NEPAG Shotgun Start Fall Event
Yesterday I competed in the Northeast Pennsylvania Geocachers (NEPAG) Shotgun Start Fall Event. For those unfamiliar with a Shotgun Start Event with Geocaching, it's similar to how golf tournaments work; but with Geocaches. The event coordinator / cache owner placed 10 caches in several State Game Lands in Northeast Pennsylvania and there were 10 teams. Each team was given a different starting cache to find. Each cache had 10 envelopes (one for each of the 10 teams), which gave coordinates to the next cache they were to find.
The view from part of the trail on the way to Rejuvenation. This was one of the most challenging caches to find, though being cache #7 for us didn't help matters.
The 10 caches were in different sections of several game lands so some required a 20 minute drive to get to. Each had a round trip hike of around a mile, though some were a bit longer... especially if you don't have the right path at the beginning. There were some very steep climbs, rough terrain, soggy ground, swamps, wildlife, and beautiful scenery to enjoy along the way.
This is Slate (part of team Shoob&Sheeb) near GZ of Heron Habitat I believe.
My team (my friend Rich and I) came in third overall with two First-To-Finds logged for the day! We finished in just over eight hours. Not bad for our first Shotgun Start event! (Though today my knees are killing me.)
The amount of work of the cache owner (CO) / event planner was staggering. She had to scout out all the locations, create the containers with swag and corresponding envelopes for the team, place the containers, and coordinate the attendees. I tip my hat to all her hard work, which started back in the heat of summer.
A great event, in the perfect time of year! Leaves were mostly gone, which helps satellite reception, but it was not too cold (nor to hot) for the outside hiking. I'll definitely do it again!
"I use billion dollar satellites to find Tupperware in the woods. What's your hobby?"
