Geocaching "events"

[+Crossfinders]

I just started geocaching recently and I wondered if they have started geocaching "events" similar to a car rally where a number of geocaches are hidden within a particular area but not made known to the public until the day of the event? Prizes are awarded at the end of the day for most geocahes found etc.

[+flask]

yep, people hold them with much success.

[+bittsen]

I just started geocaching recently and I wondered if they have started geocaching "events" similar to a car rally where a number of geocaches are hidden within a particular area but not made known to the public until the day of the event? Prizes are awarded at the end of the day for most geocahes found etc.

 

I was thinking of how one coupld pull off an event like that. It would have to be in the format somewhere between a road rally and a scavenger hunt. The pure road rally aspect wouldn't work because cachers would run into others while searching for the cache. Also, there would be no guarantees that the caches would remain in their original style and difficulty.

The scavenger hunt would be difficult because of the same lack of guarantee that the hide would be put back as original.

 

But if one ever was developed, I think it would be a hoot.

[+WascoZooKeeper]

I did a breakfast event some years ago with 26 caches that were not made available until the event. While it wasn't a "rally" such as you describe, the problem you run into is that everybody pretty much takes off to the few caches that are closest to the event, and then tend to move in the same direction(s) from there. So it's not uncommon to have 15 or 20 cachers all descending on the same spot at roughly the same time, with some arriving as others are leaving. Unless they were all in hard-surface areas, there would also be a significant social trail formed very quickly, which not only be a dead giveaway to the cache location, but would also be ecologically damaging.

 

Would be a fun idea if you can figure out a way to make it work. Even if you did something to try to "force" people to hunt them in different sequences (so you scatter the searchers all over the area) you're still going to have many who are just out to find caches and not necessarily play your game.

[Keystone]

In Ohio, a talented event organizer solved the "mass herd" problem by using a staggered start. Their scavenger hunt consisted of several "modules" of new caches. The last cache in the module contained clue sheets to the next module of five caches. So, no matter where in the "ring" of cache groups you started, you wound up visiting all five modules. Splitting up the scavenger hunt participants into five groups starting at five different places worked fine. You would see lots of people at the first cache or two, but soon the better navigators (and faster finders) would build a lead. By the end of the event a car load of cachers would be finding caches all by itself.

 

I would provide more details, but I don't enough about Ohio caching to speak authoritatively.

[+lavender5215]

If you go to the geocaching.com forum page and scroll down there are webpages dedicated to whatever little corner of the world you reside in. If you are looking for local events thats where they usually post them.

You may also have a geocaching organization that organizes events for your area. Round here we have SNEgeocachers, there are others dedicated to other states im not sure about how other countries are but they should also be found on the geocaching.com forum page.

 

Some events are big and last a whole weekend others are one day and some are an afternoon. One that was just recently done in our area was a small get together of local cachers at a bakery with slammin' bismarcks and then everyone went out to find some caches placed in a nearby management area. This summer an area campground did a two day weekend with lots of event caches placed throughout the grounds by the ridem geocachers.

 

Yup there are events!

Edited December 20, 2009 by lavender5215

[+tango501]

GC20WP3

 

excellent recent event in the Pacific NW

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

We do something similar at many of our events. As Keystone mentioned there are ways to avoid the herd-in-trail issue... on my Poker Runs with cards in 7 caches I give one group the coords to cache 1 and another the coords to cache 7 so that while they start at the same time they come from both ends, and since they don't move at the same speed they will pass each other somewhere along the route but rarely end up at the same cache at the same time.

[+Isonzo Karst]

Florida's annual Finders Fest event features both The Gauntlet, timed cache run with scavenger hunt, and a Poker Run.

The Gauntlet features staggered starts of teams, hiking, usually around 5 miles. Participation in any of the cache hunts is optional, the Big Feed is the heart of the event.