Phlogiston

Yup, it's right there!

Learn more about Earth and its incredibly unique formations on Saturday, October 7, and Sunday, October 8, in celebration of International EarthCache Day! Earn the official souvenir for visiting the physical location of the EarthCache and completing the logging requirements to receive your smiley.

EarthCaches are filled with pools of geological knowledge, just like Pamukkale in Turkey. These bright blue, eye-catching terrace pools are created by the carbonate mineral left by the thermal flow of spring water, pictured above.

Geocaching Blog

On May 2, 2000, at approximately midnight, eastern savings time, the great blue switch controlling selective availability was pressed. Twenty-four satellites around the globe processed their new orders, and instantly the accuracy of GPS technology improved tenfold. Tens of thousands of GPS receivers around the world had an instant upgrade.

The announcement a day before came as a welcome surprise to everyone who worked with GPS technology. The government had planned to remove selective availability - but had until 2006 to do so. Now, said the White House, anyone could "precisely pinpoint their location or the location of items (such as game) left behind for later recovery." How right they were.

London, Paris, New York, Beavercreek?

For GPS enthusiasts, this was definitely a cause for celebration. Internet newsgroups suddenly teemed with ideas about how the technology could be used.

On May 3, one such enthusiast, Dave Ulmer, a computer consultant, wanted to test the accuracy by hiding a navigational target in the woods. He called the idea the "Great American GPS Stash Hunt" and posted it in an internet GPS users' group. The idea was simple: Hide a container out in the woods and note the coordinates with a GPS unit. The finder would then have to locate the container with only the use of his or her GPS receiver. The rules for the finder were simple: "Take some stuff, leave some stuff."

On May 3rd he placed his own container, a black bucket, in the woods near Beavercreek, Oregon, near Portland. Along with a logbook and pencil, he left various prize items including videos, books, software, and a slingshot. He shared the waypoint of his "stash" with the online community on sci.geo.satellite-nav: N 45° 17.460 W 122° 24.800

Within three days, two different readers read about his stash on the Internet, used their own GPS receivers to find the container, and shared their experiences online. Throughout the next week, others excited by the prospect of hiding and finding stashes began hiding their own containers and posting coordinates. Like many new and innovative ideas on the Internet, the concept spread quickly - but this one required leaving your computer to participate.

Within the first month, Mike Teague, the first person to find Ulmer's stash, began gathering the online posts of coordinates around the world and documenting them on his personal home page. The "GPS Stash Hunt" mailing list was created to discuss the emerging activity. Names were even tossed about to replace the name "stash" due to the negative connotations of that name. One such name was "geocaching."

Source: https://www.geocaching.com/about/history.aspx

This ammo can is the final stop for a multi, which I started on back in 2021. The clues for the final are in an easily accessible, urban area. But once I put them all together, the final was fully 10km away, on a hike part way up a mountain! I had the final saved to my phone and ignored for a long time before finally heading out for the hike today. So satisfying to finally check it off!

I'd like to request to be made a moderator of the !geocaching@lemmy.world community. The only mod there, @postman@lemmy.world, hasn't had any activity in the last 3 months. I tried conctacting them, and haven't received a response.

I was the only frequent poster on c/geocaching for about two months before a recent burst of activity, and I'd love to add a bit more of a wiki/sidebar now. Geocaching has been my main hobby for about 4 years, and I'd love for this community to keep growing.

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask for this, please let me know where I should post instead!

*A couple married for 43 years attends geocaching events all over the world, and discovered the one held Sept. 16 to be enlightening on Cherokee history.

The Geocaching event, Cherokee stories and adventure presented by the Cherokee Nation, took place at the Peace Pavilion, and contestants came from several states to participate.*

It's been awesome reading more of people's stories over the last few days. I hope y'all stay active and this community keeps growing!

It's been about 2 months since I started posting regularly in the hopes of getting more people involved here. I've tried to keep a good mix of diverse topics in that time.

That being said, is there any specific content you'd like to see more of in this community? Something you feel is missing?

After a possible discovery of explosives in Magdeburg, the police have given the all-clear. As the local police informed MDR, the alleged explosive device poses no danger. According to the police, there will be no further investigations or criminal charges. According to MDR information, the dummy explosive was a geocache.

According to police information, tradespeople discovered a suspicious object in the empty prefabricated building of the former SED party school. It was a type of ammunition box that apparently contained two gas containers and various wires. The geocache must have been lying dormant in the underworld for many years. The last entry is from 2013.

After the discovery, the area around the former SED party school was closed for several hours. The blocking radius was around 200 meters.

I've been plugging away for about 2 months now trying to grow a small hobby community here on Lemmy. It's doing well, up from 200 to 425 subscribers in the time I've been active.

But, sometimes it feels discouraging. I'm still the only one who posts with any regularity, and I miss the more in-depth discussions I was able to have at the other place. How long, or how many subscribers, does it take for a community to become self-sustaining?

Edit: !geocaching@lemmy.world for anyone curious

Just curious what this community's demographics are like! I'm closing in on 3500 myself

Always love the thrill of being the first person at a new GZ... this one came out while I was at home, less than 2km away. It doesn't get much luckier than that!