If you are curious about nature, keen on open spaces, and dream of wandering through green forests, then the North New Caledonia area was made for you. This untamed natural land is breathtaking and home to endemic plants & wildlife stemming all the way back to prehistoric time. It’s also an an area with a strong sense of culture, incorporating much of the local Kanak people’s historic traditions and beliefs into modern day life.
Three words describe this Geocache of the Week in Spain: GPS. Guts. Glory.
Grimpant per La Mola, or “Climbing La Mola”, is a T5 multi-cache that has geocachers following secret trails across Mola Mountain, collecting clues along the way that will lead them to the final location of the cache.
The journey takes most groups about 5 hours—making the 5 terrain stars well-earned. Along the way you’ll be forced to shimmy straight up narrow channels of rock, squeeze through holes in outcroppings that barely exist, explore damp and dark caves, and tamp down vertigo while walking along a barely there trail on a steep mountainside. This is not a cache for the faint of heart.
An overview of the journey across Mola Mountain, from the Mother of God formation on the left, to the Sescorts Caves on the right.A geocacher holds onto tree roots while climbing through the “Channel of Monkeys”.
When did you first follow the route of your geocache, and why did you decide to make this a multi-cache?
“We often go hiking in a mountain called ‘La Mola’, so we knew some pretty unknown trails where it is necessary to do some moderate difficulty climbs (no rope needed), and it seemed to be a nice idea to create a multi-cache that linked all those interesting sections, what resulted in a nice and exciting circular route around La Mola.”
What’s the most interesting part of this route? “The route has several interesting places, but perhaps the most interesting one in ‘Mal Pas Superior de Can Pobla’, an exposed section protected with a chain, that can be a nightmare for people with vertigo.”
The Mal Pas Superior de Can Pobla is terrifying for those with vertigo…or anybody on the clumsier side.
Are there any funny stories from geocachers who’ve done your multi-cache route? “Yes, a lot! In this cache, the logs are usually pretty long and funny, specially those from people not used to climb, and for them this cache usually is a mix of fear and happiness, resulting in a great experience for them. Doing this cache has represented a challenge and a great experience for several teams, and we are specially proud of having been a part in that.”
Do you have anything you’d like to share with the geocaching community in general? “It has been 12 years since we started this activity, and it has been a great way of discovering beautiful places, and meet new friends, so we are really grateful to Geocaching during all these years. We would like to thank geocachers as Garri, Marc Longarón and Galtanegra, that have contributed a lot to ‘quality’ geocaching in Catalonia.”
Photos:
Stunning view of the areas around the mountain.Geocachers stop for a bit of fun.This is a real sunset that really happened near Mola Mountain.The cache itself, in the foregrount, with the route in the background.Friends don’t let friends fall.The struggle is real.Miranda of Horses tower.The final location of the cache is a secret until the journey is completed.An intrepid geocaching team at the start of their journey.Jumps of joy.Sescorts caves.Climbing narrow channels.A view peeks out.
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.
When someone becomes a geocacher, they begin to see things others do not. Sticks are just a little too straight, every rock suggests a secret compartment and even lamp posts become suspicious. And to think that the majority of people go through life oblivious to the hidden delights all around them!
In the spirit of hidden delights, Geocaching HQ’s Designer Roxxy Goetz decided to encode a secret message in the 2016 Leap Day souvenir. Take a look:
Did you catch it? Read on for clues and a behind-the-scenes look at the Leap Day souvenirs.
What do you do at Geocaching HQ?
I’m a graphic designer in our Creative Studio. We manage and create most of the art assets you see on our social media, like Facebook and the Geocaching Blog, and in our Shop. I personally handle many of our Geocoin designs, and I was one of the illustrators at the start of the Souvenirs project.
Roxxy is a big fan of Signal the Frog.
What is your username?
Over the last couple of years I keep being asked if I’mthat Roxxy, the one who designed this souvenir or that geocoin, and the rest was a bad joke waiting to happen. My username is Yes, That Roxxy.
Tell me about the Leap Day souvenirs. How did you and your team come up with the theme?
We really wanted to make something special for the community, something that was unique and not like anything else being put out there. We started by designing a Leap Day theme, which we used for the Leap Day Geocoin as well as the two souvenirs.
Our inspiration came from the Roman origins of Leap Day as we record it on our modern calendar. There aren’t many modern traditions for Leap Day that fit naturally with a geocaching theme, so we decided to call out the day itself. We looked at imagery that reflected the passage of time and the unique circumstances that gave us Leap Day to begin with.
The finished Leap Day souvenir has elements of a sundial, to reflect the passage of time over one single day, as well as imagery depicting the orbit of the earth around the sun, representing the passage of a year.
The 2016 Leap Day Geocoin, designed by That Roxxy.
For the Leap Day Event souvenir we decided to draw imagery not just from our own planet, but from the other planets around us. We wanted to reflect the way our own personal experiences are a part of a much greater system, a sort of celebration of those experiences coming together into something bigger.
The theme even carried over to our Leap Day Geocoin, which featured the Roman god of the sun—Sol Invictus—on one side, with the planets in orbit around his crown. The other side was a functioning sundial, which is not as easy to design in as some might think.
I hear there’s a hidden message encoded in the Leap Day 2016 souvenir for attending an event. How do we decode it?
You caught me! I love trying to hide little messages for our community—I can’t help it! I guess I’m a Puzzler geocacher at heart.
I’ll give you two hints: one for those who just want a starting point, and a second for those who want to get right into decoding the souvenir…
Hint #1:
Nine are the planets
Nine are the rings
Nine are the letters
in the finding of things
Hint #2:
Each orbit has a pattern, a series of dashes, repeating all the way around. These dashes spell out a letter in Morse code. Each orbit represents only one letter.
Have you discovered any secret messages or hidden surprises while geocaching? Tell us about them!
¿Has sido uno de los más de 183,845 geocachers por todo el mundo en conseguir un souvenir Leap Day? ¡Si es así, bien hecho!. Si no, bueno, sólo tienes que esperar otros cuatro años — ¡tampoco es para tanto!
Aquellos de vosotros que habéis asistido a un evento o a un CITO el 29 de febrero, deberíais volver y echar un vistazo de nuevo al souvenir Leap Day de 2016. Si arrugas la ceja, y entornas tus ojos de la forma correcta, puede que encuentres un mensaje codificado en morse (Pista: visita el Blog de Geocaching para ver el spoiler).
¡Gracias a todos los que habéis participado en esta celebración extra especial del día bisiesto, de esas de una cada cuatro años!
