D5) cache as well as getting some lake caches. A few days later I decided to get up early and go grab a D5 cache that was a bit out of the way on my way to work. It was a chirp cache(A GPSr with chirp enabled technology is needed)
It wasn't as exciting as getting 5 lake caches but at least I got my souvenir. Will still be going for the lake caches at some time in the future.




NOTE: The highlighted words in my blog can be clicked on as they are links to other cool stuff!!
Also if you click on any of the pictures they become bigger!!!
PS: On the right hand side of this webpage is where you can find my YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Google Plus links. Please feel free to check them out and follow or subscribe!!!

The second souvenir that came out was for going to an event, I was able to accomplish that shortly after the Extreme souvenir. It was a meet and greet event at a local ice cream shop. I wasn't able to stay too long but was able to meet a few new cachers.


Went out and got a few caches on the long weekend in August. I was able to get a challenge cache called 10 YEAR CHALLENGE where you need to find 10 years worth of Cache hides on your Jasmer chart. Popular in the United States, the Jasmer asks geocachers to find one cache hidden in every month since geocaching began in May 2000. As of today, that means finding 184 caches, 1 of each that was hidden each month since caching started. To give you a sense of the difficulty of this challenge, there are under 150 caches hidden in 2000 and only 3 that were hidden in May 2000(The month Geocaching was born) still enabled. I have not found all 184 months, but I have found over 11 years worth(169 months total). More about this chart in next months blog.
If you are confused by all the numbers in this blog, you should read next months blog for sure!!


After finding this one with no problem, other than having a fight with the blackberry bushes(they won, I knew sandals and shorts would not be to good) and also seeing very fresh Bear scat on the trail, I headed to get an Earthcache so I could get my 4th of 5 different souvenirs for the #RoadTrip15 challenge.
Earthcache Souvenir

Then I met up with fellow Magician Close Up Matt who just recently got started in geocaching to go and grab 6 other caches. Had a nice walk in a large wooded park and got to see an owl up close. Very Cool!!!
WHOOO are you Looking at??
 

VEGAS and MAGIC Live!!!!

 
Flew to Las Vegas for a large magic convention with about 1400 other Magicians, so thought while I was there I would grab some cool caches. Because of the busy schedule of the convention there was not much time to get away from the hotel. 

Went out to a small LPC(Lamp Post Cache) that was near the hotel on the first night at about 1am with Angelcheeks(my lovely wife Jenna) and another Magician friend who was interested in seeing what caching was all about. 

I got up early the next day and headed towards the strip. I walked about 3 km to the strip before finding my first cache. It was a virtual cache at the MGM Grand. I Found several virtual caches along the strip at different hotels and locations.
 
MGM GRAND
 
 
Siegfried and Roy
 
 Found a couple of traditional caches as well. I had planned to do a puzzle cache but it would have meant walking another 1.3km out of my way and then back again. In the heat (about 32C) that just did not sound like a necessary cache to get. 

I ended up travelling 8.8 km on foot in the hot dessert heat. After I got the last one I was after at the Flamingo hotel, I grabbed a cab and headed back to the Magic convention host hotel, "The Orleans." 
Grabbed a total of 2 Traditional caches and 7 Virtual caches in 3 hrs.

 
I saw a lot of interesting sites and cool things as well as doing some cool things such as ziplining 
thru Freemont St, and going in the High Roller(The High Roller in Las Vegas isn't your average Ferris wheel. There's nothing average about it. And it's not really a Ferris wheel; it's an observation wheel -- the biggest in the world at a staggering 550-feet-tall.
Yes, you read that right: 550 feet. That's nine feet taller than the Singapore Flyer and 107 feet taller than the London Eye. It currently holds the Guinness World Record for largest observation wheel.)

I also jumped off the stratosphere, at SkyJump Las Vegas.
 
Ready to leap!!
 
I did a similar jump several years ago in New Zealand, but this one is 200 feet taller at 855 feet above!!!

If you want to see the video of my jump check out Sky Jump at Stratosphere

I was also able to log a virtual cache while I was up at the top of the stratosphere.












Magic Live convention

 
Magic Live
YES, besides having fun, seeing shows, and Geocaching, the main reason I was there was for MAGIC Live 2015. The convention was 4 days of Magic, fun, and surprises. And being held in one of the funnest places in the states was just a bonus. There were many special guests and lots of well know magicians with the likes of David Copperfield even. I won't tell you too much about it other than to say it was an experience!!! And besides, you know what they say, "What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas"

 

Last Souvenir

 The day after getting back from Vegas, I went out and got a puzzle cache to get the Last(sorta) Souvenir. I decided to do a puzzle that I have been wanting to do for awhile that is actually inside a Library.

Puzzle cache



FINISHED the Road Trip 15!!!
After getting rewarded with the puzzle cache souvenir I received one last one for getting all 5!! Just an added bonus to say Hurray!!!

 




Getting the smiley






I hope you are enjoying reading about my travels, and if you are please feel free to comment, follow or share my blog, twitter, instagram, and youtube.

  
 


Well that's it for this month
Keep on caching
Chris Yuill
Magicman65

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