Sometimes nature takes a bite out of geocaches. Cache containers end up battered by weather or broken from regular use. Does one of your geocaches need a new logbook, is the container cracked, or did the pen or pencil in the cache disappear? The changing of the seasons is a perfectly timed reminder to check your caches.
And geocache maintenance is not just for geocache owners. Courteous geocachers often help with cache maintenance, which helps increase the quality of the game for all. It’s easy. You simply bring additional supplies such as an extra geocache container, swag, logbooks, and pens on your geocaching adventures. That way you’re prepared to help out another geocacher by fixing a cache that needs maintenance on the spot.
If you go geocaching on the spur of the moment and don’t have supplies to fix up a cache that needs maintenance, visit Geocaching.com and report a ‘Needs Maintenance‘ log on the cache page.
If you are a geocache owner here are three ways to help make geocache maintenance a breeze:
1. Place a cache that is durable and requires little or no upkeep
2. Periodically check on your cache both in person and via the cache page to see if there are any issues
3. If you see a ‘Needs Maintenance’ log on the cache page, fix the cache and post an ‘Owner Maintenance’ log
German geocachers travel to the UK for 12 hours of caching with locals
A group of German geocachers packed more than their GPS devices on a recent geocaching adventure to the UK. They also packed good intentions. Their epic international caching trip doubled as a fundraiser.
At the end of January, 80 geocachers made their way from Düsseldorf and Aachen, Germany to London, UK to spend an entire weekend treasure hunting with geocachers from several different countries.
The event, “London 2012” (GC38HZA), took place at the Joy of Life Fountain. The German cachers met an international group of geocachers at the event. Adventurers from Norway, France, U.S., and of course the UK joined to embark on a 12-hour treasure hunt. The teams found 64 caches. The favorite cache for many was “London – Beatles Abbey Road” (GC6F12). Geocachers got to transform into a “Beatle” for the cache. Others visited platform 9 3/4 from the Harry Potter movies.
The trip there and back across the English channel was about more than the event; it was also a chance to help others.
German geocachers make their way from from Düsseldorf to London
Janina Hering aka Döskopp says, “We thought about how to best utilize our time on the bus.” So, with some planning and the help of German geocaching shops and other businesses, Janina and her team collected prizes for a raffle that would take place on the bus drive back to Germany. The raffle money went to an organization for sexually abused children.
“We knew we wanted to support this organization. Their work is absolutely admirable,” she explained.
Janina was in charge of the collection of prizes, such as Geocoins and gummy bears. The team was busily selling raffle tickets and ended up raising more than 500 Euros for the association.
Board Member Monika Schiffer (left) and Geocacher Janina Hering (right)
“Such private, dedicated fundraisers are unfortunately rare,” says an excited Board Operator, Monika Schiffer. “The great thing about this initiative is that their hobby connected them to such a great gesture.”
Congrats to Janina and her fellow geocachers on a successful, well planned event. To find a geocaching event near you check out the Geocaching.com Events Calendar.
Teachers for all grade levels have begun to use the location-based treasure hunting adventure of geocaching as a teaching tool. Teachers say students learning through geocaching enjoy benefits far beyond learning outside of a classroom setting; geocaching makes learning more enjoyable and creates unforgettable learning opportunities for students.
Ellis Reyes, a fifth grade teacher at West Mercer Elementary in Washington, USA, has been using geocaching in the classroom for the past two years. He integrates the activity into several subjects.
Ellis hides different types of geocaches for his students to find on campus and in nearby local parks. One of his favorite ways to utilize geocaching involves using multi-step puzzle caches to teach math. Ellis calls this “GEO-metry Caching.”
A lesson involving geocaching in Ellis’s classroom tasks students to use several sets of skills, especially problem solving and advanced math skills.
Ellis says the students are excited to explore geocaching in school, “The kids love using geocaching to learn. It’s about solving puzzles and creative thinking, and getting out of the classroom, what’s better than that?”
With other subjects, such as language arts, Trackables come in handy for Ellis’ class. The students drop their own Trackables in geocaches close to school. They then follow each Trackable’s movements as a class. Ellis has each student create a background story for their personal Trackable. When the Trackable makes a stop, Ellis has his students add more to the story. Soon, the students develop a narrative about the Trackables journey.
Students develop the required skills in the curriculum and learn critical thinking and spatial concepts with the combination of geocaching and additional lesson planning.
A "GEO-metry" lesson plan from Ellis Reyes
Fourth grade teacher Eva La Mar has had a portion of her classes dedicated to teaching geocaching for the past eight years. At Riverbend Elementary in Oregon, USA, Eva teaches the various tools students need to go geocaching, including directional knowledge, the concepts of latitude and longitude and how GPS signals work.
“I love the sport, the exercise, the thinking that is involved. Seeing students motivated and connecting with learning is what education is all about. This is real-life learning.”
Eva also incorporates geocaching into other fourth grade studies. Geology being a fourth grade topic, EarthCaches fit perfectly into her lesson plan. Through EarthCaching and other variations of geocaching, studying the Oregon Trail becomes very real to students. The geocaches students find as a class show the many stops along the trail, helping them understand the concept of “trail-blazing.” Eva’s students love geocaching so much, she says, that most of them have turned geocaching into a family affair. This last year, Eva held a geocaching field trip that both students and parents attended.
Use of geocaching as a teaching tool has become very popular. There are already books and webpages dedicated to geocaching and education, making it easy for teachers to integrate geocaching into their classrooms.
Groundspeak is actively working on a project to create easier ways for all teachers to use geocaching in their classrooms and to share their experiences and work with other educators. There’s even a geocaching guidebook for teachers.
Watch this video of students learning through geocaching:
Jeffrey with Geocaching.com Co-Founder and CEO Jeremy Irish at GeoWoodstock VI .
Geocaching teenagers are becoming easier and easier to find as geocaching gains popularity. Harder to find are teenage cachers who have found nearly two thousand geocaches. Jeffrey Bushnell, 18, from Utah, USA is better known in the caching community as tico jeffrey. He started geocaching when he was 14. Jeffrey has found 1853 caches to date. He’s also discovered a true passion for the high-tech treasure hunt of geocaching.
It all started for Jeffrey as a young Boy Scout, when he won a GPS device after selling tickets at a Boy Scout expo. “I went home after the expo, looked it [geocaching] up online and made an account. Then, less than less than five minutes after creating my account, I got on my bike, grabbed my new GPS, and headed out to find the cache closest to my house.”
Jeffrey loves geocaching because he explores new places he has never seen before, gets to spend time outdoors, and relishes the thrill of finding a cache.
Now a seasoned geocacher, Jeffrey owns 92 caches. He has gone geocaching in twelve states and two other countries besides the US: Canada and Costa Rica. Jeffery owns 70 Trackables and has moved over 800 Trackables throughout his many geocaching adventures.
Statistics from Geocaching.com: Jeffrey's Cumulative Finds, as of July 20, 2011.
Besides his aunt, Auzzie Dogs, Jeffery’s family is full of muggles. For Jeffrey, geocaching on family outings takes planning and convincing his parents to let him find a cache. He has to promise not to take a long time. Having a muggle family often makes the game a bit difficult for him, but Jeffrey never lets this slow him down.
Jeffrey has found so many geocaches that he can’t even pick a favorite. He loves the thrill of a good find and always enjoys finding caches hidden by some geocachers in his area: “Both of my favorite users (Baad Daata and Billionj) have many caches that I have looked right at and even touched without finding it at first, these caches require a lot of thinking and strategy to find the exact cache container.”
Jeffrey at GC10FB, Magic Kingdom, one of many Virtual Caches in Disney World.
Jeffrey became an Eagle Scout and graduated high school this year. He will be attending Brigham Young University this fall where he plans to major in civil engineering and minor in graphic design and production. He loves to cache in his local area of Southern Utah, where he has many friends who always go out geocaching with him. Jeffrey also loves to take his grandma and other relatives out on geocaching adventures.
One of Jeffrey’s favorite geocaching memories is when he received GeoWoodstock VI 2008 tickets for Christmas and went to the event in Wheatland, California with his aunt, Auzzie Dogs. “We had a great time and enjoyed meeting Jeremy Irish, also meeting a lot of old and new friends.”
As some advice from Jeffrey for new teen geocachers, he suggests taking on one cache at a time, and to have fun with it. To learn more about Jeffrey’s geocaching career and to see his incredible geocaching stats, check out his user page, tico jeffrey. It is easy for teens to become outstanding geocachers, like Jeffrey. It is as simple as creating an account, getting a GPS, grabbing a group of friends, and heading out to find the first of many geocaches.
DISCLAIMER: Underage geocachers should always geocache using the buddy-system! Take a parent, relative, or friend along and remember to tell a responsible adult the exact caches you plan on finding and the routes you plan on taking. Safe geocaching is fun geocaching!
Ever think that the only things teenagers do are play video games, lay around, and complain? Think again. Teenagers worldwide have picked up on geocaching and their passion for the sport is only growing stronger with age. A recent survey shows nearly five percent of geocachers are 18 or younger, that’s still nearly a quarter of a million geocachers.
Joey with cache GC1QYHV, Camino a la Buena Vista
Joey (jmilla210), 15, from California has been geocaching for two years. Joey has loved the game ever since he was first introduced to geocaching. He found his first cache with family members on Thanksgiving Day of 2009.
When asked about out geocaching for the first time, Joey said, “Finding my first cache was amazing. I didn’t really know what it was at first, but I learned much more about the game and quickly developed a regular habit of finding a few caches each day.” Since then, Joey has found 259 caches and hidden 13 caches in his area. Joey also likes to attend geocaching events, as they give him the opportunity to meet people, his age or not, that love geocaching as much as he does. The game always gives Joey something to look forward to wherever he is, and he is always excited to go find a cache.
Chad in a mineshaft while finding his all-time favorite cache, GC21QWN The Cobalt Zone
From Killingworth, Connecticut, United States, 18-year-old Chad Golembeski’s (DeluxeLunchbox) experiences as a geocacher all started with a gift of a GPS device for Christmas at the age of 14. Now, four years later, Chad owns 10 caches and has found 164 geocaches throughout Connecticut, Vermont, and Massachusetts.
When talking about his first find, Chad said,“When I found my first geocache, I thought it was extremely cool that someone had posted these coordinates online and I found them.” Chad was a member of his high school’s geocaching club before graduation, and his first logged cache was the one at his school. With the club, he completed large multicaches, found caches at various state parks, and recruited friends who now like to geocache. For Chad, geocaching is fun way to get outside and explore with his friends. “I personally like geocaching because [it] brings me out to new places that I wouldn’t have known of before.”
Chris with cache contents of GC2XAF6, Feed the Mosquitos II
Chris (Coldgears), 16, from Pennsylvania in the United States, has recently discovered his love for geocaching. All it took was for him to stumble upon the geocaching app on his new phone about a year ago, and Chris was hooked. Chris then introduced his two friends to the game, in return for introducing him to letterboxing a while back.
According to Chris, what he likes most about geocaching, “ …is the time spent outdoors…Without it I wouldn’t be in the woods nearly as much.” With over 300 caches found, Chris enjoys how geocaching gets him to the outdoors with his friends on a regular basis.
There are many ways teens can learn about geocaching, and eventually love the game as much as these guys do. Finding a local organization or group who geocaches, such as Girl or Boy Scouts, checking for geocaching events in your area, creating an account on Geocaching.com, and downloading the Geocaching application for your smartphone are all simple ways teens can get started. The love for geocaching begins with a simple step like these guys took, creating a passion for the game that can last for a lifetime, and teens everywhere can take that step today.
