Category Archives: Educational

First Class of 2018 Kicks Off NoVAGO’s New Direction of Hosting Educational Events

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On Saturday February 3, 2018 thirty geocachers piled into a classroom for Awesnap’s Planning a Geocaching Road Trip Class. Our new President, platoaddict , want’s 2018 to be the year NoVAGO host’s more educational events.  On the horizon there are plans to host classes on a variety of subjects including GSAK, puzzle solving, cachetur.no, earthcaching 101, and a basic cache page creation class. The Geocaching Road Trip class was held in Prince William County at the Chinn Library.  Awesnap’s presentation covered the basics of distance caching, selecting target geocaches, routing, project.gc, and a quick introduction to cachetur.no. JPWAVE wrote in his log “I learned quite a bit more than I expected!! Yeah, I may do things in my own fashion but it’s really nice to see other options and new webtools which may be more efficient. EXCELLENT class!! Really looking forward to using these tips on our next road trip!” Ezio10 … Continue reading →

Class is in Session

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With laptops, paper, and pens in hand it looked more like a university setting than a geocaching event.  On October 15th geocachers gathered at Bull Run Regional Library and sat at the ready to learn the basics of geocaching puzzle solving.  Since 2011 Two000miler has held 8 puzzle caching workshops throughout the Northern Virginia area.  His class today touched on substitution, playfair, bacon, vigenère, and other cyphers as well as understanding where a puzzle creator can hide clues on a cache page.  His most important advice he gives on solving puzzles is “Read the entire cache page, write down what you know, and look for patterns.” … Continue reading →

Puzzled? Don’t Fret… Help is on the Way

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NoVAGO Puzzle Cache Workshop Sunday, October 15, 2017 (1:00-4:00 p.m.) Bull Run Regional Library 8051 Ashton Avenue Manassas, VA 20109 Having trouble with puzzle caches? There are a lot of them out there. These pesky little devils seem to get filed in one of two places by most cachers. There are them that loves ’em and them that hates ’em. If you are in the latter category (or in the former and just want to practice), this may be the event for you. This event will be geared toward beginning puzzlers. There will be a session later in the year geared toward more advanced stuff, but for today we want to get folks started. We welcome more advanced folks but don’t want you to be bored. … Continue reading →

How NoVAGO uses its budget – By Hooclass2002

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Have you ever wondered what we do with 50/50 proceeds? Or how the fall silent auction turns into caching goodness? Well, wonder no more – in an effort to be transparent the NoVAGO board wanted to share some highlights of how NoVAGO’s funds are used – both now and in the future. First – NoVAGO currently has about $2,000 in its coffers. Our account stays relatively stable – keeping about the same amount of funding – having expended roughly $200 more than we’ve taken in so far in 2016 (given that the fall is our big fundraiser, this is expected). Our quarterly events are some of our bigger outlays. Where possible we do in-kind services (e.g. do a CITO or put on a geocaching 101 class for use of a shelter). That doesn’t always work, and we’ll rent a shelter for our festivities. Most food and utensils are donated by … Continue reading →

DNF versus Needs Maintenance

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So what do you do when you are out in the field and cannot find a cache ?? Well, if you are out on your own or with others who have not found the cache, you should be logging the attempt as a DNF (Did not Find). The DNF is a tool that is used by the cache owner (CO) to help them to maintain their caches. Several DNFs in a row are a strong indicator that there is something amiss with a cache. Of course, the other possibility is that the cache is very well hidden and is just not being found. In either case, it is the cache owner’s responsibility to check on it and verify it is in place or fix it if it is not. So how does a Needs Maintenance Log fit into the picture ?? The requirement for a Needs Maintenance log comes in … Continue reading →

Take Pride in Your Hide

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There are no “rules” in Geocaching…only Guidelines, and the following chapters are presented for your information, and to highlight some of those guidelines. I certainly don’t know all there is to know about the pastime, but I’ve been involved for a very long time — “guys talk, ya see things, and I get around.” Newcomers to geocaching may find this information, and the associated tips, reminders, and links helpful…while Old Timers might spot something new, or that jogs their memory. Geocaching has grown by leaps and bounds, and one thing is for sure…it is imperative that we all follow the established guidelines so that the pastime we enjoy continues to be recognized as a legitimate recreational activity. The individual chapters below were each published separately in the General Discuss Forum…they remain open for discussion, and I will review them from time to time and incorporate any pertinent comments/suggestions here in … Continue reading →

NoVAGO Puzzle Class Event (GC1V7V2)

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A class to share puzzle solving tips and ideas. Time is 6:30- 8:00 on July 29th. Location is the Chantilly branch of the Fairfax County Public Library located at Stringfellow Road and Rt. 50. Some people seek out puzzles and some avoid them like the plague. I think the latter group (I think know cphug184 is talking about me there) misses out on two things: some fantastic caches and the double victory of the solve and the find.  I marvel at some of the creativity of fellow cachers out there and they add value to my caching experience. I hope to give you some tools to enjoy similar experiences.  This evening, we will discuss some generic types of puzzles using some local puzzles and some not so local.  We will talk about how to figure out what possible paths to take to solve puzzles and we will share some internet … Continue reading →