Plug in 43.4227777˚N, 88.1842611˚W to your GPS on a sunny day in August and you just may find yourself in the middle of a Bash.

A Cache Ba$h, to be precise.

Set in West Bend, WI, less than an hour from Milwaukee and an easy drive from Chicago and Madison, the fourth annual Cache Ba$h is a huge celebration of all things geocaching. This year’s Ba$h begins on Friday, August 12 and continues through Sunday morning on August 14. 

The event brings together serious geocachers and families for a weekend of high tech hide-and-seek, fun and games. Competitive participants come for the $1,000 in prizes, for the firendly community and to talk about the latest tactics and technologies. Other geocachers make their way to West Bend for  the challenge of level-five difficulty hides and family-centered activities.

What’s new?

Since even a great event can get stale, Cache Ba$h organizers work hard each year to bring new activities and options to event participants. Additions in 2011 include:

• 60 new caches placed throughout West Bend
• “Chirp” Cache—using Garmin Oregon GPS units provided by the Ba$h, geocachers will follow the digital signal, or “chirp,” e-mitted by these caches
• EarthCaching—Hidden in critical geoscience areas around West Bend, the event’s EarthCaches will educate cachers about the landscape, geography and unique topographical features of West Bend
• Multi-Cache—a series of caches, each with a clue that leads you to the next cache
• Geocoins

Look no further for family fun

The Cache Ba$h may have a competitive side, but organizers strive to keep the event as family-friendly as possible each year. In past years, kid-friendly events have included:

• Free swim passes to Regner Park
• Geochutes and Ladders game leading to a candy-filled cache
• Beginning geocaching lessons
• Secret treasure box activity (ages 6-12)
• A post-Ba$h party (children allowed with parents from 7:00-9:00 p.m.)
• Cool Cache Contest
• WGA Big Ba$h pancake breakfast on Sunday

Small town, big draw

The Cache Ba$h in West Bend has been Wisconsin’s largest Geocaching event for three years running, but organizers say the crowds just keep getting bigger. In 2010, Ba$h attendance broke its previous best with 1,556 teams and more than 1,800 cachers at the event. Registrations for the 2011 event are   on pace with those numbers.

Followers of Midwest geocaching aren’t surprised: West Bend is the region’s geocaching Mecca, with an incredible 750 geocaches within a 7-mile radius. And that number continues to grow. Organizers plan to add 60 new caches for the 2011 event. The event (and its $1,000 purse) draws geocachers from across the Midwest, but also from across the world: in its first four years the Cache Ba$h has had registrants from as far off as Denmark, England, Bulgaria, South Africa and Germany.

For more information on the 2011 event, visit the Cache Ba$h website (http://westbendgeocaching.com/), check out the event page on geocaching.com  or hook up with the Ba$h on Facebook: (https://www.facebook.com/WBCacheBash).

By West Bend Geocachers