The nice weather (Calgary nice, not Vancouver nice!) had me chomping at the bit to get out and do a little caching. We wanted to go somewhere that the dog could come along to, so we chose one that was supposed to be a walk along a power line right-of-way.
We stopped for two quick road-side caches on the way. GC3VZH7 (Stix) was a quick find for my husband and then he made a second quick find by being the first to spot GC3VT9A (Home made tubing).
We parked at the recommended coordinates to look for GC25D6G (Road Allowance West #1) but then found ourselves on the wrong side of a barbed wire fence. As we walked up and down the fence line trying to see where the opening was, we quickly realized our only option (besides leaving) was to go over. Except for Scooby who had been running back and forth underneath while we were making our decision. So a bit of careful climbing and a lift over for the littlest goat and we were all on the same side as the cache. Allen got his hat trick by being the first to spot this cache in its hiding spot. The littlest goat was pleased to see an item she wanted in the container so we did a quick trade from her swag bag and signed the log book.
The dog was enjoying the outing and our daughter was happy with her trade so we pushed on toward the next closest cache. This proved to be more of a challenge than we were prepared for. There was quite a steep slope down to the next cache and still lots of ice and snow on the ground in that area so we had to detour into the woods a bit to avoid slipping down the hill. Unfortunately when we got to the bottom and were parallel to the cache, we proved to be on the wrong side of the same fence. After some deliberation I suggested that the other two take a break while I climb back over the fence and scale the other hill to take a look for the cache. I climbed and scrambled, sank into snow, slipped on ice and ducked under trees all the way to ground zero. Scooby ran back and forth frantically trying to stay with both groups or get us back together. But between the tree cover messing up my GPS and the ice making it hard to cover ground, I could not locate GC35K25 (On the trail with Lucy). So I made my way back down to the other goats and we headed back to the car. A quicker walk back but three cold and tired cachers were ready to go home.
Showing posts with label swag. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swag. Show all posts
Friday, 12 April 2013
Saturday, 28 July 2012
Addicting More People to Geocaching
I received an e-mail request this week from a friend whose son is in school with my daughter. She and her family have been wondering about geocaching and asked if I would take them out for a beginner's lesson. So yesterday morning we piled our three kids into her vehicle with the two of us and set out for Baker Park on the Bow River in Calgary. I had my iPhone with the geocaching app and my Garmin Oregon 200 to show them both options when they start out.
We began with the Dollhouse cache (GC1RT7C) to get the kids excited because I knew it had recently been found and was supposed to have good swag in it. This one took a bit of looking and then was found where we didn't expect it. The kids found it easy to follow the compass on the Garmin so I let them carry that one and worked off the iPhone with my girlfriend. The three kids took turns holding the GPS and telling the others which way to go. We followed along making sure they didn't get too far off course but they did very well. And we had our first smiley for the day.
The next cache we aimed for was Baker's Bark (GC1EV27) which was a different kind of 'micro in a tree'. No trades here, just signed the log and off we went to search for I Do (GCXJTA). This is a very beautiful area right down by the river with bright beds of flowers surrounding a stone wall. We watched a few young men leaping into the chilly waters across the river and a Zodiak float by with two life-jacketed paddlers aboard.
The search was briefly interrupted by the appearance of two snakes who may have been guarding the cache and who caused all the children to leap upon the stone wall and scream! Luckily my friend and I were not deterred and continued to peer under rocks and into nooks and crannies. Unfortunately, no cache was unearthed and we had to leave this one for another day.
We moved on to look for one of the Calgary Parks caches called, of course, Baker Park (GC299K3). This was when I saw the change in my friend from 'interested observer' to 'addicted cacher' as she made her first unassisted find. Her face lit up and she got excited and declared herself hooked! I always love that moment!
Our last cache of the day, Baker's Hedge (GC1EV1Z) was also exciting for her young daughter when she made her own first find. We told ourselves it was because she was closest to the ground but really we all had our backs turned when she said ' Oh I found one." And honestly I didn't really think she had found one, but there it was! So much for me showing her how its done!!
After such a good day of caching I am sure we will be going out as a group again before too long. And we have another girlfriend with kids who we'll have to take out and addict!
We began with the Dollhouse cache (GC1RT7C) to get the kids excited because I knew it had recently been found and was supposed to have good swag in it. This one took a bit of looking and then was found where we didn't expect it. The kids found it easy to follow the compass on the Garmin so I let them carry that one and worked off the iPhone with my girlfriend. The three kids took turns holding the GPS and telling the others which way to go. We followed along making sure they didn't get too far off course but they did very well. And we had our first smiley for the day.
The next cache we aimed for was Baker's Bark (GC1EV27) which was a different kind of 'micro in a tree'. No trades here, just signed the log and off we went to search for I Do (GCXJTA). This is a very beautiful area right down by the river with bright beds of flowers surrounding a stone wall. We watched a few young men leaping into the chilly waters across the river and a Zodiak float by with two life-jacketed paddlers aboard.
The search was briefly interrupted by the appearance of two snakes who may have been guarding the cache and who caused all the children to leap upon the stone wall and scream! Luckily my friend and I were not deterred and continued to peer under rocks and into nooks and crannies. Unfortunately, no cache was unearthed and we had to leave this one for another day.
We moved on to look for one of the Calgary Parks caches called, of course, Baker Park (GC299K3). This was when I saw the change in my friend from 'interested observer' to 'addicted cacher' as she made her first unassisted find. Her face lit up and she got excited and declared herself hooked! I always love that moment!
Our last cache of the day, Baker's Hedge (GC1EV1Z) was also exciting for her young daughter when she made her own first find. We told ourselves it was because she was closest to the ground but really we all had our backs turned when she said ' Oh I found one." And honestly I didn't really think she had found one, but there it was! So much for me showing her how its done!!
After such a good day of caching I am sure we will be going out as a group again before too long. And we have another girlfriend with kids who we'll have to take out and addict!
Monday, 2 July 2012
Caching in the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
As a family, we enjoy birdwatching and any chance to see wildlife up close, so a day of geocaching in the Bird Sanctuary is three kinds of fun! Family time, geocaching, and wildlife viewing all at the same time.
There is a very creative puzzle cache called IBS: Gnome's Animal Lodge at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. The cache container itself is out in plain sight right at the entrance to the Sanctuary but in order to open the cache you need to walk around the trails and collect answers to questions on the cache page. This gets you visiting every part of the park and gives you a chance to view different songbirds, waterfowl, deer, muskrats, beavers, weasels, owls, and other creatures if you are lucky. There is a second cache called the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary Cache which gets you to do the same thing but the Final cache is off site. We collected all the answers for that one as we went around but didn't pick up the last cache as we were ready to go home by then.
As we walked we had amazing encounters with deer today. My daughter was thrilled when a young deer appeared beside her eating leaves that grow along the walkway. Alana held very still and watched with a huge smile on her face and then talked about it for the rest of the day. That is an experience she won't soon forget!
We also saw evidence of beavers hard at work.
The park looks completely different than when we have seen it in the fall, especially with the Bow River running high from the summer rains. The views along the river were beautiful as usual.
There were portions of the trails that were closed due to flooding but this would be temporary. Don't let it dissuade you from visiting the Sanctuary.
There is a third cache in the park commemorating the Colonel James Walker Historical Site. This is a regular cache with a container full of swag to trade.
Even if you haven't been bitten by the geocaching bug, there is lots to see at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and it is well worth a visit any time of year.
There is a very creative puzzle cache called IBS: Gnome's Animal Lodge at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. The cache container itself is out in plain sight right at the entrance to the Sanctuary but in order to open the cache you need to walk around the trails and collect answers to questions on the cache page. This gets you visiting every part of the park and gives you a chance to view different songbirds, waterfowl, deer, muskrats, beavers, weasels, owls, and other creatures if you are lucky. There is a second cache called the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary Cache which gets you to do the same thing but the Final cache is off site. We collected all the answers for that one as we went around but didn't pick up the last cache as we were ready to go home by then.
As we walked we had amazing encounters with deer today. My daughter was thrilled when a young deer appeared beside her eating leaves that grow along the walkway. Alana held very still and watched with a huge smile on her face and then talked about it for the rest of the day. That is an experience she won't soon forget!
There were portions of the trails that were closed due to flooding but this would be temporary. Don't let it dissuade you from visiting the Sanctuary.
Even if you haven't been bitten by the geocaching bug, there is lots to see at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and it is well worth a visit any time of year.
Saturday, 17 March 2012
Geocaching at Nose Hill Park
Tomorrow I am still hoping to attend the workshop on how to hide a cache as my family is anxious to do a good job on our first hide. I'll post anything interesting I learn!
Thursday, 9 February 2012
What's in Your Swag Bag?
Whenever we head out for a day of geocaching we carry along a small bag that contains a few essentials. Besides our GPS receiver we carry
When we find a cache, my daughter (littlest goat) and husband (old goat) look through the trades in the cache while I sign our team name and date in the log book. If there is something the little goat would like to take from the cache, she then chooses something equally good or better to place in the cache. We have found some caches containing garbage, broken toys, spoiled stickers and unpolished rocks and these containers get cleaned out and a few pieces of our swag left inside. Food is never left in a cache as animals can smell it and will destroy a container trying to get at the food. All swag should be child-safe as much as possible as this is a family friendly game. After trading, we place the log book back in the cache and put the cache back exactly where we picked it up so the next person can find it. And make note of which cache we found so we can record it later.
As with any outdoor activity, dress for the weather, bring water and snacks, respect private property, and if you go alone, tell someone where you are going. And have fun!!
- extra batteries (in case our GPS is low or a cache requires batteries)
- a couple of small sharpened pencils (to sign logs or replace missing pencils in caches)
- a pen
- extra note paper (for full or missing log books or to solve puzzles or write down clues)
- a whistle (in case our daughter, who carries the bag, gets lost)
- swag to trade (more on that below)
- muggle cards (non-geocachers are called muggles, and these cards explain what we are doing)
- any travel bugs we need to move on (more on travel bugs in a later post)
When we find a cache, my daughter (littlest goat) and husband (old goat) look through the trades in the cache while I sign our team name and date in the log book. If there is something the little goat would like to take from the cache, she then chooses something equally good or better to place in the cache. We have found some caches containing garbage, broken toys, spoiled stickers and unpolished rocks and these containers get cleaned out and a few pieces of our swag left inside. Food is never left in a cache as animals can smell it and will destroy a container trying to get at the food. All swag should be child-safe as much as possible as this is a family friendly game. After trading, we place the log book back in the cache and put the cache back exactly where we picked it up so the next person can find it. And make note of which cache we found so we can record it later.
As with any outdoor activity, dress for the weather, bring water and snacks, respect private property, and if you go alone, tell someone where you are going. And have fun!!
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Quick cache find
Yesterday my daughter and I went out to find a geocache in our own neighbourhood. I had seen the listing on geocaching.com but, knowing it wasn't a difficult one, I wanted to wait for a day when we could do it together. Alana took the lead with the GPS receiver with a reminder to let it orient itself after she was out of the truck. Then she led us to the right tree and I spotted the container. It was a winter friendly hide (not buried under snow) and a good size container holding lots of swag for trading. We signed the log book, replaced the treasure with swag of our own and replaced the container where we found it. Then I remembered I had planned to photograph the container for my blog so we took it back out, moved to a spot that would not offer spoilers and took the photographs. You must remember when caching, that you don't want to give away the location of the cache to the next cacher or anyone checking the logs on-line, so don't put the actual hiding place in your photographs and be careful what you say when you enter your comments on-line. These unwanted hints are called 'spoilers' for a reason! If you want to make a comment that may give away hints there is a feature on the website that will encript your log so that only someone who wants hints can read it.
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