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The Navigatorz

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  1. The idea of the geocoin giveaway is to draw attendees to the potluck event on May 26. There is a possibility that geocoins will be given to those who find the caches after the event, but there is a limited supply.
  2. Last year, three utilities that operate dams on the Columbia River in central WA, create a geocache challenge. The goal of the challenge is to find three caches at Rocky Reach dam, Chief Joseph dam, and Grand Coulee dam. Prizes were given at each location for finding the caches, and a final prize (a D3 Geocache Challenge patch) was given after finding all caches at each of the three dams. The idea was to bring visitors to the hydroelectric sites for some family fun, but also as an educational experience. The idea won an Outstanding Stewards of America’s Waters Award (OSAW) for Public Education. Click here Article to read the news article and to find out how to participate. This year, Rocky Reach is giving geocoins to geocachers who find the three caches hidden last year, and a bonus cache being hidden this year. There is a geocaching (potluck) event at Rocky Reach dam on Sunday, May 26. Rocky Reach Meet & Greet Potluck event Please come to hear about the geocache challenge at the dams (more dams on the Columbia are participating this year).
  3. Only the gathering today at Chief Joseph Dam is a one-day event. The geocaches at the dams (and the assoictaed challenge) will remain indefinitely. The geocaches at the dams are like any other geocache, in that they can be found in whole or in part. Just sign the log and post your find on geocaching.com like you would any other cache. Doing the challenge is an option. The challenge is to go to the three dams (Rocky Reach, Chief Joseph, and Grand Coulee), gather information at the geocaches, turn in your answers at the Visitor Center, and if correct, you will get a stamp in your passport (provided at the visitor centers). Get all three stamps on your passport (one for each dam), and win a Three Dam Geocachge Challenge Patch. This will all be explained at today's kickoff event, but no worries if you can't attend today's event. Just ask one of the attendants at the visitor centers (or the park ranger at Chief Joseph) and he/she will explain the instructions or answer questions.
  4. Three dams on the Columbia River in Central Washington are adding a new activity for visitors to participate in, and that activity is Geocaching!! The participating dams are: Rocky Reach dam near Wenatchee, Chief Joseph dam near Bridgeport, and Grand Coulee dam at Grand Coulee, WA. New geocaches will be hidden on their grounds, and they will be activated on May 27, the day of an Event held at Chief Joseph dam (click link below to see the Event page). At the Event, representatives from the three dams will explain a Three Dam Geocache (D3) Challenge. The agencies involved (Chelan County PUD, The Army Corps of Engineers, and The Bureau of Reclamation) are promoting geocaching so lets show them our appreciation by attending the Event. GPS units will be available for non-geocachers to borrow. Here is the Event web page. They are hoping for a large turnout, so please come to the Event and bring your family and friends. Three Dam Geocache Challenge
  5. Congratulations to MAX-X on finding a TON of caches..... 2000. This was the milestone cache Watch Your Back
  6. Look at all of the cachers trying to be FTF.
  7. Hiked to Alpine lookout on Nason Ridge yesterday. This Mountain Goat was curious and trotted by me no more than 50 feet away.
  8. One final tweak for rule number 6) Hikes for the purpose of hiding NEW caches qualify if the cache gets published, but hikes to your own existing hides will not be counted. NOTE: For this challenge, only ONE NEW HIDE allowed per participant. It seems that after modifying the original rule (after repeated requests to do so) to allow new hikes, it may have satisfied some (names withheld), but it ended up disappointing others who have asked that the rule get changed back (names withheld). The reason for originally not allowing new hides was to avoid the convenience hides (sometimes called NRV hides), which are thought of as an easy way to increase one's total count. However, it made sense that one most likely wouldn't hike 5+ miles to toss out a convenience cache. Anyway, there are good arguments both ways. Hopefully this last rule mod will be a happy medium by allowing hides, but limiting them to one per participant. The phrase "You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time" is true. PS. Future requests for rule changes will be ignored. []
  9. At the request of others, Rule #6 has been modified. "Hikes for the purpose of hiding NEW caches qualify and will be counted if the cache gets published, but hikes to your own existing hides will not be counted". So if any of you have a new cache that was hidden on or after July 8, and the hike distance/elevation qualifies for the challenge, please post the information for credit.
  10. I think he is giving the star rating based on the difficulty of the final cache for this challenge. The individual caches required for this challenge have each been given their own star rating. So your difficulty will vary depending on which caches you seek for the 100 mile requirement. I've seen challenge cache owners give star ratings both ways--the way that you describe and the Navigatorz way. I don't think there is an incorrect way of rating these challenges. It's just up to the cache owner how he wants to rate them. Thank you GrnXnham. The rating is for the final cache. All of the individual caches have their own difficulty/terrain rating, so I figured when looking for the final, one would want to know the difficulty/terrain rating for it.
  11. Been there since day 1. Still sounds like a great idea for a new challenge though.
  12. Great, you're signed up. If you did any qualifying hikes since the challenge start date of July 8, let me know the hike info and I will update your stats. No doubt mountain biking is just as strenuous as hiking (maybe more in some cases) but I wanted this to be a hike only cache (see 2nd paragraph after rule #7 on cache page). Sounds like a great idea for a new challenge though....right up you're alley Moun10Bike. Perhaps the mileage goal would need to be increased however. By the way, I saw your trip report for Plains of Abraham at EveryTrail.com. Looked like a great ride. Nice pics.
  13. Sorry but this challenge is about accumulating hiking distances to Geocaches, not to destinations beyond. You can hike as far as you wish after finding the cache, but the additional miles hiked beyond the cache will not count for this challenge.
  14. As far as I know WA is the first and only state so far with a 100 mike hike challenge.
  15. Exceeding 500 feet during the hike qualifies the hike for the challenge. The trailhead and cache could be at the same elevation but if during the hike the trail gains 500 feet plus, it meets the criteria. In your example, the elev gain would be 4500 feet.
  16. It's difficult to interpret the written text sometimes. Without the smilies, or some indication that you were joking etc, it came across at face value and I saw it as an insult to those who choose to go with the modified rule. Apology accepted.
  17. That didn't help, and neither did the private email you sent me. You basically attacked those who choose to finish the challenge under the modified rule by calling them wimps. And you reinforced it by saying, "That's really a shame". I think an apology would work better.
  18. ??? Huh? For some reason that didn't strike me as very appropriate. I hope you are kidding. There are various reasons for some, one of them being economics, another work schedule, and so forth. Lookout destinations in one area of the state are just as challenging as those in other areas of the state. So if one decides to find all 50 in his/her own corner of the state, and not have to drive to all other sections of the state, that's totally fine, and that doesn't make them a wimp. Good grief.
  19. Several have requested a modification to the Challenge rules regarding the Area requirement. Some have said they would participate (or complete) this challenge, if they were not required to travel to all of the 9 areas. I decided to grant that wish, but to be fair to those who have already completed the challenge under the original rules, I am listing the finishers as either Gold Level (original rule #12) or Silver Level (modified rule #12). Current participants can chose between the Gold or Silver level. Gold level finishers receive a geocoin when they complete the challenge, Silver level finishers do not. Perhaps this rule modification will promote more (or continued) participation in this challenge.
  20. That was already addressed. See Rule #6: "You must log a find at the final destination for each geocache to qualify." (You can't log a find on a cache you've already found).
  21. That's the spirit. I guess I can count new hides. Does anyone second that idea?
  22. Interesting question, but I'd rather hikes/caches be one's you haven't visited before. If I accept that variation, then what about if someone does the same 5 mile hike to the same cache each time. The idea is to visit new caches on each hike. Sorry.
  23. No challenge? Shall I bump it up to 500 miles for you TL? Are you saying you have found all caches within 48 miles of you?
  24. I started a list of participants on the cache page. Send me an email or write a log on the cache page if you are taking on this challenge.
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