Geocaching.com Caption Contest 22 – Win a Barely Coveted Prize

WINNING CAPTION: "This is knot what I wood have expected.” - 1Delta10Tango.

Try your caption writing skills in the twenty-second installment of our Geocaching.com Caption Contest.   You could become the proud winner of a barely coveted prize! What caption would you write? “You’ve barked up the right tree.” You can do better!

Caption contest prize

Submit your caption by clicking on “Comments” below. Please include your geocaching username in all entries. Then, explore the captions that other geocachers have crafted.

You can influence the voting. “Like” the caption that you think should win.  If you think your caption should win, convince your fellow geocachers to “like” your caption. Lackeys decide between the top captions to crown the winner of this Geocaching.com Caption Contest.

The winner receives a barely coveted prize from Groundspeak Headquarters. This time it’s a much coveted prize, a Jeremy Irish Trackable Gnome.

Click on the image to discover the winning caption from this contest

19 Lackeys voted to award the winner of the twentieth Geocaching.com Caption Contest a barely coveted prize. Click on the image at right to discover the winning caption from the previous Geocaching.com Caption Contest.

Explore the wit and wisdom of geocachers by checking out all the Geocaching.com Caption Contests.

Groundspeak Weekly Newsletter – March 10, 2011

Spreading the Word about Geocaching is Easy!

Nearly every geocacher has at some point attempted to explain geocaching to a muggle – be that a family member, a friend, a co-worker or someone on the trail. And, anyone who has tried knows that geocaching can be quite difficult to explain. Obviously, the best way for someone new to learn about the activity is to get outside and try it, but to make it even easier, we’ve created several tools to help you teach them about the activity. We now present to you:

1. The Introduction to Geocaching Presentation, a downloadable PowerPoint presentation that starts at the very beginning and covers everything from what a geocache looks like, to cache types, to Trackables. You are welcome to use this presentation to teach others about geocaching. There is even space for you to co-brand it, if you so desire!

2. The new Geocaching.com videos page features fun and educational videos that cover more than 30 topics and can be shared with others. Pick a video that encompasses what you love about geocaching – or something you know your friends and family will love about it – and share it through Facebook, Twitter or its YouTube URL. We will be adding new videos to this page on a regular basis, so keep checking back for more great content!

Start sharing and spread the fun! Happy Geocaching!

Benefits of Adding Home Coordinates

Please enter your home coordinates so we can provide information on new geocaches and geocaching events near you.

“Trouble in Tinseltown” – Insider Tips to Hosting a Geocaching Event

Copy of "Hush Hush" magazine

Molly Shock, aka mshock, teaches the basics of hosting a successful and fun geocaching event. It’s part party-planning and all logistics. Find out how to make the event something to remember, how much time you’ll need to prepare and other insider tips. Watch the video below for a three-minute tutorial from Molly on tips for making your own themed geocaching event a success.

Molly’s marque event to date has been Trouble in Tinseltown – A Puzzle Rally Event (GC2993W).

An Event Cache is where local geocachers or geocaching organizations decide a time and location to meet and discuss all things geocaching. The attendees often go geocaching before or after the Event Cache.

Crime scene map from "Trouble in Tinseltown"

Molly’s event was no different, but the geocaching that occurred that day took puzzle caching to a whole new level. Molly spent four months orchestrating the elaborate themed geocaching event. “Trouble in Tinseltown” guided more than 80 cachers through a fictitious scandal, betrayal and murder in a  Hollywood whodunit.

Teams of geocachers discovered 15 caches by solving puzzles. They accumulated clues which ultimately provided the answer to the question, “Who killed Noah Boddy, where and with what?”

Each team received a copy of “Hush Hush” magazine [pictured above] which Molly wrote to provide a detailed back-story for the event. Then teams received these instructions at the start of the caching: “Solve the puzzles, find the caches, record the facts, bring the murderer to justice!”

Clipboard with "facts" for the event

Molly also created an elaborate crime scene map, a dossier and a clip board full of facts. Correctly using and deciphering each item brought teams closer to solving the crime.

You can still get a sense of the event. Most of the 15 puzzle caches that Molly placed are still active.

Hostess, Molly Shock

Molly’s tips for a successful geocaching event include:

– Design an event that lasts no more than eight hours

– Make caches challenging, but not frustrating

– Make it self-sufficient, provide clues (for a penalty)

– Let friends help

– Take cachers to a safe, interesting place

– Practice the event

– Have fun!

Geocachers who wish to attend the event but not look for caches should be able to attend as well. They can be spectators or extra “props.” They can also simply hang out, enjoy the crowd, trade Trackables and the usual.

Find out even more tips by watching an interview with Molly below.

“Wahe Ka-Ho-Nee” GCJZDX Geocache of the Week – March 7, 2011

Scaling cliff to reach the "Wahe Ka-Ho-Nee"

“Thank you Colorado for placing a cache here. I am exhausted and will never forget this adventure, definitely one of my all time favorites.” That’s the latest log entry for “Wahe Ka-Ho-Nee” (GCJZDX). It’s an extreme geocache rated a difficulty 2 and terrain 5. The cache owner, Colorado Jones, insists you not try this cache alone and suggests that you tell someone where you’re going and when you’ll return home. It’s easy to see why he’s so insistent. Finding the cache requires a rope, hiking poles, shoe spikes and safety supplies.  Cachers wade through water and encounter poisonous plants, loose rocks and dangerous heights.

Kahonee Falls

The cache description consists of an elaborate story written by Colorado Jones about an explorer completing a rite of passage. For geocachers who complete the extreme cache, they join an exclusive group. Only 31 people have logged a smiley on this cache since it was hidden in 2004.

Continue your exploration of some of the most engaging geocaches from around the world. Explore all the Geocaches of the Week on our blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.

Venez visiter le siège de Groundspeak

Le vendredi à 14 h 00, des geocacheurs venus d’aussi loin que la Chine et d’aussi près que les bureaux avoisinants rendent visite au siège de Groundspeak. Quelle que soit leur origine, ils ont deux choses en commun avant leur arrivée : une passion pour le Geocaching et une histoire qu’ils meurent d’envie de raconter.

Sara et Nicole

Groundspeak se transforme momentanément, passant du va et vient soutenu de Laquais œuvrant au maintien du site Web à un foyer débordant de joyeux geocacheurs déposant des Objets voyageurs, partageant leurs expériences et faisant la connaissance d’autres geo-accros venus des quatre coins du monde.
Comme Nicole (Louie Bliss), affectée elle aussi au Service des relations avec le public, je Sara (gonzogrrl) fais partie des Laquais chanceux qui accueillent régulièrement les geocacheurs en quête de la cache HQ, GCK25B. « Alors, que faites-vous ici ? », nous demande-t-on souvent.
La plupart du temps, nous répondons aux courriels et aux appels, aidant les gens à résoudre des problèmes afin qu’ils puissent bénéficier de la meilleure expérience de geocaching possible. Mais à l’arrivée de geocacheurs, nous cessons nos activités pour les accompagner tandis qu’ils découvrent la cache, prennent des photos, achètent des souvenirs et observent le grand écran affichant l’enregistrement de geocaches du monde entier en temps réel.
Si vous voulez nous rendre visite, il est facile de fixer un rendez-vous. Adressez tout simplement votre demande à contact@geocaching.com. Dites-nous qui vous êtes, d’où vous venez et quand vous pouvez nous rendre visite; nous nous ferons un plaisir de vous envoyer les coordonnées de nos bureaux (Indice : Nous ne sommes pas au milieu du Lac Union. Choquant, n’est-ce pas?) Dans le contexte de bureaux occupés, nous aimons planifier les visites le vendredi à 14 h 00. Parfois, un des Fondateurs et d’autres Laquais sont aussi de passage… nous aimons tous rencontrer les gens qui font de ce jeu beaucoup plus que des contenants dans la forêt.

Sole Seeker

Parmi les histoires recueillies lors de rencontres avec bon nombre de geocacheurs différents, j’en retiens certaines qui sont maintenant mes préférées… Il y a Sole Seeker, venu faire sa 10 000e découverte, tout surpris d’être accueilli avec une affiche et des ballons par une équipe voulant célébrer avec lui. Il y a aussi J&J Brown, qui nous a décrit l’énorme geocache camouflée dans leur cour avant qui déjoue toujours des chercheurs (attention… rabat-joie) du fait qu’il ressemble à un arbre. Et puis il y a foomanjoo, photographe qui parcourt le monde entier, qui nous arrivait de la Corée et qui préparait sa prochaine aventure à la découverte de geocaches le long de la Route 66 en Californie.
Mais qui que vous soyez… que la cache HQ soit votre cinquième ou votre cinq millième, vous êtes les bienvenus chez nous.
À bientôt, on l’espère !

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