The Maritime Geocaching Association

Interview Date : 03.22.11

Caching Name : TreeHugger21

Real Name : Nathalie

1. How did you become involved in geocaching. When did you start?

I read about it in an organization’s newsletter and asked a friend who had a GPS to take me out. i started in the summer of 2007

2. How did you choose your caching name?

It was a nickname that some friends had for me and it represents my personnality well.

3. How many caches have you found so far?

1774 (2000 as of last week, Congrats! -Dragoon)

4. What brand/type of GPS do you use?

Garmin Oregon

5. What programs/software or hardware (PDA/laptop/phone) do you use to make caching easier?

GSAK. I try to keep it simple since i am not big on computers and electronics

6. What type of cache do you prefer seeking – traditional, multi, puzzle, virtual?

Traditional when I am close to home, and virtual when I travel (I have found some virtuals in England, France and Italy). I also like the cool earthcaches that take me to some really neat places, like one that I did in Maine this winter.

7. Which caches were the most challenging – physically/mentally? Why?

The run of 5/5 caches that I did this winter with Coopsquared and Unruly Canuck. It was a LONG day of driving and caching, and featured some very challenging caches. I think my brain gave out on me faster than my body did that time.

8. Do you have a favorite or favorites among the Maritime caches that you’ve found?

The ice walk event and the race for cache event are among my favorite caches, since they bring a whole new element to the game. I love any cache that will take me on a nice hike, including those at Fundy Park and along the dobson trail. I also did a nice series in the hopewell area that i really enjoyed. I have done a few really clever ones that i have really enjoyed as well, like the wooden ankle, along another line, and a few others whose names i forget. I Nova-Scotia i did most of the Clare series, which was also a lot of fun.

9. What’s the most unusual thing that you’ve ever found in a cache?

a strawberry flavored condom (in a cemetery cache).

10. What are your current caching goals? Is there a certain cache that you can’t wait to do?

I would like to climb Mount Carleton this summer and get a few caches on the way and finish Jim52′s puzzle series. I would also like to hit 2000 caches by the end of the summer.

11. How many caches have you placed? Do you have a current hiding goal?

I have 38 caches hidden, a lot of those being events. I believe in maintaining what i put out there, so i dont expect that i will be hiding many more, until i archive some of my old ones. I do plan on putting out more events though, include a few more CITO’s (We have adopted a highway that we must clean up twice a year) and the second annual Snapshots event.

12. What advice would you give someone that wants to place a cache?

What steps do YOU take when placing a cache? Dont put it just anywhere for the sake of hiding a cache. Choose a good location. Make sure the container is of good quality and is waterproof

13. How often do you go caching?

it depends. I have gone every day for a week or two on end, then not gone at all for months at a time. I like to go once every couple of weeks if time permits. I have been going more often now that i have gotten to know some of the geocachers in the area.

14. What advice would you give a beginning geocacher?

Watch out! its addictive. you’d better know what you are getting yourself into!

15. Do you collect geocoins?

Of the ones that you’ve collected, which is your favorite? I dont actively collect anymore, but i do have a few in my collection. My favorite is probably my 1000 finds achievement coin.

16. What type of gear do you carry with you on your caching trips? What’s in your geopack?

a first aid kit and knee brace. lots of water. spare batteries. flashlight. snacks. and most importantly, A PEN!

17. What is your most memorable caching experience?

grabbing 124 caches along the Stud Mill Road with some members of Team Norkak (Coopsquared and Forest Fauna).

18. What is your best caching story?

The best? i dont even know where to start. haha. I guess i would have to say the time i grabbed a cache near the hospital in Moncton and turned around just in time to see a man in a hospital gown (the kind that opens on the back) getting patted down over a police car.

19. What do you like about geocaching? What keeps you going?

I like spending time outdoors and going to new places. and it keeps me active throughout all seasons.

20. Besides geocaching, what other things do you like to do?

I have been spending a lot of time at the gym lately, and reading books. I like canoeing in the summer, but i dont do it nearly as much as i would like. Travel

21. What question did you expect us to ask but didn’t. What is the answer?

I really cant think of anything other than maybe, how do you feel about micros in the woods. i hate them.

It’s amazing what you uncover while geocaching. A geocacher finds an ancient artifact… and does the right thing, leaving the artifact and calling archaeologists. Congrats and thanks CariocaeFilhos!

Joanna Dodder/The Daily Courier Dave Kurr and his family admire a rare Yavapai Indian jar Kurr found on the Prescott National Forest.

When Dave Kurr was a kid exploring the hills north of Prescott with his friends, he was bummed out when they would find arrowheads and he never did.

It took him until he was 43 years old to find an Indian artifact, but he’s made up for it by finding an amazingly rare ceramic jar on thePrescott National Forest.

And instead of keeping it to show his friends, he chose to do the right thing by leaving it where it was and reporting it to archaeologists, so everyone could learn more about the people who created it.

“It’s not going to do me any good in my house,” Kurr said. “I thought it would be more beneficial to them.”

Read more: http://bit.ly/hzNIPX

One of the greatest things about geocaching is that anyone with a GPS-enabled device can participate in the activity. Whether you are a parent with young children, an extreme sports fanatic or a disabled individual, there are geocaches designed with you in mind.

As a Cache Owner, you can help fellow geocachers determine whether your cache is a good fit for their needs. Simply addattributes to your cache listing. Attributes are icons that indicate what to expect on the geocache journey and at the cache location. “Recommended for kids,” “climbing gear required” and “wheelchair accessible” are just a few of the dozens of attributes.

Cache Owners who are planning to add the “wheelchair accessible” attribute to their cache page or are debating whether their cache deserves a 1-star, 1.5-star, or 2-star terrain rating should check out handicaching.com. As you can see from this video, just because the ground is flat does not necessarily mean that a geocache is wheelchair accessible. Handicaching.com will help you determine the accessibility of your cache based on five factors: distance to cache, route surface, route slope, route obstructions and cache height. When in doubt, mark the terrain rating as 1.5 stars and explain the details in your Long Description on the cache page.

The ability to rate caches based on accessibility is not limited to Cache Owners; everyone can help. All geocachers are welcome to contribute their input at handicaching.com. Thank you for your efforts to make geocaching more accessible for all!

Via Latitude 47

Prepare for your first geocaching adventure with two new easy to understand videos from Geocaching.com. Discover the tips and tricks of selecting and finding your first geocache. You’ll learn the best type of cache to select, what to bring and even tips on where to look. It’s all to give you the greatest chance for success in your inaugural GPS-enabled treasure hunt.

Start by watching: Selecting Your First Geocache

Next watch: Finding Your First Geocache

Veteran geocachers can share these videos with your newbie friends to help them log their first smiley. Find these videos and dozens more  here.

Via Latitude 47

It is hard to say exactly what makes geocaching so addictive. Is it the fresh air? The exercise? The amazing places this activity has taken you? It’s most likely all of the above and more. We’re willing to bet that one of the many reasons you love geocaching is that each geocache you find feels like a small victory; you had to meet and overcome a challenge in order to find that cache.

The challenge for you might be in solving a puzzle to determine the coordinates for a Mystery/Puzzle Cache, surviving the journey to the cache location, discovering the cache, and/or figuring out how to retrieve the logbook from a tricky cache container. Cache owners spend a lot of time and energy designing these experiences. You can help preserve them for others by keeping information that might spoil such moments private. This could include videos of a cache find or the answers to Question and Answer stages of a Multi-Cache.

If you would like to contact a cache owner to request permission to post spoilers publicly, you can email them through Geocaching.com. Thank you for helping to ensure that the experience at each cache you’ve found remains just as it was for you!

Via LATITUDE 47

The Geocaching Shop A rather unique new cache container, I can see El_Nimrod plastering PEI with these things

I’m looking to pick up a few of these next time I make an order, if anybody is interested let me know!

An adaptation to the world famous Joani designed custom made nano cache. Perfect for your local urban Geocaching experience. A built in magnet makes it easy to hide these cache containers in various settings.

Now with built in speaker and heat sensitive chip. Are you sick of spending hours trying to find these tiny magnetic geocache containers? Well we’ve decided enough is enough, these little critters are spoiling our fun so we’ve manufactured these genius nano containers.

Built into the base is a heat sensitive chip so if a fellow geocacher is within 500 yards their body heat will be detected and trigger the audible device to send out a high pitch tone through the speaker on the base. The geocacher can then easily follow the sound directly to the find and move quickly onto the next cache.

Extra log included as well as a gasket to water proof the container as normal.