Parking: Bring $3.00 in cash for parking at the college.
No change is given from the parking vending machines.
West Valley Parking Machine
Volunteer to help us host Cachin’ the Bay! sign up
Lab Caches PDF
Follow our mascot, Splasher the Otter, for a tour of fun activities at and near our Cachin' the Bay event. You might learn an interesting fact or two along the way! Please be respectful of landscaping and do not venture off the sidewalks. Most lab caches will be available only during event hours (9 a.m. - 3 p.m.) on June 18th, 2016. Two lab caches will be available starting Sunday June 12th, 2016. These two do not require a visit to a physical location. See individual listings for details. Be sure to log all your lab caches before Monday, July 18th, 2016. It is not possible to log lab caches after they are archived. We hope you enjoy our little tour!
Splasher the Geocaching Otter
Welcome to the San Francisco Bay Area and our "Cachin’ the Bay" event! We hope you will join geocachers from around the world and enjoy many of California’s great treasures!
From the center of innovation – Silicon Valley, to stunning San Francisco. From Pacific Ocean beaches to redwood forests. From unlimited hiking trails to kayak caching. Not only that, we are within driving distance of Monterey Bay, Wine Country, Yosemite National Park, and many other fabulous locations.
You and your family can experience the rich history of San Francisco including cable cars, the Gold Rush, Alcatraz Island, Fisherman’s Wharf, Little Italy, Chinatown, Angel Island (the west coast’s Ellis Island), Golden Gate Park, multiple national championship professional sports teams, and the world famous Golden Gate Bridge.
Silicon Valley has a colorful history of garage startups, and following that tradition the idea for this international gathering of geocachers in the Bay Area started at a cache-building event that was held in a garage. Like so many successful and booming enterprises that trace their roots back to a garage, we hope this event will blossom and explode with the enthusiasm of cachers just like you!
"Cachin’ the Bay" will have geocaching seminars, lab caches, vendors, games, an exciting raffle, and an REI Lounge/Camp.
Make a weekend of it, or more! We have many activities planned for Thursday evening through Sunday. Take a self-driving tour (pdf) to view famous tech icons of Silicon Valley, experience an escape room, or join an REI-sponsored kayak-caching adventure!
Please log your Will Attend. IMPORTANT: All cachers with individual caching accounts should log their own Will Attends. Please add the number of any additional attendees in your group without accounts to your log, so we can count you all. Thank you!
Amateur Radio
Amateur radio talk-in at the event will be on 146.52 MHz; operators will be on site.
Cachin' the Bay Classes
Geocaching Puzzle Caches 101 slides have been published. The slides will not be handed out in the class. If you would like to have copy for the class, download them here and print them out.
Also, please print out a copy of your ticket for this class and/or the software class, as this will speed up the check in process. Thank you!
Puzzle Caches 101 slides
Media consent
By entering and by your presence at Cachin’ the Bay or on the event grounds (West Valley College), you consent to be photographed, filmed and/or otherwise recorded. All photos, videos and other recordings, and all associated copyrights, are the sole property of Geocachers of the Bay Area. Your entry constitutes your consent to such photography, filming and/or recording and to any use, in any and all media throughout the universe in perpetuity, of your appearance, voice and name for any purpose whatsoever. You understand that all photography, filming and/or recording will be done in reliance on this consent given by you by entering this venue. If you do not agree to the foregoing, please do not enter the venue.
Poison Oak
Warning!! There is a significant growth of poison oak off the trails of the campus and in the surrounding hills. We will have some Tecnu wash in the first aid station but the first line of defense is being alert.
If you're not familiar with poison oak you can visit the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Site.
Public Transit
VTA Route 57 bus will be running Saturday and stops at West Valley College Bus Stop. Printable Schedule
At 511.org you can use Transit Trip Planner for connecting transit information.
REI Camp
"REI is excited to support the Geocachers of the Bay Area in their first Mega-Event, Cachin’ the Bay! Stop by the REI Camp during the Cachin’ the Bay event for a mini geocaching adventure; learn some wilderness survival skills; and relax in our evrgrn camp lounge. We look forward to meeting the geocachers who have come from near and far to support this great event!"
Saturday Schedule:
Sign up for our free classes before the event to save a seat. (Seats will only be saved for the first 5 minutes.)
There will be no TB drop off location. Please hand your trackables directly to another cacher to keep them safe.
| 9:00am |
Mega-Event Starts
|
| 9:00am to 9:15am |
Drop off Creative Caches at Event Center |
|
| 9:00am to 2:00pm |
Build-a-cache for all and activities for kids |
| 9:00am to 3:00pm |
REI Camp, vendors, and Lab Caches PDF |
|
| 9:15am to 11:15am |
Vote for two Creative Caches. |
| 9:15am to 10:15am |
1. Puzzle Caches 101 Class - Baltic Room - Class Slides
2. Earthcaching 101 Class - Amphitheater
|
| 10:30am to 11:30am |
1. REI Class - How Not to Get Lost with Workerofwood - Baltic Room
2. Reviewer and HQ Lackey Q&A Section 1 - Amphitheater
|
| 11:00am to 1:00pm |
Lunch - Event Center
|
| 11:35am to 11:45am |
Group Photo - grassy knoll near metal sculpture
After the photo, discover McKenzie~Binns in her trackable Event Hat and Ensemble.
|
| 11:50am to 12:30pm |
1. Meet author Russ Atkinson (The Rat) - Event Center
2. Meet Lee van der Bokke (Alamogul), the world's most obsessed cacher - Baltic Room
|
| 12:00pm |
Geo-bingo Cards returned to Info Booth |
| 12:30pm |
Raffle Prize Winners Posted outside Prize Pickups building and as Announcement Log |
| 12:30pm to 2:00pm |
Prize Pickup - All prizes MUST BE selected by 2:00pm |
| 12:45pm to 1:45pm |
1. Geocaching Software Class - Baltic Room
2. Reviewer and HQ Lackey Q&A Section 2 - Amphitheater
(This session will have different presenters but info similar to the morning session.)
|
| 2:00pm to 3:00pm |
REI Class - Polymer Clay Signature Items with Workerofwood - Baltic Room
|
|
| 3:00pm |
Mega-Event Ends
|
| 5:00pm to 8:30pm |
 Just a Friendly Dinner (GC6K2KY) |
A special welcome to attendees from England, Puerto Rico, Norway, Sweden and New Zealand!
