March 2, 2015 / Eric Schudiske /

Want a Reward for Finding Geocaches? Keep Reading…

Chris 1 — Geocaching HQ Staffer: Chris Ronan, Rock Chalk

My name is Rock Chalk and I’m addicted to GeoTours and geotrails which offer rewards.

Whew. That feels better. Now that I’ve admitted my problem, perhaps I can persuade you to follow me into a realm where one can earn geocoins and other prizes, just for finding geocaches. (As if finding geocaches isn’t rewarding enough!) I currently work at Geocaching HQ in Seattle. But long before joining the team here, I discovered my passion for GeoTours and geotrails.

GeoTours and reward geotrails are collections of geocaches that take cachers on a tour of a specific area. They’re often sponsored by local tourism boards, historical associations, and even the National Park Service. In most cases, players find a certain number of geocaches to qualify for geocoins and other prizes.

Chris 2 — A bunch of GeoTour and reward GeoTrail Geocoins

Click the GeoTours and geotrails map to explore

I first became hooked when we happened upon the Washington County GeoTrail while planning a vacation to Maryland a couple years ago. We spent a day visiting some amazing historical spots, finding geocaches, and capping it off by claiming a geocoin. Since then, I’ve enjoyed nearly 20 similar experiences throughout the United States.

Official GeoTours, which are organized through Geocaching HQ, have introduced me to the beauty of the riverwalk in Columbus, GA, the incredible learning opportunities at the National Museum of Natural History, and more than 50 of Washington’s amazing state parks. I grew up in Kansas, but had little knowledge of the Santa Fe Trail until their new GeoTour inspired me to follow the Santa Fe Trail through Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma and New Mexico last summer.

Chris 3 — Clinton County Barn Trail (Ohio)

We’ve recently created a list of GeoTours and reward geotrails, so you can easily find them and learn about the cool rewards that await. We’ve also added a new forum where geocachers can discuss their adventures and ask questions about GeoTours and reward geotrails.

We hope these new resources can help your travel and geocaching become more rewarding than ever!

Check out the map and if a geotrail with a reward is missing, let us know in comments.

Chris 4 — Washington State Parks GeoTour (Deception Pass)

Washington State Parks GeoTour (10,000th find at Deception Pass)

February 27, 2015 / Carly /

January’s Geocacher of the Month

The time has come. Earlier this month, three amazing geocaching teams were nominated for January 2015’s Geocacher of the Month award, and a winner has been chosen.

As a refresher, here are the nominees…

Timpat is known throughout the New York geocaching community for his impressive hides, supportive nature, and extensive GPS and mapping expertise. With nearly 10,000 finds and 400 hides, he is a true inspiration to all. Not to mention, his kayak geocaches are amazing.

0820de7c-38b3-4c79-a028-656dc0c33c36 — Tinman and Timpat

family Behrens (aka FB) has helped geocaching bloom in South Africa. He (and his family) are known in the local geocaching community for their creative and challenging geocaches (all 88 of them) and for throwing well-organized, highly attended CITO events.

3b0c2482-8303-4ef9-b4f6-0db9a4c1e10c — T5? No problem for team Behrens

Koouye is recognized throughout the Belgium geocaching community for being a dynamic, passionate, and devoted geocacher. He is a social butterfly, known for hosting great events and for attending other’s events (133 so far!)

ef13566e-e9bb-4beb-b4fe-960175e5049b_l — Koouye and his lovely family

The Featured Geocacher of the Month is named by a panel at Geocaching HQ after reviewing community input and blog comments. It’s a tough decision, given the combined contributions of these folks to the geocaching community as a whole.

After tallying the sentiment and reading the comments, family Behrens has been officially named the Featured Geocacher of the Month for January 2015.

There’s no denying that family Behrens or “FB” is an unstoppable geocaching force in South Africa. Their father, Jamie, leads the pack with his creative geocache hides and wonderful community organized events. Many would say that their passion and excitement for the game has helped geocaching spread like wildfire in South Africa and surrounding countries.

b2cac370-a1be-4928-86ce-5858759814bd — 1000th find!

Finding one of family Behrens’ geocaches is a must. According to the community, they are beyond good, they are legendary. SawaSawa says that Jamie of FB “has become renowned for his wonderful creative caches for which he has garnered numerous Favorite Points and heaps of praise. He has also invented an original ‘trademark’ micro-cache design (100% waterproof) made from discarded plastic bottle tops which I have copied and used in many of my hides in Kenya. His ingenuity in cache design and care in preparation is now legendary in South Africa and especially Cape Town and everyone looks forward eagerly to the next FB creation.”

f253a9b7-a817-4d21-9802-b491ea4bd842 — Mr. and Mrs. family Behrens

If you’re in the area, you should attend an event thrown by this geocaching team. Andre & Jeanne says FB, “hosts numerous events and CITO’s. He works together with Table Mountain National Park to do path clearing and removal of alien vegetation.”

Suikerbossies sums up the winner perfectly, “We love their hides, their unique containers, enthusiasm for the game and trouble they go to to give back to the game, nature and the community! Simply put, they are a great example and we are proud of them.”

2cc8adcd-6413-4299-bf96-7b515137efb2 — Jamie of FB. Rain or shine, geocaching is on.

family Behrens will receive the very special Geocacher of the Month geocoin and a special prize package from Geocaching HQ, in recognition of their geocaching efforts.

Send your kudos to family Behrens and our other January Geocacher of the Month Nominees. They’ve made the hobby we love WAY more fun.

The earned, never for sale, Geocacher of the Month Geocoin

February 24, 2015 / Janelle /

OMG. Geo-Tweens. #YOLO

It's all about how you look (on the internet...) — It’s all about how you look (on the internet…)

For tweens, the world suddenly opens up on many levels: They can take the bus to their friend’s house by themselves. A group of them can see a movie together without grownups in the next row. They start to discover interests and hobbies through their friends, and not because their parents tell them it’s for their own good. For those who may not know, “tweens” are young men and women between the ages of 10-12 years old. They are in-between being a kid and being a teenager.

So what do you do with a tween who won’t ever put down their smartphone besides take it away from them? How about an activity that gets everyone outside, interacting with the world, and includes a smartphone? Yep, you guessed it: geocaching.

Maxine, Rebecca, Oscar, and Clover search for GCHEGW with the Seattle cityscape in the background.

My daughter Maxine, her friends Rebecca and Oscar are all in 7th grade. A few weeks ago on a typical Seattle day – overcast, with intermittent drizzle and sun breaks – we went geocaching. We brought our trusty dog Clover along for the ride.

We started our journey in West Seattle when we found a clever geocache on tree-lined street in an adorable neighborhood. Then we went to a hillside park with an amazing view of the Seattle skyline. That one was tricky and we spent a lot of time looking for it with our dog sniffing everywhere. But finally there was that “A-ha!” moment, and we found it!

Then we decided to hit some of the best caches in Seattle: The HQ GeoTour. We all know how physically challenging Geocaching can be, and certainly I didn’t want these kids to wilt on me, so we hit the Geocaching HQ kitchen first (working at Geocaching HQ certainly has its perks). Their bottomless metabolisms tore through chips, soda, Cup Noodles, candy, more chips, more Cup Noodles and more candy. [Special shout-out to HQ-er Maria for keeping us all carb-ed up and ready to roll.]

GC2AD97 - HQGt: Chairy True - and no, that's not a typo. — GC2AD97 – HQGt: Chairy Tree

Once we logged the Geocaching Headquarters geocache, we hit the streets hitting all that top spots in Fremont: Within Reach, Chairy Tree, A Bedazzling View, De Libertas Quirkas, Fremont Library, Toll Droppings, Ode to the Golgafrinchan Phone Workers, Beneath Aurora, and finally Geo Post Office.

The Fremont Troll is a beloved Seattle Landmark and part of the Geocaching HQ GeoTour.

We all had a great time spending time together, but we were hanging out with a purpose. We all learned something, too:

Maxine learned she was actually instinctually skilled at geocaching.
Oscar learned that he really wanted to work at Geocaching so he could eat Cup Noodles anytime he wanted.
Rebecca learned that she actually could be the first to find a geocache if it was a under a really big rock and everyone stayed let her find it.
I learned (from Oscar) how to solve for coordinates on a Multi-Cache and add waypoints to my app.

tween schmupps — Clover learned that a fun day of geocaching makes for a very happy evening of napping

It was a good day. No, it was a wonderful day.

What advice do you have for geocaching with your kids, tweens, or teens? Tell us in the comments below!

February 16, 2015 / Alex /

You Decide Who Wins the Global GIFF Audience Award

Last summer, 16 films about anything and everything geocaching were selected to premier at the Geocaching International Film Festival 2014. These films have been making the rounds at select Mega-Events around the world, and now it’s finally time for them to make their ultimate international debut: on your computer screen.

That’s right! If you have an hour to spare, you can watch all sixteen finalists right now. That’s about as long as it takes to do a 5-stage Multi-Cache in a park. After you’ve watched the videos, vote for the one you think should be recognized above the rest. Then share the post with your friends and family. Here’s how:

1. Visit this page

2. Watch the 16 GIFF finalists

3. Vote for the winner of the Global Audience Award

We’re not kidding…it’s that easy.

The winner of the GIFF Global Audience Award will be mailed a prize package from Geocaching HQ, and will receive a specially awarded badge for their profile page. Want to learn more about the making of these films? Check out our interviews with the filmmakers: https://www.geocaching.com/blog/

GIFF

Voting for the Global GIFF Audience Award will close Sunday, February 22nd at 9pm PST.

February 13, 2015 / Carly /

Three Cheers for January’s Geocacher of the Month Nominees

Each month, the global geocaching community meets three outstanding geocachers. As part of this community, your task is to help decide which one will be known forevermore as a Geocacher of the Month.

These exceptional people stand out among others for their demonstrated dedication to the game we all love. If you’re lucky enough to someday meet one of them, give ‘em a high five. Each of the nominees below will receive a prize package from Geocaching HQ in Seattle, but only one will be the next Geocacher of the Month. A panel from Geocaching HQ will use your comments, community input and other data to decide the winner.

Now it’s your turn to help us select the next Geocacher of the Month. Write a supportive comment below for the nominated geocacher you feel should be awarded the title.

Timpat

Timpat is known in the New York geocaching community for his impressive hides, supportive nature, and extensive GPS and mapping expertise. With nearly 10,000 finds and 400 hides, he is a true inspiration to all. Not to mention, his kayak geocaches are amazing.

Renmin says, “Impressively, he records tracks on his GPS as he travels unknown trails. He converts them to a map file to share with others to use on their gps units. He also has supplied local preserves with trail maps of their land to which they use at the kiosks for any who hike them. Through his volunteer work in helping these preserves with better maps, he has been able to put a good face on the local geocaching community.”

family Behrens

Described as “the ultimate geocacher”, family Behrens (aka FB) has helped geocaching bloom in South Africa. He is known in the local geocaching community for his creative and challenging geocaches (all 88 of them) and for his well-organized, highly attended CITO events.

Earnst Gucken states, “In short “family Behrens” has become somewhat of a legend in our neck of the woods. family Behrens is always trying to encourage others to hide their own geocaches. He does this by leaving his micro trademark cache containers in other larger containers, with a note attached; urging others to take his container and place it. He even adds basic instructions to help a novice CO.”

Koouye

According to TREGASTEL, “Koouye has an engaging personality. He does not hesitate to share his passion with new geocachers and give them valuable advice. Many creative geocaches were hidden by Koouye which has helped spearhead geocaching in the area.”

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