Category Archives: General

General Announcements

2024 Series, NOVACON, kicks off!

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On August 24th, 2024, NoVAGO kicked off its annual series at two well attended events. This year’s theme is convention fun, hence the name, NOVACON. After a teaser at the spring picnic, contestants picked up badges and found out what team they were randomly assigned to. Players had the opportunity to earn their first points in the game by attending in costume, bringing along a home-made prop, or by showing off their themed tats (fake or real.) The official 2024 NOVACON coin was debuted during the two events and were made available for sale. Purchase of the coins supports expenses of running the series. If you missed out on the chance, they will be at future NOVACON events. They are selling for $12 each and you may reserve one by sending a VENMO and getting in touch with the coordinators (contact below,) OR bring cash to the next official event. … Continue reading →

Geocaching HQ’s Announces Cosmic Quest Souvenir Challenge

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Geocaching HQ’s Announces Cosmic Quest Souvenir Challenge July 22 through September 1 Geocaching HQ starts it’s Cosmic Quest. July 22 – September 1, the entire geocaching community will be working together to earn a special souvenir. In addition to the community souvenir, players will get the chance to win two other souvenir on their own. Earn points by finding geocaches and Adventures, attending Events, receiving Favorite points on their owned geocaches, and activating trackables. More info at https://www.geocaching.com/ … Continue reading →

Spotlight Cache: NoVAGO U: Geology 101

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#NationalRockDay (July 13) Today we’re celebrating #NationalRockDay by spotlighting a wherigo cache from the 2022 NoVAGO annual series. Placed by kiisikwa, NoVAGO U: Geology 101 will take you on an adventure through different rock samples. You will be challenged on your knowledge before you can get the coordinates to where the cache is hidden. “I learned something at each of the stages. Thanks Dr for the lesson and placing this cache!” ~923Graham “This class rocks!” ~02Hooson “This was a unique wherigo experience. The lesson was enjoyable, and the geology examples where top notch.” ~Awesnap “This was a very enjoyable Wherigo! I not only learned something, but I admired how it was set up. I had never done a Wherigo where I had to find cache at each stage.” ~Team_Palazzo If you were making a geocache cocktail and threw in a little bit of multi-stage cache, a little earthcache, and a … Continue reading →

Geocaching 101, Alexandria, June 17th

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Geocaching 101, Alexandria, June 17th If you are just getting started with geocaching and want to learn more, please join us at the Martha Washington Library two weeks from today on June 17th. This Geocaching 101 class is perfect for beginners but open for all. It is also a geocache event, so you may log it as ‘attended’ when you come. The library’s page: https://librarycalendar.fairfaxcounty.gov/event/11900028 The geocache event page: https://coord.info/GCAR0C7 … Continue reading →

2024 Spring Picnic Recap

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NoVAGO Celebrates ‘Best of 2023’ with Spring Picnic NoVAGO announced winners of 2023 geocaching awards in Berryville, May 19, 2024 Members of the Northern Virginia Geocaching Organization gathered on Sunday, May 19th, 2024 at Chet Hobert Park in Berryville. As is our tradition, we announced winners of our geocaching awards, handed out some prizes, enjoyed a pot luck meal, did a little geocaching, and enjoyed the geocaching community we share. NoVAGO 2024 Spring Picnic and Awards Event. Any apprehensions that the late season date would lead to uncomfortable heat, were completely unfounded. In fact, the early reports of rain gave way to a warning of morning sprinkles that never materialized. Pop-up tents had been brought along for good measure, but remained untouched in our cars. The day started cloudy and mild, but warmed up with the sun just in time for some geocaching. Chet Hobert Park was a perfect host. … Continue reading →

Virtual Rewards 4.0

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Virtual Rewards 4.0 Virtual caches do not have a physical container and are designated on the Geocaching.com maps as ghosts.  mcgmaraudersNoVAGO feature article writerTrevor has over 12,000 geocache finds from all around the globe. He also owns more than 140 hides, mostly in the Northern Virginia area. His favorite virtual find is the Lion Gate in Mycenae, Greece (pictured) “There was very little shade and it was 107 deg F, but the Lion Gate, erected in 1250 BC, was most definitely my favorite.” Coordinates are given for an interesting or unique location, typically with a described object such as an art sculpture, historical landmark or a scenic lookout. Validation for finding a virtual cache generally requires emailing information to the cache owner, and/or to post a picture of yourself with your log.  From 2005 to 2017, the geocaching website no longer permitted the placement of new caches without a physical container, … Continue reading →

Spotlighting DC Boundary Stones in Virginia

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Spotlighting DC Boundary Stones in Virginia International Day For Monuments and Sites (April 18, 2024) #spotlightcache Today we are spotlighting geocaches placed along the DC Boundary Stones in Virginia. They are listed in this article from north to south. The country’s first federal monuments were stone markers placed in 1791 on the original boundary of the new capital city. These boundary stones were the brainchild of George Washington to mark out the border. There were originally 40 markers, one for each mile of the 10 x 10-mile diamond plat of land. As you go through these geocache pages, you’ll learn a little more about the unique history of these federal markers, as many of these cache owners have really done their homework. DC Cornerstone (GC6781) The most northern of Virginia’s boundary stones that is accessible to the public, “DC Cornerstone” is one of the four cornerstones. When you are in … Continue reading →

Presidents Favorite Points ❤️

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A new year.. Read below or WATCH here –> Video of Presidents Favorite Points Jan 2024 January is the time of year where many people make new year’s resolutions for their health, family, finances, and social gatherings.  For those of us who enjoy geocaching, we probably come up with a few extra resolutions or goals.  Could be to attend more events, host events, find or even publish more geocaches.  There are those who like to keep up with streaks or stats, filling the calendar or their grids.  If you don’t have a resolution yet, or are just starting with geocaching and are unsure what goals you should make, stick around and I’ll give you some hints. Events are Social: If you have never been to an event, I definitely suggest you attend one.  They are the red dots on your groundspeak geocaching app and there’s got to be one relatively … Continue reading →

Aside

Collecting Souvenirs

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Collecting Souvenirs Souvenirs are virtual pieces of art displayed on your public profile. You can earn souvenirs in several different ways. Here is a link to help you to identify the many types available: Profile and Dashboard (geocaching.com) Some cachers are highly motivated by collecting Souvenirs while others pay little attention to these “badges”. Personally, I like this aspect of geocaching almost as much as I like working on Challenge (mystery) caches! Both encourage me to get out there frequently and provide a nice sense of accomplishment. Here are the upcoming new souvenirs for this year that have been announced so far: 2024 hider: January 1–December 31 Leap Day 2024: February 29 Cache In Trash Out®, Season 1: March 1–May 31 Blue Switch Day: May 2–4 June Solstice: June 19–21 International Geocaching Day: August 17 Cache In Trash Out®, Season 2: September 1–November 30 World Postcard Day: October 1 International EarthCache … Continue reading →


Spotlight Cache: Jeopardy! Series

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#NationalTriviaDay (January 4) Spotlight Cache Series: Jeopardy! Today we are celebrating National Trivia Day with a series of caches placed in honor of the late Alex Trebek, host of the long-running TV game show, Jeopardy. This Jeopardy! Cache Series by TheColdedge and his TrustyNavigator will reward your knowledge and sometimes out-of-the-box thinking with coordinates for twenty-one mystery type geocaches. Winter is a great time to solve these at home and wait for a fair weather day to head out to the Winchester, Virginia area (and slightly beyond) to make the finds. I asked TheColdege a little about what went into creating this series. Q: What inspired you to chose Jeopardy as a theme? A: Alex Trebeck had recently died and I enjoyed the show as a kid. I also wanted to fit some strange trivia categories into a mystery cache. Q: How did you come up with the questions/answers? A: … Continue reading →