60th Blog post!!!

Just in time for Christmas!!!

Contest Time!!!

In my last blog, I said I would have a contest as this blog is my 60th blog. Here is the contest:

I have found many "FTF's"

Send me a message or an email, or comment below as to how many I have found as of Dec 23/16 and I will mail you a very cool geocaching prize pack including a geocoin, some buttons, etc. First person to send me the correct answer will win!!!

Hint: Vg vf va gur 3 qvtvgf, nyy guerr qvtvgf ner pbafrphgvir ohg abg va pbafrphgvir beqre. Tbbq Yhpx.

NOTE: The highlighted or underlined 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!!!


Finally got the World Cache
I started working on the "World Cache" on May 26/16 and found the final on Dec 3/16
It took 6 months to find 5 caches, getting different coordinates from members of my team from the U.S., The U.K., Germany, and Australia.
Went out for a short hike up Fromme Mountain. The final to the "World Cache" was on a trail called the Baden Powell trail. We also decided to go further and grab a couple more while here. We got to the next one and realized it was a terrain 4.5(Out of 5) and saw no visible trail to get to it. The hint said it was at the base of the cliff. However the cliff was up a very steep and rocky hill.
Since we had our 4 year old with us we decided to head to the next one and hope we may find a path in for the terrain 4.5
We found the next cache up the trail, and decided to head back as we had other stuff to do that day. On the way out we thought, "We are here now, lets get this one." So we started up towards the cache, and it seemed to get harder as we got closer. The last part was quite the scramble, but we managed our way there!! Our little 4 year old is like a cross between a mountain goat and the energizer bunny. lol. He was a trooper and he kept us going forward. We rejoiced in finding the cache and headed back down the mountain.

We recalled the day years ago when Oliver was just 8 months old and we hiked up a cliff to be the First to Find on "A view for giant Pickle" which was in the hills near Victoria.

Angelcheeks with Oliver in Backpack and our Geo dog

Taking a break before the top

We think its very exciting that Oliver will get to look back at some of the adventures he has been on, and some of the cool caches he was a part of getting.


Trip to Trail, BC
Was able to grab a cache on the way thru the Chilliwack area called "Day 1 Light" which was nothing fancy other than the co-ords were at W122 00.xxx which is the last set of coordinates that I need to complete a challenge called West 122 Degrees Longitude Challenge. I had all the other caches needed to complete this cache except for one with the "00" minutes. Now I need to go grab the challenge cache to be complete. When I was in Trail I grabbed another challenge cache called Kid crazys 12 days of cachemas winter challenge

Old train tunnel outside of Greenwood, BC

Frozen shut!!!

My recent trip up north to Yellowknife to do a show, I was hoping to grab at least one cache but that did not happen as there was too much snow, and I had almost no time other than to get to the show and head back home again.
I have a trip coming up on boxing day to Edmonton, Alberta with my little guy and will try to grab a few caches while there.

Well that's it for this month

Keep on caching

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

The A.P.E. has been Found, and 200 Things any Geocacher must do....Sooner or Later!!

Lost APE Cache found!!!

The History
In 2001, fourteen geocaches were placed in conjunction with 20th Century Fox to support the movie Planet of the Apes. Each geocache represented a fictional story in which scientists revealed an Alternative Primate Evolution (A.P.E.). These geocaches were made using specially marked ammo containers and contained an original prop from the movie. Mission 9: Tunnel of Light was one of those caches.
We (Angelcheeks, C2C2C, and Toby&Me) went on an awesome trip together back in July 2010 down to Washington and Oregon to head to a Mega Event called Geowoodstock. As awesome as that was gonna be, as it would be my first Mega-Event, that was not the only place we would go. We also went to the Original Stash Tribute plaque

and we decided to hike to the Mission 9: Tunnel of Light A.P.E. cache. (1 of 2 left in the world)

Snoqualmie Tunnel (Closed)

At the time the "Snoqualmie Tunnel" was closed, so we had to make the trek up the back way. It was a long winding trail up the mountain.

But after several hours we found what we were looking for!!! The APE!!!!

A.P.E. Cache

We rejoiced at finding this Historic Cache, and headed back towards the car and off to the Mega Event.
Less than one year later, Sadly, "Mission 9" was muggled and then archived in June 2011.

There is a Mega-Event (Going Ape) created by the Washington State Geocaching Association to honor this famous cache. They also placed a tribute cache at the Original Location.

Beauty and the Beast

Jenna, Oliver (just 1yr old) and Dayton and I went to this event in August 2013. (Going APE)
This time the Tunnel was open and we had an awesome hike in 3.7km of darkness. There was even a cache in the middle of the tunnel. And there was even a werewolf guarding it.

Oliver and I

Cache in the Darkness

Chris Meets the Werewolf!!! But we also found the cache!!!









Walking out of the darkness of the tunnel and up to the "A.P.E. Tribute cache" was like Deja Vous!!! It seemed like only yesterday we were here!!! Yet it was 3 years later.

Original APE Location

A.P.E. Tribute cache

Fast forward to 5 years after the A.P.E. cache was muggled is the newest story of it being found!!!
It was believed since it was a huge, heavy container that maybe it was not hauled very far from its location. A search party was formed and the rest of the full story can be read "Here"

"What do cachers do?"

Just received my new book called 200 Things any geocacher must do!!
Its like a workbook of things cachers do eventually. So I have been looking back thru my caching history to see how many of the 200 I have done. It's cool to go back thru my old caches and sort of relive some of the experiences. Things like being questioned by authorities while looking for a cache, caching while you're supposed to be working, etc. After going thru the book, I will let you know how many of the 200 I have done. lol

As of writing this is my 59th blog. Not too bad for 4 years of blogging!!! Look for my 60th Blog, where I will have a small challenge for a prize to one lucky person!!!

NOTE: The highlighted or underlined 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!!!

Well that's it for this month

Keep on caching

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

World Cache and Earthcaches

Caching the WORLD!!!

So back in May/16 I started on a multi cache that would take me all across the world....Well, OK maybe not literally but it would sorta feel like it. It is a cache called "World Cache" and it is technically a 25 stage multi. 5 Stages I would have to find, while 4 other cachers from other countries would have to find 5 each also. The idea of this cache is to unite with 4 other cachers that you contact or they contact you. There are links to each others starting coordinates.
At these posted coordinates you will find a set of coordinates for one of the other countries. You will have to e-mail these coordinates to the team member in that country. They can then go to that waypoint and find the next set of coordinates which will be for another country, then e-mail it to the team member for that country, and so on till the caches are completed.
For example, the team member in Australia finds Stage 1 of World Cache (Australia), and e-mails the coordinates they find to their teammate in Germany, who can then find Stage 2 of Cache (Germany). At their local Stage 2, the Germany team will find the coordinates for Stage 3 of World Cache (United Kingdom), which they will e-mail to their UK teammate.
Back in May, I set out to find a team member from the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and The United States of America. Once the team was formed, you announce it on your countries cache page. Then the hunt begins. In the chart below is how the cache stages worked. As you can see, so far our progress as the RED stages of coordinates have been found. Hopefully soon I will have the
co-ords for my fifth and final stage here in The Vancouver, BC area and I will finally get a smiley for it.

Country	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4
Australia	Germany 2	USA 3	UK 4	Canada Final
Canada	Australia 2	Germany 3	USA 4	UK Final
Germany	USA 2	UK 3	Canada 4	Australia Final
United Kingdom	Canada 2	Australia 3	Germany 4	USA Final
United States of America	UK 2	Canada 3	Australia 4	Germany Final

This chart shows it a bit better:

Country	Stage1	Stage2	Stage3	Stage4	Final
Australia	GER W/P2	USA W/P3	UK W/P4	CAN W/P5	Cache
Germany	USA W/P2	UK W/P3	CAN W/P4	AUS W/P5	Cache
USA	UK W/P2	CAN W/P3	AUS W/P4	GER W/P5	Cache
UK	CAN W/P2	AUS W/P3	GER W/P4	USA W/P5	Cache
Canada	AUS W/P2	GER W/P3	USA W/P4	UK W/P5	Cache

Challenge caches

I have done quite a few challenge caches over the past years, and most were quite challenging and some were easy as I had already found the necessary caches to complete the challenge. I have been working on one now for awhile and just recently needed 4 more ( A total of 60 specific caches are needed to complete this challenge)

I was going on a fishing trip a couple of weekends ago and was gonna be in the area where I would be able to get the 4 caches needed (Specific Location) I could not find one of the ones needed as it was missing, I found out afterwards. 

So now I only need one more cache for "West 122 Degrees Longitude Challenge"
Hopefully I can get out that way again soon, so I can cross this challenge off my list.

Earthcache Day

If you remember from my last months blog, I talked about the last few souvenirs that I achieved. On October 9th, it was International Earthcache day, and another souvenir was available.
EarthCaches provide an opportunity to learn a geological lesson and visit awe-inspiring geological locations. Visitors can see how our planet has been shaped by geological processes, how we manage its resources and how scientists gather evidence. Typically, to log an EarthCache, you will have to provide answers to questions by observing the geological location.
I looked around my area and there are not that many Earthcaches around. I decided to go pick up my friend and fellow cacher Close Up Matt, and head to Fort Langley to go to "A Lesson on Volcanoes"
We made the find, and grabbed a few more while in Fort Langley and then headed home.

NOTE: The highlighted or underlined 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!!!

Caching in my area

As you can see in my area, there are still a multitude of caches to be found by me. I was looking at my stats the other day and it seems as if I do more caching when on a trip somewhere. I think that's why even after living in the area for 3 years, I still have many caches that I have not gone after yet.

Last month I was talking about Blogs, and some that I like to read and follow. There is a blog called "Awesome Geocaching" that I go to from time to time, and I suggest if you are interested in blogs and caching that you do the same. It's got some really cool links to puzzle's, test's, and information.

Well that's it for this month

Keep on caching

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

souvenir's and blogging

This month's blog is about Groundspeaks newest souvenir's


NOTE: The highlighted underlined 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!!!

This past little while, here at home and while I was down in the states I was able to grab several different cache souvenir's within one months time.

The Mission GC caches

These unique puzzles were designed to challenge cachers to figure out the answer to a puzzle to gain access to information on what to do to get the latest of these souvenir's. The First was a puzzle using licence plates with a combination of letters and numbers to figure out a password, that you entered into a webpage to receive info on what to find. The first challenge was to find a cache on a specific weekend that had 10 or more favorite points on it.

July 30th

Then while I was down in the states for the 2 Magic Conventions, I popped over the border from Vegas to grab a cache in Arizona and get another State Souvenir.

  Aug 11th

The second Mission GC souvenir was given after doing a maze puzzle to decode a password so it could be entered into the website and receive info that you needed to get a multi cache on a specific weekend to obtain the following souvenir. Weird that I tried last week for a multi with no luck, but this time it was an easy multi.

 Aug 13th

The day after I got back home from my Magical trip, it was International Geocaching day. Today it was just a simple matter of grabbing any kind of cache to obtain it.

Aug 20th

The last of three Mission GC souvenir's given for finding a puzzle cache after doing an online puzzle with pictures of the Groundspeak staff holding their arms in weird positions. I knew immediately that they were signaling using Semaphore. I was able to claim this souvenir that you see below.

Aug 27th

As a bonus for completing all three Mission GC challenges, I was rewarded an extra souvenir that you see here.

 Aug 27th

Bringing my total souvenir count up to 91. Next month on October 9th it's International Earthcache day and another souvenir is being given for getting an earthcache.  

I was looking at my blog and other blogs that I follow, as well as some that I peek in on from time to time. I noticed that I have been very consistently putting out a new blog every month since I started blogging back in July of 2012, and I had a total of 10 blogs that year, even though I started mid year. In 2013 I published 14 of my blogs, 2014 there were 12 blogs written, 2015 was also 12, and in 2016 so far this blog is number 9 for the year. Also I have seen and read many blogs that are all negative, and whining about caching and other things. I feel a blog should be about fun things and interesting to read as well as make the reader feel good after reading it. I am very proud that I have been able to get a blog a month out on a consistent basis and write about things that hopefully help inspire cachers, other bloggers, or even those who just like to read my blog. I like my blog, and I hope you like it to!!! Please feel free to comment on here or shoot me a PM or an email at magicman65@hotmail.com!! Let me know how you feel, or if there is anything you would like me to change, or write about.

Well that's it for this month

Keep on caching

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

Vegas BABY!!!

Los Angeles to Las Vegas!!!

As you remember from my last blog (for those that do read it. lol) The plan while down in the states for a couple of Magic Conventions, was to travel from Los Angeles, California to Las Vegas, Nevada and a quick stop into Hoover Dam in Arizona. In my sights were mostly Virtual caches with a few others in between. Also on one day the plan was to get a Virtual, a traditional, a Multi, a whereigo, a Letterbox, an Earthcache, a puzzle, and a challenge cache (a total of 7 icons, and a challenge)


NOTE: The highlighted underlined 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!!!

Los angeles has a huge number of Virtuals!!

Simi Valley Days 1-4 (Aug 4-7)

The first few days of my trip was in Simi Valley, California, where I managed to get a few caches close to the hotel I was staying at for #pcam2016, early in the mornings before all the events of the day started.  Most magic conventions go from 10am till midnight and into the wee hours of the morning.

Simi Valley sign

After the convention was over, I stayed a couple of days in Thousand Oaks with a magician friend of mine who was one of the organizers of the event.

Los Angeles Day 6 (Aug 9)
Today I rented a car and headed toward Los Angeles to get several virtual's as well as this was the day to grab 7 different icons, like I mentioned above.
In order, I got a Virtual, an Earthcache, a traditional, a Letterbox, a puzzle, and a wherigo.
I headed to a multi, which looked as if it would be a quick super easy multi. I got to the first stage and found the container but no co-ords in it. So I searched for another multi. When I got to this one, I could not find it. Ok, lets move on to some other caches and I will try a multi later. Got several cool virtuals including one that was a tribute to Penn & Teller called "Wanna see a card trick?" in the form of a cenotaph. Being a fellow magician, I just had to get this one.

"Is this your card?"

Definition of a Cenotaph: A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. As you can see by the pic below, Penn is fine. And he assured me that Teller is also. lol #magiclive2016

Penn and I at Magic Live 2016

I also found several other virtuals including seeing the Norman Bates "PSYCHO" House
Later as it was getting a bit dark, I tried to get another multi. Got to the first stage and found the info I needed to find the next stage, but realized it was far out of my way, so I decided to pass on the multi and so only got 6 icons that day. Oh well, I have done a 7 icon day in the past.

Off to Vegas Day 7(Aug. 10)
Today I took back my rental car and went and got another one from a different agency and got ready to head towards Las Vegas. Along the way I stopped several times for caches and saw a lot of cool things. One of the reasons I like caching while traveling is it takes you to interesting stops along the way that you might miss if you just traveled straight to your destination.
Most caches were just off the highway thru the surrounding area of L.A. where I grabbed a cool wherigo called "The Fox, The Chicken, and The Grain" where I had to walk back and forth a bridge about 7 times. lol. If anyone knows the Fox, the Chicken, and the grain puzzle (google) they would understand.

Getting my kicks on Route 66

"Route 66 Museum"

I then headed thru the desert onward to Vegas, grabbing several other caches including 2 on an old stretch of road that was part of "Route 66"







Also stopped at the "Route 66" Museum in Victorville, California.
It was closed, but I was able to get the info for the virtual cache there.





Grabbed several more caches on the way to Vegas, including several in the desert.

 Made a stop at the "Calico Cemetary" for a virtual cache, and in a town called Baker for a couple of caches.

Baker, California which is the gateway to Death Valley, and they boast the "Worlds Tallest Thermometer"

The town's most prominent feature is a 134-foot (41 m) thermometer, dubbed "the world's tallest thermometer". Visible for miles, it was not operational from 2012 to mid-2014 when it was relighted following restoration. Its height commemorates the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth, 134 °F (56.7 °C), in nearby Death Valley on July 10, 1913. Baker is also the location of Alien Fresh Jerky and the UFO Hotel.

One more quick cache and I crossed the border into Nevada.
Stopped at a couple other caches but as they were further off the road and it was getting dark, I decided not to venture to them. I headed into Vegas, checked into Circus Circus and got a good nights sleep.

Vegas

Vegas Day 8- (Aug 11)

Woke up in Vegas the first day and I see that a new cache has been published,(Yes, I set Notifications for where I go) I head off to this cache called "Eazy" not knowing if it will be still there or not (not sure how many FTF chasers there are in town) I arrive at the area and start looking and within a couple of minutes, I have my first Vegas FTF. YAY!!!
Grabbed a nearby virtual and then headed out of town a ways to get another virtual called
"Many Years Ago". While there I noticed a nearby stacking of some painted boulders.

"Seven Mountains"

 Went and checked it out, and as you can see they are out in the middle of nowhere??

Ummmm....OK!!

I continue on with my day of caching and found a total of 15 caches this day including 12 virtual caches, 2 traditional caches (one being the FTF) and 1 puzzle cache. I also earned a new souvenir as I grabbed one cache at the Hoover Dam in Arizona. It was placed there by officials of the Dam, and was clearly in the open, as you can see.

Hoover Dam

On the way back into Vegas, I spotted this sign and had to take a picture of it. I knew I was heading in the right direction!!!!

I also visited the NEON Graveyard and Fremont Street for a couple more caches.

Vegas Day 9- (Aug 12)

On the second day in Vegas, I only grabbed 3 caches as I had a Magic Luncheon to go to, and one of the caches was in the parking lot of the restaurant where the luncheon was taking place.

Vegas Day 10- (Aug 13)

Today the plan was to grab a multi cache in order to receive a new caching souvenir for Groundspeaks Mission GCHQ47. An exciting series of puzzles that needed to be worked out to find out how to achieve three new souvenir's. This was the second of the series, and entailed working thru a maze to find the chosen word in order to break the code. When I woke up though I noticed another cache had been published the night before. I figure I will head over towards it but I will get a virtual and the multi cache out of the way first. The multi used to be a virtual cache called "Remember 9/11" but was changed to a multi when the new guidelines came into place.

The multi cache was more like a traditional cache as you just had to go to the co-ords on the cache page and look at the plaque and monument which was an actual piece of steel structure from the wreckage of the twin towers.

Commemorative Plaque

Actual piece of one of the Twin Towers

After the multi, I headed towards the newly published cache. I arrived and started looking around for the obvious places and was not coming across anything. Starting to get frustrated, I spotted something that I thought…maybe?? And I was right, YAY another Vegas FTF!!!

I continued on and grabbed a couple more caches to make it a total of 5 this day while also getting an FTF and a souvenir to add to my stats.

Vegas Day 11- (Aug 14)

Today the plan was to check out of Circus Circus, and check into the Magic Live 2016 host hotel, The Orleans. I grabbed a cache close to the hotel, but this was the only one today, as it was time for a Magic overload. Lol. Magic Live had over 1500 magicians attending, and was an awesome 4 days of magic, magic, and more magic, and while in Vegas, I also jumped off the "Stratosphere Sky Jump" (which you can check out the video of it, by clicking the < previous link)
The SkyJump Las Vegas holds the Guinness World Record for highest commercial decelerator descent with an official height of 829 ft (253 m)

Stratosphere

But that's a whole different story!!!

All in all on my trip down south I found 23 Traditional caches, 1 Earthcache,  1 Multi, 2 Puzzles,
2 Wherigo's, 1 Letterbox, and 31 Virtuals. Also in the mix was 2 FTF's, and 2 New Souvenirs.
A grand total of 61 caches over 16 days. My plan was to get only interesting caches, not everyone I drove by, Not a record, but lots of fun anyway, and 2 awesome Magic conventions!!!

Well that's it for this month

Keep on caching

Chris Yuill

Magicman65