2023 Geocaching Goals

[+hzoi]

In the past, I have usually started (or at least participated in) a yearly goals thread. Apparently I've been slacking the last couple years. Since I forgot 2022's (and lost 2021's somehow?), I figure I'd better get this one in early before I forget next year's!

 

- Finish a county and DeLorme challenge

- Cache in two new states

- Cache in a new country

- Find more "oldest active in" caches

- Host more events

 

We're moving from Virginia to Texas halfway through the year, so some of these will be easy and some not so much. I don't think I can do anything but chip away at the Texas county and DeLorme challenges once we get there. But I should at least get the Delaware DeLorme Challenge.

 

As ever, I invite folks to post your goals for the 2023 now, then come back next winter and let us know how you did.

Edited October 21, 2022 by hzoi

[+GeoElmo6000]

I generally find less than 100 per year but I like the idea of having goals.  Mine will be

• Find The Spot (GC39) and State Game Lands #109 (GC184), both year 2000 caches that would fill in two Jasmer months.  I could do a road trip to find these though it'll require probably one overnight stay somewhere.
• Enter (and hopefully have accepted) a film for the 2023 GIFF.  I have a really good idea for the next GIFF, probably my favorite idea so far.  I've had 3 in so far and it's how I got started with my filmmaking hobby.
• Stretch goal: fly down to Georgia to find the three final Jasmer months I need, which are all around Atlanta

If I find 5 caches next year but they're all really interesting caches, then I'll be satisfied.  I'm sure I'll find some others along the way as well.

 

[+thebruce0]

I have some goals for Cache The Line itself, but for geocaching, my intensity's going to settle a bit as a new chapter in my life will most likely be starting. And if I can finish up with 2000+ finds this year, I'll qualify for an old challenge of 3 consecutive years of 2000+ finds. After that, timely quantity is no longer a concern  It'll be casual caching and excellent experiences to share on the channel, and almost certainly still a bunch of challenges passively working towards qualification, hehe

One event is a certainty - the Maritime Mega in New Brunswick.

Beyond that, I haven't set anything in stone yet. Financials are going to be the big thing to consider next year!

[+mustakorppi]

This is a tough one. The last streak challenge I'm trying to complete is Sparkyfry's Challenge of the Millennium (1000 day streak, only physical caches count), which will be done next week. Not necessarily going to stop the streak immediately after, but it would be hard to stay motivated through the winter, especially since I'll no longer have any excuse to go caching by car.

 

If the summer is nice, I hope I can squeeze in a couple of bikepacking trips to get finds in counties I'm still missing (and more importantly, visit counties I've never actually been to.) Not sure how much effort, if any, I'll put to any other geocaching stats. Right now Veloviewer Tile Hunting seems more interesting to me.

 

Probably go to the mega in Helsinki because why not.

 

There are a few cache ideas I've been mulling over, but they seem too difficult to be worthwhile. We'll see.

 

So I guess it's mostly going to be casual caching and a marked drop in my finds per year.

[+hzoi]

36 minutes ago, thebruce0 said:

my intensity's going to settle a bit as a new chapter in my life will most likely be starting

 

New job? New home? Adding another cacher to the team? Inquiring minds want to know.

[+barefootjeff]

2022 has been this region's wettest year on record, having passed that milestone a few weeks ago, and with the third consecutive la Nina still strengthening, the remainder of this year and early 2023 is expected to be even wetter. So I expect 2023 will be a year for taking stock, to see what caches have survived the deluges and what is still accessible. Already this year I've archived six of my hides, with another that's been disabled since April due to closed access, and I expect that toll to rise further during the first half of next year. Beyond that, a lot will depend on whether we get a fourth consecutive la Nina.

 

There's a nearby challenge cache that was published early this year that requires finding at least four D2/T4 caches in each of four Australian states/territories as well as two outside Australia, so I'm looking at doing a bit of travelling next year once there's a reasonable likelihood of some dry weather and unflooded roads. Pre-COVID I'd been planning a couple of driving trips, one up the coast to southern Queensland and one south to Victoria and out along the Great Ocean Road, so the challenge cache has given me an extra incentive to put those plans into action.

 

I have a new cache in the pipeline that's still awaiting approval from National Parks so there's a chance that might overcome all the hurdles and get published next year. It's in a picturesque spot overlooking the Hawkesbury River and Patonga beach that I discovered during my permitted exercise in last year's COVID lockdown and I did a site visit with the ranger in June, but have yet to get a decision from them one way or the other. There's also a waterfall in the Watagans National Park where I was hoping to add a new cache in my Chasing Waterfalls series, and approached the ranger in late 2020 but he advised that they were about to close the track for major reconstruction works, then no sooner had that been completed there was flooding and landslips on the access road that's seen the area closed ever since. The latest advice is that it might reopen around March or April next year, weather permitting.

 

I'm sure there'll be some nice caching trips away with our little group once we get some better weather. There are many nice higher-terrain caches in the Blue Mountains that continue to beckon, as well as some that lee737 and his sons have placed up north around Barrington Tops that I keep looking at on the map and thinking if only it wasn't raining all the time.

 

So no statistics goals or anything like that for me, just hoping to be able to get outoors and have a bit more caching fun than has been possible these last few years.

[+thebruce0]

9 hours ago, hzoi said:

10 hours ago, thebruce0 said:

my intensity's going to settle a bit as a new chapter in my life will most likely be starting

 

New job? New home? Adding another cacher to the team? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

I'm 12+ months into a very serious relationship and she has a pre-teen daughter  hehe.  So. Big changes coming; much higher priorities than casual geocaching. Another reason I'm focusing on CTL and trying to ramp up some income and sustainability on that side 'business'.

 

Edited October 22, 2022 by thebruce0

[+lee737]

On 10/22/2022 at 8:16 AM, barefootjeff said:

some that lee737 and his sons have placed up north around Barrington Tops

We're hoping for another trip up there 'soon' (ie - when it dries out a bit), and it now seems customary to hide a cache each while we're there.... sort of like a power trail in instalments!

[+lee737]

2023... ??

We haven't really looked at our next DT loop after completing it last year, so we should try and bag some more good DT caches, and hopefully hide some good DT caches too, as we practice our technical tree climbing and abseiling/prussicking (sp?) techniques. There are a pair of 5:5's we are keen to get, but we have some skill-building to do first.

We have a good list of un-qualified challenges we need to chip at too....

Mainly though - we'll keep geocaching whenever we can, its all quality/quantity time with my kids (whether its a 5:5 on the end of a rope or a guardrail mint-tin), who are fast growing up..... 

[+terratin]

I guess my goal will be the same as every year: find ECs, visit nice geology, cache in new countries. The rest will happen, or not.

Edited October 24, 2022 by terratin

[+JakeDot]

My first goal is finally visiting @terratin's Virtual on Alderney. Since there will be a Mega in London, on the edge between April and May, I'm combining the two into a Mega-Goal.

[+terratin]

5 hours ago, JakeDot said:

My first goal is finally visiting @terratin's Virtual on Alderney. Since there will be a Mega in London, on the edge between April and May, I'm combining the two into a Mega-Goal.

 

Whoops! I feel honoured! It's quite a lovely walk. And Alderney is fab and worth a few days anyway

[+Vooruit!]

I guess the 2021 topic has been archived or something, pretty certain that topic did exist.

 

My goals for 2023:

* Make some more dents in my Earthcache and Virtual fizzy. 16 and 32 D/T combinations missing, respectively. Really the toughest challenge ever.

* Add some more countries. Greece and Turkey are planned, a trip to Andorra and Monaco is in the making.

* Just continue geocaching the way I started to some years ago: go for the larger ones, ignore the small ones. Should find my 750th Large cache next year.

[+HuggableHamster]

Oooh 2023 goals… I fear mine are not very S.M.A.R.T. but they are mine…

- I want to finish my D/T grid, just one gap currently staring me down, but I’m not sure winter is really the ideal time to grab a 2.5/4.5, so I think that’ll be one goal for next year.

- Think of a (or some) good cache(s) to do for my 3,000th and do the other 700 in between!

- Team frolics!  AKA smudgepuss and I dragging my husband and various other friends on slightly bizarre trips (hoping to stay more sensible than the 36hrs on the Isle of Man we accidentally had)

- I am hoping to make more progress on various challenge caches - particularly caches in London, caching in different areas of Scotland and doing more puzzles (and looking forward to seeing what new challenges are launched on the Greenwich Peninsula to work towards)

- Mystery day!  We have identified some caches round Bexley and hope to do 40+ not-in-a-series-mystery-caches in a day.

- I want to do more caching in my inflatable, eyeing up the ones on the Medway and Basingstoke Canal

- I want to finish setting at least half of the caches I have in my head! 

[+STNolan]

I really wish I could remember last year's goals. Ah well for next year I'd like to try the following:

 

• Find 100 Caches in a single day
• Reach a 100 WiG milestone
  • Got a two-week TDY trip to Maryland so I might be able to have this happen in a single day.
• Complete a new County Challenge
  • Washington or Oregon are the most likely options.
• Find GCD
• Find a cache in 1 new country

 

Most of those should be pretty easily attainable, but we'll have to see what the Caching Gods have in store. 

[+MyName'sBen]

We have very modest goals for 2023. 2022 has been quiet on the caching front, due to a house move and life getting in the way!

 

2023 will hopefully get us back into more regular caching - most weekends with a decent family walk.

 

I'm not far from filling my DT grid - about 40 to go I think...so it should be possible to do that.

 

There are a couple of 5/5 caches near us - involving a canoe and tunnels - so it would be fun to try those.

 

We always enjoy caching abroad, so a trip to Europe to collect another country might be on the cards.

 

I also have a drawer full of caches and logbooks, swag and 3 ammo cans. MUST get those out into the field to up the local cache count in my new area!!

 

Happy Caching folks...

 

[+jaysonC]

I'd really like to finish Dublin Top Twenty Challenge Mystery Cache GC4CC6J and Master of Mystery #32 – DUBLIN Mystery Cache GC64H6X. I need to finish the master of mystery to finish the top twenty challenge, so they'll really go hand in hand.

[+hzoi]

On 10/28/2022 at 4:23 PM, STNolan said:

Reach a 100 WiG milestone

• Got a two-week TDY trip to Maryland so I might be able to have this happen in a single day.

 

There are still quite a few. Just budget some redundancy into your plan - while the two teams behind most of the Wherigo hides there did a great job setting out caches back in 2014 or so, they have favored archiving over cache maintenance for the past few years, so the map has seen some attrition for a while now.

[+STNolan]

On 11/2/2022 at 7:13 AM, hzoi said:

 

There are still quite a few. Just budget some redundancy into your plan - while the two teams behind most of the Wherigo hides there did a great job setting out caches back in 2014 or so, they have favored archiving over cache maintenance for the past few years, so the map has seen some attrition for a while now.

Yeah I've seen the numbers decline - hitting myself for not making a WIG run last year when I was at DINFOS - I'll need to complete all the "play anywhere cartridges" before I go to ensure that I'm ready for a long day!

[+Mysterion604]

2023 GOALS:

 

I doubt I will be able to cache at the pace that I did this year. (Geowoodstock 2022 was held in my home province so that was an intense onslaught of caching which I will likely never replicate.) Much of immediate area near my home is played out so caching more and more involves travel. (And time & money which I won't have in abundance.)

 

1) Get my own unpublished caches completed. One series in the works perhaps before end of this year, and one bigger / weirder one next year. I also have an idea for a puzzle cache that might actually challenge my friend the puzzle solving fiend.

 

2) Travel a little bit, and cache while traveling. Another community fairly near is a treasure trove of #EC's, virtuals, and achievable challenges, but I never seem to have enough time when I go there. So I hope to go back.

2B) Wait did you (above) say Mega event in New Brunswick ?     (Starts scheming for a cross-Canada trip.)

 

3) Having never filled out my grid even once, I would like to maybe try some more challenging terrain caches, but on the other hand, I'm no mountaineer and not even much of a camper.  Living around here, there is an abundance of cache-rich places to climb up (and fall off of).

 

4) Maybe break the 100 earthcache barrier. That's definitely possible. I'm no geo-scientist, but maybe creating one earthcache "hide" would be a badge of honour. 

 

 

[+CheekyBrit]

On 10/26/2022 at 3:03 AM, Vooruit! said:

* Make some more dents in my Earthcache and Virtual fizzy. 16 and 32 D/T combinations missing, respectively. Really the toughest challenge ever.

YES!!!! The Earthcache and virtual fizzy! I'm working on filling as many fizzies as I can (sizes and types), same with the 366 calendar. 2023 I want to build a chartbusters challenge series.

On 10/23/2022 at 2:17 AM, lee737 said:

We haven't really looked at our next DT loop after completing it last year, so we should try and bag some more good DT caches, and hopefully hide some good DT caches too, as we practice our technical tree climbing and abseiling/prussicking (sp?) techniques. There are a pair of 5:5's we are keen to get, but we have some skill-building to do first.

We have a good list of un-qualified challenges we need to chip at too....

Mainly though - we'll keep geocaching whenever we can, its all quality/quantity 

Another DT loop for sure. I love the high terrain and difficulty ones and focusing on quality over quantity.

Unqualified challenges too, especially GC3YBQW "Challenge: 5 5 5 5 5".

 

2 hours ago, mysterion604 said:

1) Get my own unpublished caches completed. One series in the works perhaps before end of this year, and one bigger / weirder one next year. I also have an idea for a puzzle cache that might actually challenge my friend the puzzle solving fiend.

4)... I'm no geo-scientist, but maybe creating one earthcache "hide" would be a badge of honour. 

 

 

I have a few unpublished series that need some work. One is the star wars series (Rae holding using Ochi's dagger to find the Sith wayfinder.)

Hiding some more earthcaches for sure. Pocatello has become a bit of a one stop shop for filling your alphabet in traditionals, multis, and letterboxes. I should branch out into earthcaches.
 

My last 2 cheeky goals are to keep my streak going through September 4th, making me the 2nd longest streaker in Idaho.
But the BEST PART is filling my challenge fizzy (a D/T grid of only challenges, found on project-gc's challenge tab) and encouraging some friends to do the same, so we can prank/encourage some of the greatest players in the world that don't have this finished yet, implying they are new to the game and need encouragement.

[Darwin473]

My general goal for 2023 is to not die. I've had a 100% success rate so far, and this morning I achieved a new personal best for number of consecutive days living. I intend to keep this goal going for a while yet!

 

On 10/22/2022 at 12:31 PM, thebruce0 said:

I'm 12+ months into a very serious relationship and she has a pre-teen daughter  hehe.

 

I'm in a similar situation, but a little further along. My wife's daughter is now on her P plates and getting into race car driving. It's her first season and off to a bit of a rocky start (one of the things about cheap car racing is that they tend to break - a lot) and it's been sucking up all of my spare time. As the designated navigator / passenger / adult supervisor, I'm also hoping this doesn't conflict with my goal!

[+STNolan]

On 11/2/2022 at 7:13 AM, hzoi said:

 

There are still quite a few. Just budget some redundancy into your plan - while the two teams behind most of the Wherigo hides there did a great job setting out caches back in 2014 or so, they have favored archiving over cache maintenance for the past few years, so the map has seen some attrition for a while now.

Having spent the last week attempting to solve these I may have to say my goal is already not achievable - far too many of these are "read my mind" WIGs which just seem impossible to solve. Back to the goal-drawing board. 

[+Lady_Aurora_]

Learn how to Geocache.  😂 

Find each type of Cache.

Complete the NC 100 County Cache.

[+hzoi]

On 11/9/2022 at 7:06 PM, STNolan said:

On 11/2/2022 at 10:13 AM, hzoi said:

There are still quite a few. Just budget some redundancy into your plan - while the two teams behind most of the Wherigo hides there did a great job setting out caches back in 2014 or so, they have favored archiving over cache maintenance for the past few years, so the map has seen some attrition for a while now.

Having spent the last week attempting to solve these I may have to say my goal is already not achievable - far too many of these are "read my mind" WIGs which just seem impossible to solve. Back to the goal-drawing board. 

 

Across the river in northern Virginia, AweSnap and MJBinski have a number of play-anywhere Wherigos that are well maintained. Not quite as many as southern Maryland, but you're more likely to find them once you've solved the puzzle. See, e.g., the Name That Tune and WOOBG series.

[+DreamMachine74]

Well, I guess I'lll throw a few goals for next year here for now, and edit things accordingly. 

 

I'm scaling back my goals fro prior years, not that they were hard or anything, but just because I'm not exactly interesting in going to X, Y and Z if work slows down and I have less money to spend on travelling in my area.

 

That being said, next year,

=> I'm intending on finding a cache in another state (New York), and also grabbing my first webcam there.

 

=> I'll try and host an event or two, one of which hopefully will be on a hill.

 

=> Continue streamlining my "cache" load. Basically I intend on continue archiving hides either removed due to local construction (I have 5 listings that have to be removed for a subway being built!) or due to no longer being a good hiding spot.

 

EDIT: I just realized one of my goals in 2020 was to find a webcam cache...huh, that'll be good to get done next year then.

 

EDIT 2, December 26th: Added one more goal. I'm not adding a find based goal, to me thats irrelevant, especially since I intend on geocaching less next year. Earning nearly 200 finds this year was a surprise to put it lightly.

 

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by DreamMachine74

[+STNolan]

On 11/12/2022 at 5:52 AM, hzoi said:

 

Across the river in northern Virginia, AweSnap and MJBinski have a number of play-anywhere Wherigos that are well maintained. Not quite as many as southern Maryland, but you're more likely to find them once you've solved the puzzle. See, e.g., the Name That Tune and WOOBG series.

Thanks for the tip!

[+Harry Dolphin]

I think my goal would be the Jasmer Challenge.  I need two caches for that.  Probably a trip to Michigan!  I finished the Fizzy Challenge tromping through a swamp, and sitting on a floating log to get the 3.5/5,

[+Drysideshooter]

My wife and I just got in to Geocaching and are having a lot of fun. I've set a goal of finding a minimum of 25 caches a week.  I would like to place a few hike in caches before the end of 2023. We are doing a month long train trip through the country in January, and stopping and spending time in several cities along the way. I would like to find at least a couple caches in each city that we visit. 

 

My main goal is to keep getting out and having fun. A HUGE thanks to everyone that takes the time to place and maintain caches. This is a cool community. 

[+JL_HSTRE]

When I was on vacation in October, it was geocaching at its finest. I had a wonderful time in a bunch of state parks and some Virtuals took me to interesting historical locations. I want geocaching to continue to take me interesting places to see interesting things. When that stops, I'll stop, but hopefully that wont happen next year.

 

I'm currently at 6,957 Finds. A three-day trip the week after Thanksgiving should bring me very close to 7,000. I was going to do a special cache for that milestone but Hurricane Ian impacts will probably make that impractical.

[+CAVinoGal]

I've been thinking and pondering this for awhile - and I went back to see my goals for 2020 (I wonder what happened to the 2021 thread?), and apparently there was no 2022 thread....anyway:

Here are my goals for 2020:

• Get my total find count to 2020.  My goal for 2019 was to reach 2000 finds; I'm still over 200 away from that goal, and maybe 2020 in 2020 is attainable!
• Find a cache on Feb. 29 to finish my calendar grid.  We filled every day in 2018 except for Feb. 29, and this will be our first opportunity to fill that day since we began geocaching in 2017.
• Host an event.  We've attended events, but never hosted one.  I applied for one of the Celebration events - we'll see if that comes through.
• Hide 12 more caches.  Same goal as 2019, and I only got 6 hidden then.  I'll go for 12 again!
• Complete at least one Adventure Lab Cache.  A few have popped up in reasonable driving distance, and I'm curious to see how it goes.  I enjoy Wherigo caches, when they work!

How did I do? 

• I did reach 2020 finds on 10/26/2020 - my log for GC91PE9 - https://coord.info/GL131EHA0
• I did find a cache on Feb. 29 - in fact, I found 7 that day, one being a Feb. 29th event that happened to be one of the last events held in our area (or anywhere else!) for a LOOOONG time.
• I did NOT host an event in 2020; I did receive one of the Celebration events, but....COVID.  I eventually hosted my event in June 2022, https://coord.info/GC8ZE3T
• I did NOT hide 12 more caches. 
• I actually completed a couple of Adventure Labs by the end of 2019, and did a few more in 2020, so that goal was reached!

3/5 for 2020, despite COVID.  

 

GOALS for 2023 - as 2022 draws to a close....

• Host a CITO, and possibly a "regular" event
• Reach 3000 finds - we've averaged about 500 a year since our start in 2017, I'm currently at 2587, so it's attainable, especially if we do more travelng, as we hope to do
• Keep my "traditionals" at 75% or less of total finds; in other words, up my puzzles, multi's, Wherigo's and challenges - though now with Adventure Labs, it's a lttle easier to keep trads below 75%
• Hide a few more and continue to maintain the hides I do have; between hubby's and mine, it's a challenge at times!

Merry Christmas to all, and may 2023 bring all good things to all of you!

Edited December 29, 2022 by CAVinoGal
formatting change

[+vw_k]

Filling my D/T grid or making more progress towards it.

Caching in a few new countries (I'd like to visit Ireland and may have an opportunity to go to Spain sometime too)

Finding more caches in my favourite national series, Church Micros, Little Bridges, Village Signs, A Fine Pair etc.

I like the idea of completing one of the geotours which have a geocoin for finishers.

 

Also in "not strictly geocaching but outdoor related" terms I'd like to summit a few more mountains to add to my hill lists total (Wainwrights, Hewitts, Munros etc) and maybe complete some national trails or long distance paths. Of course I'd be finding caches along the way too!

Edited December 27, 2022 by vw_k

[+Mysterion604]

This may sound odd, given that I will likely be throttling-back on how much caching I do, but I do have some goals for 2023.

 

- I'm coming up on the end of a caching streak that I want to reach, so there's that one happening in January. Not sure if it helps me with any more challenges, just a nice number to reach.

- I want to pass certain milestones on the number of earthcaches, multis, and letterbox caches I have found. (Those are also helpful for some challenges.)

- It would be nice to get some caches outside of my home province (but that is dependent on my travel plans). 

- I might try to host an event, maybe a CITO. 

- BIG GOAL: I have a bunch of caches that have been "in development" for too long. I want to finally get them written up and placed. It won't be easy to get them done soon, since both life and the finding of caches seems to eat up all my time & energy (at least it did so in 2022).

 

 

EDIT: So apparently I posted above, and here. Not very smart of me.

Edited March 3, 2023 by mysterion604

[+GeoElmo6000]

2023 Goals update...

 

Originally my only goals were to get one year 2000 Jasmer cache (The Spot) and get my film entry in this year's GIFF.

 

Recently I started looking at my Jasmer grid, something I never actively worked on and haven't finished, and realized I have 26 months to fill in pre-2023:

• 5 from the year 2000
• 9 from the years 2001-2006 (combined)
• 12 from the years 2015-2022 (combined)

For the year 2000 I'd need to make a trip to upstate NY and western PA to get two of the months, and also fly to GA to get the other three.  I'll file those under "stretch goals" even now.

 

For the years 2001-2006 I found 9 relatively easily accessible caches within 90 minutes of my house, so I decided to make this my primary 2023 goal.  I already found one from February 2004 this past weekend, so eight to go.

 

For the years 2015-2022 I have a lot more to choose from but I'm going to make it my goal to fill these in as well.

 

So - hopefully! - by the end of this year I'll have all the months since the year 2001 filled in, and - maybe! - I can pick up the year 2000 months as well.

 

And hopefully my film entry still makes it into GIFF :-).

 

It's fun to have a goal.

[+Goldenwattle]

- Find as many outstanding SideTracked caches in Australia and NZ that I can.

- Any Mary MacKillop caches I come upon. (Already found many of them, likely the majority). This is mainly an Australian set of caches, but NZ has a few, and there's one in each of the UK and Ireland.

- 2000 caches, and other old caches.

- find caches for challenges that I have already signed the log of.

- find a cache in as many council areas in Australia and NZ that I can. (Only need one more council area in NZ.)

- Find the last cache needed for a Jasmer cache challenge I have signed the log of.

- new countries if I can.

[+lee737]

3 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

Find as many outstanding SideTracked caches in Australia

We just hid one in Newcastle..... it wasn't planned that way - but given it was right next to a train station, why not?!

[+barefootjeff]

On 10/22/2022 at 8:16 AM, barefootjeff said:

2022 has been this region's wettest year on record, having passed that milestone a few weeks ago, and with the third consecutive la Nina still strengthening, the remainder of this year and early 2023 is expected to be even wetter. So I expect 2023 will be a year for taking stock, to see what caches have survived the deluges and what is still accessible. Already this year I've archived six of my hides, with another that's been disabled since April due to closed access, and I expect that toll to rise further during the first half of next year. Beyond that, a lot will depend on whether we get a fourth consecutive la Nina.

 

I posted this a few months back when floods were almost a weekly occurrence here and the forecast was for an extremely wet summer. Fortunately that didn't eventuate and, while the la Nina in the tropical Pacific is still active, it's apparently now in decay and is unlikely to redevelop later in the year. Since that post, I've had to do another la Nina related archival of one of my hides due to thick vegetation growth making access too difficult and its hiding place, a tree stump, having rotted out and broken in two. It was hidden in 2015 and had 53 finds, pretty amazing for one of my caches, though only two of those were in the last year so it was probably time for it to go.

 

With the weather improving, I've gone on a bit of a hiding spree, putting out three new caches (a traditional, a multi and a puzzle) in the last two months, and now have an astronomy-related puzzle called Dead Stars in the works that I'm just waiting on the themed container to arrive before submitting it. Like many of my hides, it was a spur-of-the-moment idea that arose when I went for a walk through Strickland State Forest on Australia Day to escape the crowds around the beaches here. The potential hiding place I spotted, a black hole, set my thoughts racing and the puzzle was the result.

 

Most of my caching activity, both hiding and finding, is impulsive rather than planned, often being triggered by something I see or that someone has mentioned. Those three recent caches were all like that: the traditional is on a peak near a trig marker that I visited in early December with lee737 and company, where someone said "this would be a great spot for a cache", the multi happened when I was driving past the start of a walking track and thought, "I wonder where that goes and whether there'd be any nice hiding spots along there?" and the puzzle was spawned when another friend asked on Facebook about mystery caches starting with an X (I immediately thought of Xanthorrhoea, a native tree species that's always intrigued me and, well, one thing led to another). Having been in a job where everything had to be planned months or even years in advance, impulsiveness is my retirement escape.

 

So my goal for 2023 is to just let caching take me to many more interesting and fun places that I wouldn't have otherwise known about, and let all the statistics and stuff take care of itself.

[+Goldenwattle]

2 hours ago, lee737 said:

We just hid one in Newcastle..... it wasn't planned that way - but given it was right next to a train station, why not?!

I have added that one to my list. My favourite SideTracked cache is down the line from that at Wondabyne Station. Scenic train journey to that.

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by Goldenwattle

[+phx802_11]

We want to add a few states into the mix. We're in the southwestern US so states are BIG. We want to get better at hiding caches and I really want to get a good mystery cache put together by this summer.

[+lee737]

14 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

My favourite SideTracked cache is down the line from that at Wondabyne Station

Cool, we like that one too... its ours....

 

[+Goldenwattle]

15 minutes ago, lee737 said:

Cool, we like that one too... its ours....

 

So it is...  Although, the cache says Team737 

SideTracked - Wondabyne Multi-cache GC8JHNC

Edited February 1, 2023 by Goldenwattle

[+lee737]

40 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

So it is...  Although, the cache says Team737 

SideTracked - Wondabyne Multi-cache GC8JHNC

It does, that's just the combined name myself and my sons log and hide under.....

[+DreamMachine74]

I think it's time to look back on the year that was.

So...my goals were

 

=> I'm intending on finding a cache in another state (New York), and also grabbing my first webcam there.

 

- As I suspected in my post a year ago, my job is no longer secure and reliable as of January, where I'll be making some tough decisions. This year was not good for that whole industry, so I'm waiting on any travel plans beyond my region for the time being.

 

=> I'll try and host an event or two, one of which hopefully will be on a hill.

 

- I hosted 5 events this year, and have a CITO tomorrow. One of my events in October is going to be the setting for said CITO, and both take place on and around a hill.

 

=> Continue streamlining my "cache" load. Basically I intend on continue archiving hides either removed due to local construction (I have 5 listings that have to be removed for a subway being built!) or due to no longer being a good hiding spot.

 

- I ended up archiving 13 listings this year, and publishing 3 caches, 2 of them being in new locations.

 

I found 156 caches so far this year, with a few more that I'm bound to find before January.

Edited December 8, 2023 by DreamMachine74
revisions

[+Clongo_Rongo]

My goals this year where to - complete the Triple Jasmer and 1000 logs in 1 day

 

I completed both 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by Clongo_Rongo

[+barefootjeff]

On 1/31/2023 at 9:06 PM, barefootjeff said:

So my goal for 2023 is to just let caching take me to many more interesting and fun places that I wouldn't have otherwise known about, and let all the statistics and stuff take care of itself.

 

And that's pretty much how my caching year panned out. Statistics-wise, it's been my highest annual find count ever with 208 so far and probably a few more likely before year's end. A lot of that was from group trips away where we targeted trails of caches, particularly the Yin Yang series in north-western Sydney and the Georges River kayaking power trail in Sydney's south-west.

 

Looking back over my 2023 favourites, there are quite a few that stand out as truly awesome caching experiences. In chronological order:

• Jenny Dixon - Night Cache GCA3XPH by Mighty Minions (published January 2023): a spooky graveyard finale to MM's 10-year caching anniversary event
• Alum Ridge GCA48A1 by Team737 (published February 2023): a challenging climb and traverse across the top of Alum Mountain at Bulahdelah
• At The Governor's Pleasure GC6HR8E by Calypso62 (published October 2016): a 16-stage multi set along an historical walking tour around central Sydney to obtain the coveted ticket-of-leave
• Giants Leap GCA8WQY by team novo (published May 2023): a drive out to Sandy Hollow in the upper Hunter Valley and a climb up a mountain with fantastic scenery
• Grand Canyon GCA9FJ2 by Team737 (published June 2023): an amazing EarthCache set along the walking track through a Blue Mountains slot canyon
• Venus Tor GC9Q2EZ by Elev8!on (published July 2022): another awesome Blue Mountains EarthCache along a 5km ridge with a challenging (for me) ledge traverse to the top of the Venus Tor outcrop.

 

As a CO, I've placed 8 new caches this year:

• Xanthorrhoea Flowers GCA3Q55 - a 2.5/2.5 puzzle published in January with 10 finds and 3 FPs
• Dead Stars GCA4AG7 - a 2.5/3 puzzle published in February with 5 finds and 5 FPs
• The Dark Grotto GCA5HGT - a 1.5/2.5 traditional published in March with 19 finds and 10 FPs
• Kirk to Enterprise GCAA6Z4 - a 2.5/3 puzzle published in July with 7 finds and 4 FPs
• Look Out William! GCAB2PJ - a 1.5/3 traditional published in July with 4 finds and 4 FPs
• Pearl Beach Penthouse GCABG77 - a 2/4 traditional published in July with 12 finds and 7 FPs
• The Barefoot Navigator GCACAA0 - a 2.5/3 LBH published in August with 5 finds and 5 FPs
• Chasing Waterfalls 9 - Rocky Ponds GCAEX05 - a 1.5/4 traditional published in October with 1 find and 1 FP

I've sadly archived one cache this year, GC8RTKC, when updated council zoning maps indicated that it was likely on private property rather than the crown land reserve I'd thought it was.

 

My proposed cache overlooking Patonga in Brisbane Water National Park, that I mentioned earlier in this thread and which dates back to May 2022, is still awaiting a response from the ranger. I'd almost given up on it but earlier this week, in a reply to an unrelated query, she said that she'd try to push it through in the new year. I now have another proposed cache in Watagans National Park but I'm still waiting to hear back from the ranger on that one.

 

So in a nutshell it's been a busy and thoroughly enjoyable caching year for me, both solo and with my awesome group of caching mates.

Edited December 8, 2023 by barefootjeff

[+thebruce0]

My goals were a little different this year. With a change in life leading to matrimony, I didn't have nearly the amount of spare time and freedom to get out geocaching like every other year! So I've been watching my calendar for dates I need specific finds - challenge-related date-found year grid finds. That's been my "excuse" to get out geocaching   I've also kept up with my FTF-per month streak, with a couple of local competitors. *phew*  And somehow I also managed to retain my 1000-per-year streak. Last year I qualified for a 3-years-of-2000-finds streak, which was more work, so this year was more relaxed.

But my bigger goal was to launch my new geocoin product, which happened and was a big success!  The final product may not be completely out by the end of the year to everyone though, but given all the circumstances, that's not too shabby

 

I had no big geocaching trips this year, which is a big shift from every other year. Hopefully next year I'll be able to work in time for a big mega road trip. I'd love to make it to Geowoodstock again, for one. But, I have a family now. And that's been my top priority and will continue to be 

[+CAVinoGal]

On 12/22/2022 at 9:05 PM, CAVinoGal said:

GOALS for 2023 - as 2022 draws to a close....

• Host a CITO, and possibly a "regular" event
• Reach 3000 finds - we've averaged about 500 a year since our start in 2017, I'm currently at 2587, so it's attainable, especially if we do more travelng, as we hope to do
• Keep my "traditionals" at 75% or less of total finds; in other words, up my puzzles, multi's, Wherigo's and challenges - though now with Adventure Labs, it's a lttle easier to keep trads below 75%
• Hide a few more and continue to maintain the hides I do have; between hubby's and mine, it's a challenge at times!

 

How did I do?

• I did not host a CITO, although I did host a regular event.  Maybe we can do a CITO in 2024.
• Have not yet reached 3000, currently at 2943.  A planned trip to Hawaii where we likely would have picked up enough to bring us within striking distance got canceled and our makeup trip to Tahoe was to an area we'd already cached in a few times.  Still more to find, but Hawaii is new territory and probably would have found more than we did at Tahoe.  We'll need to do a couple of dedicated hiking/trail days to make this happen and it may or may not.  
• Yes, in fact, I had hoped to sign a challenge cache in South Lake Tahoe with this very goal, as both hubby and I qualify.  Sadly, that cache was a DNF for us!  Still, my trad % is currently at 71%, including lab caches.  Without the labs, it's a bit over 75% but I'm working on getting it down.
• I did hide 1, a bonus for an Adventure Lab (does that count as 5 hides?).  Maintenance has proven to be a constant challenge; we think we are all caught up and something else goes missing or needs help.  Maybe I don't want to hide more just yet!

I haven't yet sat down to set goals for 2024.  Goals are fun, even if we don't achieve them 100%.  I will set some goals soon....

[+FunnyNose]

I completed 3 of my goals for 2023. Found a cache in all Australian states and territories. Visited all of the wonders of the modern world. And found a cache on all 7 continents. Country count is up to 80. Still thinking of 2024 goals.

Edited December 18, 2023 by FunnyNose

[+hzoi]

Well, let's see how we did.

 

On 10/21/2022 at 11:23 AM, hzoi said:

- Finish a county and DeLorme challenge

 

I did complete the Delaware Delorme Challenge, but that wasn't too much of a struggle since I had four pages to go and one could do the whole state in a day anyway. But I got it.

 

I did maanage to make significant progress on the Texas County Challenge, adding 60 more counties this year, most of them in December. But I'm still less than halfway through, so this probably isn't going to get done for a bit.

 

On 10/21/2022 at 11:23 AM, hzoi said:

- Cache in two new states

 

This was a conservative goal, since I'd been planning to move to Texas and take the long way to get there from Virginia. I added four new states, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota. Just four more to go: Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Alaska.

 

On 10/21/2022 at 11:23 AM, hzoi said:

- Cache in a new country

 

Didn;t get this one, but I did at least double my find count in Mexico (from 1 to 2!) and add a new Mexican state.

 

On 10/21/2022 at 11:23 AM, hzoi said:

- Find more "oldest active in" caches

 

Good progress here, again thanks to my highly indirect road trip from Virginia to Texas. Found nine more: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio*, and Wisconsin.

 

*All evidence apart from the placed date points to this cache actually being the oldest in Ohio, but I found it in 2022.

 

On 10/21/2022 at 11:23 AM, hzoi said:

- Host more events

 

Only hosted one, so didn't really get to the spirit of this one. Maybe 2024 will get me better at this once I get settled into the new job.

Edited January 6 by hzoi

[+SoonerCardsFan]

My goals were to get into the top 40 cachers in finds in Oklahoma. And to hit 5000 finds. 

After both of those were accomplished I raised the bar to the top 30 and 6000 finds. Missed those with 5924 and 32nd. 

Getting ready to post that in the 2024 thread. 

Edited January 8 by SoonerCardsFan