The Maritime Geocaching Association

Geocaching is basically a game of treasure hunting. When I first heard about it a year ago I had no idea how remarkably popular geocaching is. It’s a game played by untold numbers of people throughout the world. The idea is to locate hidden containers, stashed outdoors, anywhere and everywhere you could imagine. These containers are called geocaches.

Using GPS devices, such as the Geocaching app by Groundspeak Inc, explorers young and old set out to locate the hidden treasures. Many of the caches contain logs that each “discoverer”  signs—adding their name and the time and date to the list of treasure seekers that have come before. Once you’ve located a cache and marked your find, be sure and put it back in its hiding spot for the next budding explorer to try and discover.

Geocaching (the app) is an excellent tool to have in your arsenal when striking out on your geocache explorations. There are a multitude of features and options with the Geocaching app.

The feature I enjoy the most is Find Nearby Geocaches, one of the first options you’ll notice once you open the app. Using “Find Nearby,” Geocaching will identify your current location and then provide you with a list of Geocaches close to you. As I sit here now I can see that “What Time is It” is 1.0 miles W, and “Global Warming” is 1.2 miles SE from here. These are just two from the list of the closest 15.

There are other ways to search available on the search page such as By Address/Postal Code, which allows you to enter an address manually or pull one from your contacts list. Search By GC Code, Trackables, and Pocket Queries. All of the information is being accessed through Geocache.com. Users are constantly updating the database that you are tapping into as they document their experiences out on the hunt.

Once you’ve selected the geocache you’re setting out to locate the Geocaching app takes you to that geocaches home page. There you can see information such as who hid it, GC Code, difficulty, terrain, size and date hidden.  You also have the plenty of other options here; such as adding this geocache to favorites, read a description, view recent logs and hints. But the main thing to do from this page is launch the Navigate To Geocache.

Upon opening the navigation page you have various ways to view your navigation. Mine initially opens into a street map view showing my location and pinging arrows to the geocache location. There are other views available also. I happen to like the satellite view. As you navigate closer you’ll notice the distance meter decrease. There is a “view compass” option that comes in very handy as the large compass fills your screen alongside information such as your current longitude and lattidude, destination coordinates, your distance in feet, direction headed, and accuracy of information (within 43 ft etc).

I set out on a sunny afternoon intent on tackling a geocache with a 3 star difficulty, handy Geocaching iPhone app in hand. I navigated to the location and the compass had me 0.0 ft away from the hidden treasure.  The accuracy meter gave me an additional 8ft to play with. The hints were good but not spoilers. I spent a good 45 minutes to an hour looking along with my trusty 12 year-old sidekick. Arrg! Unable to locate the hidden booty, the treasure remains untouched for the next intrepid explorer to uncover.

We decided to search for another and the Geocache app gave us a new list of geocaches close to us. We selected one with a less difficulty rating and set out to find it. Using most of the tools available to us including the hints, we were able to locate our geocache. My sidekick logged his name and we were again worthy pirates who live to search for treasures again another day.

Geocaching is mostly about being outside, exploring, the hunt and camaraderie of friends. The tools you use to accomplish your goal add to the experience. From what I understand many geocachers are equipped with fancy GPS systems. Hey to each their own. I found geocaching fun and I guess one could spend hundreds of dollars on a GPS if they wished. But for about ten bucks Geocaching iPhone app by Groundspeak Inc is worth every penny. The opportunity to hang with my son and have him want to hang out with me in search of hidden treasures, priceless!

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Boiling Springs, Pa. – Remember gym class? There was dodgeball, the rope climb, and that giant parachute thing. But that’s not the phys-ed class seniors get at Boiling Springs High School.

Not only does phys-ed instructor Rob Waynick have their attention, these high school seniors are delighted to be there. Far from the health and phys-ed classes many remember, this senior elective course involves, among other things, “geocaching” – a scavenger hunt using handheld GPS systems.

Using assigned map coordinates, teams of two criss-cross the campus, seeking “hidden treasures.” A faculty bike patrol ensures the kids stay on track – and on time.

The class is the brainchild of Barbara Ferrell, who, 10 years ago, began moving her health and physical education curriculum in a non-traditional direction

“Our goal really is to get the kids out and introduce them to activities that they’re going to be able to do for a lifetime,” said Ferrell, the health and phys-ed chair.

Throughout the year, students are also introduced to biking, hiking, kayaking, canoeing, cross country skiing, snow-shoeing and scuba diving. Most of the costs are covered by grants, and Ferrell’s format has drawn lots of interest from schools across the nation. Students say Ferrell’s message of matching interests with activities will keep them moving long after graduation

“She shows us different activities we can do around here, like hiking the Appalachian Trail or just riding bikes,” said senior Ashleigh Thompson. “It doesn’t have to be basic gym activities.”

Via : http://www.whtm.com/news/stories/0310/720528.html

Click link for original story + video

This has to be the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen from Garmin…

Google Maps is a great service that helps us out in getting directions to places we plan to go. However the service is completely online. This means that in order to look up the directions of someplace, we need to have internet connected to our computer. Now suppose that we have already used Google Maps to view our required map and need to view it again.

Obviously Maps will reload the same map, requiring bandwidth of our internet connection.

Would it not be more convenient if we could save images from Google Maps so that we can view them later offline, without sacrificing any bandwidth? With GMapCatcher we do just that.

GMapCatcher is a great freeware program compatible with Windows, Linux, and Mac operating systems. The download file is sized at 9MB; once downloaded, the installation is quite standard and one has the application up and running in no time. Here is what the application looks like while running:

In the location bar we enter the area of which the map we want to view. If we have viewed the map of the location earlier, then we can check the OFFLINE mode box which will use the saved files to generate the maps.

Suppose I enter “Moscow” in the location bar and click on OK, here is what I will see:

We can double click on the red circle to zoom in. The slider on the left can also be used to zoom in and out of the map. If we want to save a file, we can click on the DOWNLOAD button to do so.

While downloading a file we can set the exact latitude and longitudes obtain the exact area we require.

GMapCatcher gives its users the feature to modify various options.

Amongst other options, we can set the default level of zoom and the default folder for saving files.

GMapCatcher is a better way to browse Google Maps than the doing so using our internet browser. It makes later offline browsing quite convenient. All Google Map users should give GMapCatcher a try; after using it, use the comments to let me know what you think.

Via /

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Magellan is launching a new device that is totally devoted to geocaching: the Magellan eXplorist GC. I am intrigued…

As a former Magellan user and frequent Magellan defender, I am happy to see this development and I hope it works out better than the Triton series did. Of course, I have a brand new Garmin Dakota 20, so I’m not in the market for a new device right now.

The purchase includes a premium membership at Geocaching.com and it talks about seamless connection to the site, so thats a good thing, but I’ve always been a Garmin boy

Anybody else read up on this one?

Here we are, 6 years after the first RDD, and still the stories are told about it!

The original RDD was the 1st major Geocaching event in the Maritimes. 2010 marks the 10 year anniversary of Geocaching, and so, we figured this is a great time for its time for a return to the red dirt of beautiful Prince Edward Island.

So I give you…

So… OFF WE GO AGAIN!!!

The Official Geocaching.com Entry: GC256HE
Red Dirt Dash Website: RedDirtDash.com

The competition takes place on June 5th, 2010, and starts at the Holiday Haven Camp Ground , centrally located 9 KM south west of Charlottetown, at coords 46.213332, -63.187229.

Directions:

1. Head northeast on Confederation Bridge – 4.0 km
2. Continue onto Route 1 – 45.8 km
3. Turn right at Ferry Rd – 1.7 km
4. Turn right at Holiday Haven Rd. 1.4 km

All teams will meet up at 9:30AM at the camp ground. We depart at 10AM and go our separate ways for the day. Teams are due back at Holiday Haven at 7pm. Whoever gets the most caches on the Island wins. At current press time (March 21st, 2010) there are over 1100 caches on the Island.

The Dash:

• All teams will depart Holiday Haven Camp Ground at 10am.
• Cachers are encouraged to travel in teams. Car pooling saves on gas costs, as well as helps the environment!
• The competition will end at 7PM PROMPTLY! FOR EVERY 5 MINUTES YOU ARE LATE WE WILL SUBTRACT ONE CACHE FROM YOUR TOTAL!!!
• PEI cachers are welcome to participate, but please keep in mind you cannot claim your own caches!
• For anyone who does not want to participate in the challenge, but would like to attend, by all means do so. MGA should be setup at the campground at approximately 5:30pm.
• Note: You do not need to participate in the challenge to be able to log this cache. As long as you come to the BBQ afterward, you can claim this event as having attended.
• 7:30pm will be the awards ceremony, as well as BBQ. Please bring your own food & beverage items. There is a store nearby, as well as bigger supermarkets in Charlottetown if you need to purchase edibles.

Accommodations:

We will be reserving a block of standard 2-way hookup tent spots at the campground, which will be available on a first come/first serve basis, at a rate of $32 CAD. Please email us if you would like to reserve one (or more). Once they’re gone, if you do not get one of the reserved spots, you will need to contact the campground to see if they have any other spots available, or make other arrangements. When you arrive at the campground, you can pay for your spot at the administration office.

If you have an RV or camper, we would ask you contact the campground at (902)566-2421 and reserve a spot.

In the morning, we can all head out someplace for breakfast.

Don’t forget to save $42.50 for the bridge to come back to NB! (No charge to go there, they only charge you if you want to leave). Alternately, there is also a ferry that runs between Caribou, NS and Wood Islands PE. You can check their scheduling and rates out at http://www.peiferry.com/

Prizes:

1st Place – Bag of Swag! – will go to the team who finds the most caches.

More prize categories to follow.

Tiebreaker rules:
In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined by the following criteria

1. Getting the 2 furthest caches on the Island from each other.
2. Whoever can produce a larger collection of empty Tim Horton’s cups fresh from the trip.
3. In the unlikely event of a tie at this stage, the competitors still tied will fight a grueling match of best of 3 rock – paper – scissors



GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos hosted by HeadHardHat gives you an interesting introduction into Paperless Geocaching. This is one of the most popular topics in the geocaching world because everyone wants to go green. Watch HeadHardHat demonstrate several different devices you can use when out hunting for caches. This informative video was filmed in Raleigh, NC but can be identified anywhere in the world. Geocachers with little or no experience will enjoy these episodes as much as the more experienced geocachers will. GeoSnippits is an ever growing series of geocaching video tutorials geared for geocachers of all experiences to enjoy.

via Maritime-Geocaching.com • View topic – Introduction to Paperless Geocaching.

Awesome! I want to do the millionth cache!

SEATTLE, March 9 /PRNewswire/ — Over the weekend, Geocaching.com – the world’s most popular site for geocachers – published its one-millionth active geocache listing. With more than 3 million high-tech treasure hunters in more than 150 countries, geocaching is the most popular location-based game on Earth.

“Ten years ago, we never imagined geocaching would be enjoyed by millions of people throughout the world,” said Jeremy Irish, founder and president of Geocaching.com. “The sport’s combination of technology and outdoor recreation has become a great conduit for providing people with real-world, location-based adventures.”

More here.

Hey everybody. By now, I’m hoping that most geocachers in New Brunswick have heard about the awesome geocoin that the Fredericton Regional Geocachers are producing, but if not, have no fear! I’m hear to share the news.

We are planning on placing the order by the end of this week, in order to have the freshly minted coins for the Bye Bye Winter Bash weekend in Fredericton, on April 10th and 11th. If you are interested in ordering a coin, please let me know, as I am the organizer for them!

We are ordering 150 of these beautiful coins, and as of the writing of this post, 111 have been “preordered” by individual cachers. The cost for these unique geocoins? A lowly $8 each! My email address is sialonak [at] gmail [dot] com, if you are interested in ordering one – or, go to the facebook group for the Fredericton Geocachers and post a message there for me.

The geocoins themselves are going to be made in a black nickel finish. The snowman side will be epoxied, in order to protect the glow in the dark feature (picture included of the glow feature). The snowflake side will not have epoxy, in order to accent the little snowflakes more. Neither side is more durable than the other, I am told – the epoxy only protects the glow feature, not the coloured enamel. They will also have a unique icon on geocaching.com, which I’ve also included a picture of here.

If you are interested in having one, please contact me sooner rather than later, to avoid the disappointment of not being able to own one of these beauties!

EDIT NOTE: I am about to offer these coins to the other geocaching groups across Canada, so if you think you might be interested in one, please contact me sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment!

It is time for our regular coffee/tea and chat event in the Annapolis Valley.
We gather on the third Wednesday of every other month, so the schedule for the remainder of 2010 will be:

• March 17
• May 19
• July 21
• September 15
• November 17

Civic Address: New Minas Market, 9064 Commercial Street, New Minas – Upstairs in the Community Room (elevator available)
Date: Wednesday, March 17
Time: 6:30 – 8:00 PM
Come, visit with other cachers and have a coffee, tea or soft drink and a cookie. Bring your questions, stories, geocoin collections, any trackables that you want to move along – even any puzzles or equipment that you have questions about. There may be others there who can help!
We’re looking forward to seeing everybody! Old pro or newbie, Valley resident or “from away.” Come see your old friends or make some new ones. Remember, you can never have too many friends!
Please note – As of September 1, 2009 the good folks at Atlantic Superstore have changed their policy on the free use of their Community Rooms. There is now a fee for the use of the room. There will be a “donation jar” out at this event. A donation is not required but if you wish to contribute to the cost of the event any donation would be appreciated. (I hate to do this, but it has become a matter of simple economics.)

A note about winter weather – Please check this cache listing before you leave home – I will keep an eye on the weather and post here by 5:00 PM should it be necessary to cancel the event on short notice. The weather may be very different here from where you live – I will do my best to keep you from driving into a bad situation.
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Nova Scotia Spring Kick-off @ Curly’s
450 Hwy #2
Elmsdale,NS
Date: Saturday, March 27, 2010
Time: 3:00pm – 5:00pm

Join us in our 5th year as we bring Spring in with a bang at Curly Portables!!
Each year sees this annual event grow bigger and bigger, be part of a tradition and join us as we chase away the Winter BLAHS!!
Add this Event to you watch list … it will be updated on a regular basis!!

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The Geofest Crew Present: March & A Spring Warm-up

An Event cache by The Crew Event Date: Wednesday, March 03, 2010 

Join us at this Boston/Italian themed eatery as we swap Geocaching stories and general camaraderie.

Feel free to stop in and say Hi or stay for a bite to eat … but please sign our log book

Address: 710 Sackville Drive, Halifax, NS
Date: Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Time: 6 – 8(ish) Pm

Take a breather from your hustle and bustle to join us for some caching stories and planned mayhem!!
There’s always SOMETHING to eat and beverages hot or cold!!

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