White fields of deep, powdery snow can’t stop geocachers from embarking on a high-tech treasure hunt. They simply adapt. Watch this Geocaching.com video to follow along as geocacher Greg McCaddon, Totemlake, leads a group of eight on a snowshoe geocaching adventure in the postcard-perfect mountains of Washington State.
Snowshoe geocaching
Geocachers say snowshoe caching is like preparing for any winter sport. It’s recommended you dress in layers, bring water, food, survival gear and (of course) your GPS receiver loaded with nearby caches.
Totemlake hosts a Hike of the Month for local geocachers. Watch the video to see the unique token that each participant receives and what goes into the cache on each Hike of the Month.
Explore more than 30 Geocaching.com videos in our gallery. Share a video on “Basics of Hiding a Geocache,” watch a Travel Bug® move from cache to cache around the world and visit the highest and lowest geocaches in existence.
The Groundspeak Block Party – Just Over 200 Days Away!
All over the world, neighborhoods occasionally close off city blocks to vehicle traffic and hold a party in the street. It’s called a “block party,” and it’s a great way for neighbors to get to know one another. In the close-knit geocaching community, it often feels like all geocachers are your neighbors, whether they live 5 or 5000 miles, or kilometers, away.
The Groundspeak Block Party is a Mega Event where you can meet your friendly geocaching “neighbors” from around the world. While there, you can also log Groundspeak Headquarters, meet the Groundspeak Lackeys and participate in several fun activities for all ages. Activities at last year’s event included a scavenger hunt with special prizes and a dunk tank where geocachers could take a shot at dunking Lackeys and Geocaching.com Volunteer Reviewers.
The Groundspeak Block Party will be on August 20, 2011 in Seattle, WA. Although August may feel like the distant future, it will be here before you know it. If you are planning to visit from out of town, we suggest you buy your plane ticket and arrange for accommodations as soon as possible. Tickets to Seattle in the summer can be expensive and prices will likely rise as the date approaches. We are looking forward to seeing all of you there!
“My first cache in Korea. Nice place, nice hide. A beautiful place to calm down and enjoy silence.” Geocachers have been writing logs just like that for “BongEun-Sa Revivial” (GCXNRW) since Healthpia hid this cache in 2006.
The difficulty 1.5, terrain 1.5 traditional geocache rests near the heart of Seoul, South Korea.
Its proximity to major hotels draws travelers out of their rooms to begin an urban treasure hunt. More than 120 geocachers have discovered the unexpectedly quiet and serene grounds of Bongeunsa Temple in the middle of this major city.
The Bongeunsa Temple was founded in 794. It’s a popular tourist destination where visitors can experience the life of a monk for two hours. The cache owner reminds people to be respectful and also to use stealth when hunting for the cache.
View of Buddha statue from near geocache site GCXNRW
This traditional cache is tied for the most Favorite Points received out of more than 4000 geocaches in South Korea. Geocaching Favorites is a new feature on Geocaching.com.
Continue your exploration with some of the most engaging geocaches from around the world. Explore all the Geocaches of the Week on our blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.
The world of an 11-year-old is a complex ecosystem of school, sports, family and play. In 2011, play as a kid seems to only involve the pollicis brevis and abductor pollicis longus muscle groups. Those are the muscles that move our thumbs, as in playing video games.
But one 11-year-old is using his thumbs for something else. Evan works the buttons on a GPS device to hunt geocaches. He also recently picked up a pen and wrote a letter to Groundspeak.
The fifth grader is an avid geocacher. Evan writes, “Me and my dad go caching a lot.” He describes geocaching as, “fun-ga-cational.”
Here’s why. Evan says, “[Geocaching is fun-ga-cational] because first of all it helps with math, (working with miles and feet). Second of all because it helps with geography, maps and sometimes social studies, working with latitude and longitude, maps and sometimes you learn about the area around a person. And third of all because it is super fun.”
Well, thank you Evan. We work hard to make sure geocaching is as super fun as possible.
This fifth grader’s letter is peppered with ideas for geocaching and questions for Groundspeak. We thought we’d share a few of Evan’s questions.
Where did you get the idea for geocoins?
Geocoins, including a Moun10bike coin
Geocoins are the creation of Jon Stanley, alias Moun10bike. He now works at Groundspeak as a Lackey. We even did a video with Jon about the invention of geocoins. He placed the first coin on September 30, 2001. Did you know, Moun10bike has thousands of geocoins in his personal collection? It’s true. He has books and books of geocoins.
Can you put locks on geocaches?
Yes, if an answer or a key you discover unlocks the cache. Geocacher Richard Garriott has a lock on his cache called, “Necropolis of Britannia Manor III.” We did a video about this spooky cache. The clues you find on this puzzle cache give you the combination for the lock. You can watch a story about the cache here.
Can one put more A.P.E. caches out?
Evan's letter to Groundspeak
Nope. There’s only a couple A.P.E. caches left in the world. In 2001, fourteen geocaches were placed as the movie Planet of the Apes hit theaters. Each cache represented a fictional story in which scientists revealed an Alternative Primate Evolution. These caches were made using specially marked ammo containers. There’s one A.P.E. cache left near Groundspeak H.Q. and one still active in Brazil.
Will you ever branch out and make multiple HQ caches?
Seems unlikely. There’s only one H.Q. We’re located in Seattle, Washington. You’re always welcome to visit. Just check out our cache page.
Thanks for writing Evan. I hope this helped! And we’ll see what we can do about your suggestions. We like the idea of miniature Signal and Lackey figurines. But we’re not sure Geocaching will ever be an Olympic sport. Who knows though? Thanks again.
Meet face to face with your fellow geocachers to discuss recent finds, clean up a park, share a meal, or trade caching advice. It’s as easy as attending an Event Cache. An Event Cache is our version of a party: when a geocacher or geocaching organization chooses a time and location to meet and discuss the treasure-hunting adventure of geocaching. These events are open to all geocachers.
These fun gatherings introduce you to other local geocachers and helps build your geocaching community. You may end up with a few new geocaching partners too. Event Caches are also a great way to introduce new geocachers to your favorite hobby.
Along with Event Caches, explore Mega-Events and CITO (Cache In Trash Out) Events. An event has “gone Mega” when more than 500 attendees participate in an Event Cache. Geocachers can “go green” at a CITO Event. Geocachers at a CITO Event clean up parks, trails, and other outdoor locations.
It’s simple to find an Event Cache near you. All you have to do is visit the Geocaching Event Calendar for a comprehensive list of Event Caches around the world. You can also try using our advanced search tool. This tool allows you to search for a specific type of Event Cache in a specific location.
So now go discover an Event Cache and get to know geocachers and caches near you. Happy caching!
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