October and November Adventures

Day Trip to Blaine and Semiahmoo Park 

Susan and I went across the border one day to spend the day grabbing some caches. I got 31 caches that day including one FTF as we left the house, before heading south across the border.

This large piece of driftwood looked like a dragon. And yes there was a cache hidden within. (Spoiler)

A large water tower stands on the spit to this day. It is not being used anymore, but was used back when the fisheries and Salmon cannery was running.

The huge one that is the iconic Semiahmoo Water Tower landmark of the Semiahmoo spit. Most people look at it without a thought to how it came to be, but this one was probably built between 1900-1920

It stands tall and not used, amid the scenic backdrop of mountains and ocean.

This was my 6666th cache. I got this one on the spit, and just like when I got my 5555th cache, thought it was worth mentioning.

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!!!

Be BEAR Aware!!!

We live in Bear country here, so you always have to be Bear aware when out caching, but you also have to be aware of them crossing the street. lolThis is a normal site near where I live. This is about the fourth time I have watched a bear cross the road in front of my car, just down the street from where I live. I almost hit one once as he came running out of the bush and across in front of me. I have even had bears come into my yard and knock over the compost and garbage bins. Please be Careful out there.

PS: On the right hand side of this webpage is where you can find my YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, links. Please feel free to check them out and follow or subscribe!!!

International Geocaching Day

This year International Geocaching Day was held on October 8th and 9th. That's right, 2 days to find an earthcache and receive a souvenir. 

We decided to got to grab "Maplewood Mudflats Earthcache"

There was several other caches and 2 Adventure Labs as well. The house on stilts you see in the picture is not a full size house. It is a miniature version of the houses that used to be here. By the 1940's, an informal but cohesive community of squatters was living in the ramshackle cabins that lined the area's intertidal zone.

Maplewood Flats in North Vancouver is a 311-acre conservation area managed by the Wild Bird Trust of B.C. Maplewood Flats contains over 3 km of trails lining a beautiful and peaceful tidal marsh. It is a serene birding, nature observation, and walking area.

Merritt trip

I had a show in Merritt, so of course on route I grabbed a few caches. I had to wait for this guy to cross the road to go further down the road for a cache. lol

This is one of the bridges that was washed out last year during the storms.

Stopped at this very old cemetery to grab a cache

Found this Library cache also.I actually got this one purely accidentally. I was doing another local puzzle cache called "Murals of Merritt." It has 7 small pictures from a part of different murals and you have to go to them. The description said if you are having troubles finding all the murals to ask the locals or go to the library for help. I assumed they had a book with all the murals listed and where in town they are.

I stopped by the library to ask as there were a couple I could just not find. The librarian said there is actually a cache in the library. Wow, I assumed this was the final to the puzzle I was working on. I said could I have it for a few minutes and she led me back to the bookshelves and passed me this book. When I opened it, I realized it had a different name on it, then the cache I was doing. So I was able to log it without completing the puzzle. lol

"I AM GROOT"

Well that's it for this month,

Keep on caching!!

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

Upcoming trips and Geotours

Avenging a "Didn't Get a Chance to Look Log"

Is that a thing?? Last blog you read about the "Bear that chased us away" we were at a cache called "Our Little Park" when a bear made his way thru, and Oliver and I made a mad dash to the car, and we actually logged the cache as a DNF (Did Not Find) although we didn't even start to look for it.
I went and avenged our close encounter with a bear cache, this weekend.
Here is a pic of me standing where the bear was last week.

This is the bear that had Oliver and I running to the car. I am so glad someone drive by and yelled at us that a bear was coming our way.












Went Caching with Sansue one nice evening, and we found a cool cache while a nearby Raccoon watched over her babies, keeping an eye on us.

PS: On the right hand side of this webpage is where you can find my YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, links. Please feel free to check them out and follow or subscribe!!!

The baby poked his head out that hole, but I didn't get a pic in time.

Four FTFs

Some new caches popped up close by one rainy Saturday. I decided not to rush out to get them as we were just getting breakfast. Later in the afternoon, I looked at them again and realized they had not been logged yet.....OK.....out the door I go!! When I got to the first one, I met up with StickmanBC who was already looking but had not yet made the find. We searched together and I found it and we shared the FTF. We headed off to the other 2 as they were in the same park, and grabbed them as well. On the way home I swung by another one that had been published earlier also and got my fourth FTF of the day. Soaked but content, I 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!!!

BC's first cache

I had already found GC1DD Treehugger (BC's First Cache) on July 28th, 2011, but I told Sansue I would take her to it. It's a nice walk up several sets of stairs to where you can view the Ocean from. 

This is the oldest cache location in British Columbia. It's been here since Feb 2001. Because of the original owners having left the hobby, this cache has been adopted by QuigleyJones, formerly dogbreathcanada. It has been found 1669 times, and has 482 Favorite points on it, to date.

I had a show earlier in the day so before meeting up with her and heading up to this cache, I grabbed 11 other caches on my way to meet her. 

Cute little cache box

Little Free Library cache

The Habitat Sculpture

A cool cache

"Sansue with Treehugger"

Next month at the end of August we are going to Alberta, and although I already got "Strathcona Wilderness 1" which is Alberta's first cache and Canada's second ever cache back in July of 2011, I told her I would take her to this historic cache also. (Read more about that in my next blog)

New Geotour

a new geotour had been published in the Aggasiz area, so Sansue and I planned to go out on a sunny Sunday afternoon to do all 10 of them. Once completed and recording the secret code word on each of them, you can submit your answers online and receive a new Geocoin. We had a nice day and found all of them plus another cool cache as well. 

Can you see the cache???

I saw it!!

The Fraser Valley, with the Fraser River flowing fast and full!!

Upcoming Alberta Trip

So I have been planning a trip to Edmonton with Sansue at the end of August, and we have decided to head thru Lake Louise, Banff, Calgary, and then up to Edmonton, and then back thru Jasper on the way home.

Of course I have already been making a list of caches to grab along the way. While looking I noticed a traditional cache called "Balance is the Key" just outside Merritt that had the same name as a puzzle cache in the same place that I got the FTF on back in November 2019, when I went thru on the way to Kamloops for a corporate show. I did a bit of research (Thanx GSAK) and found out the CO (Cache Owner) archived the Puzzle and resubmitted it as a traditional cache as it was a field puzzle and more of a gadget cache, not an online puzzle. The good thing is I will be able to stop by and grab it again on our trip. I also contacted the cacher that found the cache first after it was republished as a traditional ,as his log read (Went after a first to find as no one had logged the find, was disappointed to find it logged several times before it was even published) 

Technically, he and his group were the first to find the cache, since it was a new listing, and the other puzzle cache that I was FTF was archived. I have been in that situation before finding a cache and thinking no one else has visited it yet, and finding signatures of other loggers. Years ago when I lived on the island I would go to Port Alberni for events, and they would give the event goers a list of new caches with coordinates, that had been put out for the event but had not necessarily been published yet. Gold country did this also at an event I was at a few years back.

Kelowna Trip

Oliver (magicboy2012) and I went for a 4 day weekend trip to Kelowna as an early birthday present for him. We had some fun activities planned such as Parasailing, Zip lining, and a visit to the Kangaroo Farm, as well as some caching.

This is the cache called "Balance is the Key" which I talked about up above. We grabbed it since its a new cache and I can log it again. I let Oliver figure out how to get inside the box as I have already done it. (He figured it out on his own with very little help from me). Very strange to do a new cache and open up the logbook and see my name as the first to find, and have to write my name in there again. The CO did not change the logbook, which is why the confusion for the cachers that found this new cache and thought they were the first to find.

"Letter Block Lock cache"

Oliver helping work out the puzzle.

This Gold Country Geotour cache was in the crapper!! Lol

Memory Lane souvenirs 

Groundspeak has 5 more souvenirs up for grabs, which I talked about in last months blog, and all you have to do to earn them, is get out and grab some caches, and you earn points towards each of them. I already got all 5 souvenirs!!  

Well that's it for this month,

Keep on caching!!

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

Weekend Caching

Weekend Caching

Sansue and I went out to find a few caches in Queen Elizabeth Park. We only found 3 in the park, but it took us a few hours of walking around to find all the info that was needed for a Puzzle cache called "Top of the Park"
We also did a multi cache called "Love Locks" which started off at this cool structure of  4 people with umbrella's all made of iron loops, and people have placed locks on them with their names.
The piece is designed by Vancouver artist Bruce Voyce and celebrates the shelter that love brings and the union that it forms. It will support several thousand locks on the skirts of each couple. Keys can be deposited in a box on site and will eventually be recycled or melted down to become part of another sculpture.Love locks are padlocks that romantic partners have traditionally locked to a bridge, gate, or similar public fixture to show their love. Names or initials are typically inscribed on the padlock, and its key is thrown away to symbolize an unbreakable bond.Many cities are now turning the 100+ year old love locks trend into public art.

Cool structures with lock on them

Some more cool painted rocks we spotted while in the park.

 

So many cool rocks painted in the forests. It's nice to see them, it always puts a smile on my face.

ufkjenkgilguilguil (That's what this little guy is saying. lol)

PS: On the right hand side of this webpage is where you can find my YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, links. Please feel free to check them out and follow or subscribe!!!

100th Blog Giveaway

The winner of last months 100th Blog swag giveaway was a cacher named Gomphus. I sent him a box full of caching swag with a few unactivated Travel bug tags, 3 unactivated Geocoins, several different pins, a few different cache containers of various sizes, a few of my FTF trading cards, a couple of my Pathtags, some cache labels, a couple of books to stock caches, and a Log roller for those Nano's and Bison tubes, and some other misc. stuff!! Congratulation again Gomphus, I hope you enjoy it all!! Thanx to all the others who replied as well!!

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!!!

Magic and Mystery Cache:

I had my newest cache in place and submitted it for review, and the following morning it went live!! How exciting. Looking forward to many people finding it. It can be found here: "Magic and Mystery Cache" I hope it gets lots of Fave points!! Unfortunately it will not get hit lots as Puzzle caches tend to get ignored and are often searched after less.
Check it out if you are in the area!! Next I am gonna make some multi-caches with a magical twist.

Caching with my boy on Saturday

We are still getting out caching on a regular basis and socially distancing ourselves from others. While many are hitting the beach, Oliver and I enjoy walking the trails and caching.

Cool path with the creek winding thru and under it, and winding like slithering snake.

Not a rock, but a painted seashell

My little guy rocking out!!

This rock is smaller than the other one.

Oh but wait, this one hides a cache!! Spoiler alert

In Balance with Nature!!

Lots of these boxes in the wood, they are Bee nesting boxes. Very Cool!!

We found a total of 6 caches, 4 that were traditional's, 1 Letter box cache in which we actually followed the clue instructions instead of just heading to the coordinates, and a puzzle cache I had solved some time back, and it was laying out in the open, but it was being guarded by a huge slug.

Important Message:
GeoWoodstock XVIII, Canada's largest geocaching event is moving to August 28, 2021.⁠
Visit GeoWoodstock.com to find out more!
Check out the website at "Geowoodstock" for all upcoming info on the event as well as events leading up to it, and make sure you log your "will attend" at "Event" and register online!!
They are going to have some amazing things, including a really cool Magician doing a couple of shows.....Hmmmm, wonder who that could be??? Make sure you get logged in!!!
PLUS: A-Maze-ing News in the form of a GPS MAZE!
They will have a new Canada themed GPS Adventure Maze in the Fraser Valley as part of GeoWoodstock XVIII and the Pacific Northwest Geocaching Celebration!!
Your Registration is a HUGE Support!

Memory Lane

On one of the many Face Book Geocaching groups I am on, someone asked how many caches should you do before hiding one of your own. The answers varied from 50 to 100 finds before hiding one, because then you have an idea of many hides so you don't make any mistakes. And by then you also learn some of the rules to hiding a cache. I have seen people join geocaching and hide a cache immediately thinking they are helping out. But then when no one is able to find it because of bad Coordinates or a crappy hide it just diminishes the hide, and the player feels bad and then may not play anymore. After reading the comments on this, I was curios as to when did I hide my first cache. I checked GSAK (A program for Data base of caches called Geocaching Swiss Army Knife)
The date of my first hide was April 23/2009. I started caching on September 8/2008, and had found 60 caches before hiding my first cache called "Tricks and Treats"
I placed a rather large Tupperware container filled with magic tricks and some small magic booklets into the woods, on a nice well traveled trail. It was found by 221 cachers before I finally archived it as it had gone missing.

New Souvenir series

Speaking of Memory Lane.....Some new souvenir's are available to get for just getting out and caching!! How awesome is that?? There are 5 in total, which I will work on getting all of them.

What are the five souvenirs I can earn?

1. First geocache hidden: 10 points
2. First geocoin: 50 points
3. First Mega-Event: 100 points
4. First million geocaches hidden: 150 points
5. 20 years of geocaching: 200 points

How can I earn points?

So, Oliver and I were out caching one Sunday as it was a beautiful day and we just started looking for a cache and a car drove by and said “there’s a bear coming towards you.”
We ran to our car just as this guy crossed the road and went straight to the spot we were standing moments ago. Oliver was actually standing on the stump you see in front of the Bear!!! Yikes, glad we were warned!!

We decided to not do that cache and moved on down the road to some other ones. lol

 This one was cool that we did (Spoiler)

My boy loves his photo on rocks or stumps. lol

Well that's it for this month,

Keep on caching!!

Chris Yuill

Magicman65