tomfuller & Quill

One thing that never leaves my caching bag is my Suunto compass. It saved my life in 2006 when I was in a steep canyon and could only receive 2 and sometimes 3 satellites on the GPS. I called home at 10 PM when I got back to a cell phone reception area.

I've done online research many times on other peoples Earth Caches to make sure that i answered them correctly. If there is no sign with the answers to the questions, I try to answer the questions to the best of my ability. I do expect people who want to log any of my Earth Caches to at least visit the site and note their observations. I don't require photos or online research even though it may help you get the right answer the first time. Knowing what a kipuka is or knowing basalt from other types of volcanic rock is helpful. At another of my EC's I have a brick sized piece of black volcanic glass. A few people know it is obsidian without looking it up. It takes far longer to get to my EC's than the time you would have to spend with online research.

Geoaware doesn't have any problem with the questions that i ask. One of mine is at a leg of a multi that was put in by a geologist. I still have a Puzzle cache out that I placed in 2012 still waiting for a FTF. (New Slope Distance)

As a Platinum Earth Cache Master (3 EC published and EC's logged in 8 states and 1 in Canada) I can say that I can't require you to post a picture but i am more likely to believe you were there if you do post one with you in the picture. One of mine I had to allow a post from someone who i know has never logged a regular cache in the US. Groundspeak made me accept the log because they answered my questions correctly. My Earth Caches do not have signs at them so you do have to do a bit of research to answer questions. If you look at my profile picture I am standing with Quill at Badwater in Death Valley (-282 ft) which is an easy Earth Cache once you get there.

It was found yesterday 3/30/18. The last log shows pictures of it just as i found it last year. While you are there, please log the Earthcache nearby.

I'm one of those rare old birds who used a $5000 4 lb. GPS before geocaching was invented. I never rely on a cell phone signal when I have more than 4 satellites providing signal. I use a Magellan Meridian Color that I bought on Ebay for $75US. I punch in the numbers with the up/down toggle. I do have a laptop so i can log the caches that i find anyplace that has wifi. In the wilds of Canada where there is spotty or no cell coverage, you really need a handheld GPS of some type. Always remember to waypoint your vehicle so you can find your way back to it after you search for a cache out of sight of your vehicle.

We flew to Alaska in 2016 and found our farthest west cache in Denali (Earthcache) and our farthest north about 20 miles north of Fairbanks. In 2017 we visited the 6 states north and east of New York state. Connecticut was my 49th state (+DC). In May 2018 we fly to Maui to get state #50. Next month (February) we attend the events in Yuma and then walk over the border for an event in Los Algodones Mexico.

Several of my puzzle caches use Ed Williams Great Circle calculator to solve for final coordinates. The calculator can also be used to determine if the traverse closes. I tried to copy it here but it would not work. Just google it.

I just sent a message (second message) to a CO (government agency) about a cache that has not been found since July on Maui. I asked if I should report that cache to Groundspeak so that they could archive it. We'll see if they respond to me or just replace or archive the cache on their own.

It must be His farthest north cache (by latitude). The farthest north cache in PA is Peanut Butter and Beaches along the shore of Lake Erie (GC5YGBC). My farthest from home cache find is in coastal Maine a little over 2500 miles.

My 2 Mexico caches were in Los Algodones. I walked across the border. One of the caches was 5 feet from the border.

I recently published a "confluence" cache at the intersection of a line of longitude and a line of latitude "Hager Confluence" (N43 W 121). I did stick in a couple pieces of obsidian for the first finders. My profile pic shows me with Quill at Badwater which is the lowest point in the US (-262 ft).

Considering the fact that Groundspeak is in Seattle and that drones have run into the Space Needle more than once, I'm guessing it isn't going to happen.

So I hid my first geocache less than 30 days after my first cache find (8/31/05). I had found less than 10 when I hid the first cache more than 4 miles from the next nearest cache. I waited TEN YEARS before I put in my geoart (36 caches) centered on my original cache. I have found caches in 43 states and 2 caches each in Canada and Mexico. In late May I am going to the east coast to find caches in 6 states. Hawaii will have to wait until 2018. I visited HQ on 1/4/17 as my 1800th cache.

A couple of months ago a well known armchair cacher from New Jersey logged one of my earthcaches. He tried to claim that he had emailed the answers. I didn't believe that he had ever been to Oregon since he never logged any physical caches here. I deleted his first log and he threatened to report me to Groundspeak. He did send the right answers and Groundspeak told me I had to leave the post. Since then he has logged earthcaches in Checkoslovakia even though his cache finds are in eastern states. I have a physical cache inside this earthcache with a code written under the lid. You don't have to find the regular cache but it helps confirm that you were there and not armchair logging

I do remember one noteworthy cache at the east end of Rt. 66 in Chicago. It was under a green USPS box which the letter carriers took the presorted mailbags out of for delivery. It was at the intersection of Jackson Blvd. and North Michigan Ave. Sometime since I found it, the USPS removed the box and the cache is now attached to something else nearby. I knelt next to the box and tied my shoes while reaching under the box for the cache.

I was first to find on the cache called Automated Railway which is in a railroad car that derailed and rolled more than 200 feet below the tracks.

I have had several correct answers to my puzzle cache NEW slope distance GC3TDR5 but no one has gone for the FTF in the 3.5 years it has been out there on the south side of Mt. Ray. My first puzzle cache A. Spring was found a few times but not since October 2011. I leave them out there since so few caches have a 4.5 difficulty for the guys that are trying to fill in the grid.

There are 800 micros in a power trail along the National Trails Highway (former US 66) east of Ludlow (Team Stevecat). There is a Rt. 66 Amboy TB Toll Booth (GC2N59H) put in by my friend Mcattk that is a regular size cache. Also check out the Amboy Crater Earth Cache GC17CKK . There is a cache at the east end of Rt. 66 at the intersection of Jackson Blvd. and North Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It is a magnetic under a box.

I found caches on 2/29/08 and 2/29/12. Why don't I already have the souvenir? I don't intend to drive over 85 miles each way to get an event souvenir when I've already attended an event on a "Leap Day". I will go out and find a local cache on Monday 2/29/16 just to keep the streak going.

I have a Mystery cache in Oregon called Oregon's Reverse French Manicure. You have to figure out the hint to get the actual coordinates. You might have to use a French -English dictionary if you never took any French classes. The FTF on that one was a former census taker that did know the language and how to solve.

I hid my first cache 6 days after my first cache find. It is still in place after 10 + years. Last summer I put in a piece of geoart (36 caches) with my original cache in the center. If someone hides a bad cache (first or other), it should be noted in the first finder's log.

To get to be a Platinum EC Master, I found Earth Caches in 10 states and got 3 published in Oregon. I don't care when you find them but please come find them when you are near. I found at least 1 cache on 2/29/08 and 2/29/12 so now they want me to attend an event this year for a souvenir? No events are listed for Oregon and I'm not going to CA for it.

One of my favorites in central Oregon involves finding the box with many tool kits in sandwich baggies. You take 1 baggie and it's yours to keep after you sign the log of the cache which is about a quarter mile away. The cache is inside a bird nest box attached to a dead tree. The wooden box has a narrow slot in the front. You have to figure out which of the cheap tools in the baggie will open the box. I did use the pipe cleaner to help put the balloon in place and then blew up the balloon to release the mechanism. I don't remember what other cheap "tools" were in the baggie (maybe a band-aid?). A magnet and a multi-tool are among my standard TOTT.

There is a monthly Geo Breakfast in Frederick. June is GC5RBV5. Geo Woodstock is in Maryland later this month.