Where were you over the long Memorial Day weekend? "Almost Heaven!" would be the answer for nearly 30 SLAGA members who attended the Wild and Wonderful GeoWoodstock XXI GIGA Event in Morgantown, West Virginia.
This beautiful Appalachian 'Mountain State' and surrounding area provided absolutely stunning views and diverse and unique outdoor fun via car, foot, ATV, kayak, bike or scooter. GeoWoodstock XXI showcased geocaching at its finest and Mylan Park venue was spectacular! There were numerous vendors, a variety of cache types including gadgets, trackables, Adventure Labs, the GPS maze chronicling the hobby's history, a lunch buffet, speakers on numerous interesting topics, and simply an electric energy of geocachers galore sharing their passion for the game! The main GIGA event, and the nine side events and several geo-activities, were all top-notch, super organized and planned to near perfection to entertain the over 5700 participants from all 50 US states and 23 countries! (Just imagine the number of cars!) Sound overwhelming? It was to many cachers, which is why the GW team suggested to pick and choose when and what to do and not expect to do everything, as that would take a month.
When the GeoWoodstock went GIGA in March 2025, many more cachers decided to attend than originally had registered. From SLAGA alone, attendees included:
Cootie_man, vorlon40, Geokid12, stevendede, nan-d1955, MrsSpongy, Turtleladi1020nhubbs, Brantole, TerriBikes+, Hobbit Taz, Cribbagewitch, LFrank, Denmother, PaulGracie, TheDriver2, AF BEE, GeoWench, BnD Moritz, Team BMZ, Loonwoman, Aunt Dot, Bluedaisy, OohLookItsARabbit, Su&SCo, Utapao72, Gusterroids, and maybe others of whom this journalist is unaware.
SLAGA members crossed paths off and on and sometimes in the strangest places. They all had different plans for their visit and different adventures, so there are lots of stories. After interviewing many of the SLAGA attendees, these are some of the highlights, favorites, or memorable sights and activities different groups shared.
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Let's start with one GIGA newbie and his caching buddies. Geokid12 shared that he had, "never been to a GIGA before, so it was amazing to see so many cachers in one place." His geopals cootie-man and vorlon40 agreed with the awe-inspiring sight of thousands of people, including seeing so many SLAGA folks there. Cootie-man enjoyed grabbing some counties in southern Pennsylvania, while vorlon40 was pleased to pick up two new states and complete two state counties, as well as collecting two more lackey tags and 26 pathtags. Geokid12 also can't forget the late night, sleep deprived, black light bowling with some crazy caching geogals. When stevendede arrived in town, the trio's fun turned into four men traversing a 3-state region to obtain 14 icons in a day, except for Steve who magnificently scored 15! He had started the day in Warren, PA with an elusive webcam before meeting up for a great afternoon with the guys. Stevendede accomplished 61 new counties (including completing PA counties). He also logged two Cache Across America and five Cache Odyssey finds.
Nan-d1955 and MrsSpongy had fun traveling to and through 9 states on their GeoWoodstock trip. Five of those were new states for MrsSpongy, while Nan added one. The dynamic duo did a Webcam in Baltimore and completed the Delaware counties before making it to Morgantown. They both were able to obtain 12 icons on GIGA day and completed several Adventure Labs while in town, as well as over 100 other caches during travels. Although mentioning that the GeoWoodstock weekend was a bit overwhelming, MrsSpongy did enjoy a bit of a slower pace listening to some music at the Mountain Music Event as she and Nan finished picking up trash for the CITO on their hike back from the waterfall EC at Mason-Dixon Park. Nan-d1955 had a really FUN time trading pathtags during the Midnight Madness Event. Over three days, she traded about 90 pathtags.
Turtleladi1020nhubbs were so excited to attend the GIGA! They cached in two new states and loved all the caches they found. They commented that they, "would need a few weeks there to make a decent dent" in all the caches around Morgantown. Their favorite event was the Midnight Madness. "Pathtags galore and meeting so many other cachers was awesome. We got over 150 new tags!" Turtleladi acquired a cute turtle shaped tag while Hubbs obtained a Coast Guard one. Turtleladi is commissioning Hubbs to make more magnetic boards to display all the new tags they brought home.
Geogals Brantole and TerriBIkes+ took off four days before the main event with a first goal of acquiring the state of Virginia for Brantole (She'd later get MD and PA also). Following that was TerriBikes+ bucket list adventure to take an ATV along some Appalchian trails to the oldest WV cache and a scenic Almost Heaven Swing in the mountains! "That's the wettest, muddiest, most awesome adventure ever!" said Terri, as mud dripped from her face and helmet. While both gals enjoyed a ton of the unique and fun GeoWoodstock activities like Country Roads Challenge LBs, Cryptid Wherigo Quests, West Virginia ALab geoart, Wharf event and puzzle, many of the Middle of Everywhere gadgets, and Midnight Madness bowling with GeoKid12, they agree one moment stood out above all others that had nothing to do with GW goals. As Brantole retells it, "The best take-away memory was when TerriBikes+ and I assisted a geocacher in need after returning to the car at the Botanical Garden to escape the steady rain. An older gentleman appeared ready to collapse and was supported by his companions. Terri jumped out to see what was wrong and quickly learned that he was exhausted, as he was recovering from a recent heart surgery. A member of their party was walking two miles back to their car, but we decided getting the three out of the cold rain and to their car faster was important. After quickly moving our gear from the backseat for three of us, we assisted in getting the gentleman in the front seat for the trip. On the drive, we learned that Geoge was a Vietnam veteran and was with his wife and son and his brother." Terri later discovered he'd forgotten his cane this trip, so gave him one of her walking sticks. Both geogals knew they'd keep in touch with gga team, but were lucky to meet up again at the GIGA picture. The family noticed the gals at the SLAGA banner and came over to thank them again and ask them to sign his 'new' stick. He looked and confirmed he felt a lot better. Brantole and TerriBikes+ were at the right place, at the right time, and this is a GeoWoodstock memory they won't forget!
Trackable Race Manager Hobbit Taz and The One The Only The Cribbagewitch were at the Packet pickup bright and early Friday morning. After dropping off SLAGA's racing TBs in the GIGA event and getting their VIP packets, their real adventures began. "To get away from the amoeba caching groups awhile and enjoy what a hide is taking us to see," said Hobbit Taz, the two drove over an hour, but only 7 miles, to pick up two 'out-of-the-way' geocaches. Traversing through a series of small, switch back, country roads and runs, one just wide enough for their tires, they made their way to McCurdysville Cemetery for one stop. "We really needed a jeep or other off-road vehicle," said Hobbit Taz. Before stopping at the Cemetery, Cribbagewitch saw a mouse run across the road not long after they'd passed a vulture on a nearby post. Was that an escapee? The two found a lonely cache in Maryland that afternoon, and also drove into Pennsylvania where they ran into SLAGA friends at a cache! Small world. Cribbagewitch summed up their GIGA highlights by saying they, "loved the views, the fun, the warmth of the West Virginians we encountered, and the introduction to Pepperoni Rolls."
Veteran cachers L Frank and Denmother could be found at the GeoWoodstock venue off-and-on for photo ops and nice chats. But on a rainy day, they decided to do a little county run and crossed into Pennsylvania to grab a cache in a county they needed. "As we pulled up to a cache on a lonely country road, there's HobbitTaz and CribbageWitch! We joined forces to find the cache in the rain," said Denmother. L Frank added that the cachers at this random cache "were friends of ours from St. Louis, 570 miles from home. We love this game!" Under sunnier skies, these two pulled out their E-scooters and rode along the river to acrue several more smilies on the ACT, American Challenge Trail, with some other WRG (Woodstock Reviewer Group) cachers. L Frank also got on stage with other reviewers and lackeys, to share some wisdom, at the GIGA venue for the closing speaker series.
PaulGracie and TheDriver2 came to GeoWoodstock as a pair but left independently as Paul brought his bike and had post GIGA plans. But while in town and at the event, they had a great time meeting up with not just SLAGA friends but also other caching friends that Paul has met on his geo travels. For all that know Paul, he sets his sights high, and indeed this was true as he pursued and was thrilled to complete the West Virginia State STAR GeoArt, which had unbelievably high D/T ratings. He even met up with a caching acquaintance he met a year or so ago, and they used some teamwork to earn a few Star smilies together. Overall, Paul took 3 days to complete the 51 cache Star GeoArt. Paul also visited Camp Mountaineer Event and watched some zipliners. TheDriver2 commented that, "we had a great adventure and I am really glad I could come for the event with my son." When TheDriver2 drove west from Morgantown, ending his GIGA journey, PaulGracie pedaled northeast toward Maine to continue his adventures.
AF BEE and GeoWench made their appearance at GeoWoodstock also. When interviewed, GeoWench said, "I'd have to say my favorite part was being with thousands of other geocachers, then seeing someone from SLAGA across the room. Time for a quick hug, a quick catch-up chat, and off to more adventures. To me it's about the community of SLAGA." Some of those adventures included AF BEE's kayak F.L.O.A.T. geocaching adventure, also known as Fairmont's Land or Aquatic Trail. It took him and his floating mates from Quebec about two hours to complete the 35 play-anywhere wherigo geocaches that spanned both the mighty Monongahela River and the Mon River Trail between Fairmont and Prickett's Fort State Park. What a memorable experience. Besides his kayak adventure, AF BEE said, "a good memory was doing the Cheat River Challenge Trail (ACT) on E-scooter in the rain on Thursday." These cachers definitely used different transportion means to enjoy their GeoWoodstock experience.
Mayor Moritz was another SLAGA member who decided relatively late that he'd drive out and attend the GeoWoodstock GIGA event. He made the most of his trip east however, by truly enjoying his long visit at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. Then BnDMoritz made his way to West Virginia and more caching adventures. He met up with some SLAGA friends to grab a few Mylan Park caches then headed to Coopers Rock, which was a highlight stop for him. He was lucky to visit in much clearer skies than those that attended the Thursday morning Country Roads Event in the rain and fog. He also found the history at the PA cache 'The First Crematory in the US' quite interesting, and enjoyed 'meeting' Barney Fife/Don Knotts, who was from Morgantown. BnD ended up finding over 60 caches on his quick to and from trip!
Team BMZ surprised many SLAGA folks, when they showed up at the GIGA! They had been in Pennsylvania scouting out new residence options and decided to make the trip down for this momentous geo occasion. Team BMZ spotted nan-d1955s car in the parking lot when they arrived, and soon after saw several caching friends they had not seen in awhile. When asked what a favorite or highlight of their GeoWoodstock visit was, BMZ daddy replied, "my fondest memory is catching fish right by one of the challenge caches on Cheat Lake. I caught my first ever bullhead catfish!" And that's BMZ daddy for you, ha ha.
The trio of Loonwoman, Aunt Dot and Bluedaisy cached all the way out to Morgantown, completing the I-64 challenge en route. After they arrived in Morgantown, they picked up their packets at the GW venue. Bluedaisy had been to a few GeoWoodstocks but this was her first GIGA! Loonwoman recalls some initial fun at the venue saying, "Bluedaisy exchanged a couple dozen trackables to my one, and Aunt Dot did an adventure lab using Google to help with some answers. Then, since she had three left and I saw a lady with answers while waiting on the shuttle, I suggested Aunt Dot talk to her, so she could complete the adventure." The trio went through the maze then headed off to Historic Downtown for more caching fun, including the Don Knotts virtual and several more adventure labs. Aunt Dot commented, "I got my 10,000th cache find on this trip while doing the 120 ALs at the West Virginia rest stop." After caching around their hotel the next morning, they cached their way to Terre Haute and then finally home the following day.
Well surprise! Look who logged the GIGA! OohLookItsARabbit attended log states, "Attending my 4th GeoWoodstock. Crazy busy here, and an amazing amount and variety of things to do. Having only one day, we opted to walk around downtown doing several physical and Adventure Lab caches. Enjoyed seeing the Wharf district and historic buildings."
Su&SCo also attended this Wild and Wonderful event and SLAGA folks got to see them briefly at the group picture on Saturday. Susan wrote in her attend log, "We had a great time. Lots of friends! What a wonderful group of cachers, our first GIGA!!" While other cachers returned home soon after the event, it seems, by their caching logs, that these two are still travelling the northeast United States on an extended caching trip.
Utapao72's name was seen on some local Morgantown caches too, so he and his travel mates also got to experience some West Virginia fun. One log states, "Found Don's statue and his tribute plaques. Great actor and loved the Andy Griffith show." Surely, he had a GIGA good time as other SLAGA attendees did.
The last GeoWoodstock participants that replied to the GIGA article 'shout out' was the Gusterroids. They spent just the main event Saturday in town. Gusterroid (J) said, "We actually were in Pittsburgh for the holiday weekend visiting a relative and managed to sneak away for the day. We started by stopping at the WV ALab GeoArt at the rest stop, which gave us our biggest find count in one day, a total of 707 finds! That was nearly 7X more finds than our previous best day," After that they focused on letterbox hybrid caches to up that count. Then because they decided to clear out the many Adventure Labs downtown, they had the benefit of seeing many of the city's highlights, during their short visit. Then it was back to Pittsburgh for the couple.
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The Wild and Wonderful GeoWoodstock XXI GIGA Event was much more than just 'an event,' as you can probably tell from the stories and pictures of the SLAGA folks that attended. No matter how many days these geocachers attended or where their caching took them, the GWXXI team, the beautiful Mountain State of West Virginia and the local Morgantown folks offered such world-class adventures, friendly culture, and unique experiences, that their GIGA experience will not soon be forgotten. This GeoWoodstock was definitely geocaching at it's finest.
During the closing ceremony, the announcement of GeoWoodstock XXII was made, and to the luck of SLAGA-land folks, it won't be too far of a drive. Over Memorial Day weekend 2026, the next GeoWoodstock, under the management of Semmels123 (Ryan) and his team, will be held in Hutchinson, Kansas (GCB7GWH)! They hope everyone will come, stay and explore Kansas!
TerriBikes+ and MrsSpongy Congratulate Semmels123