FOXULTGCGC: Tell us how you learned about Geocaching and your first experience finding a Geocache.foxult: At Christmas 2005, I received a Garmin eTrex Legend from my father at the suggestion of my step-brother and his wife, who are cachers in PA. My 1st attempt was at Davie Park near my house, but I DNF’ed it as I hadn’t figured out the subtleties to finding things and the limitations of the eTrex Legend. My first find was at Pilot Mt. S.P. with my Field Geology class while up there to check out the quartzite cap layer and differential erosion.
GCGC: When did you know you were “hooked”?foxult: When I saw my numbers grow. It combines my two favorite activities—finding stuff and going new places.
GCGC: Foxult is an interesting username, how did you come up with it? foxult: “Fox” my real last name (not the one I use at bars) and “Ult” for Ultimate (Frisbee), the greatest non-caching sport. I play a lot of Ultimate. Back in the early ‘90s, I was on the U.S. Ultimate team that won World Championships in Japan and England. Unfortunately, caching hadn’t been invented, so I don’t have finds in those countries.
GCGC: We understand you are a mild mannered teacher by day and a maniacal standup comedian by night (or some reasonable facsimile thereof). Give us some background on how that works. foxult: In the late ‘90s, I took a stand up class at the local club which led to a lot of guest spots locally. Guest spots turned into MC gigs which led to Featuring. MC’s usually do 5-10 minutes to open a show. The Feature does 30 minutes in the middle. The Headliner closes a show with 45-60 minutes.
Most of my Feature work is in the summers because it’s tough to hit the road during the school year. I post my schedule on my Facebook site “Ed Fox The World’s Most Dangerous Teacher”.
GCGC: Exactly what “Mr. Hyde type” potion did you drink that turned you into the “World’s Most Dangerous Teacher”? foxult: “The World’s Most Dangerous Teacher” lets the audience know (if it’s paying attention) that I’m a teacher (something everyone has encountered), and my teacher stuff is not going to be all touchy-feely-student-self-esteem-boosting. The “potion” is that I get to say on stage what I don’t get to say to the students and parents. It can be quite liberating.
You can view some samples of my work on YouTube. Search for “Ed Fox Comedy.” Many of you who’ve met me at caching events may be surprised that I talk.
GCGC: Who are some of your all-time favorite comics (past or present)? foxult: Brain Regan is hilarious, clean, and now makes about $20K per show. There are a bunch of comics you’ve probably never heard of that make me laugh—Tony Boswell, Paul Hooper, C.J., Johnny Millwater—some are clean and some aren’t.
GCGC: Now we all know that this “Standup / Field Trip” thing is just a cover to cache in new areas of the country. So tell us a couple of places you would recommend for Geocaching.foxult: Hanging Rock S.P. has a lot. Baker Mt, the highest spot in Catawba County, has a high cache density. Cashiers/Highlands has a lot of caches. A couple of interesting geologic day-trip spots without a high cache density include Sugarloaf Mt near Middendorf, SC, and Peachtree Rock, on the south side of Columbia, SC.
If you have the time/money, Flagstaff, AZ, is a great hub for day-trip caching. I think Therapaint may have cached out there, too. Besides the scenery, one of the great things about caching out West is that ammo cans are easy to hide because there is so much open space.
GCGC: As a master of geology, if you could be an Earthcache, what kind would you be? (This ought to be interesting) foxult: I’m a sucker for the spectacular. I like Earthcaches that show obvious faulting or sedimentary structures or dinosaur tracks. I also like Earthcaches that lead me to parts of parks that you wouldn’t bother to hike to unless you were caching. So if I were an Earthcache I’d be a normal-fault graben in the backcountry of Canyonlands Nat’l Park rated a 3/5.
GCGC: So is it safe for us to call you a “Rock god”? Or do you prefer “Sultan of strata”? foxult: Baron of Basalt. Duke of Dolomite. Earl of Pearly Luster. King of Diamonds.
GCGC: Tell us a little bit about your “summer geocaching camp” you’ve been instructing the last couple of years. Sounds like a great way to spread the fun and teach kids about science and technology at the same time. foxult: I introduced caching in my regular Earth Science class a couple of years ago as part of the topographic map unit and then led a couple of Saturday morning caching trips for any student who wanted to go. There was enough interest to make me want to try a week-long summer camp. The 1st summer I had twelve 4th-8th graders, many of whom had been dumped into the camp when their other camps didn’t make. Twelve was a lot to move around stealthily. Last summer I had three 4th graders, which was way easier to deal with.
The past two summers, also, I have helped chaperone a 4th/5th grade trip to the beach. The lead teacher is cacher, so we use caches around Morehead City to fill time.
GCGC: What is your “dream caching destination”? foxult: I’ve always wanted to go to Iceland. Domestically, I’ve been trying to figure out how to get out to Yellowstone (at someone else’s expense, of course).
GCGC: Heard any good jokes lately? foxult: Yes, but nothing I can repeat here.
Thanks Fox for letting us peer inside the world that is foxult. I for one will never be quite the same again. 
Seriously though, we appreciate your wit and candor on the forums and look forward to hearing more about your exploits. Knock ‘em dead!
