Category: Community

Geocaching is delightful because of the people who play it — adventure-seekers, makers, parents, astronauts and (sometimes) celebrities. Read their stories.

/ Alex

It’s Bigger on the Inside! — Who?: Regeneration (GC5ZFGA) — Geocache of the Week

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Geocache_of_the_Week_vFINAL_BLOG_120815_883x300Geocache Name:

Who?: Regeneration (GC5ZFGA) by haloedversionls

Location:

Pennsylvania, United States
N 40° 30.441 W 078° 23.949

Difficulty/Terrain Rating:

2.5/1.5

Why this is Geocache of the Week:

If there’s a secret recipe for making a Geocache of the Week — and we’re not saying there isn’t! — it probably includes the words “Doctor Who-themed” and “gadget cache”.

Those are certainly both on the ingredients list for Who?: Regeneration. Although still relatively “young” at six months, this cache is a more attractive regeneration of a different Doctor Who-themed cache which the cache owner had previously hidden in the same spot.

And it’s a great cache — it even has a field puzzle element! Whovians will spot the Tardis blue of the cache’s exterior from a mile away. We’re going to be quiet now and just let the words of the cache owner and other geocachers, and the photos of the cache, speak for themselves.

What the Cache Owner, haloedversionls, has to say about it:

Can we assume you’re a fan of Doctor Who?
“Yes, I am also a fan of the Doctor and dressed up as David Tennant’s iteration of the Doctor for Halloween in 2014. I enjoy the adventure and exploration of the show. Much like geocaching: adventure and exploration. The Doctor would make a great geocacher! Imagine the possibilities: the ability to find caches anywhere and at anytime. Also, the Doctor is clever, and we all know that geocachers often are some of the cleverest people.”

What inspired this geocache hide?
“The original cache was inspired after my wife and I had finished binge watching a season of Doctor Who. A friend of ours was moving to Oxford for a time and we were discussing the geocaching opportunities in England if she were a geocacher. One subject led to another, as conversation tend to go, and shortly after I was hanging a blue box. A few years later, I became unsatisfied with the original, so I archived it and replaced it with an improved box with a mini-gadget involved to open it.”

What’s your (or your wife’s) favorite episode of Doctor Who?
“My wife’s favorite Doctor Who episode is the end of the forth season (new Doctor Who) where the tenth Doctor (David Tennant) unites with  companions Rose, Donna, Marthy, Mickey, Captain Jack, and Sarah Jane. I, on the other hand, likes John Hurt’s short appearance as the Doctor in the 50th anniversary episode. I really likes the ‘multiple’ timelines plot and I seem to notice some other clever cameo or reference each time I watch it.”

Anything you’d like to share with the geocaching community?
I don’t think that I have anything momentous to share with the greater geocaching community. I guess, make everyday an adventure.

What geocachers have to say about it:

“We received news of the Tardis in our area and approached cautiously. Were the Daleks nearby? The good Doctor tried to use his sonic screwdriver, but had to get it adjusted by a helpful companion. We signed the log and moved to another time.” –r.e.s.t.seekers

“Loved it. Cool Puzzle and cool cache. Felt soooooo good when the door swung open.” –dominator1777

“Where do I start with this cache?!? I’ll start with saying it’s perfectly executed, and The Doctor himself would enjoy this homage to his beloved Tardis. I (WillowTree) have been a HUGE fan of Doctor Who since high school, and all I can say is this cache made me beam (I would attach the photo as proof, but it’s too much of a spoiler). All I can say is thank you for such an enjoyable and wonderfully nerdy cache! I loved it. So did MrBee 😉 Favorite point worthy for sure! Dropped off a Travel Bug.” –MrBee&WillowTree

Photos:

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Learn about some more 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.

 

/ Alex

Find a Geocache of the Week Near You

Nearly every week for 5 years, an amazing geocache from somewhere in the world has been selected as official “Geocache of the Week” by Geocaching HQ.

Use this map to find past Geocaches of the Week near you. Click on a green dot to see the name and GC code of the cache, and click on the link to open the cache page. Type the GC code of the cache in the Geocaching Blog search box to read the article published about that geocache.*

 

Geocaches of the Week Around the World

*Geocaches of the Week that have been archived since they were recognized are not shown.

Nominate an amazing geocache near you using the Geocache of the Week nomination form!

/ Guest Writer /

Geocaching along El Camino de Santiago, Spain

By Jenn Seva

Geocaching Along El Camino de Santiago, Spain

Have you ever wanted to go on a pilgrimage?

Just as summer turned into autumn, I was fortunate enough to walk across Spain. Literally. Those 1,043 km took me over 3 mountains, flat through 7 days of the exquisite meseta (plateau), and across more than a thousand years of Spanish Catholic history. Those kilometers also brought me conveniently near several remarkable geocaches. And bonus: two new country souvenirs! This pilgrimage is called El Camino de Santiago.

I began my 38-day walk in the misty French town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, nestled in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Although I had gotten a late start that morning, I still walked against the pilgrim traffic towards the cache at La citadelle to earn my France souvenir: magnifique! Later that day, I walked from France into Spain, over the Pyrenees.

Clockwise from left: Karin and Milene find a cache together, Amber finds her 1st geocache.
Clockwise from left: Karin and Milene find a cache together. Amber finds her 1st geocache.

On the second day, my new friend Amber asked me what this game is all about. The best way to explain geocaching is to show it, of course! At first, we DNF’d at Caminante No Hay Camino… which is ironic given what that cache title means. We found success at Brujeria – Sorginkeria – maravilloso! – and only because this Dutch woman also speaks Spanish and helped me understand that the hint (pío, pío) is about birds: something not immediately obvious to a non-native Spanish speaker like me. Amber’s first find had a very creative container, and we secured that additional country souvenir.

Walking farther west, we stumbled upon a German-style T5 experience at Casa Paderborn, Pamplona: märchenhaft! I estimated the cache height to be some 21 feet or so off the ground, well beyond the 14-foot ladder I borrowed (a ’14-foot ladder’ is probably called something different in a place where they don’t measure things in feet.) My pilgrim friends and 10 cyclists who happened to be resting below the tree did not understand what was happening. Even I was pretty amazed that WAY UP THERE is where my day went, in a dress, no less. They asked me from the ground: ¿Qué encontraste en el contenidor? What did I find in that container? Adventure and a great story to tell, that’s what.

The Casa Paderborn, Pamplona cache brought me additional joy because I had helped to develop the Paderborner Land GeoTour in Germany. This pilgrim hostel and this geocache both represent a sisterhood between the city where I was and a city that hosts a GeoTour! My worlds were coming together in delightful, mathematically unlikely ways.

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German-style T5 experience at Casa Paderborn, Pamplona.

By the time I got to La Cruz de Hierro, I was in my 4th week of walking. One of the most significant and powerful moments along the pilgrimage route, I had every intention of finding this geocache as a personal milestone. As it turned out, the significance and power of the moment itself caused me to forget about all about geocaching; instead my thoughts went to so many other far-off places. I recorded that as a memorable DNF since I had intended to find it and once within a few meters of the cache, I simply forgot to look. Has that ever happened to you?

Right outside the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela is a shadowy geocache called A sombra da Quintana de Mortos. Finding it at night when the lights are on makes for the best experience: architectural factors at the location combine, creating the magical illusion of a pilgrim forever tethered to the cathedral walls. It’s quite an improbable combination: the bumps on the cathedral walls were built independently of the simple pillar that creates the shadow. Further, the electric lights were added hundreds of years later. This is not something included in a typical guidebook. This is something I found only because of geocaching.

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Clockwise from left: Sombra with Hans photo by Suzanne, MissJenn walking to the Cruz de Ferro, Walking the Camino, At the finish.

Signing each of those geocache logs reminded me how geocachers have more than just geocaching in common. My stories intertwined with other pilgrims’ narratives as they each made their way one step at a time towards the city of Santiago de Compostela just like I did, but differently than I did. For example, the logs show that Dauby had started in Prague while I started walking just over Spain’s border with France. I read that the Canadian 3 Bearss were pawing through caches, always just a few days ahead of me. I actually met Maltese superprizz in person in Burgos (at a cache owned by my friend and Community Volunteer Stitch81) and we must have had very different paces since we didn’t run into one another again. Stitch81 himself had walked his own Camino many years ago, and he gave me sound advice and helped me with critical provisions.

It will take me ages to process all my many stories about this awe-inspiring, multi-faceted experience called El Camino de Santiago. At least I have now told you about some of the caches that helped make it an even better adventure.

What is the longest distance you have walked while geocaching?

/ Carly /

Geocaching in 2015: A Year in Review

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2015 was an epic year in the world of geocaching. 

There were many laughs, plenty of new geocaches hidden, and a lot of “Found it” logs.  As we start to plan for the new year ahead,  it’s fun to reflect on many of the amazing things that happened in 2015. Here are 15 of them.

 

1) We celebrated 15 years of geocaching!

It’s hard to believe that the hobby we all love celebrated its 15th birthday this year. During this time of nostalgia, it’s fun to look back at some of the most historic moments in geocaching history.

2) A year of events. Great events.

  • 2 Giga-Events (5,000+ geocachers)
  • 45 Mega-Events (500+ geocachers)
  • Over 28,000 geocaching events total

It’s evident from all the fun gatherings that took place that geocachers enjoyed making new friends and spending time with the old at an average of over 76 geocaching events per day!  

  • A group of kiddos search for the code word at the last ever Geocaching Block Party Mega-Event in Seattle.

3) A group of courageous geocachers journeyed to the center of the earth to log an EarthCache. Well, sort of.

Need more laughs? Check out all the past geocaching April Fools videos:

4) The geocaching community grew.

In December, the 15 millionth geocaching account was created on Geocaching.com. Considering that many geocaching accounts represent families, couples, teams, and other groups, there are well more than 15 million geocachers worldwide.

  • Geocaching in Cambodia.

5) The game’s 453 community volunteers made the game better for everyone through their contributions as reviewers, moderators, and translators.

6) Geocachers joined in the global CITO (Cache In, Trash Out) movement and gave back to our lovely planet.

Over 19,000 geocachers collected garbage, restored natural areas, and worked on community improvement projects during CITO weekend in April. If each person picked up one 5 lb (2.26 kg) bag of trash, that’s over 40 metric tons of garbage collected. That’s (approximately) 7.4 elephants, or 7 elephants and two cows. This impressive number does not include the hundreds of additional CITO events that took place throughout the rest of year.

7) 4 incredible trackable branded promotions took place, including the super cute Mountain Warehouse promo.

With nearly 500 photos entered into the Mountain Warehouse photo contest, geocachers showed clever photography skills while shooting Meryl Sheep trackable tags all over the British countryside and beyond. One particular trackable, Wooliam the Sheep, has already traveled 32,000+ miles (51,499 km).

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8) GeoTours expanded.

19 new GeoTours were launched this year, bringing the GeoTour grand total at 61 tours worldwide. The average number of geocaches per tour is 44, and their geocaches tend to have more favorite points than the average geocache.

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9) Over 52,000 geocachers around the world went on a Geocaching Road Trip.

During the summer months, geocachers had the opportunity to complete five geocaching quests, each of which earned them a special souvenir for their geocaching profile. By completing all missions, they earned an extra special 6th souvenir. The theme was “Geocaching Road Trip”, and the adventures were epic.

10) Geocachers celebrated Pi. And puzzles. And ate pie.

While some folks celebrated Pi Day on March 14 (3.14) with a slice of pi pie, we celebrated this year’s Pi Day with two new souvenirs…and pie. The first souvenir was earned by 37,000 geocachers who attended an event on that day. The second souvenir celebrated the mystery of pi—to earn it, geocachers had to log a “Found It” on a Mystery Cache. Kudos to the 50,000 geocachers who took on that head scratching challenge.

  • Yummy geocaching events all day long!

11) Five new countries received their own geocaching souvenirs.

Time to update your bucket lists, geocachers. Cheers to Thailand, Turkey, Estonia, Lithuania, and Slovenia who were added to the growing list of country souvenirs this year!

  • Thailand Souvenir.

12) New features were added to make your geocaching world a bit better.

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13) Geocachers watched 16 creative geocaching films at GIFF Weekend.

The GIFF (Geocaching International Film Festival) Weekend 2015 souvenir was awarded to over 14,000 geocachers who attended 449 GIFF events in 46 countries. That’s amazing. But what’s even more amazing is the sheer number of special and wonderful moments that happened at all the movie nights.

14) Geocaching.com added new languages.

The Geocaching.com website is now translated into 22 different languages including English. The iPhone and Android Free apps are also available in 19 different languages. More to come!

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15) There were over 83,000,000 logged geocaches and over 588,000 new geocaches published this year.

Great job, geocachers. Great job.

  • Warm waters & lots of signatures.

From all of us at Geocaching HQ, thank you for making this year the best geocaching year to date.

 

What was your favorite geocaching moment from 2015?