Ontario Geocaching Association

Summer is just around the corner and hopefully you’ll be outside enjoying the fine weather while geocaching.  From time to time even in the summer the weather just doesn’t seem right for geocaching.  Even if you are stuck inside there are still geocaching activities you can do without a GPSr.   Here are five geocaching activities you can do without a GPS.

1. Attend an event.  Okay so sometimes you’ll need a GPSr for this one but in most cases the GPSr is optional.   Attend an indoor event and meet the cachers that write those entertaining logs or publish those tricky puzzles.  Take advantage of any ice breaker activities offered at the event you attend.  You’ll get to meet some interesting folks.
2. Solve a puzzle.   If you are in the Ottawa area you probably do this already.   The folks up that way seem to love their puzzles.   Every area seems to have one cacher that likes this aspect of the game.  Use your time indoors to solve that one puzzle that’s been eating away at you or has become your closest unfound.  The weather will be good eventually, be ready!
3. Go Shopping.  Not everyone needs to be encouraged to go shopping, you know who you are.   Whether it’s online browsing or visiting an outfitter there is always a piece of kit that would round out your geocaching bag.  For the summer I like to carry a pair of water shoes.  Makes wading a lot easier and keeps my boots dry.
4. Photography Tutorials.   Learning how to take better pictures, if you are interested in that, can be accomplished by watching some online tutorials related to the area you want to improve.   Perhaps you want to take better wildlife photos while you are out geocaching; just enter a search on YouTube for something like “tutorial wildlife photography” or

• Wildlife Tutorial
• Photographing Groups

5. Read Online Forums.   Geocaching.com and the Ontario Geocaching Association both maintain online forums.   If you’ve never visited a forum these are websites that allow users to share ideas, comments and socialize.   There is a wealth of information waiting for you in the OGA Forums.

That’s my list of five things you can do.   What do you do when you are stuck inside?  Have ideas to share?  Visit our online forums and share your thoughts.

Caching Around #19  (GC3DVTN)
- Owned by Cute&Cuddly

Looking for a bit of a challenge?  This cache might be what you are after.   This four stage multi has a variety of terrain to negotiate, some field puzzles to solve and some additional physical challenges.   The general consensus in the group I was with would indicate this cache is worth trying if you aren’t afraid of the dark.

Geocache Spotlight is an ongoing feature of the OGA Newsletter. Each month a geocache will be recommended. If you know of a geocache that you either own or have found and feel it deserves some attention, please write something about it and submit it for publication in the OGA Newsletter.

If you are a regular reader of our newsletter you may notice a few changes with this issue.   We have changed providers in order to make managing our subscribers easier.  Now when you join the association you will automatically receive our newsletter. This was not the case in the past.   We hope you find that beneficial.

We have also improved the template slightly.   This is to make the newsletter easier to read and share.  If you have questions about the newsletter or you would like to suggest story ideas please use the contact form on our website to let us know.

Regards,

John Robb (TeamVoyagr)
Editor

If you haven’t ordered an OGA Suncatcher geocoin yet, now may be your last chance as we are already sold out of the LE Antique Brass version and only have a limited amount of the Antique Silver ($10), Antique Copper ($10) and the XLE Satin Gold ($13) version left. Or get the bundle of all 3 of them and save $3.

New in the OGA store is a brand new pin design which was just added.

We are also looking at getting other items including a new shirt design to add to the stock in our OGA store. If you have any ideas for a shirt or other items you would like to see OGA sell, please feel free to email any of the execs at any time. You can visit the OGA Store at http://store.ontgeocaching.com/ to see and order the new pins, Suncatcher geocoins and other items that we currently have in stock.

The OGA is busy at work in Peterborough and area.

Have you heard of GeoFreakz? Starting May 19th the GeoFreakz will have a series of 4 caches that can be accessed close to the Peterborough LiftLocks. The caches are being placed as part of a National Pilot Project with GeoFreakz and Parks Canada and the mission is to locate as much of the Krystal Star as you can.

The OGA has been involved with placing the caches and will be hosting the official event to launch the kick-off of the caches. If you don’t have a GPS, don’t worry as there will be GPS units available for use at the Peterborough Lift Lock Visitor Centre. Mark May 19th on your calendar and Join the Quest!

Also a reminder to keep July 14th open for another OGA Parks Canada Event near Campbellford. There will be some very neat caches and a new coin. We are working at making this event another memorable one. You won’t be smilie-ing if you miss it!

The following are some things that you might find interesting:
A nostalgic look at the early days of geocaching
Extreme Geocaching
How it all got started
A creative geocache