Christmas Shows and caching

Christmas shows and Caching

Dec 9th
Today I headed to Campbell River over on Vancouver Island for a show, and I grabbed several caches including two that I talked about getting in my last blog. The Virtual in Royston, and "Steely D(M)an"

Dec 14th-16th
I headed out today to do 4 shows in the next three days. There will be about 24-26 hours of driving between shows, so I figured, may as well cache!!! On my way to my 2nd show in Castlegar, I stopped at a place that I stop almost every time I am coming into Osoyoos. Spotted Lake!!!
I have already got the cache that is here as well as the earthcache. I did a cache just up the road from the lake called "STUCK Climbing to the Kobau Lookout"
The funny thing is this is where the sign with the info (pic below) for the Lake is located, which is about 2 km away from the lake. I'm certain there used to be a sign right at the lake years ago when I got the Earthcache.

Spotted Lake

Got into Osoyoos and stopped for another cache near Osoyoos lake and noticed this impromptu Ice Sculpture!!

Up the highway I stopped to grab another cache called The Colors of our Valley "Osoyoos"
Here you could overlook the Lake and the town below.

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!!!

A short distance further, I stopped to find a cache called "Cougar Cache"
As you can see by the pic it is named appropriately. lol

Cougar Cache

Out of country FTF's

Before heading out on any trip I always look to see if there are any newly published caches that have not been found yet on the route I am taking. I noticed 2 in the direction I was going but they were just below the border in Danville, Washington. On my way to Castlegar I swung down below the border around Grand Forks to grab a couple of FTF's called "Danville Trailhead" and "Overlooking Danville"

These 2 First to Find's bring my yearly total of FTF's to 9, bringing my total to 363 FTF's. I may get another before the end of the year but I am heading to Alberta in a couple of days on Christmas so its unlikely. A far away number from the 112 FTF's found in 2010 (that's like 1 every 3 days, wow)

Anyway as the year comes to an end, I just would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday!!!

Well, that's it for this month, and this year......

Keep on caching, and see you in the New Year

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

Magic and caching trips!!!

Victoria trip for the 3 of Clubs Convention

Only managed to grab one challenge cache called "Night Games Challenge" while over on the island. You had to have found at least 10 Night Caches. I have found 24 in total. I still remember doing my 1st Night Cache in Courtenay.

YAY FTF!!!

Got an FTF called "1-UP" the other day. When it popped up as a new multi cache, it said it was just under 3KM away, so I got ready fast and headed out the door. As I was heading there, I realized it was further away than what my email said. I kept going anyway and when I got to the benchmark with the info, I worked it out as quick as I could. I put it into my phone app as a waypoint and it said it was 60km away.....whoooa!! I assumed I did something wrong so I looked at it again and realized the puzzle info was possibly wrong. I changed one of the numbers to make more sense, since it said it was just a short distance away. Plugged the new Co-ords into the geochecker, and got a thumbs up!!

After finding it, and realizing we were the First to find, we played with the huge leaves that were all over the trail.
I contacted the CO after me and my little guy made the find to let him know there may be a mistake. He quickly changed it, to make it work. When I got home, I checked my notification list and realized I have not changed the co-ords to my new address. All fixed now.












Vancouver Island Magic show
I am headed to Campbell River this coming weekend, and plan on heading over early so I can grab a few caches along the way. One cache I really want to get is "Royston Wrecks"
I used to live in Courtenay for about 3 years and have done several caches near this location. This "New Virtual" is one of the 4000 that where given to specific hiders, so they could place a Virtual.
Another cache I plan on grabbing is "Steely Dan"

Have passed by him several times when I used to live up that way. This time I plan on saying hi!!! And grabbing the cache!!!

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!!!


Getting ready for some upcoming trips for shows in December, and I will be doing some caching along the way. Also headed for Alberta at the end of the year during Christmas, and have already planned which caches I will go for. (as long as there is not to much snow)

Well, that's it for this month......

Keep on caching

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

Seattle trip

I headed to Seattle a couple weekends ago. Planned on doing some more unusual caches plus was gonna try to get 8 different icons. (Beating my previous record of 7 different icons in a day) Took a friend of mine with me.(Non cacher) But he enjoyed helping me find caches and was interested in it. He also went to a cache with me in Las Vegas a couple months ago, while we were there for the Magic Live Convention.

The morning looked good, as I quickly got the Webcam Cache, and the puzzle cache out of the way in Bellingham. I wanted to get a Multi while here but it was in a building so it was too early. Got into Seattle, and quickly grabbed a Letterbox, which was HQGT: Geo Post Office part of Groundspeaks geo tour. We then grabbed a challenge cache(puzzle) and a Multi. We then stopped for a bite to eat and went to try a nearby Wherigo. I was not having much luck as I was unsure as to how to play this one. We moved on.

Kerry Veiwpoint Park

We then swung by a couple of Virtual caches, the first one was at a park, and we could see the Space Needle in the distance (photo below) which is where we headed next.

At the Seattle Space Needle, I got the second Virtual which was at the base of it, and also one of the New virtual's which I talked about in last months blog.

We browsed the gift shop and then on our way.

"Those are some big Nuts!!"

We made a stop at Leroy's Suit store which is why I was coming down here in the first place, got what I wanted and then some, and then we headed off to Pikes Place Market.

MMMMM Yummy!!

No visit to Seattle is complete until you visit the famous Seattle Gum Wall. Since Glen had never seen it, I had to take him there. There used to be a cache there, which I have already found, but I believe, It has been removed until more gum accumulates as they just cleaned the walls a few months back. But as you can see by my pic above, it will get filled in no time!!

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!!!

On the way home I got another challenge cache which you needed to have at least 100 months filled on your jasmer calendar.

(The Jasmer Challenge requires you to find at least one cache placed every month since Geocaching was invented, in May 2000. This is difficult, as some geographic areas are missing some of the earliest caching months; the full Jasmer challenge may require you to travel significantly from your home location, Therefore, many cachers have created "mini Jasmer challenges" which require you to only find one cache placed during each month of a specific year, i.e. you must find a cache placed during each month of the year 2002.)

As you can see by my Jasmer calendar I have found caches placed on 197 out of 210 months since caching started.

On route home we stopped by this river to get an earthcache. An Erratic!! We then stopped at a rest area to grab one last cache which was a traditional.

I only got 7 different icons this day instead of the 8, possibly 9 (There was an event in Seattle) I was trying for, but still a fun day and had some great company for the trip as well!! The 8 or 9 icon day will have to happen down the road. (#Roadtrip)


Also got an earthcache on International Earthcache day back on October 8th, called mcmillan/brae the evolution of an island, it was out in Fort Langley.

I love doing challenge caches, as you can see by my recent trip to Seattle, I even made sure to get a couple, while there. This is the map of all the nearby challenge caches in my area

I think my next challenge will be to find a cache I need to fill in my Alphanumeric Cache Names, and Alphanumeric Cacher Names.

Just getting packed and ready to head to Victoria on the island for the weekend for a small Magic convention. Will grab a few challenge caches while over there. Well that's it for this month!!

Signal the Frog and I at an event years ago!!

Keep on caching

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

Virtuals and upcoming geotrip!!

Early Morning caching

Started working on another series, that I have been doing on the way to work in the morning. The final is called AC13: End of the Line (AC stands for Arbutus Corridor)
The Arbutus Corridor was created in 1901 when CP Rail began construction of their rail line known as the Marpole Spur, which ran from False Creek to Port Coquitlam.  BC Electric Railway (which became BC Hydro) used the Marpole Spur for passenger service (1905—1954) and for freight service until 1985. Then CP took over the line until June 2001, when its final freight customer, Molson Brewery, started receiving malt and barley ingredients by truck rather than by rail.
There is 12 caches with clues inside the lid or on the log book. Once you have all the clues you can calculate where the 13th and final cache of the series is. I only found 10 of the 12 but had enough info to work out the puzzle.

Recently I also finished another series called FSS - Fraser Street Series. I only found 6 of the nine caches to gain enough info to find the final 10th cache. Not quite sure why I don't complete the whole series, I guess I just like a bit of a challenge in itself to find as few as possible, and still able to solve the puzzle. lol

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!!!


Just recently upgrade my GPS'r. I have used my Garmin Oregon 450 for some time, but just bought the Garmin Oregon 700

So far I am quite happy with it, the only drawback is it does not have the wherigo capability as did my other GPS'r. The good thing is I can do wherigo's from an app on my phone.

VIRTUAL CACHES
Geocaching HQ recently announced the release of Virtual Rewards, a project to reward some of geocaching’s great contributors, while also introducing a limited number of new Virtual Caches for the enjoyment of the entire geocaching community.

From Groundspeak:
Starting August 24th, approximately 4,000 geocachers in 63 countries around the world will receive emails with information about their Virtual Reward. This group is made up largely of top quality cache hiders from countries with at least 100 hiders. We created an algorithm to identify these people based on overall cache quality and cache health. Active community volunteers are also receiving a Virtual Reward as a thank you for giving their time and talent to support the geocaching community.

I love virtual caches and like many am sad to not see more of them. As you can see from some of my previous blogs, when I travel I always go for the virtuals. Just last month I found another 3 while in Vegas. So far I have only seen two new ones published in BC and one of them is over on Vancouver Island near Courtenay. I have a show in Campbell River in December, so you can be sure I will be going to see it.

Earthcache Day

They have named October 8th as Earthcache day, which is this upcoming weekend, so I have to see which one I will go get.

Seattle trip

On this upcoming trip, I am gonna try and do a 8 Icon day, getting a Traditional, a Multi, a Puzzle, a Wherigo, an Earthcache, a Virtual, a Letterbox, and a Webcam cache. I have done a 7 icon day twice now, so time to do more. lol
One of the puzzles I plan on getting was a maze puzzle that had to be done to obtain the coordinates to the final, as you can see in the pic it was not a very easy maze to do. Lots of dead ends. I hope there is no dead ends in finding the cache!!

 Hope my plans work out for my 8 Icon day. Wish me luck!!

I will let you know how things go in my next months blog. 

Well that's it for this month

Keep on caching

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

Mary Hyde caches and Vegas

Mary Hyde caches

There was some special souvenir's up for grabs over the past couple of months. Each one had a different pirate type challenge to do to receive each of them.

Ahoy Me Hearties!

After achieving the 5 souvenirs' above, I was awarded the last souvenir which had a clue word hidden within it.

Mary Hydes Lost Treasure

Once you find the word, you submit it to Geocaching.com and they will send you a reward(a prize) The Prize is a Trackable code to use however you feel like. You can attach your tracking code to any object of your choosing. You can engrave it, write it in permanent marker, or add a laminated piece of paper, a picture on your profile page, or many other ideas that you would use like a normal TB tag, but I am thinking of doing something cool with it. Watch for future blogs to see what I choose to do!!

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!!!

Vegas Baby!!!

I had been in Las Vegas for 10 days. I went there for a magic convention called Magic Live, but of course I was able to do a fair bit of caching also. This year I decided to go after 12 challenge caches, plus as many virtual's as I could and also do a 7 icon day. 

Day 1: (Aug 10) Arrived in Vegas!!

Day 2: (Aug 11)

Today I went out to get 12 different challenge caches(I love challenges) but I only got 11 of the Monthly Challenge caches, as the 12th one may not have been there, according to past logs.

Monthly Challenge Caches

I also got 2 virtuals, one cool one called "Art at the Station", and 1 traditional cache

Depending on where you looked, this Virtual cache spelled it out!!

Art at the Station

Day 3: (Aug 12)

Last year while in LA and Las Vegas for conventions I tried to do a 7 icon day and just could not get a multi, so did not complete this task. (I had already finished this challenge in the past, I just felt like doing it again)

This time I got the 7 icons I was after: A traditional, virtual, puzzle, earthcache, multi, Wherigo, and a letterbox. The traditional was called "A Special Memory", a very cool one inside a wedding chapel with the same name.

They actually had a drive up window where you could get married. It has about 1150 favorite points!!

Day 4: (Aug 13)

Today I just got a puzzle cache and another Wherigo. This evening Magic Live kicked off, and it would be 3 1/2 full days of Magic!!!

Day 9: (Aug 18)

Grabbed 2 caches today, one in the morning that I walked from the hotel to, which was about a 4km round trip, and from the cache you could see the Orleans Hotel where I was staying. As you can see by the pic, I was quite hot!!

Then I grabbed another while on the strip later today, also showed my friends "Taz's Tree"  which holds a nano cache that I found 2 years ago.

Taz's Tree on the Alladin

It is a nano stuck behind this metal tree art

Day 10: (Aug 19) International Geocaching Day

We went to the Neon Graveyard this morning and took the tour.

Pretty cool history of Vegas. There is a virtual there called "Sign of the Times" that I logged last year.

As we left there we swung by the nearby museum so I could grab a cache for International geocaching day. It was hidden on this cool tubular dinosaur.

We then headed to Fremont street to eat, and I was able to grab another cache while there. This would be the last cache I would get while here. But don't worry, Zoltar say's I will be back there next year for Magic Live 2018.

Well that's it for this month

Keep on caching

Chris Yuill

Magicman65