March 15, 2013 / Eric Schudiske /

March Featured Geocacher of the Month Nominees – Add Your Comments

The nominees for the March Featured Geocacher of the Month award are innovators, creators and co-conspirators with other geocachers. They’re all friendly and welcoming to geocachers from Germany, America, Spain and all over the world. Each is already a winner and will receive a prize package from Geocaching HQ.

louwtjievdw: Featured Geocacher of the Month for February

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

Write a comment at the bottom of this blog about which of these geocachers you feel should be awarded the featured Geocacher of the Month title.

In February, Uncle Louwtjie, aka louwtjievdw, was named the Featured Geocacher of the Month. He’s known in the South African geocaching community as a creative geocache hider. He’s built a reputation as a geocacher who’s as quick to maintain his geocache hides as he is to make friends with new geocachers. He’s also known for friendly advice, leaving great logs on geocaches he’s found and having a cup of coffee ready for geocachers at his home.

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

moenk

@mic nominated moenk who’s been geocaching since 2003. @mic says, “He (moenk) is the inventor of the very popular “Dönerstag“, an event which is celebrated in more than hundred locations worldwide on the same day. Furthermore, he created the biggest geocaching forum in Germany, Geoclub.de. And last but not least, he was producing a very famous podcast about geocaching called, “Cachetalk.” Another nominee wrote, “Moenk fosters the community towards a healthy growth, a responsible handling of nature and preserving the meaning and fun of geocaching. The Geocacher of the Month is a worthy reward for the energy, the
impetus and the style with which he supports the geocaching community.”

WVTim

wallmeister22601 writes, “Tim is an outstanding geocacher who has inspired many a person with his unique and unusual geocaches. His caches are what inspired me to start hiding caches of my own and to continue geocaching. His caches draw people from other states that come to his home state of West Virginia specifically to search for the wonderful and creative WVTim caches. He has the number one favorite physical traditional cache in the state of Virginia as well.

Tim is one of the most responsible geocache owners that I know. If any of his caches are in need of attention he will make it a point to repair them or replace them as quickly as he can. In short Tim in my opinion is a pillar of the geocaching community that inspires, encourages, educates and gives back so much.”

Chrismaxx

Christmaxx - nominated as Featured Geocacher of the Month — Christmaxx – nominated as Featured Geocacher of the Month

MallorcaClaudia writes, “They have placed a lot of geocaches in Majorca [including one featured as the Geocache of the Week with more than 350 favorite Points] and all of them are fantastic ones with special places, great views and nice trips. When I met them one year ago on a geocaching event I found out that they are also very friendly and nice people. They have given me a lot of advice on how to place geocaches and how to do the maintenance. For me they have become very good friends and for me the chrismaxx team is an idol.”

Comment below to tell us who you think should be the February featured Geocacher of the Month. A panel of folks from Geocaching HQ 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. We will be accepting comments for March’s award through Sunday, April 7.

If your nominee wasn’t recognized here, please submit your nominations again next month. We’re always looking for the next featured Geocacher of the Month. To nominate someone, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.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 Geocacher of the Month

Please inform your nominee that you’ve submitted them for the award.

Nominations for the next Geocacher of the Month should be received by Monday, April 8.

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.

March 13, 2013 / Derek H /

Find the Keys, Find the Treasure – Das Vergessene Portal (GC3HWBE) – Geocache of the Week

In the forest near Baden- Wϋrttemberg, Germany lies a doorway that supposedly leads to vast hidden treasures. But to get the find for this treasure, you’re going to have to put in some work. Das Vergessene Portal (The Forgotten Portal) (GC3HWBE) will test your puzzle-solving skills as well as your patience.

The geocache owner die wilden crossies had this to say about creating this difficulty 2.5 terrain 3 geocache, “You start with a not-too-difficult puzzle, have an idea for a good history, some craft talent and some mechanic operations for the ‘wow-effect.’”

He then drew inspiration from exciting, treasure-hunting movies like “The Goonies” and “Indiana Jones” to create an entire history for this geocache. The description tells the story of a castle that once existed near the portal. During a ferocious battle, residents of the castle secured a large treasure within the portal and locked it with two locks. Now, the treasure can only be recovered by deciphering the code and using the correct keys to open the portal.

Frau Potter, from Geocaching HQ, had the opportunity to find this geocache during a trip to Germany. In her log, she writes, “This geocache is very inventive and exciting. We had some trouble, but thankfully some local experts were there to help us along.” Another geocacher to log find the geocache was dieroes, who wrote in their log (translated from German), “From the first log it was clear, this was something special. We had high expectations on the way and were not disappointed…Many, many thanks to the owner for this great work!”

Geocaching staffer Tiffany and one of our amazing volunteer reviewers, Don Rocbeer, try to find the correct keys.

While geocachers may not find gold and gems hidden by ancient castle-dwellers, the real treasure is the satisfaction of solving the puzzle and adding another smiley to your Geocaching profile. “I wanted to give pleasure to all the geocachers who will discover the forgotten portal,”die wilden crossies said. With a creative backstory, an inventive geocache container and an intriguing puzzle—we think he succeeded. Have you come across a geocache with an amazing story? 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.

March 10, 2013 / Eric Schudiske

Geocaching Just Got Better in Georgia State Parks

Spend your Georgia vacation geocaching in natural beauty with the Georgia State Parks GeoTour. You could even earn custom geocoins!

Georgia State Parks has hidden 46 geocaches in 43 spectacular state parks, from Cloudland Canyon’s cool mountain trails to Skidaway Island’s sunny historic coast, and everywhere in between. Pick up or download your Geo-Challenge Passport today to start your journey, reach all three levels, and collect all three custom geocoins!

To thank our loyal geocaching community and promote GeoTours and camping in Georgia State Parks, we have created the GeoCamp Loyalty Program. Tent campers can simply stay nine nights in a Georgia State Park campground and get the 10th night free! First, grab a Camp Card or RV Passport at any Georgia State Park. Then, you’ll receive one sticker for each night you pay to stay. Collect nine stickers to earn one free campsite at one of the participating parks.

Forty-one state parks offer more than 2,700 campsites, including tent-only areas, RV pull-throughs, primitive sites and group camping. Regular campgrounds have hot showers, water, electricity, and some have sewage hookups as well.

Join us on at Georgia State Parks Geocaching Facebook page for the latest updates.

March 8, 2013 / Eric Schudiske /

Announcing the February Featured Geocacher of the Month

All three nominees for the February Geocacher of the Month show us the meaning of geocaching ambassadors. They welcome new community members, hide and maintain clever geocaches, and are rewarded with hundreds of Favorite Points.

Thank you to all those who supported the nominees. Those not chosen as featured Geocacher of the Month will receive a gift of appreciation from Geocaching HQ.

After counting the votes and registering the sentiment a man known as Uncle Louwtjie, louwtjievdw, is named the Featured Geocacher of the Month for February 2013.

Louwtjievdw is known in the South African geocaching community as a creative geocache hider. He’s built a reputation as a geocacher who’s as quick to maintain his geocache hides as he is to make friends with new geocachers. He’s also known for friendly advice, leaving great logs on geocaches he’s found and having a cup of coffee ready for geocachers at his home.

One voter writes, “Oom Louwtjie, also called the “Flame of Bloemfontein”, gets our vote. His contribution towards geocaching can not go unnoticed. He accelerated this hobby and made it extremely pleasurable and challenging. His unique cache hides and above all his comments, his friendly nature, made him a legend in our country. He has the ability to find caches even in the toughest places with no complaints and he will always look for that something good in every cache hide…”

Uncle Louwtjievdw 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. See a list of all the featured Geocachers of the Month here.

If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be considered for the honor, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com. Every nomination must follow these requirements. Please include:

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 Geocacher of the Month

Please inform your nominee that you have submitted them for the award. Nominations for Featured Geocacher of the Month are accepted at any time.

Congratulations again to Uncle Louwtjie on being recognized at the Featured Geocacher of the Month for February.

Official Blog

Year: 2013