BEST OF CANADIAN GEOCACHING

Minotaur Mazes is working with Groundspeak to create a new traveling maze exhibit called GPS Adventures Canada GC2HB80, which is launching at the Best of the Bad Mega Event in Alberta, Canada in July 2011. They'd like your input on what you consider to be the most notable places and caches in all of Canada.

16 Canadian Treasures These will essentially take the form of postcards locked in 16 lockers at the exit of the exhibit. When you successfully find the 4 geocaches hidden in the maze and complete your Treasure Card, it will give you a 4-digit code which unlocks one of the lockers, and you will discover your Canadian Treasure. What do you think are Canada's most notable treasures? These should be fairly well-known places - not geocaches, but what you consider to be Canada's best cities, remarkable sites, natural or man-made attractions - the wonders and heartbeat of Canada. 13 'Best of the Province or Territory' Caches Aside from the main goal of finding 4 caches in the Maze and completing your Treasure Card, this area will have you spin a wheel featuring each Canadian province and territory, and searching the maze for a hidden graphic panel about some extraordinary cache in that province or territory. Here we want to feature caches that are simply cool. Cool places to be and cool caches to find. Places and caches that your friends would be impressed and envious that you've found, whether they're in gorgeous, secluded or alluring places, or whether they are ingenious or devious to the point of notoriety (or infamy). Please keep in mind these are full size graphic panels, so we will need to be able to find some stunning photograph to accompany each (suggestions that include a source for such a photo get special attention and appreciation). Also, please provide the cache name and its GC code, and add a few words of why this is the one cache from each province that should be featured. So, TWO QUESTIONS for you: 1.  What do you think are Canada's most notable treasures? 2.  What do you think is the most notable cache in each of the 10 Canadian provinces and 3 territories ? Feel free to post your suggestions in this discussion on the Groundspeak Canada forum, or email your suggestions directly to Kelly Fernandi at Minotaur, with the letters "CTC" (Canadian Treasures and Caches) in the subject line. If you have questions or comments you'd like Kelly to respond to, please put "RSVP" in the subject line as well. All suggestions should be made by April 10, 2011. Thanks a bunch for your interest! And feel free to pass this on to fellow cachers who might have some ideas.  Kelly Fernandi Minotaur Mazes gpscanada@gpsmaze.com

BAD News

WA Cachers Now a Legacy  Registration for the Best of the Bad Mega Event began just after 5:30 pm on January 29, 2011. Less than a half an hour later grandpaloren & Tacoma Homer from Washington state were the first to register. As a planning committee we decided to honour this moment and as such we will be placing a cache in their name on the Legacy Trail. We asked grandpaloren and Tacoma Homer to share a bit of their caching history with us. Loren - grandpaloren I first learned about geocaching from a colleague in Bend, Oregon in 2003.  After my first cache find I was hooked.  Work moved us to Edmonton where we met a lot of great people in the geocaching community.  We still maintain contact with some of them.  Our Alberta caching friends have been gracious to adopt many of our Alberta caches. In 2008 work again moved us, this time to the Minneapolis, Minnesota area.  In the fall of 2009 I retired for health reasons and we moved to Soap Lake, Washington to be closer to family. We have two kids and six grandkids, all of them involved with geocaching.  We raised them well. We have been looking for an opportunity to go back to Alberta to visit our friends there.  We were excited when we first heard of the possibility of there being a Badlands mega event and, since we had been to the Badlands Cache Quest event in 2006, we signed up for The Best of the Bad Mega Event as soon as registration became available. Mary - Tacoma Homer When my husband first started geocaching in Bend, Oregon in 2003 I went with him sometimes but did not really become excited about it until a few years later when, as a Fathers Day gift, I signed up for my own geocaching account.  From then on I have become a great geocaching fan.  But what really got me interested and involved was all of the great people we met in the Edmonton geocaching community.  We have never been anywhere where the caching community was so warm and welcoming as they are in Edmonton. Haven't registered yet for Western Canada's Baddest Mega? Head on over to our registration page and check out the great package deals for the Best of the Bad Mega Event and Jurassic Mega Park!

22,000 Days....

With winter's grip still holding fast it sure feels as if that's how many days before we are celebrating Canada's Baddest Mega. However, by the countdown calendar there are only 157 days left until we are having a BAD time in the beautiful Canadian Badlands!! My apologies for the lack of posts over the past month, it's been hard to think about what our plans will be when the skies are clear and the grass is green underfoot. However that doesn't seem to be stopping cachers from logging their "will attends" for the Best of the Bad Mega!

The event was published on November 15th, 2010. By the 29th, one week in, we already had 118 "will attends" which, after a quick tally of the numbers posted in each log, came to approximately 199 attendees. Not a bad start if I do say so myself. Now, with less than 5 months away from the event the numbers have been tallied again. With 209 "Will Attend" logs posted there are approximately 296 attendees, and of the 22 notes on the cache listing, 24 attendees hope to make it for a total to date of.... drum roll please.... approximately 320 attendees.  These are great numbers with five months still to go! If you haven't logged your "will attend" yet, head on over to the Best of the Bad Mega Event CG2GA1J listing. Please be sure to include the number of attendees in your party so we can have a clearer count!

Oh, and just as important! If you haven't seen it yet, Best of the Bad Event Registration and Jurassic MegaPark Registration are now up and running on our website. Check out the awesome deals to be found there and be sure to let us know your favourite!

Don't forget to follow us here, on facebook and twitter! Next week, "Has the Best of the Bad Gone to the Dogs?"

Merry Christmas!

Best of the Season from Best of the Bad   Wishing you the Season's Best! From all of us at the Best of the Bad Mega Event, we hope you have a safe and enjoyable Christmas holiday and may your New Year be full of smileys.  Watch for more information about the Best of the Bad Mega Event coming to our web site in January:  registration, camping, event details, GPS adventure maze and some wonderful Travel Bug stories from the Canadian Badlands Geocaching Association (CBGA).

Follow us on                 Copyright © 2010 Canadian Badlands Geocaching Association, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Canadian Badlands Geocaching Association 160 3 Ave South Box 183 Three Hills, Alberta T0M 2A0 Add us to your address book

Ok, so we're here, now what do we do? Dorothy, Alberta

There is so much to see and do in the Canadian Badlands you could plan a full two week vacation, (we definitely recommend you do) and there would still be plenty left for another visit! Best known for the amazing dinosaur bone-beds, hoodoos, interesting topography, the very famous Royal Tyrell Museum and a little less known for it's ghost towns, the Badlands are a popular vacation destination. Over the next few months leading up to the Best of the Bad Mega Event we'll highlight some of the many POI's worth seeing during your stay in this beautiful region of western Canada.

In Starland County, at the heart of the Canadian Badlands and nestled in the Red Deer River Valley, lies the picturesque ghost town of Dorothy, Alberta. Just a few miles south-east of Drumheller, Dorothy was named for the daughter of Jack Wilson, one of the hamlet's early settlers at the turn of the 20th century. When Arthur Peake, another area pioneer, first arrived, he had to dismantle equipment and wagons and lower it all down the banks of the river using ropes as there were no roads. He built his log cabin just one mile west of Dorothy in 1906. Although never expanding beyond 100 residents the hamlet saw growth after the post office was established in 1908 and it's greatest prosperity came after the arrival of the railway lines in the 1920's. With the "boom" in population, Dorothy became a popular social centre for the first half of the 20th century. The hamlet's United and Catholic churches were the focal point for the entire area's social events. By 1944, the hamlet had the two churches, a post office, a school, three grain elevators, a butcher's shop, pool room, a grocery shop, a telephone office, restaurant and a machine agency.

Today, Dorothy, Alberta is home to just a handful of residents. Both churches, the Peake family's original log cabin, a grain elevator and a community hall, which the area residents still use, are still standing. There are many interesting sites, lots of photo ops and a small museum for visitors to learn more about the fascinating history of this area. And of course, we can't forget we're geocachers. There are several caches en route (and just off route) from Drumheller and right in town you'll find "Valley Ghost Town", GCWAWJ.

We're looking forward to sharing more of this unique region and the awesome caches located throughout. If you've travelled and cached here please don't hesitate to share some of your favourites in the comments area!

227 Days and counting to Western Canada's Baddest Mega Event! Don't forget to log your "will attend" at GC2GA1J.

The photo link at the top of this blog was taken by our very own Westrock-Bob just outside of Dorothy, Alberta.

That’s one BAD Mega!!!

With the help of geocachers from around Alberta, Western Canada’s BADDEST Mega Event is being held in the Canadian Badlands on July 16^th, 2011!!!

GC2GA1J  Best of the Bad Mega Event (Westcan1)

The Canadian Badlands in Alberta are like no other place on earth. They are home to the world’s most extensive dinosaur bone beds, badlands, hoodoos, and a world-class museum that shelters a 75 million--year old legacy, The Royal Tyrell Museum. From prehistoric reptiles to First Nations to early settlers, through ranching, coal mining, fossil fuels, archaeology and wind farms… let the region’s natural and cultural history unfold before your eyes! The Best of the Bad (WestCan1) will highlight the region like never before. Once you see what’s here you’ll want to come back again and again.

First and foremost, a Mega Event is planned by geocachers for geocachers. Best of the Bad Mega Event is no different and a tremendous opportunity for geocachers from around the world to celebrate the game and sport of geocaching. The caching here is amazing, the communities are welcoming and laid back; relax and experience the breath-taking badlands while you visit with fellow geocachers. Join us in Three Hills, Alberta next summer with old friends, make some new friends and swap some BAD stories from the trails.

There is plenty in the works for the weekend and the week leading up to the Best of the Bad Mega Event, so book your holiday time soon! From a brand new GPS Adventure Maze from Minotaur Mazes, events in surrounding communities, kids events & activities, live theatre, museum excursions, workshops, guest appearances from Jeremy Irish and Signal the Frog, to a big ol’ BBQ Beef dinner, and of course, loads of caching; including a Cache and Release, Geocaching Touring Routes, an Adventure Route and a Power Trail. We’ll be highlighting these and so much more right here on this blog, so add us to your watch list to keep an eye out as we unfold a week of MEGA BAD adventures! All activities at the Mega Event main venue are open at no cost. Additional fees may apply for offsite activities such as guided excursions or performances.

Make sure you head on over to the geocaching.com listing, GC2GA1J to log your “will attend”. And don’t forget to register at Best of the BAD Mega website (registration will be available approximately mid-December) and sign up for our mailing list so we can keep you up to date as Western Canada's Baddest Mega Event unfolds!

The countdown begins, NOW!!!