GoLI Member Spotlight - April 2020 CP590

April 2020 GoLI Member Spotlight Questionnaire

CP590

1. What does your cacher name mean? I was a Cubmaster of Cub Scout Pack 590 so it’s “Cub Pack 590” abbreviated. I hoped to do it a lot with the boys, but ended up doing it mostly for myself.

2. When did you start caching and how did you find out about it? My mom had sent me an article about it in 2005-6, but I didn’t pay much attention. Then there was a presentation at a Cub Scouting Leader Roundtable in 2006 that got me interested.

3. Describe your first find. It was really good - GCQK8T “NZ14 Peek-A-Boo, now archived. It was a small round tin with a magnet, stuck inside a metal door of an old pumping station around Massapequa Lake. Found it using a car GPSr called the Finedrive 400, but it didn’t have a battery so I had a small 12V battery on a strap over my shoulder! And you couldn’t set coords as a destination, so we just walked around until the numbers seemed to match what we were looking for! I had my 7 year old son with me, hoping to find a few that day, but only found that one before he got tired. Also interesting was that another geocacher - mrs_kennedy - saw us finding the cache but didn’t say anything, and came back later to find it herself. Saw that in her log afterwards.

4. How many finds do you have? 6768

a. Find count by type 5749 Traditionals 366 Mysterys 130 Events (Including 12 CITO’s, 4 Mega, 1 Giga) 129 Multis 99 Virtuals 60 Wherigos 38 Letterbox Hybrid 36 Earth Caches 4 Webcams 157 Lab Caches

b. Favorite find type? Traditionals that are gadget caches. I appreciate when someone has worked hard to create an interesting cache.

c. Pick one favorite find? Belleayre Sunset GC1NJB3 - Found while skiing on Belleayre Mountain as part of a Boy Scout camping trip. It combined all my favorite things! Geocaching, Scouting & Skiing.

5. How many caches have you hidden? 85 according to GC.com, but several are ones I’ve adopted and continue to maintain.

a. Hide count by type 65 Traditional 11 Mystery 5 Events (Including 1 CITO) 1 Multi 1 Wherigo 1 Letterbox Hybrid 1 Lab Cache

b. Favorite hide type? Traditionals that are gadgets, or cleverly hidden in plain sight.

c. Pick one favorite cache that you’ve hidden? That’s tough - How can you choose your favorite child!! The ones that give me the most joy are the Cache to Eagle series of Boy Scout caches I’ve hidden. They’re at Boy Scout Eagle service projects and showcase to the community the contributions of these boys. I enjoy the nice comments that are often posted.

6. Stats review -

a. How many state and country souvenirs? 2 Countries (Morocco!) 28 States

b. Jasmer challenge? Completed.

c. Fizzy challenge? Still need 7 boxes

d. Calendar days Completed x3, and only 3 finds away from having 366x5

e. Streak? 265 days in 2013-2014 and I’m glad it’s over. It made geocaching into a job.

f. Slump? 40 days in 2007 when I misplaced my GPSr.

g. FTFs? I’ve lost track, but around 125. Not so many lately!

h. Best caching week? Weekend? Probably the trip to MidWest Geobash in 2019 with eyedoc. Found many caches, and had a great time. Hope we can do it again this year.

7. Do you trade SWAG? Any signature SWAG items? I rarely take swag, I often leave caribiners or spring clips. I have a collection of cachers’ sig items though.

8. Like to move trackables? How many do you own? I have owned 35 trackables, but they don’t seem to last long in the wild. I have a small collection of geocoins, mostly Scout themed. I like to move them, but often hold onto them too long, trying to find a good cache to place them in.

9. Cache with GPS or Phone? Only phone now, but have gone thru three GPSr’s.

10. Do you have any geocaching goals? I’m trying to find more Mysteries and Earthcaches. I’m surprised how few I have found.

11. Do you cache with anyone? Yes, anyone! Mostly alone, but I really enjoy caching with others. Always a good time.

12. Tell a memorable caching story Sight Unseen, Jan, 2015. Found with a group of 10, in the snow and the cold, we started out as acquaintances, finished as good friends! 10 stages of puzzles and gadgets, before anyone had heard of gadget caches. Exhausting, frustrating, and rewarding, all day just for one smiley! No other cache I’ve done has ever equaled that day.

13. Bucket list cache? Mingo, GC HQ, Original Stash, and an APE cache I suppose, but every where I go, there’s always a good cache to enjoy.

14. Besides geocaching, what else should we know about you? I’m a Scout leader, skiier, car nut, husband and proud father of 2 Eagle Scouts. I’m also a Geocaching merit badge counselor for Scouts BSA, and have taught geocaching to Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Scouters & even Girl Scout leaders.

15. What do you want GoLI to work on? I like most things you’ve done so far. Picnics & other events are great, the challenge games were good too. Maybe some organized geocaching outings would be fun, like trips to other area events or cache trails. Perhaps some organized outreach to police departments to explain our hobby. And how about some Geo-Art?