During this time of stay-in-place orders what is a geocacher to do? We could watch videos on YouTube. Or we can create cool cache containers. Or we could do as I’m doing: solving puzzles.
The Geocaching Vlogger this month began season five of the Geocaching Challenge he and Lookout Lisa from Cache Advance have been doing. Each month they issue a challenge. Sometimes it’s find a virtual cache. Or maybe it’s find a cache near a mural. One month last year they put a challenge to find a cache using an alternative mode of transportation. In other words, get to the cache without driving or walking.
Everyone who completes the challenge and sends proof to the Geocaching Vlogger (he includes his email address in the video) is entered to win a coin. I won a coin for the alternative mode of transportation challenge. I rode my bicycle to an event. Some people came up with some awesome ideas. Geo Jerry tried to get to a cache on a pogostick. Geogurl82 drove a go-kart. Sir Drumalot rode a Big Wheels tricycle. Bob Billy drove a lawnmower.
I’ve been working on a geo-art based on the cartoon Roadrunner. The series is called Chasing the Road Runner. It’s located near St. Marys, Ohio, about 50 miles east of Fort Wayne.
I’ve probably solved a dozen or so of the puzzles. Each is different, the first is based on shield from the Game of Thrones, a TV series I’ve never watched and have no idea how to solve. Others are based on various codes — Morse code, Braille, etc. I solved one based on Nancy Drew mysteries and another based on Army ranks. Something I learned in boot camp paid off. There are more than 100 caches in the series, and I’m chipping away a few at a time as I sit out the coronavirus.
In southwest Indiana there is geo-art that is an outline of the state. Most of the puzzles have to do with a fact about one of Indiana’s 92 counties. I solved most of those last year. I don’t know when I’ll get down there to find the caches. In October of last year, Kneel More and I completed a geo-art when we rode our bikes down the Kal-Haven Trail in Michigan. It was a heart-shaped puzzle based on presidents and first ladies.
I may not be leaving home and finding caches as often as I’d like. But I’m still trying to keep my hand in geocaching by solving puzzles. What are other folks doing?
Geocaching with Capt. TailWagger 