July 30, 2014 / Derek H /

Find your knight in shining armor. — Castle Northmoor (GCX612) — Geocache of the Week

Geocaching HQ's own knight in shining armor, Bryan, victoriously makes the find. — Geocaching HQ’s own knight in shining armor, Bryan, victoriously makes the find.

Geocache Name:

Difficulty/Terrain Rating:

1/1.5

Why this is the Geocache of the Week:

There’s hidden history all around us—and geocaching is a perfect way to discover it. Seeking out this geocache will bring you to a castle tower—no, not in Europe—in Kansas City. While Missouri isn’t traditionally known for its castles, this tower has been bringing joy to geocacher’s faces since 2006. The tower itself was constructed in 1980 by Harlan Shaver, which included the structure as well as the intricate carvings throughout the interior. For a more detailed history, the geocache page even has a phone number to call for a guided tour.

What the geocache owner, SunshineWalker, has to say:

“I was inspired to place this cache because the property owner used to walk at E. H. Young Park in Riverside, MO. (the town next to Northmoor)…He told me about a strange Tupperware container he had found in the bushes. He said it had notes and little doodads in it. The container also had the Geocaching Logo and website information. I was curious and looked it up on the computer. It was a cache that had been lost and Larry’s dog found it.

I got very interested and took my family to several local caches. I still walked in the park with Larry [the property owner] and he told me about his father. The more I heard, the more I wanted to see it. When I saw the castle tower I knew I had to make it a cache site. Larry has been quite nice about sharing his property and he loves telling visitors about his artistic mother and stonemason father who built the tower.

I’ve really enjoyed the geocaching community and loved creating caches…It was great to take the family on hikes in places we would have never visited and look for treasure. A few years ago we even went to a cache on an island in the middle of the Kansas River. The kids LOVED the adventure, but we were a muddy mess! Fortunately the river was quite low and we waded most of the way.

I think Geocachers are some of the nicest and most interesting people I’ve ever met. They love adventure and are willing to search for hours in the dark for a camo box with penny trinkets in it. How devoted and determined! (The poison ivy generally doesn’t show up for two or three days.)”

What geocachers are saying:

“Found this cache thanks to the recommendation from a local friend. I was visiting from Seattle. Wow, what an amazing experience…It’s amazing to me that I never would have had this experience if not for geocaching. For this I am most grateful.” — Bryan

“This amazing cache was about 6 miles from our hotel, and it was well worth the trip. This place is amazing! Such amazing detail! I was glad that I made the trip out here! This one gets a favorite point for sure. I will be recommending this cache to anyone that travels to Kansas City. TFTC!” – croling

“This is one of my favorite caches to date. A further treasure was the builder’s son was nearby and told us much about the man who built the tower…Great geocache! Thanks for the cache owner and the property owner!” – Jawman173

Photos:

Castle Northmoor in all its glory. Photo by geocacher Unitzoid

The Knight of Castle Northmoor. Photo by geocacher *pixie

Hand-carved details on the door. Photo by geocacher Iscandar

If King Arthur were alive today and wanted to go geocaching with you, which geocache would you take him to and why?

Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog.

If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, just fill out this form. Thanks!

July 29, 2014 / Alex /

It’s Always Sunny in Geocaching HQ

There’s some serious Geocaching going on in this family.

Brothers Sterling and Ethan are avid geocachers, and it seems to run in the family. Their mother, Candice, wanted to teach a Geocaching unit to the 120 students in her school’s gifted children program. At the time, though, there simply weren’t enough caches within walking distance of the school.

edited — It’s always sunny at Geocaching HQ.
Sterling and Ethan are pictured in the middle, with dad David in the center back, and mom Candice on the far left.

Like a true geocacher, Sterling came to the rescue.

Once he had 100 finds, Sterling hid four geocaches that his mother could take her students to. The class was undoubtedly a success. Within several months, many of the students had over 100 finds (and their parents were getting in on it too). Sterling and his younger brother Ethan maintain their caches carefully, and Sterling himself now has over 200 finds, with 250 in sight.

We were so excited that Sterling, Ethan, Candice, and David decided to spend the day at Geocaching HQ…especially since it was Sterling’s 10th birthday. Happy birthday Sterling, and best of luck to everyone!

July 29, 2014 / Carly

July’s Geocacher of the Month: True Mentor and Friend

July 2014 Geocacher of the Month: Leftygator

Sometimes the world is a big place.

It’s a daunting place with crisscrossing borders and politics, and for many it’s often isolating. Then there’s geocaching. The Geocacher of the Month taught us a lesson. The world of geocaching is small, connected and ready to celebrate the contributions of other geocachers.

We met three geocachers from different countries. Each delivers serious geocaching joy to their local geocaching communities, whether it’s gadget geocaches, inspiration and encouragement or a groundbreaking series of geocaches, or even all three.

Each of the geocachers will receive special recognition and a prize package for their contribution to the adventure of geocaching. Before naming the Geocacher of the Month, Geocaching HQ reviews community input and blog comments. Each comment is read and posts in native languages are encouraged.

It was a difficult decision.

With over a decade of geocaching and ambassador expertise, this adventurer can now claim the title “Geocacher of the Month”.

Leftygator is known throughout the Mississippi geocaching community for his contagious smile, extensive GPS knowledge and round-the-clock helpfulness. With over 100 hides under his belt, he is also a master at hiding. Rumor has it that his are the toughest and best in the area.

One geocacher writes, “Ricky and I first met Lefty in August 2008 at our very first event that we went to. When Ricky saw Lefty he told me he was going to hang onto Lefty’s coat tail and learn everything he could about geocaching and hang on we did. We went on a number of caching trips with him and he took time to show us how to load caches and how to use GSAK. Ricky was diagnosed with leukemia on Sept. 5, 2011 and Lefty visited with Ricky quite often while he was in the hospital and would take Ricky’s phone calls anytime of the day or night. Ricky went into remission and we had eight good months of caching before Ricky passed on Nov. 17, 2012. Lefty was there for me as well as many of our geocaching friends. Leftygator is my friend and hero.”

Another geocacher says, “He was the first cacher I came across while on the hunt and stopped to talk to me for a few minutes even though he could have just continued on his way. His hides always make you think, “If I was Lefty where would I hide this cache?” He never hesitates to help, not only in the geocaching world but he passes on advice as a military veteran to the active military in the community. I consider it an honor to have Leftygator as one of my caching mentors.”

Lefygator taking a break to pose with his handy gps

Congratulations again to Leftygator for earning the July 2014 title of Geocacher of the Month.

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

If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be considered for the honor, simply fill out this webform.

July 25, 2014 / Paige Edmiston /

7 Tips for Achieving All 7 Souvenirs of August

MailerImage_07072014_7-Souvenirs_of_August_vFINAL_BLOG

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyuepAOlhrg&feature=youtu.be]

This August, your mission is to explore more of the geocaching universe and, ultimately, to become one of the super-cachers who earn the highly coveted Achiever souvenir. To unlock this special geocaching achievement, you’ll need to find 6 specific geocache types in the month of August.

Here are 7 tips to help you achieve, well, Achiever status:

1. Be Prepared

This motto is not just for the Boy Scouts. Finding 6 different geocache types requires planning ahead, especially if you live in Traditional-heavy area. Check to see what souvenirs might require leaving your neighborhood, and see if you can tie them into a weekend road trip or business travel. And, of course, always carry your tools of the trade (TOTT) in case opportunity strikes. (Never, never get caught without a pen!)

2. Start Early

With only 6 geocache finds needed to earn the Achiever souvenir, it can be tempting to put them off until the last weekend. Warning: This is not college. Cramming is no longer a safe bet. Start knocking off the souvenirs early in the month to allow room for error.

3. Partner with Friends

Feeling intimidated by finding a new geocache type? That’s what friends are for! As we learned with the Geocaching Personality Quiz, it takes all kinds to make up the geocaching community. Find someone who has a different personality type than you so that you can each specialize in finding specific geocache types. Friends can even help you sprinkle extra awesome on the 7 Souvenirs of August.

4. Throw a Party

To earn the Socializer souvenir, you need to log an Attended at an Event Cache, Mega-Event, or Giga-Event. Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter to learn about upcoming events in your area, or host one yourself! Remember, hosts can log an Attended for their own Event Caches.

5. Host a CITO

Don’t have an Earth Cache near you? No problem! Every neighborhood could use a CITO event. You’ll earn the Nature Lover souvenir and Mother Earth will thank you.

6. Double Check Your Neighborhood

Partner with friends — Sometimes earning a souvenir will take two… or four!

We’ve all done it. You’ve cleared out all the Traditional geocaches in your area, and you feel like there’s nothing left to find. (Okay, you Puzzlers and Collectors. Some of us have done this. Okay, fine. I can only say with certainty that I’ve done this. Happy?) This is your chance to take off your Traditional geocache blinders and see the Multi-Caches, Mystery Caches, and Letterbox Hybrids for what they are: geocaches waiting for your autograph.

7. Put it in Perspective

Yes, earning the Achiever souvenir can be daunting. But let’s put the challenge in perspective: Traditionals are easy to come by, you can attend or host an event, and if there’s not an Earth Cache in your area, you can host a CITO event. Knock those three out and you’re already halfway there! That just leaves three more geocaches to find: one Mystery Cache, one Multi-Cache, and either a Virtual, Whereigo, Letterbox Hybrid, or WebCam Cache. Take a deep breath… and go get ‘em. (But wait for August 1st of course.)

Tell Us Your Tips

Are you an expert in finding a specific type of geocache? If so, leave your tips for finding that geocache type in the comments below. This is going to take teamwork, friends!

July 24, 2014 / Eric Schudiske /

Geocaching Near the Top of the World – Finnish Style

Mega-Smiles at Latitude 61 in Finland

Editor’s note: Geocaching HQ staff are attending dozens of Mega-Events around the world, shaking hands, sharing stories of adventure, and of course, geocaching. Each person at Geocaching HQ brings their own unique talent to advancing the adventure. Some write code for the website, others design images for the apps, and some shoot videos explaining it all. Cindy or Frau Potter works with geocaching community volunteers. This is her Mega-Event experience.

At Latitude 61, this time of year days are long and nights are short. With sunrise at 4:00am and sunset at 11:00pm, I found this left plenty of time for meeting geocachers at Mega Finland 2014 – Amazing Geocaching. In fact, more than 1,600 geocachers attended this event and I needed all that extra time to meet them all!

My weekend began with a 3-hour train ride from Helsinki, Finland to the event location at Himos holiday resort near Jämsä, Finland. I arrived just in time to witness hundreds of geocachers helping to set up the geo-village, including erecting tents and preparing campfires. It was terrific to see all the collaboration. The event organizers (Gnutcha&Joorz) are veterans at hosting Mega-Events. This was the third and biggest, Mega-Event they organized. They were understandably proud of this free event. The Himos resort supplied the location, showers, toilets and water free of charge in return for the paying campers and cottage rentals. Gnutcha&Joorz said the official expenses for the event came in at about 60 Euros.

My amazing team - Jarom, arnevela, tuulituuli and Gandal491 — My amazing team – Jarom, arnevela, tuulituuli and Gandal491

The primary activity at the Mega-Event were two Adventure courses (one competitive and one leisure) and 10 fun Lab Caches. Geocachers were divided into teams to complete these courses. A highlight of my weekend was working with my team – Jarom, arnevela, tuulituuli and Gandal491 – on the course and Lab Caches. We had a lot of laughs together.

My favorite stations were “Flaming Tower, “Robin Hood” and “Bingo”. The Flaming Tower required three geocachers – one to pump water, one to aim the spray at the target and one to grab the container as it floated to the top. What a great activity for such a hot day!

Careful aim brings geocache container floating to the top

Robin Hood looked like a modern practice for Hunger Games, except no one got hurt. And the Bingo activity was a creative Lab Cache that required you to get signatures from event volunteers who had completed certain geocaching accomplishments. The Bingo activity was a brilliant way to make sure participants talked with volunteers.

IMG_4724_1_1 — Galdal491 signs for Bingo lab cache

Queue waiting to sign coffee event logbook

It was terrific to see why geocaching is so popular in Finland and to meet so many new friends. To my new Finnish geocaching friends, I say “Kiitos!”. Thanks for the adventure!

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