Year: 2012

/ Eric Schudiske /

FTF 10 Years in the Making

FTF 10 Years in the Making (courtesy FradoMedia)

Belterra, Brazil seeps back into the rainforest. It’s a small town on the wrong side of progress. It’s getting smaller. A few thousand people now call the community home. The population has fallen from more than 10,000 when Belterra was at its peak as a rubber production hub.

At the beginning of 2012, a cache placed in Belterra in 2002, “Belterra” (GC3DF7), had never been found. The FTF (First to Find) on the cache remained unclaimed. The cache was without a log, without a DNF. No one logged even an attempt to find the cache for a decade… until this year.

German geocacher Frank Dornberger FradoMedia made his intentions clear to find the cache  at the end of 2011. He wrote a note on the cache page. “I will try to get to the cache in January, when I am in the area. I am really keen to find out if it is still there…” The jungle had crowded around the cache since it was placed. Frank still thought the cache was worth an attempt while traveling through the Amazon on vacation.

He wrote, “I found out that I was going to pass by close enough to try to get to this place. Some research about the area and even more proper preparation of the equipment was necessary to make sure that I could really get to this 1,5 star rated cache. Almost 13 hours on the plane and two days on the river Amazon, plus another hour in the car and a 15 minutes walk later, I was finally there.”

Frank at the geocache location in 2012 (courtesy FradoMedia)
Geocache location in 2002

But the “there” Frank saw in person was much different than the “there” he saw on the cache page from ten years ago. He wrote, “I was completely astonished what the place looked like. But after the first shock I thought, what could I have expected after 10 years of that temperature and humidity.” The open air building where the cache had been placed had completely collapsed. His only clue was that the cache was hidden inside a drawer.

His log reads, “… the building was almost completely rotten. So I went closer and into the rest of what was formerly an old house. I had my concerns that some of the wood would fall down and crash on my head, but I couldn’t resist. I had to look for the drawer… after about 45 minutes of searching and dragging I found a box that probably once was the cache.”

Frank new location of replacement cache (courtesy FradoMedia)

Frank says, “As I figured out  that the drawer was still in one piece and I saw the old glass bottles and then this black box I got pretty excited, of course. What was inside was a lump that looked more of coal than a logbook. So I cannot be 100% sure. But the location and everything  makes it very probable that I had a find.”

Frank logged a smiley and decided to keep the adventure alive for someone else to potentially be the STF (Second to Find) for this cache, “The hut is almost gone completely, but archiving the cache would be a pity. So I decided to place a new [cache] box nearby.”

FTF’s for Frank will now have to occur closer to home. He’s currently geocaching on the German island of  Rügen but says the trip to be FTF revealed a new piece of world, “Belterra is far away, that is true. But it is a little nice town nowadays, which is definitely worth a visit.”

 

 

 

 

 

/ Adela B /

July Featured Geocacher of the Month Nominees – Add Your Comments

Each of July’s Featured Geocacher of the Month nominees has made their mark on the geocaching community. Though many other qualified candidates were nominated, Groundspeak Lackeys selected these three influential and inspiring nominees.

Sniperchicken – June 2012 Geocacher of the Month

Now it’s your turn to help select one of them as July’s Featured Geocacher of the Month.

Write a comment on this blog post about which of these three geocachers you feel should be crowned.

Last month, SniperChicken was chosen as the June Featured Geocacher of the Month. SniperChicken was recognized for his kindness and creative ability to engage the geocaching community through his caches. As the Board President of the Mississippi Geocachers Association, he is known to go above and beyond to research every hiding location to provide fellow geocachers with a unique geocache and story.

Here are your nominees for the July Featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.

daggy

daggy

Nominated by Deermark, Lynn, a.k.a, daggy “has been the Chairman of the Indiana Fall Geocaching Picnic for 8 years. This event draws between 200 and 300 geocachers every fall. She helped found INKY (The Indiana-Kentucky Geocaching Group). This group meets once a month for a social and has drawn between 30 and 80 new geocachers every month since inception. Daggy has volunteered with Lincoln State Park in Indiana to help with the park’s annual geocaching event for the last 5 years. She was also instrumental in writing the proposal that brought Geowoodstock X to Indiana. Daggy has been caching since September 2001 and has almost 16,000 finds and 137 hides. Her traditional hides have 248 favorite points and 67 of them are still active. She has hosted 14 Event Caches and has found a cache in 50 states. She gives so much back to the geocaching community, not just locally, but nationally.”

 

De Wijngemachtigde

De Wijngemachtigde

“Every year a Geocoin race is organized in the Netherlands to encourage people to put their coins in circulation instead of keeping them at home,” says irisisleuk. “When the original organizer suddenly stopped organizing this race, Guus, a.k.a. De Wijngemachtigde stepped in and took over this race. But his actions didn’t just result in copying what was done before. He really wanted to take it to the next level. This year, Guus managed to get a record number of 250 participants in the race. And the coins didn’t just visit the 12 provinces, but all 415 municipalities of the Netherlands. He thought of the idea that photos of the coin with the city limit sign and city hall and/or coat of arms of the city where a coin is dropped/retrieved, should be rewarded with bonus points as well. So, he now checks every log, of each coin for photos to see whether this coin should get  bonus points. He does all this himself. The way Guus has organized everything has really got our geocaching community in the Netherlands closer, more involved and resulted in many, many fun coin logs to read. This race has given a whole other dimension to geocaching. It really spices things up and makes moving trackables so much more fun.”

 

T&AD

T&DA

bigfish97 writes, “My name is Dustin and I am 14 years old. I have only been geocaching since February and now it is one of my favorite things to do. I was introduced to geocaching by my aunt and uncle, Troy and Amanda,” a.k.a. T&AD. “They showed me everything about geocaching such as Trackables, Geocoins, different types of caches, etc. They have been geocaching since January but have already found over 350 geocaches! I learned everything I know about geocaching from them. They still guide me through a lot of my finds, even from 300 miles away. I love to share my experiences with them because they are beginner geocachers that I can relate to. I am thankful that they introduced me to this great hobby and what I am asking is for you to choose them for the month of July because it would mean the world to me!”

 

Featured Geocacher of the Month Icon

Comment below to tell us who you think should be the featured July Geocacher of the Month. A panel of Lackeys will use your comments to help decide which geocacher is awarded the honor. Each featured Geocacher of the Month will receive an exclusive special edition featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat, a Geocacher of the Month profile icon, and a certificate acknowledging their contributions signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com. We will be accepting comments for July’s award through July 31st.

Those whose nominees were not recognized here are encouraged to submit their nominations again next month. If you know an outstanding geocacher you would like to nominate to be a Featured Geocacher of the Month, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com.

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 a description (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 August Geocacher of the Month must be received by August 10th.

Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose the top candidates and post them on the 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.

/ Eric Schudiske /

2012 Geocaching Block Party Invitation – Geocaching.com Presents

You’re invited to the 2012 Geocaching Block Party on August 18!

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The world is invited to Groundspeak HQ in Seattle, Washington USA to celebrate the global phenomenon of geocaching. Check out the cache page, and log your “Will Attend” to meet geocachers from around the world and talk with the Lackeys and Volunteer Reviewers who help power the Geocaching.com experience.

Each year, Geocaching.com celebrates International Geocaching Day on the third Saturday in August by hosting the Geocaching Block Party. The Geocaching Block Party on August 18 runs from 11am to 3pm at Fremont’s Solstice Plaza by the JP Patches statue. Geocachers can challenge themselves with beginner, intermediate, and advanced geocaching courses. They can also explore the Fremont neighborhood where Groundspeak is based and win prizes with “Fremont Funventures”—all while swapping geocaching stories. The public is invited to explore the family-friendly adventure of geocaching and meet geocachers from around the world. More than 2000 people from a dozen countries attended last year’s Block Party.

Around the world, there will be nearly 200 events in more than a dozen counties. Anyone who logs a cache or an “Attended” for an Event Cache on August 18 this year earns the 2012 International Geocaching Day souvenir for their Geocaching.com profile.

Subscribe to the official Geocaching.com YouTube channel to be one of the first to see new videos about the evolving world of geocaching. Watch the more than 50 videos produced by Geocaching.com on our video page.

 

 

/ Eric Schudiske

Groundspeak Weekly Newsletter – July 18, 2012

Geocaching at the 2012 Olympic Games

The world’s attention turns to London for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and geocaching will be there. Geocaches within one mile of the Olympic venues have been temporarily disabled out of an abundance of caution. However, geocaching will still help guide tourists and locals to reveal the rich history of the Olympics in London. New geocaches have been hidden at five key locations, outside the current Olympic venue zones. The locations are related to the 1908, 1948, and 2012 Olympic Games.

These geocaches are part of the Discovering Places “Culture Caching” project. Discovering Places is the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad campaign to inspire the UK to discover their locally built, historic and natural environments. It is delivered on behalf of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games by The Heritage Alliance.

Geocachers headed to London for the Olympics can also select great caches from this bookmark list, which features 40 geocaches located at heritage sites around the UK.

You Refer a Friend, Groundspeak Donates $1 to Charity

 

July is the perfect month to introduce a friend to geocaching. You can open a world of adventure to a new geocacher and help raise money for two worthy causes. Through July 30, 2012, for each new member that you refer to Geocaching.com, we’ll donate $1 to charity. Take your friends out on the trail with you, send them the “tell a friend” email, share geocaching on your social network or shout about it from rooftops. The more people you refer, the more those in need receive, up to a total of $10,000 USD!

Please note that your friend needs to create an account (Basic or Premium), fill in the “referred by” field on the Geocaching.com account creation page, and log at least one cache between July 1 and July 30 to count as a referral! Check out our blog for more details. So far this month, you’ve raised more than $3,500. This year, the money will be split evenly between DonorsChoose.org and the Special Olympics.

/ Eric Schudiske /

Geocacher Carries Olympic Torch… Again

Wendy and Udo carrying the Olympic Torch

Wendy Morrell’s life is marked by achievement. The active geocacher, Dorsetgal & GeoDog, just logged her 2000th find. The milestone marked another major life event. Wendy’s 2000th smiley came at a Flash Mob Event Cache. The event was organized to cheer Wendy on as she carried the Olympic Torch with her service dog Udo.

She wrote a note on the event page that helped explain a bystander who rushed through security to hug her, “Honestly, no matter how much I write I cannot explain how I felt today, it was truly emotional. So pleased that Udo took it in his stride, and seeing so many friends and family was amazing… The lady who managed to breech the security bubble and give me a hug was my 79-year-old Mum!”

Wendy’s journey to carry the torch for the 2012 Olympic Games in London began with a friend’s recommendation. The recommendation read, “An inspirational person who’s turned full circle, overcoming disability to become a math teacher, lecturer, pilot and a national standard archer, held two national records and was training to represent GB when a training accident caused a severe brain injury, when struck with a discus… She’s internationally known as an advisor on assistance dog matters. Wendy plummeted [into] the depths of despair following her brain injury, but now is the woman about town, tirelessly representing the needs of others.”

Wendy was chosen as an Olympic Torchbearer during the 55th day of the torch relay route. Wendy and her service dog, Udo carried the flame part way through the southern England city of Upton.

Wendy with her Olympic Torch and a little geocacher

Wendy says incorporating geocaching as part of her journey as a Torchbearer seemed natural, since geocaching has been such a significant part of her life, “As a brain injury survivor, I sometimes struggle with motivation and organisation, geocaching has helped me cope at times when life has been pretty hairy, and I’ve met some really fantastic people, and made lots of great friends. I may not be the fastest, or be any good at climbing mountains but I enjoy the diversity geocaching has to offer, I’ve found geocaches in 19 countries, including Russia and China and at the moment am joint first in the UK for US states visited.”

Wendy held a Geocaching event the day after she carried the torch. Geocaching friends from the US state of Minnesota traveled to the UK to be with Wendy on that day. She says the event was organized to, “give them (the US geocachers) the opportunity to meet some local geocachers and for folks to get to see the Olympic Torch up close!”

This is Wendy’s second opportunity to carry the Olympic Torch, admitting sometimes lightning strikes twice. She says, “My first experience of carrying the Olympic Torch was for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, I carried the Olympic Flame across London Bridge. I’d been nominated then as an ‘everyday hero’  in a contest run by a national newspaper, for campaigning for equality for disabled people. ”

Wendy carrying the 2008 Olympic Torch

You can watch a BBC story on Wendy’s journey to be honored as an Olympic Torchbearer twice. While lightning may not strike a third time, this cacher isn’t done with accomplishing geocaching feats.

Wendy helped organize the Geolympix Mega-Event in Oxford, England. You can visit with her at the event this weekend. She says, “I’ll be giving a presentation on accessible geocaching and holding one of the side events for GeoDogs!”

There’s more achievement ahead for Wendy. She says, “I’m due to complete my 366 day grid on July 24th and my 7th cachiversary is on August 15th!”

Leave a message here for Wendy, and if you’re at the Geolympix Mega-Event say hi!