The GPS Adventures Maze to open in Wichita, Kansas
A state in the U.S.A. known for horizons of wheat fields, wild sunflowers, and a thriving geocaching community welcomes the GPS Adventures Maze Exhibit this month. The fun, interactive exhibit opens Saturday, January 28th at the Exploration Place in Wichita, Kansas. It runs through April 15. Everyone who attends can discover something new and exciting about geocaching, GPS technology and the history of navigation while exploring the family-friendly maze. Those who log the maze will earn the unique GPS Adventures Maze Exhibit cache type icon.
Those planning to visit the exhibit on opening day should arrive early for a little taste of Kansas hospitality. Before the doors open on the 28th, Exploration Place and the Wichita Geocaching Society will host a meet and greet event for geocachers. They’ll be joined by Groundspeak Lackey Sandy, who will offer select giveaways from Groundspeak Headquarters and celebrate the Maze opening with the geocaching community. The event runs from 8:30 am until 10 am, when the Maze opens. For future Maze locations, please visit www.gpsmaze.com.
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Geocaching.com is excited to be teaming up with the action-packed experience of Tomb Raider. Crystal Dynamics™, a Square Enix™ studio produces the video game series. The worldwide phenomenon launched in the mid-1990’s and has since been portrayed in Hollywood blockbusters.
Geocaching.com is a natural fit to join forces with the video game featuring world explorer Lara Croft™. A new campaign of treasure-hunting adventure will preview the upcoming release of Tomb Raider.
Through a variety of initiatives this year, Crystal Dynamics and Geocaching.com will create a series of unique location-based adventures. The experiences embody the spirit of Tomb Raider and Lara Croft’s drive to discover new adventures and locations.
“Many of us have been playing Tomb Raider since the first game launched in 1996, and we are excited that Geocaching.com is partnering with Crystal Dynamics on this project” said Jeremy Irish, CEO of Groundspeak, the company the runs Geocaching.com. “Tomb Raider is all about exploration and discovery. It inspires the adventurer in all of us, much like geocaching does, and we are excited about the opportunities that this project presents for both geocachers and Tomb Raider fans worldwide.”
To develop these adventures, Crystal Dynamics will be tapping into both the traditional Geocaching.com treasure hunting format and Geocaching.com’s latest photo-based adventure project Geocaching Challenges. More details about future activities are not being released just yet. Subscribe to this blog for the latest updates in the coming months.
The world’s first EarthCache turns eight-years-old today. Saying “Happy Birthday!” is as easy as logging an EarthCache. Chances are there’s one close to where you’re sitting right now. There are plenty of EarthCaches, think thousands and thousands, around the globe. But that wasn’t the case back in 2004.
“Earthcache I – a simple geology tour of Wasp Head” (GCHFT2) triggered a seismic movement in geocaching. The first EarthCache was located in Australia. It was placed by geoaware on January 10, 2004. Since then more than 17,000 EarthCaches have been published, popping up on every continent on the planet.
Each EarthCache must share specific characteristics before being published. There’s no physical cache. At every EarthCache, geocachers learn about the forces that sculpted the earth. EarthCaches showcase volcanoes, seismic fault lines, salt flats, bizarre rock structures and more. Each Earthcache reveals how scientists understand our planet.
EarthCache at a green sand beach in Hawaii "Olivine" (GC1M15H)
To log an EarthCache geocachers must demonstrate to the cache owner what they learned about a specific geological feature. Geocachers might measure a rock structure or record a tidal movement. At the EarthCache “Olivine” in Hawaii, geocachers must answer questions about the unique green grains of sand.
EarthCaches are gaining in popularity as they grow older and more established in the geocaching world. Organizers are even hosting the first International EarthCache Event (GC33E6X) this year. It’ll take place in September near Portland, Maine, USA. More than 250 geocachers have already logged a “Will Attend.”
You can learn more about EarthCaching by watching the video below.
Some geocaches take just seconds to find, others require days to unravel. Humphrey’s Archipelago (GC1ZPE8) is a Multi-Cache that can challenge geocachers for days. It’s a puzzle that has left geocachers saying, “an excellent geocache,” “very imaginative,” and “brilliant.”
The difficulty 2.5, terrain 2 geocache weaves the story of a fictitious Victorian explorer named Sir Humphrey Humphrey.
The cache requires following Sir Humphrey Humphrey’s whimsical story. Geocachers discover a faded map near a lighthouse on the Isle of Man. They then use the map and clues from an additional image on the cache page to answer the question, “Where did Sir Humphrey stay on his first night in the archipelago?”
Part of the adventure is catching glimpses of wildlife as you search for the location of the geocache. Happy Humphrey writes, ‘Look out to sea on the way; whales, dolphins, seals and basking sharks are often seen here (there was a Minke whale in sight when I first researched the cache.)”
Geocachers who logged a smiley on the cache write, “Brilliant cache just loved the first clue – never seen anything like it it before.”
Clue from cache page
Continue to explore of some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Explore all the Geocaches of the Week on the Latitude 47 blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com. If you’ d like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, send an email with your name, comments, the name of the geocache, and the GC code to pr@groundspeak.com.
Every month, Lackeys at Groundspeak Headquarters have the chance to learn about the outstanding geocachers in our community. They are nominated by community members for “Featured Geocacher of the Month” because they exemplify innovation, creativity, respect for the environment, and helpfulness. Based off of these nominations and the votes on our blog, each month Groundspeak selects one “Featured Geocacher.” We continue to be stunned by the number of quality candidates as well as the number of geocachers who participate in this monthly process.
All three of December’s Featured Geocacher of the Month nominees have done amazing things for our community. This was a close competition. Over 100 geocachers submitted votes, showing great support for each nominee. Based on these votes, a panel of Lackeys selected AbbeyAckbar as the December Featured Geocacher of the Month.
December Featured Geocacher of the Month, AbbeyAckbar
AbbeyAckbar, a geocaching couple, is known for organizing many of the most creative and popular events in Dublin, Ireland. According to one cacher, “AbbeyAckbar have gathered people for such events as: WWFM VIII – Dublin, Ireland and a mega huge International Geocaching Day (IGD)01: CITO Burrow Beach, Dublin, Ireland and later that day another event: IGD01: Dublin, Ireland and recently 11.11.11 – It’s all about the numbers. They are great planners, everything is always under control with them.”
AbbeyAckbar is also being recognized for their consistent willingness to assist a geocacher in need. One geocacher mentioned, and many others agreed, that, “they introduced me to Geocaching and have been great to me, on many a geocaching outing, helping and encouraging me along the way. They are all about fun and are so friendly and helpful, they deserve to be geocacher of the month.”
AbbeyAckbar will receive a collector’s edition Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat and certificate acknowledging their contributions signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com. Those nominees not chosen as the Featured Geocacher of the Month receive a gift of appreciation from Groundspeak. See a list of all the Featured Geocachers of the Month here. The geocaching community is encouraged to renominate those not named December Featured Geocacher of the Month.
If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be considered for Geocacher of the Month, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com.
Featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin
Every nomination must meet the following requirements: Please include your name, the name of your nominee, their username, at least one picture of the nominee and description (in 500 or fewer words) explaining why he or she deserves to be the Geocacher of the Month. Please inform your nominee that you’ve submitted them for the award. Nominations for the January Featured Geocacher of the Month must be received by January 27th.
Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose the top candidates and post them on the Latitude 47 blog. You will then get a chance to champion your favorite. Our goal is to involve the entire geocaching community in this process so we might learn from each other.
A state in the U.S.A. known for horizons of wheat fields, wild sunflowers, and a thriving geocaching community welcomes the GPS Adventures Maze Exhibit this month. The fun, interactive exhibit opens Saturday, January 28th at the Exploration Place in Wichita, Kansas. It runs through April 15. Everyone who attends can discover something new and exciting about geocaching, GPS technology and the history of navigation while exploring the family-friendly maze. Those who log the maze will earn the unique GPS Adventures Maze Exhibit cache type icon.
