By Kylee Baumle, aka Pipanella

Do you know where YOUR travel bug is? At any given time, legna and sOulbAit, geocachers from Florida, probably don’t. Spooky, their virtual travel bug, moves around the world so quickly it’s hard to keep up with its travels. As of April 13th Spooky has logged 1,313,504 miles, and has visited 45 countries on all seven continents and 37 states in the US.

Spooky’s objective is to move from virtual cache to virtual cache. Since Spooky is a virtual travel bug, it doesn’t have to physically visit the cache site, and logs are to be in the form of a note. It is dedicated to handicapped people that love geocaching, and can be logged from the convenience of your computer. Spooky’s owners created the bug because they wanted one that wouldn’t disappear eventually, as travel bugs can sometimes do. They weren’t sure the concept would catch on, but it’s proven to be very popular, and other similar bugs have since been released by other cachers.

Even though Spooky has only been in existence since January 11, 2005, it can be a challenge to find a virtual cache location that it hasn’t been in or near. Its travels have proven to be educational to both its owners and cachers who have logged it. Jim (sOulbAit) and Rita (legna) think the most interesting cache Spooky has visited is the remote Top of the Mount (GC7AA7), which is at the top of Mount Fuji-San in Japan. It has a rating of 5/5 and has very few logs, since it is a 5-6 hour hike to the summit. They also liked Penguin Post Office (GCG66W), at Port Lockroy, Goudier Island, in Antarctica. It is the world’s most southern post office and is the oldest existing United Kingdom structure there.

Spooky will continue its travels as long as cachers continue to log him in and out of virtual caches. It has visited the Great Wall of China, windmills on the Greek island of Cyclades, the Alaskan Pipeline, Mount Aconcagua in Argentina (the highest point in the Americas at 22,840 feet), the geographic South Pole in Antarctica, one of the only three caches in Vietnam (all virtuals), Alcatraz Island, Fatima in Portugal, the beautiful Maldives in the Indian Ocean, the Russian Vatican, the equator in Ecuador, Victoria Falls in Zambia, Mount Everest in Nepal, the Tigris River in Iraq, the killing fields of Cambodia, an active volcano in Hawaii, County Cork in Ireland, and the Pyramids in Egypt. It’s even been to Hell and back (in the Caymans)!

Interesting Spooky trivia:

1. Most caches visited in a day – 24 virtual caches on January 25th
2. Most traveled miles in a day – 80,356 miles on January 25th
3. Largest single jump – On March 19th, Spooky moved from New Zealand to France - 11,996 miles
4. Average miles traveled per day – 14,277
5. Most visited country outside the US – Germany

Spooky’s owners are both runners, participating regularly in 5K, 10K, 15K, and half-K marathon runs. We wonder who has logged more miles – Spooky or its owners?

Copyright © Today's Cacher 2004 LLC 2004
About Us | Contact Us | Subscribe