Moving caches are a fun and competitive variation of caching that can easily become quite addicting.

When the local moving cache was archived last summer, I began thinking of a way to run a moving cache independent of Geocaching.com that would still attract the attention of local players. The problem as I saw it was motivating people to find the cache knowing that they would not get a GC "smiley" to add to their find count.

Initially I thought of creating a stationary cache that I would allow finders of the moving cache to claim finds on, but anticipated some controversy from that idea that I didn't want to have to deal with. So I thought of turning it into a competition with points awarded to finders and hiders of the cache. After running the idea past a couple of caching buddies, I came up with a point structure and some basic guidelines for the game.

...scoring can be weighted to encourage hides that are easy to find and move quickly. Conversely, the scoring could be weighted to encourage difficult hides that move the cache greater distances.Points are awarded for both finding and re-hiding the cache based on Difficulty and Terrain ratings, how quickly the cache was found and re-hidden and how far the cache travels between hides. The point values assigned are configurable by the cache owner when creating the cache so different moving caches can have completely different scoring philosophies depending on the whims of the cache owner.

For example, scoring can be weighted to encourage hides that are easy to find and move quickly. Conversely, the scoring could be weighted to encourage difficult hides that move the cache greater distances.

After discussing it with Jomarac5 , the initial plan was to put a cache listing on The Sandbox (an independent caching website) and manually compile the points and update the web page as the cache was found and re-hidden. J5 and I tossed around a few ideas about cache listing pages that could be incorporated into the Sandbox when _canadianbacon_ took an interest and offered to program a PHP module that would take care of the manual aspects of managing the cache page.

One thing led to another and CB's program became the framework for a configurable moving cache game that would allow anyone to create a moving cache page, setup their own unique scoring and rules and allow players to log their finds and hides. The initial testing was done on The Sandbox by Jomarac5, CB and myself and with suggestions by all of us, CB added great bells & whistles like mapping capabilities, distance traveled and other stats.

MovingCache.com is a project still in its early stages of development...
In mid November CB brought his program online on the BCGA website and on November 19th I launched the site's first moving cache in the Vancouver area called “Cache On The Dash” (now found at Moving Cache.com ) and it was an instant hit. After a week it quickly became apparent the moving cache game needed its own website so on December 1st _canadianbacon_ and I launched MovingCache.com.

Within a week other cachers launched two more moving caches, in different local regions. As of December 31st there are 5 moving caches in different parts of southwest British Columbia, one in Manitoba, two in Florida and one in Texas with a few other cachers in different parts of Canada and the US expressing interest in starting their own.

If you’re interested in creating your own moving cache game on MovingCache.com you must complete an application form that briefly describes that your cache and the rough geographical boundaries for the cache. Once the cache is approved, then you can configure your cache page, rules, scoring, etc. The cache owner has control over when the cache goes live.

MovingCache.com is a project still in its early stages of development, and changes are being made on a regular basis based on feedback from both cache owners and players. The current plan is to grow slowly, limiting the number of caches in a given region and restricting individual caches to geographical boundaries that ensure that the cache can be maintained.