2018's caching in review

Hello!

This is my first post in twelve months... apologies for not keeping this blog up to date.

Another year is almost over, which means that it's time for me to look back at the best caches I've found, assess what I've achieved, and set some goals for the year ahead.

My Cache of the Year is Tibi Dabo Claves. I first came across this cache in January while using Project-GC's D/T Matrix tool. I skimmed through the cache page and was hooked. After working out the first part, I put it aside for a few months and returned to it in the summer. As things became clearer, I managed to work out the final two stages and obtain the coordinates. The journey to the cache was challenging, but very memorable. Once at GZ, the elusive cache was finally found! I felt a great sense of achievement! It's one of those caches I know I'll remember forever.

The competition was close this year, with The Ghost of The Corpus Clock taking second place. A brilliant and surprising method was used to provide the information required to calculate the coordinates. I have no idea how the CO managed to make this work. This is a VERY special cache, and I suggest you add it to your To Do list to understand what I'm talking about!

Runners up include More Christmas Crackers and Secret Santa. These were my only FTFs of the year. The first one was in a stunning location with fantastic views. The second was reached following a good walk, and was also in a nice spot. Both caches were filled to the brim - I won't spoil it by saying what was inside them.

I have also enjoyed several series' this year. These include: SF, Grantchester Grind and the Little Compton extra loop. The latter was placed for our tenth CacheWalker Twixmas Bash, which was a great success - there were over 50 of us on the group walk!

I found my first caches in the Americas this year. I visited Colombia (South America) over the summer, and managed to find three (well, there aren't very many there...). The first was Santuario de Monserrate, placed in a special location overlooking the city of Bogotá. I was waiting for a new cache to be published there... I've now been FTF on at least one cache in three countries (UK, Spain, Italy) and a fourth would have been great! Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be...

There are lots of things I didn't manage to do which are on my list for next year. I'm keen to finally complete my D/T grid. I would also like to find my 3000th cache. With just 182 caches to go, it's certainly an achievable goal. Above all, I want to focus on finding quality caches. Finally, I promise that I'll make more of an effort to post on this blog!

So, I've thoroughly enjoyed geocaching in 2018. I've found some excellent caches, many of which have taken me to new places. Bring on 2019!

Happy New Year.

Griff Grof