Welcome 2013

What Will Be Your Last Cashe of 2012

I am watching a few cachers to see what their last cache will be for 2012.  Let me show you a few of what I have found.

From Landgoed Slangenburg - Netherland
Here's some pics from  Globalcaching Geocaching

Should I call this an actually cache or just an event?  No matter, it is worth posting.  What a lot of fun this looked like.  It is in Arizona, and I live in Arizona - guess it is on my 'to do list' for next year.

This is BeerCache 2012  -  GC4234H 

photo from this year

and here is one from last year- just proves this great turn out is not a one time thing.

This is the latest photo of Fido Downs that I have; taken just last week.  Here is what she and the little boy will be doing as their last cache.  I know that this event is close, but so is she to delivering.  Let's just see if she makes it. 

Day 366 of the Year 2012  -  GC421RA

The Gregorian calendar, which now serves as the standard calendar for civil use throughout the world, has both common years and leap years. A common year has 365 days and a leap year 366 days, with the extra, or intercalary, day designated as February 29. A leap year occurs every four years to help synchronize the calendar year with the solar year, or the length of time it takes the earth to complete its orbit about the sun, which is about 365¼ days.

The length of the solar year, however, is slightly less than 365¼ days—by about 11 minutes. To compensate for this discrepancy, the leap year is omitted three times every four hundred years.

In other words, a century year cannot be a leap year unless it is divisible by 400. Thus 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, but 1600, 2000, and 2400 are leap years.

How can you go wrong with caching on Beer Hill?  That is where Russell Corfman plans his final cache of 2012. 

Beer Hill  -  GC3ATFQ  -   

about the cache -

The terrain rating is based if you don't have a vehicle that can drive up the hill. Could be a little rocky to get up there.
This cache (and others) was put here for the "SKP Rally in Q" Event on 1/31/2012 (GC39VNE). Besides finding these caches, join us at this event for a fun-filled day.

While out in the desert looking for caches, I came upon this hill that seemed ripe for a cache.

Be aware of critters that live in the area, be prepared, especially in the summer, with lots of water and tell someone where you are going.
You can get to this hill from the Power Line Road, which is hard-packed and most vehicles can manage. Then there are dirt roads to the hill, but may be sandy and more difficult to manage.
After that, enjoy and have lots of fun!

I hate to say that I have a favorite cacher.  It is almost as bad as saying you favor one child more than another.  But - this guy really is neat and really is my favorite.  Olivier Rouet, aka Warcat, is one amazing cacher and voted Cacher of the Year in France.  Why is he my fav?  He does extreme caches.  I mean really extreme.  I have done stories about him in the past and there will be many more, and you should check him out for yourself.

From what I can see, Kleine Schatzkiste ! - GC2N3WR, was his most recent cache, on  12-12-2012. 

I asked how many finds he has and his response was, "Only 6002, but only the best." Let me show you a couple of pics from other recent caches.

 

and this is how he is departing from 2012 and welcoming 2013

 

Back to my own back yard -

Kitty Tattersall says that her last cache was Buteos Booty at Catalina State Park.  I have found that it was a CITO event but I haven't found any info at this point.  
 

 Well, where I am, it is nearing the end of the day and the end of the year so I will go from this post to 'What is your first cache of 2013'. Check it out soon.

 

Merry Christmas to All

Now, this is my kind of Santa. 
See you one the beach big boy!

Merry Christmas to all my fellow cachers !

Happy Christmas Eve

Happy Christmas Eve everyone.
This is how I would like to be preparing for the big day. 

and after too.

Fun Event on Doomsday (not)

This is a great little story from Andean Trekker about how he spent his 'end of the world' day.  And also - how this is a very big beginning for his family also.

The Mayan Apocalypse and Geocachers - 21 December 2012

Mayan Calendar Geocoin

Geocachers braving the cold at the Cline Observatory

For months we've been hearing all the hype about the end of the world coming on 21 December 2012. According to the news there were a number of folks who really believe that the end was really coming.  We heard about folks in Russia paying big bucks to sleep the day away in a bunker. Others spent lots of money to go to some village in France that was supposed to be one of the few places that was to survive the destruction. A few others were reported to have sold off everything and partied as thought there would be no tomorrow. The distorted version was that the Mayan calendar predicted this date as the end. In fact the Mayan calendar simply resets, starts over or cycles again on 21 December 2012. With all the hype a group of local geocachers thought it would be fun to get together the night of the 21st to take a look at the skies over the northern hemisphere at the Cline Observatory at Guilford Technical Community College. After all, if there was some kind of super special alignment of the planets wouldn't an observatory with its high powered telescope help us see it?  A local geocacher named markcase (also a science teacher at a local high school) organize the event.

About 7 p.m. sumajhuarmi and I made it to the assigned coordinates. We were some of the last ones to arrive. Having obeyed the instructions included on the cache page we were ready for the cold. We had the layers on. I in my long trench coat and Peruvian chullo (knitted tobagan). Upon arrival we signed the log for It's the End of the World! (GC41MQ9) and were quickly escorted onto the telescope platform. Prof Tom English and an assistant controlled the computer that slewed the telescope into position. We took a look at several stars, star clusters, Jupiter and four of its moons as well as our own moon. The images were spectacular. We had to wait for patches of clouds to dissipate but that just gave us an opportunity to visit more.

It was a cold and blustery night but a great time for a get-together and celebrate the fact that the world wasn't going to end this way. Remember Y2K and all the fears that generated?  Jesus himself said that only the Father knows. We need not fear the prophecies of those who regularly predict the end of the world or the second coming on a specific date. They simply don't know what they are saying.

We wrapped up this educational experience with a group photo and some cookies thanks to the thoughtfulness of sumajhuarmi. We thanked the staff of the college and markcase for organizing the even. It's great to be back in the USA and have the opportunity to get to know local geocachers through events like this. Later in the evening our youngest daughter contacted us from Mexico where she was with her boyfriend to meet his family. They had taken a balloon ride over the Aztec pyramids near Mexico City where he arranged a romantic marriage proposal. She said "yes"! Instead of the "end", 21 December 2012 is a beginning" for our family!

Santa the Cacher

 Almost Christmas Day - who will be caching before eating on that day?

Yuma Event # 10 Is A Mega Event

Here is the latest on the Yuma Event #10.   Officially a MEGA event.  This will be the first Mega event in Arizona. 
Here's a bit of what is posted on the Official Event Page -

The SouthWest Arizona Geocacher's (S*W*A*G) 10th annual Yuma Geocaching MEGA Event will be held on the weekend of February 8th to 10th, 2013. The main MEGA Event will be held at Gateway Park in Historical Old Town Yuma on Sunday, Feb. 10th. Other Satellite Events will be held on Friday and Saturday at various locations around Yuma. We intend to make Yuma MEGA Event #10, a truly Event to remember !!!! 

We now have over 500 registered attendees on the website tally board, located on the "Latest News" page. This is one Event you don't want to miss.... It will be the first MEGA Event ever held in Arizona... be part of history, and of course, take part in all the fun. If you haven't signed up for the Event yet, please go to "Registration" , and register. Also, please record your "Will Attend" on the cache page (GC3NGQQ) at geocaching.com by clicking HERE. You can help us by passing on the word to other geocachers, to make the Event the biggest and the best in Arizona.  If you are not sure whether you are registered ... CLICK HERE ...to check the latest Attendee List. 

We have the greatest Geocachers and geocaches in the world, around the Yuma area..... so why not host the greatest Geocaching Event in Arizona ?? Plan now to join us, and enjoy meeting fellow Geocachers from all over the world, the wonderful food, the good fun, and best of all ... the great geocaching !!! ....Come early and enjoy all the fun in the sun.

Very soon, we will be posting news of all the other satellite Events and planned festivities for the Yuma MEGA Event #10. Bookmark this page and check back often, plan early to attend, and spread the word, help us make Yuma MEGA Event #10 the biggest and best yet !!! 

  The exclusive, newly minted, Yuma MEGA Event Geocoin is now available at "THE STORE" .... check it out !!!

Make sure that you continue to check out their site for updates and I will do the same. 

AND check out the Yuma Mega Event coin available. It's beautiful.