Geocaching with Geocacher Ken

Good morning everyone.  Almost 10 months is completed for the year 2019.  Where has the time gone?  Who has found the most geocaches so far?  In Canada, it's Troqueurs32 with 10,423 finds.  That's almost ten thousand more than me.  Down in the U.S., mondou2 has found 16,743 geocaches.  Locally, 4elements5senses has logged 2,169 finds so far among Manitoba based geocachers.  Tick_Magnet is the top North Dakotan with 2,004. If you follow any of the Geocaching YouTubers (vloggers), podcasters, or bloggers, you may have heard some talking about and thanking their Patreon subscribers.  What exactly is this Patreon that these people are talking about?  Hopefully this week's blog will help you understand the background and connection that these geocaching artists have with Patreon.  Helping me out with this project are two people that I subscribe to.  GeoJangie and Cache the Line, both of whom are Patreon creators. First, a little...

Good morning everyone.  According to Project-gc, there are 68 caches in Manitoba that are listed as large.  Ontario leads the way with 487 large caches.  North Dakota has 22 caches listed as large.  If you like finding large caches, then California is the place to be.  695 caches are listed as being large. With the length of daylight getting shorter as this side of the globe enters the Winter months, there's a good chance you'll be doing some caching in the dark.  There's nothing more stealthy than sneaking around unnoticed in the dark.  Almost ninja like.  Except for that flashlight that you're using.  I've done my fair share of finding caches after the sun has gone down.  A good flashlight is a must.  The light on your phone is ok, but it doesn't help you see further distances like a good flashlight will.  If you're doing an actual night cache, then you absolutely need a very good flashlight.  I do own a good flashligh...

Good morning everyone.  The most found cache in Jamaica is 'Dunn's River Falls' GC18WG8.  An Earthcache that was placed in January, 2008.  It has 1,185 found logs, 5 DNFs and 332 favorite points.  Most found cache in Puerto Rico is 'Cat/Dolphin/Giraffe'  A traditional that was placed in November, 2010.  It has 2,590 found logs, 122 DNFs, and 125 favorite points. Happy International Earthcache weekend.  Have you gone out and done an earthcache yet?  Not me.  We're still digging out from an unusually early snowstorm.  I've never seen this much snow on the ground this early in October.  I have been to two earthcaches over time that I never submitted answers for.  I could complete one of those.  Would that be right?  Sandbagging for a souvenir that no one will see?  This is a nice little segue into this week's blog Last week I started looking at logging etiquette.  This week is the conclusion to a podcast th...

Good morning everyone.  The cache with the most found logs in Mexico is 'The Mayan Ruins of Tulum'  GC29B5.  A virtual cache that was placed in November, 2001.  It has 3,993 found and 2 DNFs.  It also has 565 favorite points.  The most found cache in Cuba is 'Cuba Libre' GC5B6F.  A traditional cache that was hidden in May, 2002.  It has 1,300 found, 124 DNFs and 128 favorite points. This week I want to look at logging etiquette.  The Geocaching Podcast did a show on this very topic back on June 19th, show #568 titled Geocaching Deadly Sins: Logging Etiquette.  Hosts Scott Berks (scottberks), Chad Courtney (TAZ427), and Jessie Brown (shortyknits) covered a list of logging faux pas.  You can catch their live shows on Wednesday nights, 8:30pm central and the replays on YouTube.  I'll be playing the 4th host and adding my personal view on some of the items that was covered on the show as both a finder and a cache owner. 1) TFTC...

Good morning everyone.  Top FTF streaks in terms of consecutive months with at least one FTF:  Top Canadian is TeamSigShark&Janski in Alberta who is currently at 130 months and still going.  Top Manitoban is JB, who has 94 consecutive months and also still going.  Top American is kablooey from California with 205 months and still active.  Top North Dakotan is archiedais who went 17 consecutive months of FTFs.  That one is no longer active. This week's blog was suppose to be about my camping trip last weekend, but I haven't had the opportunity to sit down and compose a proper story.  It is now Saturday morning and basically 24 hours before my next blog is to be published.  Problem is, I have nothing ready to be published.  That got me wondering about other creative people in the caching world.  I'm sure life gets busy for them as well.  What do they do?  How do they handle the time crunch to get new product out to their fo...

Good morning everyone.  How many days in a row have you gone with getting an FTF?  The longest daily streak for FTFs in Canada belongs to Carnigrewal with an impressive 94 days.  Locally it's klblue and Geo-Smart with a six day streak of FTFs.  I have a 2 day streak.  Down South, it's DrJay in Utah with an 85 day FTF streak.  In North Dakota, that honor goes to archiedais with a four day FTF streak. This week I'll be sharing my experience on a recent Community Day event that took place on September 15th.  What is community day you ask?  Community day is actually a Pokémon Go event.  For those that don't play Pokémon Go, once a month for three hours, a designated Pokemon will appear (or spawn) more often than other Pokemon.  There's also a chance you can catch a shiny version of that particular Pokemon.  A shiny version is basically a different colored Pokemon with sparkles around it.  Some people get excited about catching th...

Good morning everyone.  It can be hard enough to get that elusive FTF, but to do it in multiple countries?  K-Romers from Nova Scotia has FTFs in 11 different countries.  Locally, it's Trove Chasers, Bike 4 Me, Morea 1821, and Kurt B with FTFs in 3 different countries.  I have FTFs in 2 countries.  In the States, it's g-o-cashers with 12 different countries that they have an FTF in.  WhiskeySowers in North Dakota can claim FTFs in 3 different countries. As some of you may know, I'm the unofficial stats guy for the North Dakota Geocaching Association.  Even though I don't live in North Dakota, I do feel very welcome by that community and my monthly stats report is well received.  I was the stats guy for the local association around these parts, but that role was being undermined, so I gave it up.  I don't need the drama.  At one point in time, I was doing the stats for both association.  In a way, I'm relieved that I don't do the l...