Tracker Jim’s Geocaching Outpost

Geocachers, like other hobbyists, form their own jargon to communicate with others of their kind. Their abbreviations show up in geocache logbooks, posted on the geocaching.com website and in conversations at online forums.

While there are a number of very popular acronyms (FTF, TNLNSL, TFTH), I thought I would list just a few of the most unpopular geocaching acronyms for you today.

• LNTL - Left Nothing, Took Logbook
• FTDNF - First To “Did Not Find”
• TFTPI - Thanks For The Poison Ivy
• BLILSH - Batteries Low, I’m Lost, Send Help
• WTHITC - Where The Heck Is That Cache?
• DWMC - Dude, Where’s My Car?

Feel free to notify me of any of your own least favorites.

AAA local auto club affiliates have decided to use geocaching as part of a promotion.

During a cross country map research trip this month and in June, AAA Texas will be hiding caches for travelers to find at a variety of locations along Route 66 as part of a geocaching treasure hunt.

It’s not clear whether these are geocaches that will be listed with any of the online sites (such as geocaching.com). It appears that it’s more of a promotional effort on their part.

Geocache coordinates that AAA travel writer Dave Brackney and AAA staff photographer Todd Masinter get using GPS units while updating the AAA’s glossy GreatestHits(TM) Route 66 Map, will be posted on the AAA’s dedicated interactive web page which can be reached by going to www.aaa.com/aaagps. The web page will track the 22-day map expedition that begins today in Chicago.

“The AAA Texas geocaches on the ‘Mother Road’ could include Hertz rental car coupons, logo T-shirts, travel guides, children’s games and automotive items,” according to AAA Texas spokesperson Rose Rougeau. There also will be several virtual scenic site caches as well, she added.

GPSr units are becoming commonplace enough that this promotion makes sense. Ford and Garmin are sponsors.

Another story mentions that this is also happening in California in conjunction with the Automobile Club of Southern California.

The Oregonian reports on the fifth anniversary of the sport of Geocaching, which was marked way back on May 2nd. The subjects of their story are Joe Whittington and his geocaching course at Lake Oswego, taught to help newcomers enjoy the sport responsibly and safely.

Another component of geocaching is environmental stewardship.

“Adults take their children with them to search for the cache. They may hike through a wilderness area or cross a river,” Cutler said. “Besides seeing the beauty of the place, kids are encouraged to appreciate the idea of keeping wild places protected and unchanged.”

Way to spread the word!

A newly-registered user on Geocaching.com named “Remorser” recently logged the capture of 156 travel bugs.

One user on the Groundspeak forums noted this comment in one of the travel bug logs:

i have this travel bug tag ( along with 165 others just like it). when i first saw geocaching i thought it would be fun to locate and steal travel bugs. i now know that this is wrong and i intend to release this bug back into a cache in the near future. all i can do now is ask for forgivness and say that i am sorry

The matter of this avowed travel bug thief is currently being discussed in a thread on the Groundspeak forums.

There are dark events brewing in Charlotte, South Carolina for fans of the great activity of geocaching.

A combination of a misunderstanding and a politician in need of cheap political capital has resulted in the scapegoating of the entire sport of geocaching.

This unreasonable situation has led to the following news story:

Strangers caught trekking into graveyards or historical sites could earn time in jail playing the modern scavenger hunt known as geocaching

I will, no doubt, be covering htis story in more detail as time passes. For now, this is a head-up for geocachers everywhere. I cannot tell what the repercussions will be here, but the idea of making walking in certain otherwise publicly accessible places illegal just because of a misunderstanding with one geocacher (which the geocaching community has risen to try to recitfy) is something like watching a slow-motion train wreck in action.

More later on this story.