There's a New Cache in town - Part 2

Chickadee Hangout is the name of the new Micro cache we've placed along the Edmonton river valley.

The terrain is somewhat challenging at this location, but the scenery is spectacular (especially during a very heavy snowfall!)

You're bound to run into these feathered friends while approaching the cache. I can't take credit for the awesome photo here, that belongs to Roger Eriksson.


Source: Chickadee Hangout, GeoCaching.com
Technorati Tags: GeoCaching, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Chickadee, River, Valley, Snow, Micro, Microcache

Premium v.s. Basic?

A question was posed over at the GeoCaching Alberta MSN Group last night. Part of the post caught my attention and prompted a reply ;-)

I woul just like to kown if you have 100 plus find why you are not willing to pay for a premium member ship. After 50 to 100 finds I think you would know if you like it or not. So give me reasons not to support geocaching.com. I would like to know..

Well, Testy and I have discussed this in the past, so I was comfortable with our (longer than usual) response. I won't excerpt it all here, but my key point was:

...and I think the premise of the question is flawed. Simply by playing the game, placing caches, participating in discussions like this one, encouraging others at Meetup.com or events, and posting to GeoCaching blogs...participants in GeoCaching *are* supporting GeoCaching.com...by adding value to the GeoCaching community. That value is what makes GeoCaching playable - the quantity and quality of it's participants. And I bet the business model that Groundspeak/GeoCaching.com is using *depends* on a very high level of community involvement - at the basic level.

This should get some discussion going...

Source: GeoCaching-Alberta MSN Group
Technorati Tags: GeoCaching, Alberta, Premium, Basic, Membership, Cost, Fee

Everything old is new again...

I'm told that GeoCaching.com has re-introduced a previously-suspended cache type -- the EarthCache.

So, what's all the fuss? Well, this type of cache aligns with one of the reasons many of us use to help convince non-cachers of the credibility of our activity...it's educational:

Earthcaches are developed by geocachers, geologist, paleontologist, or people that have an interesting and unique earth feature near them and would like to share it with the world. All you need to get started is a GPS receiver and a good idea.

To develop your own Earthcache and share it’s educational value with others, follow the simple Earthcache guidelines and submit the GSA Earthcache Submittal Form for review and approval. Once your site had met the guidelines and is approved by GSA, you can view comments by people who have visited your Earthcache and benefited from it.

Curioiusly, EarthCaches are NOT listed on GeoCaching.com's Cache Type page...though if you do a keyword search you can pull up a listing.

Special criteria are used to evaluate EarthCache submissions:

Because of the nature of Earthcaches, they go through a special approval process in where the language and appropriateness of the cache are tested by the Earthcache team. The Team uses a set of guidelines as well as their own earth science experience to ensure that the quality of Earthcaches is maintained. The Earthcache team is also expanding to make sure that caches in languages other than English are not excluded from the project.

EarthCache.org's cache listing page shows fewer caches...but has more detail as to the creation and approval of qualifying caches. After parusing the list, it appears that some of these would be quite challenging...and fun!

Source: EarthCache.org, Today's Cacher Article
Technorati Tags: GeoCaching, Outdoor, Education, EarthCache, Adventure

Weekend GeoCaching Blowout!!!

What a wunnerful weekend for GeoCaching in the Great White North.

First up, was the afore-pictured GeoCaching get-together. Officially called the Hot Dog Cache (see below) - it was a great gathering of GeoCachers from the Alberta capital region - though some Calgary folk (pictured) managed to make the 300+km trek north to enjoy the festivities (and we enjoyed their company too!).

For this special event, a new birthday-themed cache was placed ~350 metres from ground zero -- and our CowTown guests garnered the FTF! Well done!

Door Prizes, Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate (nice!), Hot Dogs (double-fine!) and Hot Comaradarie were the order of the day - especially when the day was a very blustery +3C.

I know we (Brat&Testy) enjoyed the company, as well as meeting some new (to us) Edmonton area GeoCachers...and it appears that the 20+ attendees had a good time as well. It sure inspired us to go do more caching...we bagged three more today ;-)

As for the Hot Dog Cache...check out the photos below!


Source: Hot Dog Cache, Happy Birthday ..., Photos on Flickr
Technorati Tags: GeoCaching, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Event, Fun, Party, Hotdog, Hot, Dog, BBQ

GeoCaching Article in this month's Canadian Geographic

This month's issue has a rather good introductory article on GeoCaching - titled "Geocaching in the Eastern Townships". The article deals with a newbies pursuit of the ubiquitous tupperware container. A pretty good read - Canadian Geographic also has an online site where an excerpt is posted, along with some Geocaching links.

Source: Canadian Geographic
Technorati Tags: GeoCaching, Canada, Quebec, How-to, Introduction, Magazine, Article