Texas Geocaching Association (TXGA)

Texas Challenge Mega Event 2022

Who is TXGA?

The Texas Geocaching Association (TXGA) was formed in January 2003 by Sam Morrow (UsMorrows), Candy Lind (Moosiegirl), and Will Nienke (9Key). Over the years we have hosted several successful statewide events such as the yearly TXGA Texas Challenge and Lonestar Roundup, Geocaching’s first-ever Mega Event, GeoWoodstock 4 in 2006, and have worked to foster the development of geocaching in the Great State of Texas.

Cacher of the Month

The month of December sees the rotation of Cacher of the Month return to North Texas. With so many great cachers in the area, picking just one is a daunting task. It had to be someone that has been a great steward of the game as well as someone that is always there for the community when called upon. The recipient for this month is Kate Mathewson, otherwise known as “The Big Deal”. Congratulations Kate! You deserve to be recognized as the amazing geocacher that you are. Here’s a little more about her in her own words:

I am the KidWrangler. Mother of 5, special education (autism) teacher. And geocaching enthusiast. Some would say I’m kind of a big deal (because I’ve convinced them so. )

But to me I’m just Kate, out chasing as many adventures as possible and living my best life one cache at a time.

I started geocaching on April 23, 2011. I saw a short story about it online and initially thought it would be a fun thing to do with my 9-year-old son. And of course, we had the 7 and 6-year-olds in tow as well. When the kids were 4, 2 and 1 my friends started calling me the kid wrangler. In addition to my own kids, I have been in the kid wrangling business all of my adult life, so that seemed like an appropriate geo-nic to go with. The family got into it for a while, but I never slowed down. I was completely hooked from day one! When I try to explain geocaching to friends I usually end by saying… it’s just a game to most, but to me, it’s my lifestyle.

It’s hard to narrow down my top three geocaches because it’s more like geocaching trips or experiences with friends that have become my favorites. And even then, there have been so many.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I have easily captured more than a million words worth of memories behind the lens. Combining my love for caching and photography I have cherished memories to last me a lifetime.

(There was once talk of a coffee table book of said memories.)

This year I had goals to complete my #project26-CalendarEdition, (26 caches per calendar day) But with a few family setbacks that has become a goal for 2022. My newest goal has now been set at completing the world’s largest geoart.

Other than that I just plan to keep hiking and climbing and paddling my way through the game, while keeping in mind my favorite motto…

SAFETY THIRD!!!

Geocache of the Month

TXGA Cache of the Month – November

This month’s cache of the month comes from the South Region – https://coord.info/GC97VXK

Here is the message from the cache owner Sandra – I had wanted to place a geocache at the Fulton Mansion for a very long time! I had even spoken several times to staff members, who informed me that there had actually been a geocache on the property in the past; a film canister stuck in one of the old oak trees.

I told them that in my mind, a new geocache on this property should be something special, something to match the grand Mansion itself. When the Rockport-Fulton Chamber of Commerce approached me about helping put together a GeoTour, it was the very first geocache I worked on… even before getting placement approval! I wanted to create a TB Hotel that mimicked the actual mansion. I sent a little hand drawn design and kicked around a possible cache description to the director that could be presented to the Texas Historical Commission for approval. I was worried that they wouldn’t have the same vision from my crude sketch and had the entire cache and cache page created before we finished the approval process.

Luckily for me, PaPaC (who got a new bandsaw out of the deal) took my design and made the woodwork come to realization, while I painted and “decorated” the rooms. I worked with Christi Moore at the Mansion Education Center to create the poem and viola, the powers-that-be granted final approval for the placement! It was truly a labor of love and we sure did learn a lot about building a geocache that will withstand the harsh elements of our South Texas Coastal property! We really enjoy watching the fun comments in the logs roll in!!

Mission Statement

The Texas Geocaching Association (TXGA) is a volunteer organization. Our aim is to be the foremost advocate for Geocaching within the state of Texas and to promote the family-oriented activity of geocaching through a central website, social media, workshops, and information displays, while also encouraging responsible stewardship of public lands.

And at TXGA, we are committed to celebrating the diversity of our membership in all regions of Texas and beyond. From finders to hiders, long time geocachers and new geocachers. Our differences allow us to continually serve and be supportive for each other and build an amazing geocaching community in Texas and beyond.

What is the TXGA Texas Challenge?

The TXGA Texas Challenge is an annual weekend load of events held by the Texas Geocaching Association. Each year, the responsibilities of hosting the TXGA Texas Challenge rotates to a regional team to organize the majority of the weekend. If you have ever wanted an excuse to escape for a weekend, and get out and geocache a new place with a bunch of other geocachers from across the state, this is it.

The TXGA Texas Challenge weekend is centered around an exciting contest that pits geocachers from across the state in a friendly competition to see which region of the state can accumulate the most points during a 4 hour time crunch. The winning regional team takes home the coveted Golden Ammo Can.

The whole weekend is non-stop geocaching goodness gobbed greatly with games and goodies. Trackable trading is a major activity, as well as trail story swapping and vendor swag buying. You will never get an opportunity in Texas to geocache with so many other geocachers at once.

Texas Challenge Mega Event 2022

Who is TXGA?

Cacher of the Month

Geocache of the Month

Mission Statement

What is the TXGA Texas Challenge?

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