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![]() This month in the Grapevine – Stats, Hogsback Challenge part 1, AGM and more…
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From the Desk of the ChairmanWith the AGM around the corner, I can’t believe it’s been a whole 12 months (and a bit) since taking up the chair. Naturally, there will be a full annual report delivered and I’ll request the next committee to send it with the following newsletter for those not at the AGM. So as not to pre-emptively recreate the wheel in motion, I won’t reflect too long on the year past here. What deserves to be said though is that this year was incredibly exciting in the sense that, despite having to the COVID issues and lacking events, the community came together in ways I’ve not seen before. At a glance, it seems we’ve had more social media engagement than before and the amount of community engagement and even submissions to this newsletter have been incredible. In that spirit of community, I understand that this period has been a difficult time for everybody. I want to highlight a cause for celebration in that both members of The Panters (notably our secretary) are well on their way to recovery after an extensive run-in hospital. If anybody needed an idea how to use their celebration event credit, here’s one! What a month it’s been; Captain Kirk went into space (yes space nerds, I know the “edge of space” is disputed), we hiked up Mount Elbrus and Geocaching HQ found a way to make our hobby even more appealing to your preteen daughter by getting itself on TikTok. As we gear up for the December holidays, I’m looking forward to seeing more photos and smiles (both yellow ones on the map and real ones). Don’t delay in setting up events for your travels come the holiday time. Before that, you may want to look at hosting a watching party for the Geocaching International Film Fest. Sure, you could watch it on your own on YouTube but that’s hardly as fun. Of course, as much as I may want to encourage engagement and interaction, I want to reiterate that this is not the time to lower our guard. Some may have been vaccinated and the numbers may be coming down. That doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods, so please avoid any contact if you’re feeling sick. Hopefully 2022 will finally give us the opportunity to go *ahem* mega. |
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Community ContributionsM![]() We have the best adventures and have found some awesome caches. The other day. We found this “innocent“ looking cache. Can you guess where it’s hidden? It was my 10-year-old nephew’s first find - because of this - he is now hooked. (Thanks to Bothalawaai for placing this one) We cannot wait to start hiding our own caches soon. |
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Climbing Mount Vinson September 2021
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![]() ![]() a QUARTER TRIBE in a Hog, and only 2 days Once upon a time, on the eve of the mythical Mega the Tribe decided a road trip was in order. No question marks left unturned. Hogsback was given the status of stopover on the way to Gqeberha. This was when the small matter of completing the Hogsback Challenge Cache was raised, because waterfalls, and plenty of them. I had previously luxuriated in the bath with a view, somewhat nervously with my rubber duck and no knowledge of the geocache next to my soap bar.
I regaled the tribe with tales of the bath overlooking hidden waterfalls just over there… They naively soaked it up and were determined for some extreme bathing and a couple of quick hikes. Easy peasy. We will be done before the brewery closes. ![]() ![]() With the FTF of Welcome or Farewell (GC9GEBJ) safely in Ingetjie’s log, we did the necessary and went off to find a well-earned dinner and bed. The challenge safely hidden from weary eyes by the evening stars. ![]() Quarter Tribe jumped into the Hog in search of the FTF and Edge Labyrinth. The First FTF of the day was quickly found by Orosman. This Labyrinth is 29m across and has a path 700m long. We timed the opportunity to warm up our legs on the flat path to the centre. The mountains have a different type of calm peacefulness. Next were the 2 FTFs in The Arboretum reserve. One of which is the newly republished On the way to 39 Steps (GC157Y6) cache, the start of The Challenge for the QT. There are no words to describe this beautiful reserve with its massive Californian Redwood trees holding centre stage. After savouring the scenery, we returned to home base to start the main hike of the day. ![]() ![]() A short detour took us to the base of Swallow Tail Falls. The GPS telling us the cache was a mere 248m that way…up the steep valley walls. The map indicated that the route from the top entrance would be more accessible to find the cache. Maps never lie… QT decided to attempt this cache from above on the way home. We backtracked to the forest floor in search of our next target Bridal Veil Falls (GC1KGRC). The trail sign informed us that 20mins of boulder scrambling was our way up to our destination, the GPS agreed. ![]() The scramble up involved giant leg lifts, Tarzan rope vines, the odd guardian spider web and serious tracker skills to find the next trail marker. The promise of a great view and packed lunch motivated us along the precarious route. We were not disappointed. Craning our heads at the bottom of the falls to see the midday sun glinting over the spray as the water sheeted down in fine droplets. GPS said we still had 50m to go. We pondered this over lunch on the rocks. Re-energised we pulled our way up the path only to discover there was no way across. Retracing our steps back to the lunch spot KrokosZA nominated herself guardian of the salt and vinegar chips while the rest of us scrambled up the alternate route. The cache was soon found and signed. The way down was enlivened with manic laughter and Tik Tok tunes as we slid and stumbled back to the civilized trail. All clothing and limbs accounted for we hiked onto The Madonna and Child Falls. A brief stop to get air and rest the legs before our climb out of the valley. Miley Cyrus would have been impressed with The Climb out to get onto the road. A well-worn path of many wooden inclines and steps went straight up. A lung or two may have been lost on the way up. A nice 1.5km road trek would eventually get us home, but first there was the Swallow Tail Falls cache and clue to find. The entrance to the trail for the Falls was 500m up the road. At 200m to go a bakkie offered us a lift home. I declined as we were just over from the trail. I almost died, fortunately KrokosZA was too exhausted to chase me with a stick. It would have been a very slow Laurel and Hardy pursuit. ![]() Back on the road again, QT wish came true when another bakkie pulled over asking if we wanted a lift home. This gift horse was not refused, and we got home in record time ![]() ![]() Watch out for Hogsback Challenge 2021, Part 2 – Day 3 & 4 in the December edition of the Grapevine! |
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SA Geocaching Stats
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New Souvenirs: Reach the Peaks Challenge - Kilimanjaro
![]() GCHQ have released yet another challenge – this time inspired by the mountaineering challenge of reaching the 7 highest peaks on all 7 continents. No, we don’t need to actually climb these mountains or reach certain heights, what we do need to do is collect points. The points that you need will be the equivalent of the height above sea level of the base camps and summits of these famous mountain peaks. Each month will have different points for each type of cache find.
The challenge will run over 7 months from 2 August to 6 March 2022. Each month there will be two different souvenirs up for grabs – a base camp and a summit. At the end of the 7 months should you have collected all 14 souvenirs along the way you will receive a bonus souvenir – The Peak Performer. The Souvenirs that can be earned are as follows:
In November we head over to Tanzania to tackle one of the two more well-known of the seven peaks – Kilimanjaro! On our home continent, Africa, Kilimanjaro’s highest peak is named Uhuru and is on one of the rims of the mountain’, s three volcanic cones. Collect 325 points to earn the Kilimanjaro Basecamp souvenir and 5895 points to earn the Kilimanjaro summit souvenir. Points can be earned between 1 November 2021 and 5 December 2021 (UTC)
Here are the point values for the Kilimanjaro challenge:
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