Good morning everyone. We are nearing the end of the oldest and most favorite geocaches in the United States. Today it's Massachusetts. The oldest and most favorite is 'First Mass' GC74. Hidden on October 1st, 2000. This traditional has been found 2,542 times and has 866 favorite points to date.
A recent episode of The Geocaching Podcast (May 19) talked about the very first geocache you found. It's always interesting hearing how others discovered this new way of life. I did a whole blog on my very first find a couple of years ago. I'm not going to relive the entire story today. You can read it here > My First Find You can catch the episode of The Geocaching Podcast, episode 666 (they should have discussed horror stories, evil hides, or something more fitting of the episode number LOL) here > The Geocaching Podcast
Towards the end of the show, Jesse (shortyknits) made a comment about your first find for each cache type. That's when the light bulb went on in my creative head. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of all my first finds by cache type, but that shouldn't stop me from sharing my first finds.
For those unfamiliar with my start to this crazy adventure, my first find was completely by accident. On a family outing at Lower Fort Gary, about 10 to 15 minutes north of Winnipeg, I stumbled on a lock n lock. That was Wednesday, August 7, 2013.
I did go back with my boys in 2018 with hopes of actually doing the stages from start to end since I never really did it in the first place. When we showed up, we were informed that the fort was closed for renovations. We could still walk around, but the buildings are closed. We did get free passes to use in the future. Back again in 2019 with the boys. All the buildings are open, including three of the four corner bastions. The one that isn't open is the one with the final to the multi. I can identify where the final is because sadly, this cache was archived last summer.
This is a view from the corner bastion opposite of where the final is located. The final was in the Northeast corner of the fort.
The furthest round corner in the picture was the final location. I found it sitting on a ledge/opening similar to the openings you see in the closest corner bastion.
I scrolled through all the logs to find mine. This is the only geocache that I signed with my muggle name. My online log reads as follows: "Zl 1fg svaq (ol nppvqrag). Abj gb svaq zber. :)" Huh?? What the heck is that? Then I remembered that I had encrypted my log. Why? No clue. Probably being stealthy in my found log. Who knows. When it's decrypted, it reads: "My 1st find (by accident). Now to find more. :)". While most people find a traditional first, I find a multi first.
My first traditional came three days later. I took my oldest with me to a nearby park and museum. I didn't have a GPSr or an app to use. I was going simply by what the geocaching map showed me and Google maps. Basically looking for a needle in a hay stack. I was in search of 7 Oaks House GC2WDDP. I was able to find that one in a hollow of a tree. This one was archived two years ago. At least I didn't encrypt this online log. "2nd cache found. easy to find with the clue. :D". I was quick to learn that clicking on 'Additional Hints' can help with the search. This is also the start of me numbering all my finds in my online logs.
Next day (Sunday, August 11), I attended my first event. "MBGA Geocache Hiding Seminar - Basic and Advanced" GC4HHEV. This was nicely timed. A good way to educate a new geocacher like myself. I did take away some good information from that. I remember sitting near the back and near the door as I didn't know anyone and I could make a quick exit if needed. First three finds, all different cache types.
The fourth didn't come until two months later. Every other Sunday, my family would get together with my then wife's sister and daughter. To give the moms some quiet time, I took all the kids out geocaching until I got word that supper would be ready by a certain time and it was my cue to head for home. On this day I would get my first Mystery (puzzle). "Ground Squirrels" GC1T58T. This is located in the Oak Hammock Marsh area, about 15 to 20 minutes northwest of the city. I don't think I actually solved this one at the time. I just went by previous logs and the needle in the haystack approach. This cache is still active.
(Heading off to find geocaches at Oak Hammock).
Two weeks later, same scenario, I have the kids on a Sunday afternoon and I find my first Letterbox. "May Your Soul Already Be In Heaven An Hour" GC3J5DE. This one is still active. Four days later, I'm in the town of Stonewall, about 20 minutes northwest of Winnipeg for my oldest boy's eye doctor appointment. There are very few optometrists that specialize in children and we found one that was highly recommended but was outside of the city. Anyway, I did my first Earthcache. "Ancient Sea Bed" GC138QH.
Fast forward to Saturday, January 18, 2014. It's just my boys with me as we go check out some comic book stores. I also got my first virtual. "First Post - Winnipeg" GC6C18.
Three months later on April 26, was my first CITO. "MBGA Earth Day Weekend CITO" GC4XTQM. July 5, 2015, I did my first WherIgo (and only one that I was able to get to work on any of my phones). "Mr. Magoo Can't Find His Car in MB" GC48Q6A. A month later, while on a trip out west to Calgary, I got my first and only Webcam "Smile" GC8760. This one has since been archived.
Eight cache types in the first eight months of my geocaching life. Two more for ten in two years. It wouldn't be until April 21, 2019 that I would add another cache type. The Lab Cache (now known as Adventure Labs). I did "Paranormal Capital of Canada". It was a rough start, but once we figured out what we needed to do, we were on our way. The final new cache type and twelfth overall was just last month when I did GC8NEAT for the Locationless.
That is my first finds by cache type. Changing topics for a second, this is the final week for the May photo contest. I'll be announcing the winner next Sunday. The May theme was things that bloom. You can send your entries to thegeocachingguild@gmail.com or on Twitter to @thegeocachingg1.
Until next week, be happy, stay safe, wash your hands and wear a mask, get vaccinated, hug your furry critters, and most importantly, just have fun. Peace out.
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