Geocaching and Pathtags

 Good morning everyone.  It's off to West Virginia as we make our way up the East side of the States.  The most favorite cache is 'Evolution of the Rest Stop!'  GC33NAZ.  The owner is WVTim & WVGrammy.  Being on social media, I have heard how WVTim's caches are very creative, so no surprise that he owns the most favorite cache in West Virginia.  This particular cache was hidden on September 7, 2011.  It has 3,518 logged finds and 1,515 favorite points so far.  It is also part of the Berkley Gadgets GeoTour GT96, the most favorited GeoTour in the world.

The first geocache in West Virginia was 'Loudoun Heights Cache'  GC88.  Placed in October, 2000, it was found 11 times (not counting the 12th as it was logged 18 years after it was archived) before being confiscated by the NPS (national park services?) in May, 2001.  The oldest active cache is 'Rich Creek Riches'  GC3F0.  Hidden on February 25, 2001, this cache has been found 270 times and has 130 favorite points so far.

Today I want to look at the world of Pathtags.  They are the small, personalized coins you can find in geocaches as swag, handed out as prizes, or traded.  What do you do when you get your hands on one?  It's up to you.  You can keep it as part of a collection, place it in another geocache as swag, or trade it with another collector.  There is a website you can go to and register the coins you have.  http://www.pathtags.com/  

I was first introduced to pathtags by Jangie.  I won a contest on her Instagram page about eight years ago.  That tag hangs from my rearview mirror along with a trackable.

I only have about 36 coins in my collection.  Not very many compared to other collectors.  I was also really bad in not registering the coins on the pathtag site until recently.  My collection also lived in a baggie.  Some collectors have a homemade display for their tag collection.  I went to I.B. Geocaching and found a small book to display my small collection.

Now my collection is organized and can be displayed better instead of being loose in a baggie.  When you collect items, you might come across a duplicate tag.  I just so happen to have four duplicates.

What do you do with the duplicates?  You can trade them with other collectors at an event, or trade them with another collector on the Pathtag site.  On the site, you can view what other collectors have in their collection and which tags are they willing to trade.  You can also create a wishlist if you know which tag you want to get.  Each design has it's own distinctive number.  You enter that number when registering a tag or making a wishlist on the Pathtag site.

That is the backside to this double that I have...

On the pathtag site, I was notified that another collector would like to trade with me for the above tag.  This is my first time attempting a trade.  The collector is Cryptid and they are from Nevada.  They are offering up this in exchange:

A personalized pathtag.  Since I'm new at this, I asked Cryptid how do we go about completing the trade.  We exchanged mailing addresses and it goes by the honor system.  There is also a feature on the pathtag site where you can manage your trades.  On there, you can click on the 'send tags' button when you have dropped your tag in the mail.  This will notify Cryptid (or whoever you are trading with) that the tag is on the way.  That is my task for today.  I purchased a Thank You card to place the tag in so it will have a safer travel in the mail.  Knowing how slow the mail can be (and you wonder why it's called snail mail), I hope to see the tag from Cryptid in about three weeks.  Hopefully it arrives before I move (yes, I am moving again.. 7th move in seven years).

I have that and the prize package for Snappleandzarfle from last month's photo contest to drop off at the post office today (Wednesday).  She chose the fridge magnet combo prize package.

Speaking of photo contests, this month's theme is favorite geocaching hat.  Here is another one of my hats.  I sort of semi-retired this one as I don't wear it as often anymore.  NASCAR fans will recognize the number.  My favorite driver, the Intimidator, Dale Earnhardt.

I will keep all of you posted as to when Cryptid's tag arrives here and when Cryptid gets my tag.  I have been debating if I should have my own pathtag made.  I do have a design in mind.  I'm also thinking of making a Geocaching Guild pathtag.  We shall see how the finances look down the road.

Until then, be happy, stay safe, wear a mask and wash your hands, hug your furry critters, and most importantly, have fun.  Peace out.

Catching Tinks and Sassy relaxing together.