Geocaching turns 18 years old!!

Happy Birthday Geocaching!!

GPS, or Global Positioning System, was developed by the US Department of Defense. This satellite navigation system was intended for military use and therefore the signals were scrambled, limiting accuracy for civilian use to about 100 meters. On May 1, 2000, President Clinton announced that this scrambling, known as Selective Availability (SA), would be turned off. Civilians were then able to enjoy accuracy on the order of 10 meters.
On May 3, 2000, Dave Ulmer proposed a way to celebrate the demise of SA. He hid a bucket of trinkets in the woods outside Portland, Oregon and announced its location in a posting made to the USENET newsgroup sci.geo.satellite-nav. This announcement is remarkable for laying out the essence of the hobby that is still in place today. It's all there. The container. The trinkets. The log book. The rule of take something, leave something, sign the logbook. Dave Ulmer invented geocaching in one fell swoop in that newsgroup posting.
Within a day, the original stash had been found. Within days, more stashes had been hidden in California, Kansas, and Illinois. Within a month, a stash had been hidden as far away as Australia. The hobby was fast on its way to being a worldwide phenomenon.
18 years later and there are over 3 million caches hidden worldwide!!!! #geocaching

I found my first cache find on 09/07/2008 and have been caching now for almost 10 years, and writing this blog every month since 2012!!!
I was fortunate enough to visit the original spot on July 1/2010 where this momentous cache was placed. The original container is no longer there, but it has been replaced by the "Original Stash Tribute Plaque"

Magicman65 at the Original Stash Tribute Plaque

Original Stash Tribute Plaque

That same weekend we found the A.P.E. Cache and went to Geowoodstock VIII

 The A.P.E. Cache

Geowoodstock VIII

This was my log from the Geowoodstock event:
This was my first Mega event, and I must say it was AWESOME!!!! Had a ton of fun, met a load of interesting people from all over. Met MNT-MAN(He was our BC cache reviewer at the time) Saw lots of interesting stuff and grabbed lots of interesting caches on the road to get here. All in all a very cool trip. Thanx to all that made it happen, and I was glad to have done it with some great friends from BC. T4TE

Was at a Lego convention with my little boy last month and I purchased an engraved Lego mini figure and keychain. It is now trackable on geocaching.com

 PS Feel free to discover this!!! #lego

Gold country caching

Cache for Gold - Merritt

The weekend of May 11-13 was the Gold Country Events.

I went to the second of three gold country events in Merritt. I got to town early to check-in for the event and saw some familiar faces from Vancouver Island, and the Vancouver area.

Some new caches were to be released and coordinates were given out as they were not published yet. (Have never been a fan of this, getting co-ordinates earlier than they are published) I went anyway as I wanted to grab a few of the new caches. I shared a first to find with Kylekite, which is very weird because we just shared for first to find on 4 caches back in Coquitlam about a week and a half ago. Lol

Flooding

Last time I was through this area there was so much smoke it was ridiculous with all the fires that were burning in the Logan lake and cache Creek areas and this time, no smoke but flooding everywhere.

The Fraser river was flowing fast!!

They had to move the event in Merritt before it even started, because of flooding and two of the bridges where closed.

After the event was over and I went to get the FTF on one of the new caches, I then went to leave town and one of the bridges that was closed had opened briefly, which was good, that I got through as it was only an hour long trip to the next event in Lytton versus 2 1/2 hour roundabout trip to Lytton through Logan Lake and Ashcroft.

I did several caches along the way trying to collect the rest of the stickers I need for the gold coin from gold country.

I got to Spences Bridge and met up with some other cachers from the event this morning in Merritt, I grabbed a cache with them and then I then continued on down the road heading to Lytton grabbing a few more caches along the way. I got a cache called "A wise man once said...." 
It was in a yard and there was a bunch of art and sculptures made out of many different objects.

My new ride!!

Cache for Gold -Lytton

Day three of the events but only day two for me

Today was the wrap up event in Lytton in Caboose Park, so I got up this morning and went out and grabbed a few caches nearby that I did not get yesterday when I got to town. The event was a good one, with some mini events that took me around town on a scavenger hunt with some other cachers (Momma and Baby Bear)

Had a great time at the event and even won a couple of prizes including a cool geo coin that is a limited addition coin.

On the highway heading towards Hope from the gold country area, there are 7 tunnels that you go thru along the way.

Some are curved and longer and some are quite short. But there is a cache called "The 8th Tunnel" in an awesome location.

It is a tunnel that is about 100 metres off the road on a short hike thru the woods, that does not see any Vehicle traffic . The 8th Tunnel was part of the old Trans-Canada highway that included the Alexandra bridge used in the 1950's before the new highway and tunnels were built. Below in this blog, you will see that I did some caching at the Bridge also.

The Fraser Canyon Highway Tunnels were constructed in the late 1950s to about the mid 1960's as part of a Trans-Canada Highway project. There are 7 tunnels in total, the shortest being about 57 metres (190 ft); the longest, is about 610 metres (2,000 ft) and is one of North America's longest. They are situated between Yale and Boston Bar.

In order from south to north, they are:
Yale,
Saddle Rock,
Sailor Bar,
Alexandra,
Hell's Gate,
Ferrabee and,
China Bar.

The Hell's Gate tunnel is the only tunnel that does not have lights, while the China Bar tunnel is the only tunnel that requires ventilation. A project at the Ferrabee Tunnel was to install warning lights that are activated by cyclists before they enter the tunnel. This was required because the tunnel is curved. Later on, the China Bar and Alexandra tunnels got the same warning lights as they too are curved.

Grabbed a cool new virtual called "Water Under the Bridge to Nowhere" where I met up with a couple of other cachers Hugh and Hughling

from the event also heading home, so we teamed up and grabbed several caches together. Left the bridge and grabbed a few more on the way back into town. A great 2 day trip!!!

Well, that's it for this month,

Keep on caching!!

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

Memorable caches

 

Bolt Cache
 

I have been caching now for just over 6 years and have found caches of all shapes and sizes from a small bolt cache to Canada's Largest Ammo Can. #geocaching



Made in Canada Eh!!
 




 

But it's not usually the size or shape of the cache that makes it memorable. It's most likely the place or the journey to the cache that makes it exciting. I am excited to share some of my more memorable caches that I have found in the past. Trust me when I say these are not all of cool ones I've found, as you can see from the banner above, I have found over 3400 caches and these few are just some of the awesome ones I've found!!!

NOTE: The highlighted words in my blog can be clicked on as they are links to other cool stuff!!
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!!!

 Original Stash
This was a very cool and exciting trip with friends C2C2C & Toby and Me and my wife Angelcheeks, to go to the place that started it all. That's right the first ever geocache was placed at this spot in Beaver Creek, Oregon, and now they have a Tribute Plaque in its place.

On May 3, 2000, a five-gallon bucket was placed right at this very spot by Dave Ulmer containing a Delorme Topo USA, 2 CD Roms, a cassette recorder, a "George of the Jungle" VHS tape, a Ross Perot book, 4 $1 bills, a slingshot handle and a pretty notorious can of beans. The coordinates were then listed on the internet and modern-day geocaching was born.



 

 

Original Stash Tribute Plaque

The A.P.E. Cache
On this same trip we did a hike up a mountain in the Snoqualmie pass to get a cache know as The A.P.E. cache
It is no longer there, as years later it was stolen. We would revisit this spot a few years later as part of a Mega Event.


The A.P.E. Cache

Risky Rock
This cache had a high terrain rating. It was called Risky Rock
It was quite the hike with some climbing slippery rocks and a bit of leaping, but in the end you had a beautiful view of Comox Lake.

Risky Rock

Flotsam Cove
This next cache was quite the adventure. Its a cache called Flotsam Cove
I was planning a trip to Ucluelet one day and noticed that this cache had been published days before but was not found as of yet. I thought, no prob, while I'm there I will quickly go there and grab the FTF!!! Ok....truth be told, not quite as easy as that....It is almost 5 years old now and has only been found 5 times. (at the time of writing)
Here is my log on the cache:
YAY FTF!!! Found this morning at 11:01am
WOW, what can I say...found what I thought may be an easier spot to start from just up the road from the suggested starting co-ords. Parked the car, only 750meters to the cache...cool, off I go with my little geo-dog. get about 400meters down this wide decent path and BLAM!!! There is a wall of logs, stumps, brush, and dirt in front of me. Do I go back and find a different way? NOPE!!! Climb up and over very carefully with little dog under arm, on to other side which looks like a digging site of some sort. Walk down the road and find the next trail. Only 300ish meters to the cache from here, no problem...ya right....1hr and 10mins later of the roughest, narrowest, steepest up and downs, windy, confusing, poky sticks, mossy logs, skinny little goat path I have ever seen, I pop out onto a beach that is just beautiful. I wander down the beach and make the find. Awesome...oh wait, I have to go back the same way...on the way out I made some wrong turns and got turned around a couple of times even with my waypoints. Once I even started to backtrack and I look on the ground and there is my cellphone laying there, glad I made that mistake, must have popped out of its case, ooops. All done and said it was an awesome cache in a fantastic place with a beautiful view. T4TC

Flotsam Cove

Play with me
I actually visited this next cache twice. The cache was called Play with me
I was the FTF, but one day a couple of weeks after our wedding in Panama, we were in the Comox area doing a wedding photo shoot as we did not have a photographer with us during our wedding.(Although we did have a gentleman who was at the resort offer to help us out and use our camera and shot a ton of pics for us) After the photo shoot we were passing this cache and I thought since my wife Jenna(Angelcheeks, is her caching name) had not found it yet, and was still in her Wedding dress we should get the cache, for another quick photo opportunity. (This pic made its way into FTF Geocacher Magazine)

A wee bit overdressed

End of the Road
While we were still living in Courtenay, one evening a cache called End of the Road was published. I was known in the Valley as a cacher who loved to go after the FTF(First to Find the cache)
My good friend Tom (C2C2C) decided to make a cache in hopes that I would be the FTF, then he asked several other caching friends of mine to meet at the cache in the dark woods before it got published and hide to scare the crap out of me. Even though they were there before me, the cache was not opened until I opened it, so I could be the FTF!! It was a great night!!!
My log on this cache:
YAY FTF!!!! This cache popped up and when I read "Something special awaits the FTF on this one!!!" I assumed a scratch ticket, an FTF pin or a New Geocoin, NEVER did I assume that 15 or so of my good friends would be waiting at the cache site in the bushes to scare the #%&$ out of me!!! So when we got to the parking lot at the trailhead and NO vehicles were in site, I thought right on!!! A huge Thanx to C2C2C and all who helped orchestrate this EVIL but FUN "Event"
I shall change my pants now!!!


Island Paradise
This cache got published, and it was a 5/5 which is the most difficult and highest terrain rating a cache can get. We decided not go after it as it was my wife's due date and this particular cache was out on a small island in the middle of a lake. The following day some friends called us to ask if they could borrow our canoe, and my wife said "Let's all go!!" We loaded up and headed to the lake together for this Awesome 5/5 Cache
This was my wife's log:
Poor magicman looked so sad when he realized there is only so much you can ask of your pregnant wife two days before her due date.
Once we realized what we were up against, I decided an adventure might be just what I needed to kickstart the process so I suggested we go for it.
My Log:
YAY FTF!!! Found at 1:51pm Didn't think we were gonna go for this one right away, as any day, any minute my sweetheart is going to go into labour. Some freinds called and said they were wanting to go get it(C2C2C and Toby & Me)
I looked at Angelcheeks and she said lets all go!!!! We went prepared with everything we thought we would need and some things we did not need. Got to the first stage and my hunch was right, got the second co-ords very quick. Had to make a few trips to the spot with the cache as my special equiptment was not capable of taking all of us at once. Once we were close to the cache as a group we headed after it. The co-ords had me about 8metres away from GZ when all of a sudden Angelcheeks came up with the find. Although our legs got all scratched up, we were not in too rough of shape, and we were excited to have been first to find a 5/5 cache. T4TC and the adventure.

A very pregnant Angelcheeks and an empty log book

A view for Giant Pickle
The cache A view for Giant Pickle would prove to be a fun challenge. You see it was a newly published cache with a terrain 4 (5 being the highest) We decided to go for it. It was mostly uphill and cliff climbing the whole way. The added factor of our 8 month old and our small dog just added to the thrill of getting to the top for the awesome view and to be the FTF!!!

On the way up to "A view for Giant Pickle"

Double Bubble Toil and Trouble
This yucky but cool cache is in the heart of Seattle, just off of Pikes street Market. It is called Double Bubble Toil and Trouble. Many people have been unable to find this cache as it is quite tricky and sticky. I studied this cache from home and looked at every one of the over 300 pictures for this cache, and I found 2 pics that might help, but in the end it paid off and the find was made!!!
It is at and ON the famous Seattle Gum Wall. Anyone hungry???

 

Cache in hand!!!

Goose's Brain Twister
I was in Orlando, Florida some time back to do a show and was able to get this cool but tricky cache, called Goose's Brain Twister. It had a difficulty of 4 1/2 stars(out of 5) so I took that as a challenge to find it. I found it quite quick but it was a plastic waterproof matchstick container down at the bottom of a square pipe not much bigger than the container. It was down exactly 4 feet, 3 1/2 inches. I knew this for sure as I had nothing to use as a retrieving tool(I sometimes carry a telescoping magnet with me, but that would not have worked at all in this cache as the pipe was metal and the container was not) I went to the nearest drug store and bought a roll of duct tape and several wooden rulers and as you can see by the picture of the rulers taped together and the matchstick container stuck on the end by a chunk of duct tape, I was successful!!! YAY!!!
My log on the cache:
In town from BC Canada for the night to do a show in Lake Mary. Needed to grab a few caches. This one was first on my list. Found it quickly but the retrieval had to be figured out. Canadian ingenuity prevailed. T4TC

Ridgemont Mystery Cache
This cache was called Ridgemont Mystery Cache
I always look at places before I go there to see if there are any caches not been found yet. I was getting ready for a trip to Fernie for shows. I noticed this one and watched it as people looked but could not find it for 5 days. When I arrived I did a bit of searching, then I stepped back for a minute and all of a sudden I spotted it!!! Yay FTF!!! Actually I was the OTF(Only to Find) as the CO archived it shortly after as people were tearing up the area, while they did not need to. Look at the pic and see if you can spot it, it's in plain view. Shoot me a message or comment on my blog if you are able to spot it.

BOO!
This cache I got while travelling home from some shows. The cache is called BOO! Now this picture itself was taken on a different trip thru here. I actually found this one late one night in the dark about 2am. A lot of times when I am on tour after my last show, I will start heading home instead of spending the night, and I will cache in the dark. It is right near the road, but you have to climb thru the fence to get to it. The Tomb stone is fake with the cache behind it. There is talk in the cache page of the area being haunted, so the night I got it, I took a flash picture with my digital camera and as I looked at the screen, I saw something on the screen that should not have been there, and I freaked out a bit. After I realized it was the camera strap that had swung in front of the lens I was a little less freaked but still got out of there quite quick. lol

Bloody Fingers, Dirty Diapers

This cache was very cool!!! Actually it was quite cold as it was underground.     

Bloody Fingers, Dirty Diapers

The cache is underground midway in the Snoqualmie Tunnel in the Snoqualmie pass, Washington which is 2.3 miles long(3.7 km)

This was a fun adventure as my wife, Dayton, and Oliver(our littlest) hiked 45 minutes one way thru this cool decommissioned train tunnel with a ton of history. Then we hiked back thru it the other way!!! You can read the full blog of this adventure if you want.

Bloody Fingers, Dirty Diapers
 

 

Houston - We have lift off
Found this cool cache just recently, called Houston - We have lift off. It looks just like a pipe attached to a sign post, but if you want to see how to get at the cache,(Spoiler Alert!!!) click the link and watch the video.

Houston - We have lift off

 

 

 

Well that's it for this month

Keep on caching

Chris Yuill

Magicman65