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?"

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!!!