Year: 2015

/ GeoTours

Helena Montana GeoTour

GeoTour:

Helena Montana

Location:

Helena, Montana

Favorite Points:

285

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Geocaches are placed throughout the beautiful town of Helena and its surroundings.

Why Helena is a great place to visit:

Helena is halfway between Glacier and Yellowstone National Park — the perfect midway point for your Montana tour. While you’re in town, the GeoTour will take you to some of the most beautiful Helena vantage points. Be sure to catch a ride on the Last Chance Tour Train or the Gates of the Mountain Boat Tour for a guided Helena experience.

Helena was in the 2015 Rand McNally Road Atlas for “Best of the Road – Best for Geocaching.”

Best time of year to visit:

Most geocaches are accessible March through October.

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Smiles all around!

Must-see attractions:

In addition to the Last Chance Tour Train and Gates of the Mountains Boat Tour, check out the Montana State Capitol Building (GC4AJVG), Montana History Museum (GC4AG5E), The Parrot Confectionery — an old-fashioned soda fountain (near GCJZ9C) — and 75 miles of hiking & biking trails directly accessible from Downtown Helena.

Hidden gems only locals know about:

Don’t miss Two Camps Vista (GCM27T), the perfect combination of Montana history and spectacular views. This off the beaten path destination is also a monument to the Lewis & Clark Expedition.

Prizes:

A locally made trackable Geocoin!

 

 

cathedral
Geocache GC2CXWT is located near the spectacular Cathedral in town.

What geocachers are saying about the Helena Montana GeoTour:

“I am visiting Montana from Lubbock, Texas, and wanted to see your capital building. It is very pretty and I’m glad Montana was able to restore it to its original grandeur. I took the guided tour — very informative and interesting. Helena seems to be such a nice little city. Thanks for the cache.” –P. M. McNabb

“We were on holidays to Yellowstone Park from Canada and when we heard about your GeoTour, we simply could not resist doing it. We changed our route and came to Helena and we are so glad we did. This was a spectacular adventure and the highlight of our trip, well done!” – Kelly S., Alberta, Canada

Additional Information:

Plan on spending two to three days in Helena in order to complete the GeoTour. Check the website for local hotel discounts.

Note: All the above information was provided by the GeoTour host. Copy has been edited by Geocaching HQ.

/ Alex /

A race against time in Göttingen — BORN (GC5EG96) — Geocache of the Week

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Snacks for the inside team. The outside teams will just have to wait.

Geocache Name:

Born (GC5EG96) — by team SOKO Gänseliesel (Hatti1971 & TobiO79)

Location:

Göttingen, Germany
N 51° 34.319 E 009° 56.308

Difficulty/Terrain Rating:

D5 / T4

Why this is Geocache of the Week:

“Born” is a real-time adventure geocache, one of several such caches in Germany. The cache page (which is in German) sets the scene for this adventure (all a hypothetical scenario): The Federal Criminal Police Office has learned that a bombing is imminent in the city of Göttingen. Special Unit “Gänseliesel” has been summoned to begin the investigation. Chief Commissioner Schönbeck has been appointed to lead the unit. So far, the investigation has revealed that the bombs have been placed in Göttingen and are already on a countdown. The clock is ticking.

This D5/T4 geocache cannot be found alone. In fact, you’ll need 10-20 geocachers split into three teams in order to have a chance of finding it. One team stays at “Headquarters”: a location of their choosing, preferably filled with snacks. The other two teams are sent to 45 different locations around the city. At every location there’s a countdown, and all three teams are given a question/puzzle to solve.

According to the cache owners, “The teams in the city have to use the public transport to get to the locations in time and answer questions about historical or famous places in Göttingen. The team in the headquarter must deal with encryption, picture analysis, internet-research, maps and bus-timetables.”

If all three teams solve their puzzles and submit their answers before the clock runs out, they continue on to the next task. This continues until the investigation is concluded and Göttingen is saved when the bomb is diffused. In total, each team is working non-stop for five hours. The moving teams will cover about 45 km throughout the evening, and eventually reach the center of the city. The CO says, “At the end, all three teams get to know where the geocache is hidden and move together to sign the logbook. Some teams even bring a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate the successful search.”

The T4 rating is well-earned. That’s all we’ll say here, but check out the photos below for more about this amazing cache.

What the Cache Owner has to say:

How often are the teams unable to “defuse the bomb” in time?
“If your team starts the hunt for the geocache BORN, you never know if you are succsessfull. If one team is not able to reach the destination in the timelimit, the team in the headquarter cannot give the right answer. The investigation stops and the team must start another time. There ist always a tense between physical effort and moments of happiness on the one side and disappointment if you fail a task. Even though the geocache is difficult D5, some teams get it on the first attempt. Every second teams has to start a second time from a backup-point and only a few teams fail more often.”

How long did it take you to develop this cache?
“The idea was created in Summer ’14. First we both made a list of locations in Göttingen that are interesting, then Hatti and I spend two days on bikes in Göttingen to visit all this places and take photos of the question-to-answer-stations. Then i took a bus map and planned two routes with basecamp that touch a lot of the interesting places. Meanwhile I develloped the homepage with all the functions you need to play this timed cache and manage teams and so on…

The biggest part of work was to invent a story to connect the 26 chapters of the cache and find 3 x 26 tasks to occupy the three groups. When all was done we two played both outside-routes in realtime to check if the calculated times are ok to get to know what the cache will look like for the teams. The last step was a beta-test with a little group of geocachers to test the complete cache. On January the first, the cache was published. I think the cache was surely over 50 hours of planning, phoning, riding in Göttingen…”

Is there anything you would like to say to the Geocaching community?
“We love to invite you to come to Göttingen to find BORN or our brand-new spin-off ALERT (GC5RRQF). We want you to have a gread time and wish you that you are doing the great experience what it’s like when teamwork succeeds. We have read all the amazing logs on our geocaches and thank for every feedback. Göttingen is an interesting city and you can discover it from a completely different side, if you hurry through the streets with the ticking clock in your neck. It was a hard job to concept our two geocaches, but the feedback from the community is great.”

Photos:

You know it's a cool cache when it has its own logo.
You know it’s a cool cache when it has its own logo.

 

Unit Headquarters often look like this...
Unit Headquarters often look like this…

 

Or this...
Or this…

 

Or this.
Or this.

 

Find "Born" and you might end up doing this.
Find “Born” and you might end up doing this.

 

One of the stops along the way perhaps?
One of the stops along the way, perhaps?

 

Another stop along the way for the outside teams.
Another stop along for the outside teams.

 

This team eventually found success.
This team eventually found success.
Smiling (and weary) faces after completing the investigation.
Smiling (and weary) faces after completing the investigation.

 

Those who reach this cache know ultimate geocaching success.
Those who reach this cache know ultimate geocaching success.

 

Continue to explore some of the most amazing geocaches around the world. Check out all of the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog. If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, fill out this form.

 

/ Paige Edmiston

Wie wirst Du Lebewohl zu 2015 und Hallo zu 2016 sagen?

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Soweit haben wir dieses Jahr 15 Jahre Geocaching gebührlich gefeiert. Wir fanden einen Geocache am Jahrestag des ersten jemals versteckten Geocaches, haben viel über #TBT-Fotos aus den frühen Tagen des Geocaching gelacht und uns sogar mit unseren Geochaching-Freunden auf einen großen Road Trip begeben. Wie die meisten Geocaching-Strähnen wird jedoch auch das Jahr 2015 unweigerlich zu Ende gehen…

Aber hier ist die gute Nachricht: Dieses Jahr laden wir Euch ein, Lebewohl zu 2015 und Hallo zu 2016 mit zwei neuen Geocaching-Souvenirs zu sagen. Finde einen Geocache oder nimm am 31. Dezember an einem Event teil, um dir ein Lebewohl-2015-Souvenir zu verdienen. Beginne dein Jahr gleich mit dem Hallo-2016-Souvenir, das man sich auch durch Finden eines Geocaches oder der Teilnahme an einem Event am 1. Januar verdienen kann.

Wie kann ich mir beide Souvenirs verdienen?

Verdiene Dir das Lebewohl-2015-Souvenir, indem du einen Geocache findest oder an einem Event am 31. Dezember 2015 teilnimmst.
Verdiene Dir das Hallo-2016-Souvenir, indem Du einen weiteren Geocache findest oder an einem anderen Event am 1. Januar 2016 teilnimmst.

Kann man zwei Souvenirs für einen Event verdienen, wenn dieser am 31. Dezember beginnt und am 1. Januar endet?

Netter Versuch. Um beide Souvenirs zu bekommen, musst du zwei verschiedene Geocaches finden und/oder zwei Events besuchen – je einen bzw. eines pro Tag.

Kann ich aufeinanderfolgende Events organisieren, um beide Souvenirs zu erhalten?

Nein! Die Geocaching-Richtlinien verbieten das Aneinanderreihen von Events. Um das Aneinanderreihen von Events zu vermeiden, sollten Event-Geocaches zeitlich getrennt und von unterschiedlichen Geocachers organisiert sein, mindestens 30 Minutes dauern und an anderen Orten als andere Events stattfinden. In den Geocaching-Richtlinien findest Du weitere Informationen über das Planen eines Event-Geocache.

Wie veranstalte ich einen großartigen Neujahrs-Geocaching-Event?

Keine Sorge, wir haben die Lösung für Dich. Dieser Blogeintrag zeigt Dir in 5 einfachen Schritten, wie Du eine fantastische Geocaching-Party veranstalten kannst.

Ob Du das neue Jahr nun feiern wirst, indem du Trauben isst (wie in Spanien), Dein Zuhause dekorierst (wie das in Japan üblich ist), oder indem Du Geocachen gehst (wie das auf der ganzen Welt getan wird), Neujahr ist die Zeit, an das alte Jahr zurückzudenken und das neue Jahr willkommen zu heißen.

Wie wirst du Lebewohl zu 2015 und Hallo zu 2016 sagen?

 

/ Paige Edmiston /

Say Hello to 2016 with Two New Souvenirs

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So far this year, we’ve had a blast celebrating 15 years of geocaching. We found a geocache on the anniversary of the first geocache hide, laughed at plenty of #TBT photos from geocaching’s early days, and even joined our favorite geocachers on an epic road trip. Like most geocaching streaks, however, 2015 will inevitably come to a close…

But good news: This year, we invite you to say goodbye to 2015 and hello to 2016 with two new geocaching souvenirs. Find a geocache or attend an event on December 31 to earn the Goodbye 2015 souvenir. Then, start your year off right with the Hello 2016 souvenir, which can also be earned by finding a geocache or attending an event on January 1.

How do I earn both souvenirs?

  1. Earn the Goodbye 2015 souvenir by finding any geocache or attending an event on December 31, 2015.
  2. Earn the Hello 2016 souvenir by finding another geocache or attending a different event on January 1, 2016.

Can you earn two souvenirs for one event if it starts on December 31 and ends on January 1?

Nice try. To earn both souvenirs, you’ll have to submit two different logs for two different geocaches and/or events, one on each day.

Can I schedule back-to-back events to earn both souvenirs ?

Nope! The geocaching guidelines prohibit event stacking. To avoid event stacking, Event Caches should be separated by time, organized by different geocachers, have a minimum duration of 30 minutes and take place at a different location than other events. Please check out the geocaching guidelines for more information about planning an Event Cache.

How do I throw a great New Year’s geocaching event?

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Check out this blog post for how to throw an awesome geocaching bash in 5 easy steps.

Whether you celebrate the new year by eating grapes (like in Spain), decorating your home (as they do in Japan), or geocaching (as they do all over the world), New Year’s is a time to remember the past year and welcome the next.

How will you say goodbye to 2015 and hello to 2016?

/ Paige Edmiston

How to throw an awesome New Year’s geocaching bash in 5 easy steps

New Year’s is an opportunity to celebrate the end of one year and welcome the beginning of the next. While end-of-year traditions come in many shapes and sizes, celebrations around the world will all have one thing in common this year: geocaching.

This year, we invite you to say goodbye to 2015 and hello to 2016 with two new geocaching souvenirs. Find a geocache or attend an event on December 31 to earn the Goodbye 2015 souvenir. Then, start your year off right with the Hello 2016 souvenir, which can also be earned by finding a geocache or attending an event on January 1.

Without further ado, here are four easy steps to hosting a great New Year’s geocaching bash!

Step 1: Pick a theme

Like creating a new geocaching username, all great Event Caches start out with a theme. Here are a few examples to get your creative juices flowing:

Host a “DNF Forgiveness” party. In Japan, New Year’s is considered a time for renewal — for forgetting the problems of the past and forgiving any grudges or misunderstandings. Make your event a safe space for geocachers to move on from those DNFs that have haunted them in 2015.

Throw a muggle initiation party. Do you have friends who would love geocaching, but haven’t tried it out yet? Planning a New Year’s Event Cache can be the perfect way to get them started! Make the event both fun and educational, and invite your fellow geocachers to bring their non-geocaching friends too. Newbies can then get started by finding their first geocache the very next day.

Keep things warm & cozy. Plan a daytime event on January 1 at a coffee shop or cafe so that geocachers can warm up (or cool down) with a tasty beverage after finding their first geocache(s) of the year.

Step 2: Select the date, time, and location of your event

This is an easy one: plan your event for December 31 or January 1 so that it qualifies for a souvenir. In picking a time, be sure to think about your guests. If you’re encouraging families to bring young kids, you may want to plan your event earlier in the evening on New Year’s Eve or even schedule a daytime event on January 1.

Reminder: The geocaching guidelines prohibit event stacking. To avoid event stacking, Event Caches should be separated by time, organized by different geocachers, have a minimum duration of 30 minutes and take place at a different location than other events. Please check out the geocaching guidelines for more information about planning an Event Cache.

You can host Event Caches anywhere available to the public — a restaurant, park or even your house. Be sure to find a place that has enough space for activities!

Step 3: Plan fun and engaging activities

A great way to make your event fun for all is to schedule activities to help your guests meet each other. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Set up a photo booth. This can be as easy as finding an area with a simple background.

Play the “geocaching predictions” game. Ask guests to write down their geocaching predictions for 2018 (e.g. “I will find my 25th T5 geocache” or “Moun10Bike will finally beat me to an FTF this year”) and throw them into a bucket. Take turns reading the predictions out loud.

Play geocaching bingo. Create a bingo card based on geocaching achievements (e.g. “Earned a new country souvenir” or “Found more than 100 geocaches”). Guests will need to find other geocachers at the event who have completed the achievements in 2015 to fill in their board.

Bake a lucky trackable into a cake. In Bolivia, coins are baked into sweets so that whoever finds the coin has good luck for the next year. Give your guests the gift of geocaching luck by hiding trackables in the dessert. Make sure to mention this to them before they take a bite!

Step 4: Invite friends, new and old!

Create a new event on Geocaching.com to have your event listed on Geocaching.com. (This will also qualify your event for the Goodbye 2015 or Hello 2016 souvenir.) Remember, events must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the event date. Once your event has been published, share the event listing with your local geocaching organization.

Whether you’re already a well-established social butterfly or a first-time attendee, geocaching events are a great way to meet new people who share your love for geocaching. We hope these tips help you host a rockin’ New Year’s geocaching bash and we’d love to hear your ideas too!

What tips do you have for throwing a great geocaching New Year’s event? Tell us in the comments below.