The July featured Geocacher of the Month took matters regarding Trackables in his own hands, spiced things up, and brought a community closer together.
July Featured Geocacher of the Month, De Wijngemachtigde
Congratulations to De Wijngemachtigde for being named July’s Featured Geocacher of the Month!
Guus, a.k.a. De Wijngemachtigde, is recognized for encouraging a record number of geocachers across the Netherlands to participate in Geocoin races.
His creative approach to get the community to put their Trackables in circulation, instead of keeping them at home, allowed the coins to travel across all 415 municipalities of the Netherlands.
As one geocacher put it, “Not only has he [De Wijngemachtigde] put and continues to put a lot of effort in the Dutch Geocoin race, he also frequently gives away Geocoins to other cachers through quizzes and sweepstakes. These initiatives really create a very positive vibe for geocaching in the Netherlands and beyond!”
De Wijngemachtigde 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.
Featured Geocacher of the Month Icon
Thank you to the fellow July nominees and all those who supported them. The nominees not chosen as featured Geocacher of the Month will receive a gift of appreciation from Groundspeak. See a list of all the featured Geocachers of the Month here.
The geocaching community is encouraged to re-nominate those who have yet to be honored as featured Geocacher of the Month.
If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be considered for the honor, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com. Every nomination must meet the following requirements: Please include your name, the name of your nominee, their username, at least one picture of the nominee and description (in 500 or fewer 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 August featured Geocacher of the Month must be received by the end of the day on Friday, August 10th.
Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose the top candidates and post them on the Latitude 47 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.
Geocachers will need to travel by boat and on horseback to get to the Geocache of the Week.
Taal Volcano (GC1GJ6N) is part of a chain of volcanoes located on the western side of the island of Luzon in the Philippines.
The difficulty 5, terrain 5 EarthCache was placed by Team1337 in late September of 2008. Since then, it has attracted a number of geocachers to journey out to the volcanic island to claim a smiley.
Taal Volcano presents one of the most charming and picturesque views and is one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines, with its last eruption occurring in 1977.
Getting to Taal Volcano on horseback
Geocachers who make the trip to this volcano often dive into Crater Lake – a lake inside the volcano’s crater that holds sulfuric content – to celebrate their trip.
A geocacher who embarked on this journey writes, “Unbelievable, amazing, what a trip and very beautiful view! It was a real adventure to reach the rim of the crater. I used a boat and I walked to the rim of the crater. The questions were a real challenge, but I did it! Thanks a lot for this EarthCache.”
The 112 images on the cache page have done a fantastic job revealing the volcano’s beauty and capturing geocachers’ experiences.
Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Latitude 47 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@groundspeak.com.
The Geocache of the Week takes us to a natural landmark near Edisto Beach, South Carolina.
Meet Beach Babe (GCV53Z), a difficulty two, terrain two traditional cache with a unique look and story.
You see, Beach Babe is a tree, dressed in clothes. There aren’t very many trees, if any, around the world that are as dressed up as this babe. In fact, her outfits change quite frequently and it’s somewhat of a mystery who started and continues to dress her up.
One thing is certain, fireman357, the creator of the cache near Beach Babe saw an opportunity for geocachers to find something “interesting, cool, and fun” when embarking on a search for his cache.
He explains, “I wanted a destination to take my fellow cachers somewhere they could have an experience and create a memory. That, to me, is the best aspect of caching.”
Hanging out with the stylish tree
This stylish tree is easily noticeable when one is leaving Edisto Island, a large tourist destination. When geocachers aren’t around to distract her, she can be found enjoying the marsh views.
Since the cache was placed in 2006, almost 300 geocachers have logged their visits, posted 77 images, and awarded it 21 Favorite Points.
One cacher writes, “Out for a birthday of geocaching when we found this great cache! I love her! This was by far our favorite cache of the day. Not sure how we missed her the first time we drove by but after that we made sure we watched for this beauty.”
Geocachers are urged to pack bug spray when visiting this cache between the months of October through February.
Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Latitude 47 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@groundspeak.com.
Stone Appendix (GCR8N3) takes geocachers on an adventure inside a deep, dark, rocky cave in the outskirts of Turku, Finland. The difficulty 3.5, terrain 4 cache tests geocachers’ bravery and challenges them physically.
Tuskaretket ry placed this regular-sized traditional cache in November of 2005, inviting fellow geocachers to leave their suits at home and check out the cache that’s guaranteed to get them dirty.
Over 335 geocachers have dared to step into the cave and crawl in the dust to log this cache. Many of them managed to take fantastic photos inside the dark, hollow cave.
Tuskaretket ry explains on the cache page that, “to find the cache you have to forget the claustrophobia and dare to step deep into darkness.” While a flashlight is required, the cache page recommends bringing “a helmet and a partner” on this journey.
Coffee break outside the cave
Stone Appendix has earned 77 Favorite Points so far. One cacher who dared to crawl in to get to this cache writes, “The idea of exploring the essence of a deeper cave had been running in my mind for a long time. I decided to step into the dark and the unknown, while in the company of a friend. Claustrophobia struck mid-stream. Fortunately, the fear was in vain. It was not at all difficult and overwhelming in the cave. It was surprisingly spacious. Have fun!”
If you plan on attending the Geocaching in Turku Mega-Event the weekend of August 3 and are up for the challenge, be sure to check out this Geocache of the Week!
Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Latitude 47 blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.
If you’d 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@groundspeak.com.
Each of July’s Featured Geocacher of the Month nominees has made their mark on the geocaching community. Though many other qualified candidates were nominated, Groundspeak Lackeys selected these three influential and inspiring nominees.
Sniperchicken – June 2012 Geocacher of the Month
Now it’s your turn to help select one of them as July’s Featured Geocacher of the Month.
Write a comment on this blog post about which of these three geocachers you feel should be crowned.
Last month, SniperChicken was chosen as the June Featured Geocacher of the Month. SniperChicken was recognized for his kindness and creative ability to engage the geocaching community through his caches. As the Board President of the Mississippi Geocachers Association, he is known to go above and beyond to research every hiding location to provide fellow geocachers with a unique geocache and story.
Here are your nominees for the July Featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.
Nominated by Deermark, Lynn, a.k.a, daggy “has been the Chairman of the Indiana Fall Geocaching Picnic for 8 years. This event draws between 200 and 300 geocachers every fall. She helped found INKY (The Indiana-Kentucky Geocaching Group). This group meets once a month for a social and has drawn between 30 and 80 new geocachers every month since inception. Daggy has volunteered with Lincoln State Park in Indiana to help with the park’s annual geocaching event for the last 5 years. She was also instrumental in writing the proposal that brought Geowoodstock X to Indiana. Daggy has been caching since September 2001 and has almost 16,000 finds and 137 hides. Her traditional hides have 248 favorite points and 67 of them are still active. She has hosted 14 Event Caches and has found a cache in 50 states. She gives so much back to the geocaching community, not just locally, but nationally.”
“Every year a Geocoin race is organized in the Netherlands to encourage people to put their coins in circulation instead of keeping them at home,” says irisisleuk. “When the original organizer suddenly stopped organizing this race, Guus, a.k.a. De Wijngemachtigde stepped in and took over this race. But his actions didn’t just result in copying what was done before. He really wanted to take it to the next level. This year, Guus managed to get a record number of 250 participants in the race. And the coins didn’t just visit the 12 provinces, but all 415 municipalities of the Netherlands. He thought of the idea that photos of the coin with the city limit sign and city hall and/or coat of arms of the city where a coin is dropped/retrieved, should be rewarded with bonus points as well. So, he now checks every log, of each coin for photos to see whether this coin should get bonus points. He does all this himself. The way Guus has organized everything has really got our geocaching community in the Netherlands closer, more involved and resulted in many, many fun coin logs to read. This race has given a whole other dimension to geocaching. It really spices things up and makes moving trackables so much more fun.”
bigfish97 writes, “My name is Dustin and I am 14 years old. I have only been geocaching since February and now it is one of my favorite things to do. I was introduced to geocaching by my aunt and uncle, Troy and Amanda,” a.k.a. T&AD. “They showed me everything about geocaching such as Trackables, Geocoins, different types of caches, etc. They have been geocaching since January but have already found over 350 geocaches! I learned everything I know about geocaching from them. They still guide me through a lot of my finds, even from 300 miles away. I love to share my experiences with them because they are beginner geocachers that I can relate to. I am thankful that they introduced me to this great hobby and what I am asking is for you to choose them for the month of July because it would mean the world to me!”
Featured Geocacher of the Month Icon
Comment below to tell us who you think should be the featured July Geocacher of the Month. A panel of Lackeys 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.com. We will be accepting comments for July’s award through July 31st.
Those whose nominees were not recognized here are encouraged to submit their nominations again next month. If you know an outstanding geocacher you would like to nominate to be a Featured Geocacher of the Month, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com.
Every nomination must meet the following requirements:
Please include your name, the name of your nominee, their username, at least one picture of the nominee and a description (500 or fewer 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 August Geocacher of the Month must be received by August 10th.
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.
