Ten years after my first geocache, I was still finding new reasons to go looking. In 2019, those reasons included a famous Kansas cache, new friends on a Texas GeoArt trail, a family vacation through the Southwest and a Michigan morning that finally filled my Jasmer grid.
The year added 1,755 credits to my account. That is a satisfying number, but the photographs do a better job of explaining what I enjoyed about earning them.
From a Lamp Post to Fort Worth
My first find was Getting Numbers (GC1RAJZ) on May 25, 2009. Ten years later, I spent the anniversary at GeoWoodstock XVII (GC7NBWQ) in Fort Worth with CanisMinor, djpd1023 and mjholley. The hobby had taken me a long way from that first lamp post.
Our road trip included Mingo (GC30), found on May 22. Visiting the oldest active cache in the world was a red-letter moment. So was the less predictable pleasure of meeting 5472, MsPatt, Nov64, Netinator and Rambetta on a Texas GeoArt trail and spending the rest of the day caching together.
I chose the GeoWoodstock gathering for my honorary 14,000-find celebration. Around it were historic hides, creative caches and a visit to the GPS Adventures Maze (GC82ZPV). It was a busy trip, with plenty of reminders that the next cache might introduce us to more than a new container.
A Family Vacation With Room to Look Around
June brought a different kind of travel with bapierson and LEGOexplorer. We visited Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands and Mesa Verde during our Southwest vacation. There were park landscapes to explore and photograph, along with stops in the surrounding towns.
Geocaching fit into the trip as we went. Score 4 @ Four Corners - New Mexico (GC7B6JA) was one of those opportunities, and our family photograph at the monument is a good souvenir of the visit.
The caches give me a useful record of where we traveled. The photographs bring back how much there was to see between them. This vacation was about spending time together in some remarkable places, with a few more smileys collected along the way.
The Last Jasmer Square
On July 6, Geocache 612 (GC36) completed my Jasmer. CanisMinor and djpd1023 were there for the early-morning find, and then we joined dnfu and superior_o for a boat trip to Power Island (GC35). Two caches from geocaching’s first summer made for a very good day.
The final grid entry mattered to me because of all the outings behind it. The month and year a cache was hidden had given me reasons to visit places I might otherwise have passed by. It was good to finish that goal with friends—and still have an island to explore afterward.
By the Numbers
My 2019 total was 1,755: 1,678 regular cache and event credits, plus 77 individual Lab locations. I logged activity on 78 days. May was the busiest month, with 551 credits, followed by July at 348 and December at 334.
2019 activity by month
Green: regular cache/event credits. Gold: individual Lab locations. Total: 1,755. Sources: my Geocaching.com records and Project-GC.
View the data table
| Month | Credits |
|---|---|
| January | 100 |
| February | 86 |
| March | 54 |
| April | 3 |
| May | 551 |
| June | 85 |
| July | 348 |
| August | 113 |
| September | 5 |
| October | 21 |
| November | 55 |
| December | 334 |
| Total | 1,755 |
Mysteries and Traditionals supplied the largest shares. The rest of the year included Wherigos, Letterboxes, Virtuals, EarthCaches, Multis, Webcam caches, events and the GPS Adventures exhibit. That variety is one reason the hobby continues to hold my attention; a cache outing does not have to follow the same formula every time.
2019 credits by cache type
All 1,755 credits, including 77 individual Lab locations. Sources: my Geocaching.com records and Project-GC.
View the data table
| Cache type | Credits |
|---|---|
| Mystery | 724 |
| Traditional | 605 |
| Wherigo | 128 |
| Lab locations | 77 |
| Letterbox Hybrid | 64 |
| Virtual | 61 |
| Earthcache | 40 |
| Multi-cache | 25 |
| Event | 23 |
| Webcam | 3 |
| Cache In Trash Out Event | 2 |
| Mega-Event | 2 |
| GPS Adventures Exhibit | 1 |
| Total | 1,755 |
The regular records span 19 states. Texas, Illinois and Iowa account for the largest totals. The state chart covers the 1,678 regular credits; the 77 Lab locations are included in the annual and monthly totals, but are not assigned to states here.
2019 regular credits by state
1,678 regular credits across 19 states. The 77 Lab locations are excluded from this state breakdown. Sources: my Geocaching.com records and Project-GC.
View the data table
| State | Credits |
|---|---|
| Texas | 478 |
| Illinois | 446 |
| Iowa | 304 |
| Ohio | 153 |
| Indiana | 111 |
| Utah | 56 |
| Michigan | 52 |
| Colorado | 17 |
| Kansas | 16 |
| Oklahoma | 12 |
| New York | 7 |
| Missouri | 5 |
| Arizona | 5 |
| Nevada | 5 |
| Nebraska | 4 |
| Pennsylvania | 3 |
| Wisconsin | 2 |
| New Mexico | 1 |
| Minnesota | 1 |
| Total | 1,678 |
A December Day Worth Celebrating
The year still had a good road trip left. On December 3, I was out in Iowa with CanisMinor and djpd1023, working on GeoArt and visiting Maltese Goldfinch (Re-resurrected) (GC162), Iowa’s oldest cache. I chose it as my honorary 15,000-find milestone.
My original log mentions the many eagles we saw. CanisMinor also remembered the walk from the south gate, which was closed to vehicles for the season, and how the leafless woods revealed the park’s scenery. It was a good place to slow down long enough to enjoy where the cache had brought us.
We had the old cache, the company and another photograph with an ammo can. That felt like a fitting way to mark the occasion.
What I’m Taking Into the Next Year
There is plenty to be pleased with in the statistics: another full year of finds, two honorary milestone celebrations and a completed Jasmer. But when I look back, I keep returning to the shared moments: our new friends in Texas, the family at Four Corners, the morning at 612 and the Iowa woods in December.
I started in 2009 because there was a cache nearby and it sounded like something the family could try. Ten years later, I was still curious about the next place on the map. I was also very glad to have people to share the journey with.
Field Notes
- Period: January 1–December 31, 2019.
- Annual credits: 1,755, including 1,678 regular cache/event credits and 77 individual Lab locations.
- Active caching days: 78. Regular-record state coverage: 19 states.
- Jasmer completion: Geocache 612 (GC36), July 6, 2019.
- Honorary milestone celebrations: GeoWoodstock XVII (GC7NBWQ) (14K) and Maltese Goldfinch (Re-resurrected) (GC162) (15K).
- Charts: monthly and type totals include Labs; the state chart excludes Labs whose individual state assignments were not verified.
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