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One cache away from filling up the 81 D/T grid - so close I can almost taste it. Tried yesterday for the final combo that I need but too much snow to contend with on the south shore of Lake Erie.

 

Wonder how many others are working specifically to fill up their grid. Would also like to hear from those who have already done it.

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One cache away from filling up the 81 D/T grid - so close I can almost taste it. Tried yesterday for the final combo that I need but too much snow to contend with on the south shore of Lake Erie.

 

Wonder how many others are working specifically to fill up their grid. Would also like to hear from those who have already done it.

 

CONGRATULAIONS!!! that is something to be proud of with over 5000+ finds still don't have it completed but then I have not been concentrating on it, Hmmmmmmm maybe that will be my next goal.

 

Scubasonic

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Umm this 81 D/T grid thing sounds interesting, I am sure that I am not even close but I would like to check it out. Can someone post a link, or direct me to more info?

 

Easiest way is to request the special "My Finds" pocket query from the bottom of the Pocket Query page. Then upload it to INATN.com to see what grid combos you have finished.

 

Then look at the original Fizzy challenge at GC11E8N to see what the requirements are. You will also find a bookmark list that shows the Fizzy challenges for different states.

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One cache away from filling up the 81 D/T grid - so close I can almost taste it. Tried yesterday for the final combo that I need but too much snow to contend with on the south shore of Lake Erie.

 

Wonder how many others are working specifically to fill up their grid. Would also like to hear from those who have already done it.

 

Geek,

 

Congrats! That's amazing.

 

Best of luck in getting the last combo.

 

CanadaKate and Team_BG who love your caches

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Hrmm well it sounds really cool but I just realized that I would have to travel to the other side of the country once I met the requirements. Would it be out of the question to set up a cache like this in Maine?

There are other Fizzy challenges around the country, so probably one closer to you. :D

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I finished the Massachusetts "Well Rounded NE Cacher (The Fizzy Challenge)" GC15E8N on July 1st, 2008, and 28 other cachers have also completed it. Some of the combinations and types of caches required for this cache were not easy to do. Trying to find a CITO event cache in NH in the winter isn't easy. I do like challenges.

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The caches around here that require the full matrix also have date limitations

 

yes, unfortunately, the first Fizzy had date restrictions - ie, must use caches published BEFORE the challenge was published so people don't cheat by creating "dummy caches" (whatever that means) or altering D/T on caches. And many cache owners have copied this format. Apparently failing to recognize that this means that the pool of available caches can only grow smaller.

 

The notion that the finds need to date restricted to caches published prior to the challenge so people don't cheat is insulting. Oddly, the cache pages also reference the honor system!

It specifically acts to make the Challenge obsolete over time.

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The caches around here that require the full matrix also have date limitations

 

yes, unfortunately, the first Fizzy had date restrictions - ie, must use caches published BEFORE the challenge was published so people don't cheat by creating "dummy caches" (whatever that means) or altering D/T on caches. And many cache owners have copied this format. Apparently failing to recognize that this means that the pool of available caches can only grow smaller.

 

The notion that the finds need to date restricted to caches published prior to the challenge so people don't cheat is insulting. Oddly, the cache pages also reference the honor system!

It specifically acts to make the Challenge obsolete over time.

 

Dummy caches are those that are thrown out there with perhaps a bogus D/T combination just to meet a cacher's specific requirements. The "best before" date is a way to overcome this. While I agree that having such a date means it gets that much harder to meet these challenges, those who do in later years can rightfully claim that they worked even that much harder than those who found these challenges when they were first published. Here in southern Ontario, one particular cache had a unique combination and after a few years it was archived. For those who didn't get it, they now have to travel to Michigan or Quebec.

 

If one looks around, one can find Fizzy Challenges without these cut-off dates.

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The caches around here that require the full matrix also have date limitations

 

yes, unfortunately, the first Fizzy had date restrictions - ie, must use caches published BEFORE the challenge was published so people don't cheat by creating "dummy caches" (whatever that means) or altering D/T on caches.

 

Here is what it means. The following is two identical events to the identical location. This year's version has a different rating. One has to wonder why? Perhaps the erosion took a couple hundred feet off the mountain in the last year.

 

Last Year's Event

 

This Years Event

 

Of course, a real cynic would suspect it has something to do with a local cacher who needs 2 caches to finish his 81 grid and one just happens to be 4/4.5

Edited by Tequila
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One cache away from filling up the 81 D/T grid - so close I can almost taste it. Tried yesterday for the final combo that I need but too much snow to contend with on the south shore of Lake Erie.

 

Wonder how many others are working specifically to fill up their grid. Would also like to hear from those who have already done it.

 

I really enjoyed the challenge. Getting the last 3 was a hoot, having to drive quite a ways for the last couple of holes to get the rare combinations. It is a great challenge.

 

One of the toughest part of the challenge is finding caches old enough to qualify. Unfortunately, we had a guy in WI put up his own challenge, using a friend's gc.com account so he could log it, and then placing caches to fill in his holes with his friend's account, and then was sure to not include the standard language about the age of the cache. I guess that is the easy way to get the challenge, but certainly not as much fun. See GC23R28 for details.

 

zuma

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The caches around here that require the full matrix also have date limitations

 

yes, unfortunately, the first Fizzy had date restrictions - ie, must use caches published BEFORE the challenge was published so people don't cheat by creating "dummy caches" (whatever that means) or altering D/T on caches.

 

Here is what it means. The following is two identical events to the identical location. This year's version has a different rating. One has to wonder why? Perhaps the erosion took a couple hundred feet off the mountain in the last year.

 

Last Year's Event

 

This Years Event

 

Of course, a real cynic would suspect it has something to do with a local cacher who needs 2 caches to finish his 81 grid and one just happens to be 4/4.5

 

I could be as simple as the previous visitors gave feedback on what it was really like. That is one of the spots I need. To bad I am not going.

 

I don’t much care for the “Fizzy” challenges. I know of some cachers that have lied to qualify. I guess that show how much respect they have for themselves, the cache requirements, and the owner of the cache not to mention all the people they have bragged to about getting it. It is one smiley in an area I don’t normally cache so who cares. I don’t need someone else telling me if what I am doing fits their vision of geocaching.

Edited by Keith Watson
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Before this discussion veers off-topic and delves into the issue of what constitutes ethical behaviour, how about we just share our own experiences when working towards filling in the 81 grid - if in fact that is a goal that you have.

 

I fully appreciate that some cachers have no desire to fill in their grid while others do. As for me, I didn't even contemplate it until I started working on the Ontario Mini-Fizzy challenges. Once I completed the first one, it was onto the next and then the next and so on. To finish the last mini-fizzy I only need one particular combo and that will also fill my grid. When I first started caching about a year and a half ago this seemed like an insurmountable task. When I started I focused mostly on cleaning out the area around where I live. Now I find myself planning routes to find specific caches. Some of the folks I have cached with recently are now trying to fill in their grid by their first caching anniversary.

 

Just my 2 cents worth!

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My apologies, my post did tend to swing this topic off into a new direction.

 

Re filling in the grid, I'm ignoring the whole date placed issue, and just filling in the grid for its own sake. I'm missing 4.5 difficulty caches at the intermediate terrain levels. I have done some queries aimed at those gaps. Puzzles, lotsa puzzles. So far I haven't wanted the number enough to do that work. I see one where I immediately recognized the "how to" of the puzzle (which means it's not really a 4.5 ;-) - solved it. Need to go get it found.

 

In Florida, 5 terrain are common, and not really physically hard caches, just boat caches, so no problem there. 4.5 terrain is where the physically hard caches are - generally longer wetter bushwhacking caches.

Even those aren't that tough, if you're relaxed about doing it, and not trying to move too fast.

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We have really enjoyed what we've needed to do to complete our grid. We first filled it in September 2008. We've now filled it at least twice. Next goal....just two more to have it meet the requirements for the original Fizzy in northern California.

 

We love the challenging caches and adventures anyway, so completing this has helped us find some of those we might never have noticed otherwise. We did one in the upper peninsula of Michigan that had us crossing waves on Lake Superior to an island...on foot. 4/4.5

GCPDYN

 

We did another called Eagle Source on snowshoes, pushing through tamarack swamp out in the middle of nowhere. It today is still our favorite cache, a 1/4.5.

GC10XXQ

 

Challenging puzzles have been the other mind expander for us to fill out some of the difficulty cells. Really, the true fun for us comes in being pushed to discover new places and challenges we might miss. Getting a smiley on the challenge cache itself is just a nice bonus.

 

I discovered a macro from the GSAK forum that runs the numbers for all the different challenges. For us, it's worked pretty slick. Whenever we get a chance to travel, if we can meet the requirements for some of these, we'll stop. Hopefully we can make the trip to the Des Moines area sometime soon, as we've met muster with the owner of that one.

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Yeah, we were hoping we could qualify in time to get out to CA and get a coin, too, but that's life! Congratulations. Washington requires all of them to be located in WA, correct? Some do, some don't. Each is a little different. We own the Wisconsin one and require at least 'some' WI finds, which shouldn't be too tough. There are about a half dozen in the same county forest where it's located.

Edited by Trekkin' and birdin'
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Isonzo Karst makes a good point. I often find the terrain 4.5 caches much harder to get to as many terrain 5 caches around here are canoe caches. In fact, this winter I strapped on the snowshoes and walked over the ice to get a couple of them. 4.5's tend to require some extensive hiking but are well worth the effort of adding them to the grid.

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I own the Ontario Fizzy Challenge, Tequila:81 Proof, and when it was created in April 2008 it was amazing to see how it was embraced by the caching community in the area.

 

Suddenly, caches that hadn't been found in years were being visited by several people on the same weekend. It created a friendly but spirited competition between several cachers as to who would be first to complete it. In the end, a joint FTF demonstrated the true spirit of caching.

 

When I published it, I copied the Kentucky Fizzy verbatim and it included a date restriction. Over time, as entogeek has pointed out, this has increased the level of difficulty of the challenge and has resulted in cachers driving great distances to get one cache. In the middle of the winter, a small group of cachers drove over 600 km to northern Quebec (not a fun place to drive in mid-winter) to nab one unique combo. But as the geek also points out, the level of self satisfaction at completing it grows as it becomes more difficult. I have no plans to remove the date restriction. That wouldn't be fair to the cachers who already found it. And, other less difficult Fizzy challenges have been published. So people can log a Fizzy without logging Tequila:81 Proof.

 

When I published it, I needed about 20 combos to complete it and never really thought it was possible as I did not have access to a canoe. But, as a close friend closed in on the grid, he pushed me to re-examine what I needed. During the spring and summer of 2009, we made several trips to NY state, Eastern Ontario and Quebec to finish the grid. The finish came in a small lake in Northern Ontario. It was very rewarding. We had an absolute ball completing the grid. And a burger and chips at a Chip Wagon in Burks Falls, ON. ;)

 

To celebrate, we planned to log 4 Fizzy's (ON, NY, OH and MI) in a single day. Alas, the OH container was missing and we had to settle for 3. The great thing was that the NY owner and the MI owner took time out of their schedule to meet us at the cache and help us celebrate the accomplishment. It was geocaching and good spirits at its finest.

 

While these challenges are not for everyone (and that is one of the reasons Groundspeak created the Ignore Listing capability), some cachers enjoy them and use them to expand their caching experience.

 

I look forward to Entogeek, and his two partners in crime (maybe 3), finishing Tequila:81 Proof and joining them at the cache for a celebration as they sign the log book.

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The province where I live has had its own challenge, GC1EMAC - Nirakmit's Evil Challenge, but thankfully we are not limited to hides within the boundaries. The time limit has already been moved back once, which has made the possibilities a little bit better. I'm up to 65 of 81 combinations... which I think is pretty impressive considering I live in the middle of the prairies! Those terrain 4.5 caches are not easy to come by, and the T5s are only mildly easier! I've made lots of finds in Calgary and Edmonton (5-6 hour drive away) to get combinations I can't get here, and was so grateful for some of their trickier puzzles I could solve!

 

Last summer I drove within a few miles of the only 5/4.5 in about 1000 km... not realizing it. Even had it in my GPSr, but decided that since the boyfriend was eager to get home from our vacation I wouldn't make him come with me to look for a cache we probably wouldn't find. Oh, if I could only go back and redo that day! Guess another road trip to Montana will be in order... Actually I was looking at this on the weekend and I could make a loop of it - grab a couple in North Dakota, drive across Montana to get that cache, then up to B.C. where there's a bunch near Crowsnest Pass that I could get. I'd just have to take a few days off around a long weekend... and climb some mountains, but whatever! ;)

 

So, yeah, I'm pretty obsessed with this, but can't go out all the time to get the combinations I need. That means I spend lots of time planning, and have got a little spreadsheet of my finds (all color coded by year found). Why yes, I do need a life! :)

 

d19f5b4b-d880-48c2-bb68-9f808ed5fc22.jpg

Edited by hurleyanne
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5/4.5 is the combination that is rarest for me to find within 300 miles with the date restrictions for the original Fizzy. Like you, we were very close to the one we'll probably try to find next summer near the Mackinac Straits. We do have three qualifying ones, although one is really a liar's cache so I sort of ignore that. But none are quite old enough for the original.

 

4.5 is the toughest around here as well, especially terrain. Difficulty of that rating is only slightly more common. 5 difficulty is the rarest, I suppose because most placers figure no one will go for those. I have a few solves of that ilk that we just have to get around to finding.

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