Top 10 Sunday: Geocoinfest 2009

What? You don't know what a Geocoinfest is? Really? Everybody knows that! OK, maybe not everybody . . . OK, really I didn't either . . .

Typically, geocaching involved using a GPS to find hidden objects. Occasionally, someone will publish GPS coordinates to a meeting place where other geocachers all go at the same time and do something. Some of these "event caches" are things like hikes, bowling, water fights, campouts, etc. Some of them are "mega-events" with hundreds of people attending. This weekend, the GPS led me to the Gallivan Center Marriott for the annual Geocoinfest that was held right here in SLC. Cachers from all over, including Minnesota and Ireland, came to hang out at this event. These are the top 10 memorable moments of the weekend . . . The good, the bad, and the goofy.

10. Finding out what a geocoin is-- They come in all shapes and sizes. One I saw was shaped like a golden spike. Another was a secret decoder. There were countless variations. Many of them have codes on them that can be logged online and tracked when sent out into geocaches for people to move around. Some people collect them, much like stamps or coins. They trade them, keep them in books, sell them, etc. They also "discover" them by writing down the code and logging online that they saw them. I have to admit, I don't really get the draw there. They were interesting to look at. Beyond that, I'd rather be caching.


9. Geocoin Poker-- The culminating activity of the weekend was a big poker game. I didn't play. I'm sure I would have lost all of my 5 geocoins.


8. Playing Pandemic during the big Poker event. If you can't beat 'em, play a fun game at the next table instead.

7. Good news from my caching nemesis-- Those who have cached with me in Utah have most likely heard me cursing "Adoor" and his stinking tiny green containers hidden in prickly pine trees. I must admit, when following him in my car as he walked on a dirt road at a previous event, I had to exercise large amounts of self control not to run him over and put a stop to this torture. He now says he has stopped hiding this type of cache. He will not need to worry about his safety at the next event.

6. On the way to caching, we had an extra seat in the car so we invited a lone cacher to join us. After a couple of hours and many caches, we realized we had worked together for over 5 years during college. How do you not recognize someone from a job that only has 30 or so employees at any given time? Probably the same way you look right at a small green container in a pine tree and don't see it. There's probably a moral to that story. . . I just can't see it.

5. Finally meeting Dumbledore's Army and other cachers whose name I have seen in many logbooks and whose caches I have found. Turns out they have real names, and faces too!

4, "Meeting" Signal, the geocaching mascot. It was kind of like meeting Cinderella at Dinseyland, only greener and without Space Mountain.


3. The TRAX Challenge-- We had to go from Trax Station to Trax Station, stopping along the way to find caches, stamp our book, and note information about each place. The prize was a ticket for a drawing. For what, you ask? For a geocoin of course! I didn't win. Tracie did. (She won many drawing prizes. We probably should have left the party and taken her to Wendover immediately. Boy was that a missed opportunity!)

2. This flag put the event over the top for me. If you ever see it, beware of cars stopping suddenly, unexpectedly making a U-Turn, or any of several other driving behaviors usually attributed only to drunk drivers. Keep your distance, or follow them until they park and help them find the cache.


1. Good times with good friends and good caches . . . The best cache had us walking all over downtown to find information which we then used to figure out the coordinates to the actual cache. We saw lots of cool things and noticed things that have been there all along but were never really seen before.