July 8, 2014 / Eric Schudiske /

7 Souvenirs of August FAQ

I found all six souvenirs, but my achiever souvenir wasn’t issued?

Visit your 7 Souvenirs of August Trophy Case to unlock your Achiever souvenir.

I can’t see my friend’s/spounse’s/brother’s/pet’s 7 Souvenirs of August Trophy Case. What’s up with that?

You can see all of the souvenirs that you friend/spouse/brother/pet has earned on their Public Profile under the Souvenirs tab. You can find their Public Profile using this tool.

How do I delete these souvenirs?

You can hide a souvenir from your Public Profile on Geocaching.com by selecting the “Hide This” button below the souvenir you would like to remove on your Private Profile. Please note that this will not remove the souvenir from your Private Profile or the mobile app. You can make the souvenir visible again at any time by selecting “Show This”, underneath the souvenir in your Private Profile.

Oh no, it’s the end of August and I just signed up. Will there be another opportunity to earn the 7 Souvenirs of August?

Well, well… we have no plans now, but who knows? This challenge might come around again.

There’s no way I can find them all. Can I have an exemption for X souvenir?

Geocaching is about exploration and discovery. Unfortunately, exemptions are not being issued.

I have the Geocaching Intro app and I can only see traditional geocache types. How can I participate?

You can earn the Explorer souvenir by logging a Traditional geocache in the Intro app. You’ll then be able to see this souvenir in your Trophy Case, which is mobile-friendly. To earn the other souvenirs and unlock the special 7th one, you can use the website or upgrade to the Geocaching Pro app.

I found all the souvenirs in August, but I didn’t log my geocache finds until September. Do I still earn the souvenirs?

You’ll be able to receive the first 6 souvenirs by back-dating your logs to the correct date. However, the Achiever souvenir will only be issued to those who have earned all 6 souvenirs and then visit their Trophy Case during the month of August.

Break it down for me. How do I earn each souvenir again?

The Nature Lover = Log a Found It on an EarthCache or an Attended for a CITO event.
The Explorer = Log a Found It on a Traditional geocache.
The Sightseer = Log a Found It on a Multi-Cache.
The Puzzler = Log a Fount It on a Mystery Cache.
The Socializer = Log an Attended for an Event Cache, Mega-Event, or Giga-Event.
The Collector = Log a Found It on a Virtual Cache, Whereigo, Letterbox Hybrid, or Webcam Cache.
The Achiever = Visit your Trophy Case after earning the 6 other souvenirs. To learn more about geocache types, go here.

What’s a souvenir, and why do I want one?

Souvenirs are virtual pieces of art displayed on your profile page that you can earn for various geocaching achievements, like finding a geocache in a new country. The 7 Souvenirs of August are extra special, as they only available during the month of August. To learn more about souvenirs, visit our Help Center.

Do I need to find the souvenirs in a specific order?

Nope! Bonus points if you do though! (Just kidding. There are no bonus points for earning the souvenirs in any particular order.)

I’ve heard rumors that Geocaching HQ has developed a very scientific quiz to reveal my geocaching alter-ego. Can you confirm these rumors?

Yes! The rumors are absolutely true. (Well, not the *very scientific* part.) Discover what type of geocacher you are: http://bit.ly/1z8vjKz.

When exactly will I be able to start earning the souvenirs?

August 1st at 12 AM your local time!

July 7, 2014 / Eric Schudiske /

1 Month Later… A Breakdown of the Record Breaking World Wide Flash Mob 11

WWFM XI – World-Wide Flash Mob

The Fastest 15 minutes in Geocaching

By Sonny and Sandy, of the PodCacher Podcast.

June 7th was another record-breaking experience for flash mob participants. Over 27,000 geocachers gathered at 792 events in 52 countries for this annual event.

WWFM hosts are known for their creativity and quirkiness and this year’s events did not disappoint. Here are some “WWFM snapshots” from around the globe.

Pretoria, South Africa

We had an awesome event blowing bubbles around a giant sculpture of an upside down cow. It was freezing here in Pretoria but geocachers are not put off by a bit of cold weather and we had a super turnout of 35 people. It was great to see some new geocachers attending their first ever event and a Flash Mob at that!

Mikkeli, Finland

During the event the geocachers gathered to the main park of our town to take a football club type of photo – with everyone wearing a red shirt and black pants. All participants were asked to gather to the different parts of the park. When the referee whistled, everyone gathered in front of the main building in the park in three rows and took their places as professional football players in front of the building. After the photos were taken, the referee whistled again and everyone disappeared without saying a word.

Hong Kong

26 geocachers decided to copy Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks at the busiest zebra crossing in Causeway Bay, HK. There were zombies, gymnasts, supermen and women, backwards walkers and couples with their own silly walk. We had to cross 5 times to earn our smiley.

Pennsylvania, United States

Painting it Purple was our theme. Attendees were to dress and accessorize in purple and to bring along a paintbrush with purple ribbon tied to it. When the event began, we started “painting” everything in sight with our paintbrushes. The color purple was chosen because our event was held very near the Relay For Life of Lancaster. After the event, some of the cachers went into the Relay and walked some laps around the track to Celebrate, Remember, and Fight Back against cancer.

Delft, the Netherlands

With pride we would like to report our WWFM XI event, “Applause for Hugo”. Hugo, in this case, is a statue of Hugo the Groot on the central square in Delfs. At 19:00 hours, a lot of people walked up to this statue and gave it a standing ovation.

WWFM NETHERLANDS 1 — Delft, the Netherlands

Oregon, United States

58 people (most on Pool Noodle ponies) rode into the Riverfront Carousel and sang Happy Birthday to the Carousel ponies (who were all wearing party hats for their 13th Birthday party). The Operations Manager was surprised and delighted and really, really wants a geocache there now! He said “it gave him goosebumps seeing us”.

The 10 largest WWFM XI events were all in Germany, each with over 150 participants. The very biggest was in Dortmund with 450 people. The other countries with events over 100 people were Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, The Netherlands, Portugal, France, and Team PodCacher’s San Diego event.

On the other end of the scale, there were actually quite a few with only 2 participants. Events in Poland, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Indonesia and Greenland.

To hear more stories from the amazing WWFM XI, listen to PodCacher show 473 and show 474. To get more information on the WWFM, you can visit gcwwfm.com, and listen to Show 473 and Show 474.

July 4, 2014 / Eric Schudiske

The Newest Geocachers of the Month – A Geocache Series Creator

Sometimes the world is a big place.

It’s a daunting place with crisscrossing borders and politics, and for many it’s often isolating. Then there’s geocaching. The Geocacher of the Month taught us a lesson. The world of geocaching is small, connected and ready to celebrate the contributions of other geocachers.

We met three geocachers from different countries. Each delivers serious geocaching joy to their local geocaching communities, whether it’s gadget geocaches, inspiration and encouragement or a groundbreaking series of geocaches, or even all three.

Each of the geocachers will receive special recognition and a prize package for their contribution to the adventure of geocaching. Before naming the Geocacher of the Month, Geocaching HQ reviews community input and blog comments. Each comment is read and posts in native languages are encouraged.

It was a difficult decision.

A geocache series creator and geocaching ambassador to new players takes home the title, “Geocacher of the Month”.

sadexploration has called himself a geocacher for nearly a decade, added to the adventure by orchestrating a series of geocaches through the United Kingdom, and those who know him best do not stop there.

One geocacher writes, “I’d like to vote for Steve, Sadexploration. Not only did he create the fabulous Church Micro series, but he has set hundreds of amazing caches, His Devils Dyke Circular series remains one of my most memorable caching expeditions. It’s full of handmade and lovingly crafted containers many of which have ingenious gadgets attached and it’s not surprising that each cache on the series garners so many favourite points – well in to the hundreds. His caches are pretty special and as well as being a conscientious CO who maintains them all to a high standard, he’s a very friendly bloke who made me feel especially welcome at an caching event when I met him for the first time.”

he earned, never for sale, Geocacher of the Month geocoin

The other nominees for Geocacher of the Month also made huge contributions to geocaching. If you haven’t already, read Mr. Gadget #2’s comment about Geocacher of the Month.

Congratulations again to sadexploration for earning the May 2014 title of Geocacher of the Month.

If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be considered for the honor, simply fill out this webform.

July 2, 2014 / Derek H /

The most dangerous geocache in the world? – Hua Shan (GC1XAM3) – Geocache of the Week

For something like this, you have to spell extreme like this: "XTREEEEEEEMMMMEEEE". Photo by geocacher poizon — For something like this, you have to spell extreme like this: “XTREEEEEEEMMMMEEEE”. Photo by geocacher poizon

Geocache Name:

Hua Shan (GC1XAM3)

Difficulty/Terrain Rating:

2/4

Why this is the Geocache of the Week:

First, to clear things up: we don’t condone taking unnecessary risks in order to find a geocache. No find is worth getting hurt over. And in fact, in order to find this geocache, you don’t have to walk along the precarious pathways bolted into the cliffside. That being said, very few times will you get the chance to do something this cool. And just think of the amazing selfies you could take! The pathways were developed several hundred years ago by those seeking to reach the mountain peaks for their religious significance. In more recent years, this has become a popular tourism spot. The Chinese government has incorporated more safety measures to the vertigo-inducing paths to ensure that everyone gets a chance to safely make the journey. Just google “the most dangerous hike in the world” or “Hua Shan” for plenty of more pictures and info.

What geocachers are saying:

“Finding this cache was a great adventure. Huashan is a wonderful mountain and we enjoyed our day very much.” – poizon

“This is the cache I have worked mostly to get. 3 hours of climbing stairs. I tried to count the stairs, but I gave up, reaching 1600. I think we climbed more than 2000 steps…Thanks to >>SCK_ARo<< for this cache.” – Lyngerup.dk

“After climbing incredibly many many steps, we found out that we have forgotten to check a photohint, but fortunately we found it anyway. Box was empty, so we tried to fullfill it with travelbugs. Hua Shan cache will be the most precious point of mine!” – GeoEfka

Photos and video:

NBD. These steps are solid as rock. Because that's what they're carved into. Photo by geocacher klingac — NBD. These steps are solid as rock. Because that’s what they’re carved into. Photo by geocacher klingac

Yikes! Don't look down! Photo by geocacher klingac — Yikes! Don’t look down! Photo by geocacher klingac

The heavenly steps. Photo by geocacher klingac

A beautiful sunrise makes it all worth it. Photo by geocacher doky team

What’s the most well-made geocache you’ve ever found? Tell us 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.

If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, just fill out this form. Thanks!

July 2, 2014 / Alex

How to DNF a DNF

Sometimes, expectations don’t match reality. Sometimes, geocachers are absolutely fine with that.

The team of intrepid Geocaching HQ’ers who left Seattle on Friday, June 27th were expecting their weekend culminate in a hike halfway up Mount Rainier. At 10,080 feet in elevation, the Camp Muir hike wasn’t one to scoff at. For five hours, the team would slog straight up rock, ice, and snow. Virtual caches GCA69 and GC1192 would be waiting for them at the top (hopefully holding a sign, flowers, and hand warmers). Logging these, one very old T5 and another very old T4.5, would be the ultimate payoff.

Alas, despite fervent pleas and several bouts of sun-dancing, the team of geocachers was not able to ward off the mantle of clouds that hung over the mountain. When the big day came, Mt. Rainier was to reveal itself for only a few seconds before vanishing shyly again.

2014-06-28 14.33.37

At that point, the team found itself on the cusp of failure.

A triple DNF hung across their shoulders—two for the caches, one for the mountain itself. They had no back-up plan, for the hike up to Camp Muir had consumer their very beings. It was the only ascent they’d considered, the only slope they’d trained for. The team was inconsolable.

Inspiration hit them like a bison charging down a mountain. What do geocachers do when they DNF? They break into song of course.

Explorers, sleuths, adventurers,

finders, keepers, hey!

We the brave, the geocachers,

three dozen finds per day!

The song, which was sung to the tune of “Ronda Alla Turca”, rallied the team immensely. They realized what they had to do to cancel out their DNF: find some more geocaches! Unsurprisingly, the surrounding cliffs, valleys, trails, rivers, and lakes were dotted with geocaches of every type. In little time, the team was hiking merrily along a thin, winding trail rimmed with wildflowers. The prospect of two more caches at the end of the trail lifted their spirits immensely.

2014-06-29 12.36.17

The team thought about all the reasons they loved geocaching, and added one more to the pile: A DNF isn’t synonymous with failure. Lots of things can get in the way of a find. Weather turns south. Batteries die. The dog eats all the snacks. Does that mean the adventure is over? Nope!

Three tips to DNF a DNF

1) Bring a friend. Someone with Pollyanna-style enthusiasm will do nicely.

2) Look around. Are there other caches nearby? Go find ’em.

3) Plan for a return trip. A DNF isn’t a permanent status.

4) Try singing the song mentioned above. Try singing anything to the tune of Ronda Alla Turca. It will cheer you up, we promise.

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Year: 2014