Civilian GPS devices become 10 times more accurate on May 2, 2000 - when "Selective Availability" was turned off
The history of geocaching stretches back to a single container placed in the hills of Oregon, USA. The date was May 3, 2000. The idea was radical. Treasure hunters would be guided by signals from orbiting satellites. The first geocache was found within days. It sparked a global movement to get off the couch and get outside.
The hobby has spread around the world. There are now more than 1.7 million geocaches and more than five million people call themselves geocachers. Join our ranks by exploring Geocaching.com.
Stone Park Jamshidieh (GC2QDY1) is one of only 32 active geocaches in all of Iran. The country boasts the combined size of the western U.S. states of California, Oregon , Washington, Idaho, Arizona, and Nevada . With just over 30 geocaches in the entire country, that’s only one geocache for about every 50,000 square kilometers (31,000 square miles).
The geocache “Stone Park Jamshidieh” helps make up in quality what Iran lacks in geocache quantity. The geocache delivers adventurers to a location of deep importance. The stone park was once a private garden. It’s now a public park with restaurants, a zoo, and a small lake. But the payoff for many comes when they look down on the city below. The view shimmers at night with countless city lights.
Karolos hid the cache just over a year ago. He writes, “The stone park Jamshidieh, situated in the north of Teheran is one of the most beautiful parks in Tehran. From a small lake inside the park you can easily walk up a stairway to the summit up to 2100 m.” The summit offers the view over the city.
Geocachers near the cache
Geocachers logged the first find on the geocache four days after it was published. They used the treasure hunting experience to introduce others to geocaching, “Together with two Iranian cache newcomers — Leila and Said — we started our first caching tour in Iran. Fortunately, the traffic was not bad. The cache itself was well hidden but not too difficult. Thus, we managed our first FTF.”
A sculpture at Stone Park
Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out 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.
Talking about geocaching doesn’t often result in a whirlwind trip and a chance for national recognition, unless perhaps you’re Jim Bishop. Jim is known in the geocaching world as jcacher15. He’s a High School student in Washington State, USA.
Jim won competitions with a presentation on geocaching at the local and state levels to compete this weekend in a national DECA competition. DECA is a student organization for emerging leaders in business, marketing, finance, and hospitality. Jim will travel hundreds of miles to stand in front of judges and talk about a business plan for Geocaching.com.
Jim’s knows his topic well. He’s accumulated more than 3500 finds across three countries since he started geocaching in 2009.
He says, “I first learned about geocaching when I saw a TV advertisement for the GPS Adventures Maze exhibit at the Pacific Science Center [in Seattle, Washington] in early 2009. A few months later I was surfing the web and ended up on Geocaching.com. I got a membership and my first GPS device and was instantly hooked.”
Other geocaching experiences helped Jim choose his topic for the DECA presentation, including one of the more memorable trips of this life, ” I went with a few geocaching friends up to Canada for the weekend to do a 200 cache trail. It was a great weekend, we hiked many miles through the forests and hills of British Columbia and slept in a cabin each night. The trip was like nothing I had ever done before.”
Jim geocaching
Jim not only had to talk about geocaching to make it to DECA Nationals, he has to write about it. Jim developed a 30-page Geocaching.com customer loyalty plan. Presenting his plan for geocaching at DECA nationals requires Jim to step into a business setting. He says, “I will be discussing the implementation of a new customer loyalty plan addressing a situation related to the geocaching membership program. The presentation is 15 minutes and takes place in an office type environment. The presenter sits on one side of a table across from one or more judges.”
Whether Jim wins first place or not, he’ll will walk away with a powerful experience. He says, ” I hope to learn how to present effectively as well as how to make good business decisions. I also hope that this competition will help prepare me for the business world after I finish college.”
Leave Jim a message below to wish him good luck this weekend talking about geocaching for a grade.
March Featured Geocacher of the Month, Alexschweigert
Many people know March’s Featured Geocacher of the Month for his ability to organize and lead incredible geocaching adventures. Congratulations to Alexschweigert for pulling in an incredible 232 votes to be named March’s Featured Geocacher of the Month.
Alexschweigert is recognized for sharing his love for geocaching and the sea with others by inviting them to experience a geocaching adventure like no other. Alex chartered a ship for nearly 300 geocachers and led the Allerhalligen-Cruises on March 24th.
That’s the fifth event of its kind led by Alex and his team involving chartered ships and a geocaching adventure across the North Sea. Alex also shares his joy of geocaching and life on the coast through his popular geocaching blog.
According to one geocacher, Alex “is tremendously engaged and so much into geocaching that he is putting up great caches in his surroundings and besides that, he has the capability of putting on outrageous events.”
Alexschweigert will receive a collector’s edition Featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat and certificate acknowledging his contributions signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com.
Thank you to the fellow March nominees and all those who supported them. 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 re-nominate those who have yet to be honored as featured Geocacher of the Month.
Featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin
If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be considered for 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 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 April featured Geocacher of the Month must be received by May 8th.
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.
The new “Submit a Cache Listing” page walks geocachers through an easy six-step process to list a geocache. Creating a cache listing has never been more streamlined or easier to understand. You’re able to focus on what’s important – submitting a well-crafted cache listing.
The “Submit a New Cache Listing” process is now easier than ever before. An online tool or wizard walks you through each step. The steps flow from “Cache Basics” to “Location,” then “Additional Waypoints,” “Description,” “Container & Ratings,” and finish with “Submit Cache.” There are fundamental steps that cannot be skipped – such as a name for the cache and coordinates for the location – as well as optional steps. There are helpful tips and information throughout the process.
