What's your favorite geocache you've been to?

[harper_finding_stuff]

If I'm being honest, mine is probably The Rock (GCY8XT). There's something so charming about ammo boxes, and I love how much recursion there was with the whole theme of rocks. Plus it taught me a lot about the history of the church it's named after. You learn something new every day!

[+cerberus1]

Probably Cracks, Corners, Crevives, Caves, and Caverns, that let me experience what a lab rat may go through on a tough day. 

Most of the rest, unfortunately, are now long-archived...

[+TwistedCube]

Hands down GC7F0RP is the best cache I have ever found. It is so elaborate and well made that I could give every favorite point I have ever earned to this cache alone.

 

A close second is the now archived GC21WEJ. As a newer cacher, this was a one of a kind experience. I will never forget the amazement when I activated the mechanism. 

 

These two caches are what turned me into the hider that I am today. 

 

Location wise, this was my favorite cache - GC16165. A tucked away little gem in the heart of Madison, Indiana.

Edited February 4, 2019 by TwistedCube

[+tyzack4]

My favourite cache experience was a pretty lame cache, but in a fantastic location, you had to kayak out to a island about a kilometer into the sea, the cache itself is hardly visited and was in bad shape. What made this a great experience, we were join by a pod of dolphins which swam around with us for about half an hour.

[+barefootjeff]

I seem to be blessed with so many great caches around here it's hard to pick a favourite of favourites amongst them, but for pure scenic beauty I can't go past The Goat House on Lord Howe Island (GC5KCMB). Located 450 metres up Mount Lidgbird, it's a tough T4 climb but so worth it for the amazing views of the island.

 

 

Also on Lord Howe is GC5KKQ8, a multi providing a comprehensive tour of the island's scenic and cultural landmarks before ending in a challenging climb to the cache.

 

 

Valley of the Falls (GC72T55) in the Blue Mountains is another memorable multi. Meeting up first thing in the morning, three of us followed the waypoints down amazing waterfalls and along the valley past more falls and back up alongside another waterfall to an amazing vista, where we stopped for a very late lunch before finally reaching GZ right on sunset. Sadly this cache came to a tragic end, for in November 2017 a rock fall at the first waterfall killed a worker and seriously injured two others, resulting in closure of the track. The CO disabled the cache but didn't provide frequent enough updates and the reviewer archived it. The track still remains closed pending further rock stabilisation works, with no forecast date for it to reopen.

 

 

A puzzle that took me three trips spread over several months to complete was Gentleman's Geometry (GC6T5PZ). This involved a bit of everything - trigonometry, kayaking, hiking, some rugged T4 climbs, amazing views down over the Hawkesbury River and a final location that challenged my fear of heights (but in a nice way).

 

 

Perhaps the most endearing cache I've done was The Bushranger (GC5WHEM), with what looked to be an easy puzzle set in 1840s colonial Australia until I got to the first waypoint and discovered there was a lot more to it than I'd expected. In my FTF log I adopted the persona of Constable Plodfoot who'd been sent by the sheriff to apprehend the bushranger, and later created a series of Plodfoot vs The Bushranger caches of my own. When one of its waypoints went missing, the CO was going to archive it but I couldn't let that happen so I adopted it, creating a replica waypoint from the photos I'd taken during my original hunt and keeping it alive, although its only had four finders since then, the most recent in November 2017.

 

Edited February 5, 2019 by barefootjeff

[tttedzeins]

Basel 1

Hands down my most favorite cache

[Blue Square Thing]

It's a toss up between The One O'clock Gun in Edinburgh - which is the best cache page I've seen as well - The British Library in London and King John's All Washed Up.

 

The One O'Clock Gun we even managed to be in position for to have the gun go off just above our heads, which was rather cool. And the cache page is just so darned good, and you're in Edinburgh and it's themed. And it inspired me to place a multi cache with the theme myself. It really is inspirational for me.

 

The British Library is a splendid idea that would now be outlawed I think, but introduced me to such a cool place. And King John - well, a long walk in an absolutely deserted spot with a causeway to a tidal island involved. What more could you want?

 

I guess I could make a case for I'm a Little Teapot - and old virtual on PEI which saw us wading around a headland and was splendid fun - and the now archived Charlottetown Mouse Hunt, the downtown part of which is a lovely walk and does everything a good urban multi cache should.

 

In terms of a series, I'd walk the series that ends up with We didn't mean to go to sea - Bonus again - an excellently put together, intelligent series rather than the usual sort of thing. 

[+instep_guy]

Has to be Ride the Burros! (GC5JNGE) Where else could you cross the Rio Grande in a rowboat, ride a burro to a small Mexican village, enjoy a great lunch and get your first cache in Mexico!

[+Mudfrog]

Hard to pick just one. These three stand out though. 

 

Kincade Lake Cache was an adventure for us. Cold, rainy, miserable, and before we had a gpsr with mapping,, made this one a real challenge. It's archived now so can give more of the funny details now. Instead of going around the lake, I swam about 200 feet to get the stage preceding the final. Put the coordinates from it into the gpsr and lo and behold, found the cache right where Chicken had been waiting for me to swim back. Made for a funny and happy ending to a great adventure.

 

Necropolis of Britainia Manor III is a hit for everyone that embarks on its adventure. The almost 700 favorite points gives you an idea of how good this cache is. Be sure to check out some of the pictures posted if you click on the link. 

 

Four Cache Loop is one of my favorites that I've revisited a few times. It takes more adventurous people on an approximately 8 mile hike through the forest. This one is kinda challenging because of the winding trail and gullies that need to be crossed. Always fun to do with a great group of caching friends.

 

Edited February 7, 2019 by Mudfrog

[+GeoElmo6000]

Mine is The Bridges and Arches of Central Park (GC17MX1) in NYC.  I haven't found a better geocache or geocaching experience since.

[+Harry Dolphin]

1 hour ago, GeoElmo6000 said:

Mine is The Bridges and Arches of Central Park (GC17MX1) in NYC.  I haven't found a better geocache or geocaching experience since.

 

That's the one I was going to mention!  Took us four days over two months to complete.

[+GeoElmo6000]

53 minutes ago, Harry Dolphin said:

That's the one I was going to mention!  Took us four days over two months to complete.

 

Awesome!  I got a group of friends, nine of us, to complete it in one day.  It took six hours walking nine miles to complete.  I wanted it to be my 800th milestone so I skipped several caches my friends went to find.  I had contacted the CO earlier in the day about our adventure and he messaged me saying that he put aside nine geocoins near the final for us (because nine wouldn't fit in the actual container).  He basically told us "when you find the final, do this" to find the secret stash of coins he put aside for us.  Super awesome cache, day, and CO.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

4 hours ago, instep_guy said:

Has to be Ride the Burros! (GC5JNGE) Where else could you cross the Rio Grande in a rowboat, ride a burro to a small Mexican village, enjoy a great lunch and get your first cache in Mexico!

 

that sounds like a great way to find a cache.   Haven't seen it mention yet but there's a multi-cache that requires one to lure a llama close to a fence so that you can read a tag around it's neck that the coordinates for the final stage. 

 

My favorite find is probably the one at the entrance to a game park in Tanzania where I watch a group of elephant cross the road a few hundred feet away.

 

That might have been surpassed by a cache near the infamous Mara river crossing in Kenya, but I was stopped by an armed guard before I could find it.    What you don't see are all the crocodiles that have a feast during the migration.  

 

[+The Jester]

The one that has the strongest memory is TMA-1 in California.  From the quicksand pocket the wife found, the flood mud covered first waypoint, and the climb it was a great cache.  I carried my climbing gear half way around the country just so we could stop by there on the way home.

 

Necropolis of Britainia Manor III (as mentioned by Mudfrog) is another great memory.

[+fizzymagic]

5 hours ago, Harry Dolphin said:

 

That's the one I was going to mention!  Took us four days over two months to complete.

 

So, for locals only.

[+Rebore]

The first one that comes to mind is Guts of the mountain. The first time the owner asked in a local forum if somebody wants to join him (in December) and I took that chance. Came back several times to show it to friends, none of them were cachers.

[+Harry Dolphin]

  7 hours ago, Harry Dolphin said:

 

That's the one I was going to mention!  Took us four days over two months to complete.

 

So, for locals only.

 

Not really.  We went into the city every other week for a few hours.  That's why it took us so long.  Many cachers found it after four or five hours of walking about the park.  

[+STNolan]

There have been so many amazing caches to choose from but I'll limit myself to naming my favorite by type:

 

1) Traditional - GC40BGG: Hut Ridge Trail End (McMurdo, Antarctica) - I was the second to find on this cache nearly a year after the FTF. It happened to be my first cache on the frozen seventh continent and the view of the Ross Sea, nearby Geodesic domes and of McMurdo itself were unparalleled. 

 

 

 

2) Mystery - GC44NEP - The Colonial Treasure - This cache is where National Treasure meets geocaching. Spanning several cities and key locations throughout the tidewater region, this cache took several days to break. Between solving codes, deciphering clues and learning more than I ever thought I could about early US history, I finally managed to find this with a friend of mine in 2017. Whenever anyone asks me for an example of an excellent D5 cache I point them to this one. (Plus the cache page is exemplary).

 

3) Virtual - GC6341 - Burr - To date it's the most northerly virtual I've found, and only a mile or so south of my most northerly find period. It was also my first find in the great state of Alaska (where I now reside). The cache was less about the views (at least at this specific cache, though nearby there were some amazing locales) and more about the excitement of exploring such a remote location. I even got to see a polar bear on this trip! 

 

4) Earthcache - GC16BR0 - Big Ambejackmockamus Falls - Picking a favorite Earthcache is difficult for me. If you hang out in the EC section of the forums you'll notice how much time and energy it takes to make and maintain an EC. They are easily my favorite type, so it was difficult for me to choose! Big Ambejackmockamus Falls had several things that (to me) are quintessential to a good Earth Cache - First and Foremost it took me to an amazing location deep in the wilderness of Maine. The cache page was easy to understand and easy to formulate answers to the question. While the topic (Waterfalls) is no longer an allowable EC subject, it was still an amazing location. 

 

 

 

5) Multi-cache - GC5F9TA - The Copper Scroll - While my favorite Puzzle Cache could be described as National Treasure meets Geocaching, this one would be more akin to a DaVinci Code crossover. The multi started by locating a strange tube and inside.... a copper scroll. Taken along your journey it could be used in several different ways at different way-points to decipher the final hiding place. One of my first multis and to date still one of my most rewarding finds. If you're ever in the Rhode Island/Massachusetts area, I highly recommend looking up caches by the CO, all of his finds have never failed to disappoint. 

 

6) Webcam - GCKK54 - Black & White & Red All Over - What makes a webcam cache great? Well first and foremost it's a consistently functional webcam (something that seems to be lacking in many of the remaining webcams these days). Secondly for me it's the experience in grabbing the cache. I have cached in Antarctica, Iceland, Norway and The top of the World in Barrow, AK but I have never been as cold grabbing a cache as I was grabbing this webcam. At -27 degrees before windchill, I nearly froze grabbing this photo. Thus for me the best part is the memory. 

 

While there are obviously several more cache types (letterbox, Wherigo, events etc) I don't have enough of any of those to really begin to pick a "favorite." I will add one bonus category however...

 

7) Challenge Cache - GC3HVRA - New England County Challenge - This challenge helped inspire several road trips while I was stationed in Newport, RI. With 88 counties covering the six states of New England, logging this one was no small feat, but it encouraged me to explore the vast beauty of the region. It also helped solidify my love for lighting up counties on my caching map, a sub-hobby I still do to this day. 

 

 

All in all, geocaching is what you make it, and you can always manage to find excellent caches if you look hard enough.

[+hzoi]

On 2/7/2019 at 8:43 AM, STNolan said:

2) Mystery - GC44NEP - The Colonial Treasure

 

I lived just down the road from that for two years.  Never did make any progress.  (read: I couldn't figure it out, so I gave up.)

[+thebruce0]

I will never forget my first 5/5 - Tomb Raider, found with a few other non-geocacher friends in my first year of geocaching. Quite the adventure!

 

But more recently my first mountaintop experience in Iceland, solo, for Kristinartindar. The journey is the reward!

 

There are some amazing geocaches out there, but for me the most memorable are the experiences in getting to them.  To pick an amazing container I'd have to sift through favourites until one stands out.

 

[+Rikitan]

Hard to pick one, visited so many nice places.

Maybe .. hunt for T5 clues in obsolete heating plant (GC2TEPX), with friends. It took us whole day till smiley.

 

 

Gallery of our hunt.

Complex of buildings does not exist anymore.

 

 

[+Rikitan]

Doh!
.. how could I .. 

Of course our wedding cache 

 

 

GC4D75C

 

 

[+Harry Dolphin]

On 2/6/2019 at 10:50 AM, GeoElmo6000 said:

Mine is The Bridges and Arches of Central Park (GC17MX1) in NYC.  I haven't found a better geocache or geocaching experience since.

 

Five Star New York https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCHTK1

 

Another one we found superlative: Five Star New York!  Took us ten months,

[+STNolan]

On 2/8/2019 at 5:39 AM, hzoi said:

 

I lived just down the road from that for two years.  Never did make any progress.  (read: I couldn't figure it out, so I gave up.)

 

Honestly it took me far longer than I care to admit to figure out where to start. In fact figuring out where to start sort of happened on its own while I was out for a walk in Colonial Williamsburg. Inspiration struck as it were.

[+Clancy's Crew]

Can't limit the favorite to just one...

 

The Lost Bridges Cache, GC13KH1, an excellent hike in the mountains in a PA State Game Lands near Hickory Run State Park in the Poconos.  We first did this cache with our namesake Geo-Hound 10 years ago, and took our current Geo-Hound there a few months ago.  Challenging hike, excellent vistas, some minor math, and just beautiful woods.

 

South Peak Summit cache, GC7A11 an excellent cache at Senneca Rocks, WV requiring traditional rock climbing to get to GZ.

 

PMCx- Listening Post, GC1V3NZ, requiring wading to an island in the Potomac River and using a hydraulic jack and other tools to access the cache  (as designed).  Brilliant.

 

Psycho Urban Cache #13, GCY72P, we did this cache on a pillar in the middle of the Potomac River three times, using a potato gun once, a 6' arborist slingshot once, and trad rock climbing once to get to the top of the pillar.

 

Cavers Plunge, GCRVXB, our first foray into pit caving, a 93 foot pit cave with interesting wildlife at the bottom.

 

Any 5/5 cache by keoki_eme...excellent locations, and well thought out stages, up to 12 per cache.

 

We've been lucky to find some fantastic caches over the years.

[+coachstahly]

Favorite traditional cache - Stack Rock Cache Bedford, IN - A large tall wall of unused Indiana limestone blocks.  This is just about half of the wall and it goes up for another 15-20 feet still.

 

 

Favorite multi-cache - MacGyver's Playground Milton, IN - A 5 stage multi, on the CO's private property that involved braille, ingenuity, a counterweight beanbag toss 20 feet into the air and a fun final location.

 

Favorite virtual - Barney Smith's Toilet Seat Museum San Antonio, TX - Sadly, it's going to be archived soon but meeting Barney was something even my kids and wife enjoyed.  Barney in his element.

 

 

Favorite EC - Sugar Bowl Island - Dells, Wisconsin - Have to paddle to it and the trip there is almost as nice as the EC.  It's only a short paddle from the launch point.

 

 

Favorite Mystery - The Holy Grail (Final) Madison, IN - actually a series, each one a ?, with a puzzle inside you needed to solve to get to the next one in the series.  The stages got progressively more impressive and the final is one of the coolest places I've visited.  I like it so much I placed my virtual reward at the location of the final.  The climb to get here looks like all the rocks beneath the falls and is 1/4 mile, pretty much all uphill with quite a few smaller waterfalls along the way.  Some of the rocks are as big as the smaller semi trailers here in the US.

 

 

Favorite LBH - Not all Who Wander are Lost Bloomington, IN - a pictorial LBH that makes sense once you get to GZ.  For those who have done Vampire Empire in Chicago, it's very similar.  I did my favorite one first and then did Vampire Empire.

 

Favorite Wherigo - Wheriwantago Seeking Nahn- Sea's Heart Orlando, FL - you have to pay to get in but it's a great place to go.  I was fortunate enough to do it with someone who knew the entire back story of the cachers mentioned so that made it even better.  It's the 11th Wherigo I had done and it still stands as the best one I've done to date.