Mickey4jes

Thank you Keystone. That’s very helpful. I noticed that the test applied to a new basic user account that I created but not to my old basic account. Will this test continue for new basic accounts for the next few weeks? I have a lot of upcoming geocaching workshops in the next 2 months and this has significantly impacted what geocaches are available in tourist areas of San Francisco since we can’t make geocaches too easy or they’ll be muggled! It was delightful to see that easy 1 and 1.5 difficulty multicaches and virtuals are visible to basic members. Is that part of the same test or a new thing? I am working on hiding new 1.5 or less geocaches so there’s something for basic members to find nearby and knowing whether the easy multi visibility is staying or just a test will influence what I hide!

Hello! I'm running into this issue again with newbies not being able to see caches that are harder than 1.5 difficulty in the app. Is this a permanent change or a test?

Thank you for the speedy response @Moun10Bike. I will continue to troubleshoot this by asking my attendees to create a second geocaching account for my workshops in the next 2 weeks if this occurs during my workshops. That was the hack that worked on Saturday. That 4.5/3 earthcache was visible on Saturday.

Hello! I lead weekly intro to geocaching workshops to bring newbies geocaching for the first time. Over the past 2 weekends I've ran into issues where several geocaches (2/2 and under) that appear on the map as green for every other basic member, appear as grey for 3 different basic members. The other 77 newbie basic members I have brought geocaching for the first time this summer did not experience this. This is not a basic vs premium member issue, but an issue/bug with only some new basic accounts. They all have the latest version of the app since they downloaded the app in the past week for the first time. It makes it difficult to take groups of newbies geocaching together when not everyone can see the same available geocaches. Newbies that can't use their phone to read or search for the same caches look checked out and are less engaged in the workshop. The only thing I can isolate is that these geocaches are perhaps 2 star difficulty geocaches. I don't know how to troubleshoot this in my small groups of newbies besides having them sign up for a second geocaching account and hope that the new account fixes the problem. I have attached side by side images of the difference. The left image is what has occurred for 77 newbies since June. The right image is what is occurring for 3 basic members compared to the 77 basic members who see the map on the left. The problem started occurring for basic members last weekend and this weekend. Notice the difference in cache availability between these two basic accounts on the right side of the park in the center (Golden Gate Park). At the same time, the geocaching accounts that see less traditional caches than the other 77 basic members have virtuals and earthcaches visible to them. (See the ghost icons in the upper park (the Presidio National Park)) The example caches in this situation are: GC8J81F- 2/1.5 GC8E4N2- 2/1.5 GC82KTJ- 2/2 GC64EYR- 2/1.5 They are all 2 star difficulty, with 1.5 or 2 terrain. The virtuals and earthcaches that become visible to 3 of the 80 basic members are: GCJAVD- 1/1 GC3BPP5 4.5/3 GC2Q97N 2/2 As I will be continuing my weekly intro to geocaching workshops over the next few months and introducing dozens of newbies to geocaching, I would love to know how to troubleshoot this during my upcoming weekly geocaching workshops to ensure that my future newbies have a wonderful first experience!

Have you ever attended a geocaching event that was so much fun that it's the event you always tell stories about or you gets you super excited about attending future events by that geocacher? What are the characteristics of an unforgettable geocaching event?

Today while logging into the new iPhone App, and clicking on "Connect with Facebook" it redirects to opening the Geocaching Classic (old retired) app. I click "Connect with Facebook" then "Log in with the Facebook app" Open in Facebook Open Then it says "You previously logged in to Geocaching.com with Facebook. Would you like to continue?" I click Continue and then it takes me into the Geocaching Classic app with a "This app has been retired" message. I closed the app and retried this 3 times and it still does this. Just a heads up to maybe check the Facebook login credentials! I have an iPhone SE on AT&T with iOS 10.3.2

Hi there! I really love letterbox hybrids and while I know the minimum requirement is simply including a stamp inside of the cache, oftentimes we see letterbox hybrid geocaches that incorporate letterbox like clues like the Vampire Empire letterbox hybrid cache, the Looping Art Tour hybrid cache and the Lands End Labyrinth letterbox hybrid geocache. I'd appreciate the option as a cache owner to add a field puzzle attribute to my letterbox hybrid geocaches when they incorporate clues at the location!

I can't add a field puzzle attribute to a letterbox hybrid cache. Also, the user can't change the coordinates in the website if the coordinates for a letterbox hybrid or a Wherigo. I think several letterbox hybrid caches use field puzzle type clues like a letterbox would (but not all do! Some just have a stamp), so I find it strange that this attribute isn't available. I have a lot of people making guesses on my letterbox hybrid cache instead of going to the location and would like the attribute to make it clear that you need to go to the icon to gather the clues. Plus my container is a puzzle box! I don't think this was always the case, as http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC3MVRT_the-palace has a field puzzle icon.

I was happy to see that there was a Wherigo app update for iPhone today!!

It was confusing logging a cache today. I had no idea what I was supposed to do in the date field. I'd love it if it would suggest today's date.

Yay! Thanks for the scale!

So I had this idea for a Wherigo related flash mob. The idea would involve having a bunch of geocachers in a large empty space start a Play Anywhere Wherigo at the same time like Whack-A-Lackey. My friends always want to have a dance geocaching flash mob, but for some reason, I don't really envision a routine involving practice working out well for geocaching. I kinda think a Wherigo might have that same effect with some GPS flair. With there being hacked smartphone apps for Wherigos, this would be fairly accessible to many people, right? Fun or bumper-geocachers?

If other Etrex H users are looking for an inexpensive data cable, there are USB data cables for them on eBay for less than $20. Check out http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310177554040&rvr_id=&crlp=1_263602_263622&UA=WVS%3F&GUID=0c25219b1240a026539368e3fe95f70d&itemid=310177554040&ff4=263602_263622#shId I used this cable with 5 different eTrex H units and it worked fine. Much better than having to buy the serial cable plus a USB converter. If only it would work with my old Garmin Geko.

I love this new feature! I can now close several tabs in my browser that I have open. I really appreciate that it's at the top & easy to find, since I rarely go back to look at caches I've logged recently besides browsing to see if caches I've logged DNFs and Needs Maintenance on recently have been disabled. Thank you! Will there be a feature in the mobile app that has this information as well, so that when we're out and about, we can see which caches we were looking at while at our home computer & vice versa? That would be really helpful.

I have heard really good things from friends regarding the Magellan ToughCase for iPhones. http://www.magellangps.com/lp/toughcase/index.html It improves the accuracy of the GPS on your iPhone as well as making it waterproof. I really like your idea of retracing the steps of George Washington. That's a really fun idea!

Hi there! I started a geocaching club at Indiana University 2 years ago. We started as a very informal group but eventually we got leaders, a website, bank account, and 6 club GPS units. We've had ALOT of success recruiting people, promoting geocaching, partnering with other organizations in town, and having some really fun events. You can see a bit more at http://www.indiana.edu/~geocache and http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5543223221 We have every previous event listed on our website. Plus all of our student leaders have used examples of what we've done for event planning, project management, grantwriting, etc in job interviews and our employers LOVED our examples. We were hired for internships & full-time work because of geocaching club! [] I've put together a Facebook group where we're trying to gather student leaders of geocaching clubs at colleges and people who want to form groups, so we can share ideas. You should join it at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_162493020482845 At this point, I know there's less than a dozen geocaching clubs at universities. The other really active one is Kansas State's club. http://www.k-state.edu/geocaching/ It appears that most of the other groups at colleges have less than 5 people in them and go out occasionally. Florida is a LONG distance from here, but we would love to collaborate and share ideas amongst our clubs. We could probably setup a Skype call with some of our officers if you'd like. It took me quite some time to get a group going. 2 years of unsuccess led to be starting a city organization, the Bloomington Geocachers, and sending a message on Geocaching.com to every single account that logged a cache in the area about joining our e-mail list on Google Groups and some of the cool things we could do. After we started having monthly community events, I was able to find about 1-3 students amongst them and from there, we made our group happen this past schoolyear. It's also helpful when we hold campus events to have some community members participate too, since they have GPS units and students new to geocaching do not. We also applied for a grant through our student government to purchase 6 GPS kits that we have stored at our campus library. Any student on campus can check them out with their library card. And if they damage anything, the library has the ability to charge the student (which they have to pay library fees, or they don't get their grades, able to register for classes, etc). We had to make a match, but we were able to do that through asking for donations from our campus's GIS community, the local geocaching community, talking to campus departments, as well as hosting a few geocaching events at GIS conferences to introduce new people to geocaching. (we collected donations and the conference donated money to us. The GPS kits have REALLY helped us get new people started geocaching. After checking out a GPS unit about 5-15 times, they usually end up purchasing their own. Seriously though, it takes alot of promotion opportunities to get students geocaching. As I'm sure you might have noticed by attending a geocaching event, there simply aren't that many people in their twenties that geocache, let alone even know what it is. Only 4-6 of the people on our 100+ person e-mail list had geocached before we started the club. So don't really count on finding existing geocachers (although there could be a handful.) Also make sure to place some caches in the area with mentions that the cache was placed by a YOURCOLLEGENAME Geocaching Club member and provide a link to a website, blog, Facebook group, etc... Even having a cache that is called the "YOURCOLLEGENAME Geocaching Club cache" would help if there are students in the area that cache. We also have a Microsoft Publisher file of our display board that we could share with you, so you could use that for promotional events like your campus's student involvement fair. But again, we're a little hardcore at IU. We have 275 people on our e-mail list and 25 active cachers. But you could be as simple as just having a group that people get together once a month to go caching together. Good luck on your new club!!! Let me know if you have any questions or need any help!

Looks like it's just not in the cards this year; we're just not going to find someone this close to the day of the event. Last minute airfare is just too pricey and it would be stupid to attempt to drive the distance with only 2 people. I'm sad that I won't get to swap ideas with leaders of other geocaching groups. Thanks to everyone who sent me a "good luck" message and I hope everyone enjoys GeoWoodstock!

Looks like it's just not in the cards this year; we're just not going to find someone this close to the day of the event. Last minute airfare is just too pricey and it would be stupid to attempt to drive the distance with only 2 people. I'm sad that I won't get to swap ideas with leaders of other geocaching groups. Thanks to everyone who sent me a "good luck" message and I hope everyone enjoys GeoWoodstock!

Thanks Jennifer&Dean. We've posted on our local forums, on GW forums, on FB, here, invited nongeocaching friends and family, and contacted nearly every geocacher we know. We're hoping for some luck that someone will read it before they leave and might be able to include us.

I think you need to take a look at a map. The plaque is near Portland. You want to take I-84 out of Salt Lake City. I-80 to SLC fine. If you stay on I-80 you will end up in San Francisco, far to south. Out of Portland you will be taking I-5 north. Lots of nice caching along I-84 and the Gorge is very beautiful, nothing like Indiana. Edit: If you decide to skip the plaque then I would still take I-80 to SLC and I-84/I15 north out of SLC and head through Idaho on I-84. Once you get to Ordinance on I-84 take I-82/US395 up to I-90 and then on into Seattle. All very nice country and nothing like Indiana. I think I-70 through Colorado and Utah is prettier, but I-80 is more direct. JHolly, sorry for the confusion. We do know that Stash plaque would be on I-84. I simply defined our 2 routes after the major roads that we spend the most time on. On that route, we have to take I-71 to I-72 to 800 miles of being on I-80, then get on I-84 and onward. Much easier than saying the full route. Basically we'd need to find someone to combine with us while we were still on I-80 to make it work as then we'd have less than 24 hours of having only 2 people switching behind the wheel.

Hello! Ivan and I (Jessica) are two twentysomething college students who were planning to roadtrip to GeoWoodstock from June 30-July 6 from Bloomington, Indiana. Unfortunately our other two friends who were supposed to drive with us had some bad situations come up that are preventing them from going with us. At this point, we would really like to attend, but we're unsure that it's a good idea for 2 people to be doing a 36 hour roadtrip there and 36 hour roadtrip back on very little sleep. (Flights weren't in our budget unfortunately) We were hoping that there might be some other folks that are attending that are A. West of us along the I-80 (Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington) or I-90 route (Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington) and we could drive to them and then share a ride, driving, gas costs, etc... B. East of us and could share a ride from here in your vehicle or ours. Again, we're willing to help drive and share gas costs, etc. Even if you were in a western state, or halfway through our trip, we'd be able to make it work, since we'd have less time with only two of us trading driving. We're both very addicted to geocaching and would be game for any plan that you might have already made. We've done several geocaching roadtrips in the past so we've got the stamina and willingness to find a gazillion caches or only a few, depending on what your plan is. We initially had planned to visit the Ape Cache, Original Stash plaque (It's on the I-80 route there), GeoWoodstock and the 4th of July event that Groundspeak is hosting in downtown Seattle. We know that 99% of geocachers are super nice and awesome people so we're very willing to carpool with others that we don't know. We're both nice, polite and enthusiastic individuals that would make a great addition to any roadtrip to GeoWoodstock you might have already planned. Don't worry, we already have our hotel planned. (Or if you hadn't planned on coming until now, we would take you with us. We budgeted $250 each if there's 4 of us and $300 if there's 3 of us. That includes gas, hotel, a few meals, but we're hoping to pack food for most of the time) Even if we could find someone east of us who could help us get there... there appears to be several $100 flights we could take back. Please let us know if you think we could make something work. Send a message via my profile at http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=e1...c1-5e34b4344b6d I'll e-mail you back quickly or give you a call and we can get something arranged really fast! Thanks Geocachers! Jess

Hi there! Congrats on your new club! I'm the president of the Geocaching Club at Indiana University and we've had ALOT of success recruiting people, promoting geocaching, partnering with other organizations in town, and having some really fun events. You can see a bit more at http://www.indiana.edu/~geocache and http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5543223221&ref=ts At this point, I know there's less than a dozen geocaching clubs at universities. The other really active one is Kansas State's club. http://www.k-state.edu/geocaching/ Arizona is a LONG distance from here, but we were hoping it might be possible to collaborate and share ideas amongst our clubs. We could probably setup a Skype call with some of our officers if you'd like. It took me quite some time to get a group going. 2 years of unsuccess led to be starting a city organization, the Bloomington Geocachers, and sending a message on Geocaching.com to every single account that logged a cache in the area about joining our e-mail list on Google Groups and some of the cool things we could do. After we started having monthly community events, I was able to find about 1-3 students amongst them and from there, we made our group happen this past schoolyear. It's also helpful when we hold campus events to have some community members participate too, since they have GPS units and students new to geocaching do not. We also applied for a grant through our student government to purchase 6 GPS kits that we have stored at our campus library. Any student on campus can check them out with their library card. And if they damage anything, the library has the ability to charge the student (which they have to pay library fees, or they don't get their grades, able to register for classes, etc). We had to make a match, but we were able to do that through asking for donations from our campus's GIS community, the local geocaching community, talking to campus departments, as well as hosting a few geocaching events at GIS conferences to introduce new people to geocaching. (we collected donations and the conference donated money to us. The GPS kits have REALLY helped us get new people started geocaching. After checking out a GPS unit about 5-15 times, they usually end up purchasing their own. Seriously though, it takes alot of promotion opportunities to get students geocaching. As I'm sure you might have noticed by attending a geocaching event, there simply aren't that many people in their twenties that geocache, let alone even know what it is. Only 4-6 of the people on our 100+ person e-mail list had geocached before we started the club. So don't really count on finding existing geocachers (although there could be a handful.) Also make sure to place some caches in the area with mentions that the cache was placed by a U of A Geocaching Club member and provide a link to a website, blog, Facebook group, etc... Even having a cache that is called the "U of A Geocaching Club cache" would help if there are students in the area that cache. We also have a Microsoft Publisher file of our display board that we could share with you, so you could use that for promotional events like your campus's student involvement fair. Good luck on your new club!!!

Is it anticipated that there will be more builds of Wherigo?

What are some towns/cities that have a large number of caches in a condensed space? Or just alot of really clever caches? I'm planning a geocaching marathon with some friends for the spring and we're looking for a really cool destination that's not too far away from us in Indiana.

You're a little far away, but we have a geocaching group at IU: IU Geocaching Club that's for college students. I also find it hard to find geocachers in their 20s. Plenty of kids or 30+ geocachers, but geocachers in their 20s are in hiding. You're welcome to join our group for events if you're willing to do the drive or we drive towards you!