Allegany State Park Geobash
I had such a great time at the geobash, I wanted to blog about it. So I'm dusting off my lj for a recap.
I hadn't given much thought to the geobash because I have been so focused on planning the upcoming trip to Florida. So Friday morning when I got off of work, it hit me that I had done absolutely no preparation.
My day Friday was spent frittering around getting ready for the bash. I made some travel bugs to enter into the TB race, I packed, I ran a pocket query for the Allegany region. Travel bugs are items that are moved from cache to cache. They each have their own identification code, and get logged in and out of the caches they visit. I made one for Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and Piglet. All got picked up and will hopefully be on their way! A pocket query is running a search of geocaches for a specific area so you can have them all in one list. You can define many parameters of what kind of cache you want, but I ran one for all types, just so that they were all within a 12 mile radius of the bash. I had 248 results listed. I'll get back to you later on how many caches I actually completed.
Because of my late start to Allegany on Friday, I got stuck in traffic on highway 219 due to construction. It was almost 6:30 p.m. when I arrived. No one was at my cabin, so I headed over to the bash itself. I had pre-ordered a meal plan so I picked up my tickets and headed to the dining hall. Since I had the full weekend plan, I had an armband to show I was entitled to eat at each meal. One less thing to worry about! Dinner was spaghetti with meatballs and bread. Very bland. I wasn't hungry, so I didn't eat much. I went into the swag part of the store and bought the last ASP V sweatshirt they had. I had missed the cutoff for preorders, so I had to settle.
I headed back to the cabin, and two of my cabinmates were there. Havocgeo and her sister Caranwannababes. Brownteam was also hanging out with them. They invited me to unpack, and then get ready for some night caching. The other cabinmate, GadgetCHC was out caching already (she might hit 10,000 this weekend!).
Havocgeo and Caranwannababes are sisters, and they are extreme extroverts. They are kidding around continuously, and anyone with a thin skin cannot hang out with them long. Within minutes, they told me how when they registered the cabin, they couldn't remember my name. So on the registration I showed up as Lonna Puddle. Then they decided that that was my stripper name, and made sure to tell everyone I met for the remainder of the weekend that I pole dance in the cabin at 11 p.m. sharp.
We went and got the coordinates for the night caches that had just been posted. LOTS of people went out to get them. There was one spot to park for three caches, and so we did them. Wow. Each one was quite a hike. In the dark. Night caches only give coordinates to a starting point, and then you have to follow the path made by firetacks, which are reflective, to ultimately find the cache. One tack means you are on the path, two means you need to turn, and three means you are at the cache. There were so many cachers that I literally just ended up walking up to where someone else was signing their name to the log to make sure mine got in also. Each of these hikes was up a steep hill, and at least a half mile or so from the road. I couldn't keep up with Havocgeo or Caranwannababes even if I tried. They are speedy!
We were all exhausted after that, so we called it a night. Those three caches were my only finds for Friday. Some camraderie in the cabin, then time to hit the sack.
Saturday morning started early (for me) sometime before 8. I quickly got dressed and we all headed to breakfast together. We being Havocgeo, Caranwannababes, Brownteam, and myself. After breakfast we went out caching and picked up Purplehawks and her dog Bella. We got quite a few more caches, then headed back for lunch. Completely missed the group photo. Lunch was pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, chips, and a cookie. There was a travelbug swap after lunch that Havocgeo wanted to participate in. Some had their trackable coins and pathtags in books and on display. There are people who go WAY overboard with that. I didn't have anything to swap, so I went and got a cache solo. Then I rejoined my caching buddies for an afternoon of caching. Purplehawks and Bella took their own car though. We made it back for dinner (roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn and pie). I was exhausted and felt super grimy. The crew went out geocaching again and I took a shower and rested. I don't have the stamina to keep up with mastercachers like them.
I felt so refreshed after my shower that I got restless. I went and visited BarbershopDru in her cabin. Trish and Errow(geodog) were also there. Hung out with them for awhile then headed back to my cabin. Within minutes of my return, people started arriving at my cabin, and I became the impromptu host. (This thanks to Havocgeo shouting all over the campground where we could be found) Valley Girl was the first to arrive (a Canadian!) then it was Hangman(Canadian) and Hangman's kid(Canadian). Within minutes Havocgeo, Carawannababes and Brownteam arrived. And then so did MickEMT and GadgetCHC. Much talking and tales of interesting or difficult caches. Then RockHarder and Miss Kitty (both also Canadian) joined us. Havocgeo talked our neighbor, Novacs, into making us a campfire, and we all moved over there. Miss Kitty makes awesome S'mores! Camraderie around a campfire can't be beat!
It was after midnight when I finally left the fire and turned in. But I certainly was in high spirits!
Sunday again started before 8. We all packed up and headed to the dining hall for breakfast. Pancakes and sausage! yum. I chose to NOT go with the crew I had been caching with. Instead I went solo. I decided to do the bike path caches, as I had brought my bike and had yet to ride. Riding the bike path in Allegany is beautiful! Each cache was 100 - 200 feet off the path (uphill) and I found them all. One of them was up a really steep incline. The path looped around a little lake and is a ride I would do again. I was hungry when I got back to the car so I pulled out a chair and a banana and proceeded to cool off. I had left my car in the event parking, and when I got back, there was only one other car there. The guy came over and talked to me and he was very nice. It turns out I was talking to Dave w/o id. He's the #1 cacher for New York State, and #10 in the world. He has over 21,000 caches (needs to catch up his logs though) After a thoroughly pleasant conversation with him, I went on my way.
I quickly decided I was still hungry, and stopped at an Earthcache site. An Earthcache is one in which geological features are highlighted, and in order to log them you need to figure out some fact about the area to email the cache owner and also a photo of yourself there. I intended to cache a little on my way back to Buffalo, but ended up only getting one cache-n-dash before getting on the highway and making it back home. I hadn't preloaded coordinates into my GPS, and my phone battery was getting low.
Tonight I will be headed to Toronto to pick up Blythe, and I may try to get my first Canadian cache while I'm there. ;-)
I had a wonderful time, and will definitely do more mega events. It reminds me a lot of science fiction fandom. Everyone was friendly, had tales of previous antics, caches, or outrageous travelbugs (I saw one that was a bowling ball). Instead of room parties, it was campfires. There was programming at the event, but I missed out on most of it because I was tagging along with Havocgeo et. al. There were seminars and movies, a dance and a bonfire. Next year I plan for a better balance between caching and taking advantage of the programming (beyond meals)
Also, in SF Fandom, there are people refered to as SMOFs. There are totally people like that in geocaching as well. Should they be SMOGs? Secret Master(s) of Geocaching?
Being in a cabin lowered the stress of camping, and having the meal plan lowered the stress about what to eat when. So all the energy was spent on having fun and geocaching.
I will be posting photos, probably on Facebook. Anything can become a travelbug (trackable via the website). I met a guy with a trackable tattoo. There were lots of trackable cars and pets. So many cute, well behaved dogs! This must be one of the few hobbies you can take your dog!
Now it is time to get ready to head to Toronto!
I hadn't given much thought to the geobash because I have been so focused on planning the upcoming trip to Florida. So Friday morning when I got off of work, it hit me that I had done absolutely no preparation.
My day Friday was spent frittering around getting ready for the bash. I made some travel bugs to enter into the TB race, I packed, I ran a pocket query for the Allegany region. Travel bugs are items that are moved from cache to cache. They each have their own identification code, and get logged in and out of the caches they visit. I made one for Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and Piglet. All got picked up and will hopefully be on their way! A pocket query is running a search of geocaches for a specific area so you can have them all in one list. You can define many parameters of what kind of cache you want, but I ran one for all types, just so that they were all within a 12 mile radius of the bash. I had 248 results listed. I'll get back to you later on how many caches I actually completed.
Because of my late start to Allegany on Friday, I got stuck in traffic on highway 219 due to construction. It was almost 6:30 p.m. when I arrived. No one was at my cabin, so I headed over to the bash itself. I had pre-ordered a meal plan so I picked up my tickets and headed to the dining hall. Since I had the full weekend plan, I had an armband to show I was entitled to eat at each meal. One less thing to worry about! Dinner was spaghetti with meatballs and bread. Very bland. I wasn't hungry, so I didn't eat much. I went into the swag part of the store and bought the last ASP V sweatshirt they had. I had missed the cutoff for preorders, so I had to settle.
I headed back to the cabin, and two of my cabinmates were there. Havocgeo and her sister Caranwannababes. Brownteam was also hanging out with them. They invited me to unpack, and then get ready for some night caching. The other cabinmate, GadgetCHC was out caching already (she might hit 10,000 this weekend!).
Havocgeo and Caranwannababes are sisters, and they are extreme extroverts. They are kidding around continuously, and anyone with a thin skin cannot hang out with them long. Within minutes, they told me how when they registered the cabin, they couldn't remember my name. So on the registration I showed up as Lonna Puddle. Then they decided that that was my stripper name, and made sure to tell everyone I met for the remainder of the weekend that I pole dance in the cabin at 11 p.m. sharp.
We went and got the coordinates for the night caches that had just been posted. LOTS of people went out to get them. There was one spot to park for three caches, and so we did them. Wow. Each one was quite a hike. In the dark. Night caches only give coordinates to a starting point, and then you have to follow the path made by firetacks, which are reflective, to ultimately find the cache. One tack means you are on the path, two means you need to turn, and three means you are at the cache. There were so many cachers that I literally just ended up walking up to where someone else was signing their name to the log to make sure mine got in also. Each of these hikes was up a steep hill, and at least a half mile or so from the road. I couldn't keep up with Havocgeo or Caranwannababes even if I tried. They are speedy!
We were all exhausted after that, so we called it a night. Those three caches were my only finds for Friday. Some camraderie in the cabin, then time to hit the sack.
Saturday morning started early (for me) sometime before 8. I quickly got dressed and we all headed to breakfast together. We being Havocgeo, Caranwannababes, Brownteam, and myself. After breakfast we went out caching and picked up Purplehawks and her dog Bella. We got quite a few more caches, then headed back for lunch. Completely missed the group photo. Lunch was pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, chips, and a cookie. There was a travelbug swap after lunch that Havocgeo wanted to participate in. Some had their trackable coins and pathtags in books and on display. There are people who go WAY overboard with that. I didn't have anything to swap, so I went and got a cache solo. Then I rejoined my caching buddies for an afternoon of caching. Purplehawks and Bella took their own car though. We made it back for dinner (roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn and pie). I was exhausted and felt super grimy. The crew went out geocaching again and I took a shower and rested. I don't have the stamina to keep up with mastercachers like them.
I felt so refreshed after my shower that I got restless. I went and visited BarbershopDru in her cabin. Trish and Errow(geodog) were also there. Hung out with them for awhile then headed back to my cabin. Within minutes of my return, people started arriving at my cabin, and I became the impromptu host. (This thanks to Havocgeo shouting all over the campground where we could be found) Valley Girl was the first to arrive (a Canadian!) then it was Hangman(Canadian) and Hangman's kid(Canadian). Within minutes Havocgeo, Carawannababes and Brownteam arrived. And then so did MickEMT and GadgetCHC. Much talking and tales of interesting or difficult caches. Then RockHarder and Miss Kitty (both also Canadian) joined us. Havocgeo talked our neighbor, Novacs, into making us a campfire, and we all moved over there. Miss Kitty makes awesome S'mores! Camraderie around a campfire can't be beat!
It was after midnight when I finally left the fire and turned in. But I certainly was in high spirits!
Sunday again started before 8. We all packed up and headed to the dining hall for breakfast. Pancakes and sausage! yum. I chose to NOT go with the crew I had been caching with. Instead I went solo. I decided to do the bike path caches, as I had brought my bike and had yet to ride. Riding the bike path in Allegany is beautiful! Each cache was 100 - 200 feet off the path (uphill) and I found them all. One of them was up a really steep incline. The path looped around a little lake and is a ride I would do again. I was hungry when I got back to the car so I pulled out a chair and a banana and proceeded to cool off. I had left my car in the event parking, and when I got back, there was only one other car there. The guy came over and talked to me and he was very nice. It turns out I was talking to Dave w/o id. He's the #1 cacher for New York State, and #10 in the world. He has over 21,000 caches (needs to catch up his logs though) After a thoroughly pleasant conversation with him, I went on my way.
I quickly decided I was still hungry, and stopped at an Earthcache site. An Earthcache is one in which geological features are highlighted, and in order to log them you need to figure out some fact about the area to email the cache owner and also a photo of yourself there. I intended to cache a little on my way back to Buffalo, but ended up only getting one cache-n-dash before getting on the highway and making it back home. I hadn't preloaded coordinates into my GPS, and my phone battery was getting low.
Tonight I will be headed to Toronto to pick up Blythe, and I may try to get my first Canadian cache while I'm there. ;-)
I had a wonderful time, and will definitely do more mega events. It reminds me a lot of science fiction fandom. Everyone was friendly, had tales of previous antics, caches, or outrageous travelbugs (I saw one that was a bowling ball). Instead of room parties, it was campfires. There was programming at the event, but I missed out on most of it because I was tagging along with Havocgeo et. al. There were seminars and movies, a dance and a bonfire. Next year I plan for a better balance between caching and taking advantage of the programming (beyond meals)
Also, in SF Fandom, there are people refered to as SMOFs. There are totally people like that in geocaching as well. Should they be SMOGs? Secret Master(s) of Geocaching?
Being in a cabin lowered the stress of camping, and having the meal plan lowered the stress about what to eat when. So all the energy was spent on having fun and geocaching.
I will be posting photos, probably on Facebook. Anything can become a travelbug (trackable via the website). I met a guy with a trackable tattoo. There were lots of trackable cars and pets. So many cute, well behaved dogs! This must be one of the few hobbies you can take your dog!
Now it is time to get ready to head to Toronto!