Any serious geocacher probably has a list of geocaches they wish to find before they “kick the bucket”, so to speak. We’ll be doing an intermittent series dedicated to bucket list geocaches, and today’s theme is “Greatest Hits”. Have you found one of these famous geocaches or do you plan to?
Category: Community
Geocaching is delightful because of the people who play it — adventure-seekers, makers, parents, astronauts and (sometimes) celebrities. Read their stories.
Passeport pour le Nord GeoTour
- Location:
- New Caledonia
- Favorite Points:
- 8
Why the Passeport pour le Nord GeoTour is unique:
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.
Grimpant per La Mola — Geocache of the Week
Why this is Geocache of the Week:
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.
What the Cache Owner, josua, has to say:
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.”
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:
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.
Phantom of the Opera — Geocache of the Week
- Multi-Cache
- GC1BA8Q
- by Mostly Moose
- Location:
- Oslo, Norway
- N 59° 54.489 E 010° 45.091
Why this is Geocache of the Week:
This highly-favorited multi-cache is located on the roof of the shiny and relatively new opera house in Oslo’s city center. The building’s distinctive design conveys accessibility—and expense. The Italian marble roof slopes down to the plaza below, allowing an easy transition from the street to the skies. According to the cache page, “Walking up the gentle slopes and across the roof plateau is supposed to emulate a hike in Norwegian hills and mountains.” Unsurprisingly, the view from the top over the harbor is breathtaking.
Geocachers searching for this phantom cache will first need to pay a visit to a very regal lady outside the opera house, one who devoted her life to promoting opera in Norway. A few calculations later, geocachers will find GZ and can search for the cache itself.
Tips for finding this cache:
- Watch your step. Don’t stare at the phone/GPS. You’re on a roof.
- Use utmost discretion and stealth. Muggles of the tourist kind are everywhere.
- Bring only small geocoins or trackables. The cache is small.
- Go at sunset, on a dry day, if you can. The view is phenomenal.
What geocachers have to say about it:
“My geocaching name comes from Phantom of the Opera, so I had to find this one. What an interesting building and an amazing view from the top. Found it with a fantastic group of friends from several countries. Thank you for showing it to me!” –Prying Pandora
“What an amazing building. The weather changed and the sun came out. It was a special light effect and great atmosphere and I took a lots of pictures. We reached stage 1 and got the necessary information. Before we walked to the final location, we made a guided tour in the opera, I enjoyed much. We reached GZ and still knew, where to search. We had to wait muggles passing and switched into stealth mode. After some moments I discovered the hidden cache-container. We signed the logbook satisfied, hided the container again and continued our walk. Thanks for the cache and regards.” –Geo-Link
Photos:
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.
