Hello!
It's been another year since my last post on this blog. Why? Well, when I complete a cache series, I arrive home and spend several hours writing unique logs for each cache, which leaves me too tired to write a detailed blog post, so I decide to leave it for another day... and then forget about it. Apologies. I'll try my best to keep the blog up to date throughout 2020.
Right now, it's time to review my caching year.
It's been a great one - I've come across some brilliant caches, and visited lots of new places. Compared to 2018, I've found twice as many caches, attended three times as many events, and had four times as many FTFs (only eight, though!). I managed to do this as I've had more free time, having graduated in June. But what were the highlights?
The Aberdeenshire Mega week was excellent and very memorable. I had attended several UK Mega events in the past, but this was the first time we went and stayed in the area for the entire week, with a full programme of side events to attend. Lots of great walks were completed (the Castle Fraser series and Craigievar Castle Walk both come to mind), and the events took us to some fantastic locations. I loved the Mega itself, from the Lab caches, to the opportunity to finally see the Original Can of Beans. It was great to meet so many people and I enjoyed plenty of geochat.
I have completed lots of series' this year. Some of my favourites include: Eastleach Valley (a stunning Cotswold walk), Yarningale Common Circular (some creative hides), Buscot Bunker Bimble (a superb walk along the Thames Path), Bah Humbug (a nice route, with good quality caches) and several placed by the sundowner, as he always throws in a special field puzzle or two.
It was hard to choose my 'cache of the year', but I eventually settled on YCC07 Cachers Express, due to its unique concept/container... the favourite points speak for themselves! The runners-up are: Manchester Central Library, Cromwell's Seat (my 3,000th find) and stage 1 of Bah Humbug #6, which was very sneaky.
In November, I was re-elected as a member of the GAGB committee - thank you to everyone who voted for me. I look forward to working with my fellow committee members, and hope that we will achieve a lot in the year ahead. If you have any thoughts, feedback, or ideas regarding how the GAGB could improve or do things differently, please let me know!
So, that's 2019, but what are my goals for 2020? It's a big year for geocaching, as May 2020 marks twenty years since the first geocache was placed. March 2020 marks ten years since I found my first geocache. I'd love to find my 4,000th cache, but my main aim is to attend a Giga and, of course, log the first active Locationless cache in 15 years before it's archived for good.
I can't wait to see what the next year (and decade) of geocaching will bring!
Griff Grof
