July 2, 2013 / Eric Schudiske /

Geocacher of the Month Nominess for June 2013 – Add Your Comments

The earned, never for sale, Geocacher of the Month geocoin (sun flare optional)

From vlogging about geocaching, to geocaching events, to coveted geocache hides, the nominees for Featured Geocacher of the Month offer a custom-made welcome mat to new geocachers. They help craft unforgettable experiences. This is your opportunity to help name the Featured Geocacher of the Month.

Each Featured Geocacher of the Month will receive an exclusive special edition Featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, hat and profile icon. They’ll also receive a certificate acknowledging their contributions, signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com.

In May, OHMIC was named the Featured Geocacher of the Month. OHMIC has been geocaching since 2008. One geocacher who commented about OHMIC wrote, “He has hosted many training sessions for new cachers and he has also organized numerous caching events. OHMIC’s annual Cache the Marsh event is a favourite of new and seasoned cachers alike, and is renowned around Manitoba.”

OHMIC - Geocacher of the Month May 2013 — OHMIC – Geocacher of the Month May 2013

Now it’s your turn to help us select the next Featured Geocacher of the Month. Write a supportive comment at the bottom of this blog for the geocacher you feel should be awarded the title.

Each geocacher named below is already a winner. They will receive a prize package from Geocaching HQ. A panel of folks from Geocaching HQ will then use your comments to help guide the decision of which geocacher is awarded the Geocacher of the Month honor.

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

Cache Cracker Jacks

Logan Childress, aka altosaxplayer, writes, “I would like to nominate Cache Cracker Jacks from Kingsport, TN… In the 14 months since they started caching, Tom and Dori have found over 1200 caches and placed 83 for others to find, a good portion of which are custom created containers…as well as an area favorite “Excalibur” which has so far received a favorite point from each cacher who has logged it.

They have introduced several individuals to the sport, chiefly through their weekly volunteer work at geocache friendly Bays Mountain Park, the largest city-owned park in the state of Tennessee, and their new monthly event initiative. So far in 2013, they have held an event each month except February, with the events for the rest of the year already planned and soon to be listed on the website. They work with local restaurants for hosting the events to bring cachers to places they perhaps haven’t been before and to support our local businesses.

They are doing this in hopes of fostering a feeling of family in our geocaching community as well as attracting non-cachers to the sport.”

fredrikhast

Jenny Nordqvist, aka jempas.se, writes, “I’d like to nominate the Swedish geocacher fredrikhast for Geocacher of the month! … Not only does he hold the record for most favourite points in his town, he also holds the 1^st place in the entire state.

Numbers aside, Fredrik and his geocaching buddies in Team Cache Us If You Can frequently organizes events with elaborate themes, jam packed with fun stuff and breathtaking hides.

Fredrik often uses multimedia to enhance the experience for geocachers visiting his geocaches, whether it’s a trailer promoting the cache itself or building websites that expand the universe for the cache. It’s stuff like that that makes you want to log a cache twice! 🙂

As a father of a child with mental disabilities, I know he tries to put out hides to satisfy all types of geocachers, including the ones in a wheelchair.

Another thing Fredrik does for the geocaching community is vlogging about his geocaching adventures (Swedens only, in fact). I bet his videos are a big inspiration for beginners who just found out about this sport and go searching for info on Youtube!”

Bitzlav

RAVILLOIS nominates French geocachers Bitzlav for Featured Geocacher(s) of the Month. The couple has been geocaching since 2009. RAVILLOIS writes in French, “Bitzlav est connu en France, Lorraine, pour l’ingéniosité de ses caches. Au delà du nombre important de caches qu’il possède il rend le géocaching encore plus attrayant car il imagine sans cesse de nouvelles boites. Faire des caches de Bitzlav est devenu un sport national chez nous. Malgré tout, il a su rester modeste.

ENGLISH: “Bitzlav is known in France, Lorraine, for the ingenuity of their geocaches. Beyond the large number of geocaches, they have made geocaching even more attractive because they are constantly imagining new geocache containers. Finding geocaches by Bitzlav has become a national sport here in France. Nevertheless, they still remain modest.”

Comment below to tell us who you think should be the June Featured Geocacher of the Month. We will be accepting comments through July, 17.

If your nominee wasn’t recognized here, please submit your nominations again next month. We’re always looking for the next Geocacher of the Month. To nominate a geocacher, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@geocaching.com and include the following information:

Your name, the name of your nominee, their username
A picture of the nominee
Description (200 or more words) explaining why he or she deserves to be the Featured Geocacher of the Month

Please inform your nominee that you have submitted them for the award. Nominations for the next Featured Geocacher of the Month should be received by July 15. Once Geocaching HQ has received 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 that we might learn from each other.

June 27, 2013 / Paige Edmiston /

Name that geocache: What size is this?

Deciding the size of your geocache can be a bit like ordering a coffee drink from your local coffee-snob barista—overwhelming! Before you’ve even had your caffeine pick-me-up, you are forced to decide whether you would like a Short, Tall, Grande, Venti, or even Trenta (yes, “Trenta” is now a real size). Choosing the correct size for your geocache can be just as tricky. What is the difference between “Regular and Small”? What in the world is a “Nano”? What does it mean when a geocache is labelled as “Other”? Knowing the answers to these questions can make all the difference in getting that smiley, so we’ve created the following geocache size-guide to give you the answers to the ultimate questions of life, the Universe, and geocache sizes. And no, the answer is not 42.

Traditional Sizes

While these may seem straightforward, it can be a tough call when your geocache falls somewhere in between.

Micro – Tiny containers that most likely will only hold a log sheet, e.g. a film canister.

Small – Just big enough to fit a sandwich. Holds only a small logbook and small items, e.g. a small plastic container. Note: Please don’t put a sandwich in your gecoache.

Regular – Think shoe box. If you could fit a pair of shoes inside, you’re golden, e.g. an ammo box.

Large – Think Bigfoot’s shoe box. If he could fit his hiking boots inside, it should probably be labelled as a Large, e.g. a 5 gallon bucket.

Other Categorizations

camo-nanos — A camouflaged Nano cache container.

For times when the traditional categories simply aren’t enough, you might need to use the following:

Nano – For the very tiniest of geocaches. ‘Nano’ is not officially listed on geocache pages, so players should mark Nanos as Micros, e.g. a fake bolt.

Other – Unusual geocache containers that just don’t fit into other categories, e.g. a magnetic strip.

Unknown – For when a little extra surprise is needed, e.g. when knowing the size of the container would completely give away the find.

What benchmarks do you use to size out your geocaches? Tell us about them in the comments below.

June 27, 2013 / Derek H /

A geocache made in Hollywood (but placed in Washington). — Ring of Fire (GCJYHZ) — Geocache of the Week

Maybe this was the train Ozzy Osbourne was singing about in "Crazy Train". Photo by geocacher Brasstax. — Maybe this was the train Ozzy Osbourne was singing about in “Crazy Train”. Photo by geocacher Brasstax.

This week’s Geocache of the Week was born from the depths a fiery train crash. You might be thinking, “Jeez, that’s kind of a bummer. I hope no one was hurt in the wreck.” Until, of course, you learn that the train wreck was all a piece of Hollywood cinema. If you’re up for a hike and a challenging find, Ring of Fire (GCJYHZ) will show you a piece of movie history.

In 1961, the film “Ring of Fire” was released. This film is a classic, campy story of boy meets girl, all while a giant forest fire rages through the Pacific Northwest. You can even watch the original trailer. Movie spoiler alert: The grand finale of the film occurs when a train is stuck on a flaming bridge. Eventually, the bridge weakens and collapses, sending the train cars tumbling into a ravine. While the movie is set in Oregon, the actual filming location for this stunt was in Washington. After filming, the crew did their best to remove the wreckage, but several pieces still remained. Several years later, geocacher ironman114 found the location and placed this geocache there.

Check out the epic grand finale (skip to the 13 minute mark):[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gGnzVdnFkmI#t=758s]

A piece of wreckage from "Ring of Fire". Photo by geocacher cougarcach24. — A piece of wreckage from “Ring of Fire”. Photo by geocacher cougarcach24.

Since then, many geocachers have found this difficulty 3.5, terrain 5 geocache and ended up with great stories. Geocacher crouchcrew had this to say in their log, “What an awesome, amazing cache for an awe-inspiring, epic milestone! He did good by picking this one. From the ropes, the climb, the railcars, the view, the history, the celebration, the beautiful day and finding the cache en masse made for a geocaching top 10 day! Thanks so much for placing and maintaining this consummate cache!”

As a fan of old movies, the CO, ironman114, knew this spot would make a great geocache. Regarding the positive logs and favorite points, he says, “I derive a lot of satisfaction to see all the cachers enjoying the trek and hunt for this cache… If you get a lot of positive logs then you know you did it right.” He goes on with a message for other geocachers who plan to hide a geocache, “Location, Location, Location. Take time to think about it and if location is bland then make a good container or story to go with the geocache. Just because you can hide a geocache within feet of a full smelly pit toilet doesn’t mean you HAVE to!”

Have you ever come across old wrecks, abandoned buildings or other once-inhabited places while geocaching? Tell us about it in the comments.

Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.

If you would 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@geocaching.com.

June 25, 2013 / Eric Schudiske /

Geocachers Help Grant a Make-A-Wish® for a Geocaching Teen

Jared and geocachers at Evergreen Park in Bremerton, WA.

A lot of geocachers will pull over between point A and point B to find a geocache. For Make-A-Wish® recipient, Jared, he and his family would often pick up geocache finds between home and the hospital. His early teenage years were often spent in hospitals from Aberdeen, South Dakota to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He logged smileys all around the three medical centers.

He says, “When I was in the hospital I would look on the website. I would look for trackables and take them to geocaches back home with me.” Jared123, as he’s known in the geocaching community, endured three major surgeries for a life-altering digestive issue. Through traveling to treatment, he and his family logged hundreds of miles. They tapped into geocaching to break the tension between medical procedures.

Jared discovered he had been chosen for Make-A-Wish. Make-A-Wish grants the wish of a child diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition in the United States and its territories. Jared thought about where he could go and what he could do. Many children decide to take a trip to Disneyland or spend time with their family on a vacation to Hawaii.

Jared (center) with his family and Make-A-Wish volunteers

Jared was born in the Seattle area, and when he learned that Geocaching HQ was located in Seattle, he made his choice.

Make-A-Wish organized the visit and contacted local geocachers. An event called Jared From SD Wishes for your Presence was planned to welcome him to the Northwest. And Jared wanted to meet, and geocache with, one of the most creative geocache hiders on the West Coast of the U.S: goblindust.

Geocachers from several counties away showed up to greet their fellow geocacher. Jared says, “I couldn’t’ really believe how many people came there. There were 85-90 people who attended. There were a whole bunch of volunteers and businesses who donated for the event.”

Jared then took to the geocaching trail, claiming, The SUPER Pages as his favorite geocache of the trip and perhaps of all time. He says, “I found some of the most unique geocaches ever, or even in the world.” To offer you some proof, geocacher goblindust has a creative geocache found in this video (we just won’t tell you which one).

Jared then visited Geocaching HQ, meeting with the founders of Geocaching.com and having lunch with the people who power the experience. He also led his dad to log his first geocache—the giant treasure chest in the lobby of Geocaching HQ.

You can watch Jared’s tour of Geocaching HQ in this 6 second Vine video. Jared did what any geocache might do when they leave Geocaching HQ, he went geocaching some more.

Geocachers who logged the event say, “Thanks to all who put this together, the vendors who donated, and to Jared for inviting us to help make his wish!!! It was a pleasure meeting you and your parents! Enjoy your visit, and hope you enjoy all the fun caches we have to offer! Goblindust…you’re a rockstar! TFTE!”

Jared says the trip was a wish come true, “I guess I couldn’t really believe it. I’ll remember this day forever.”

Official Blog

Year: 2013