Geocaching is delightful because of the people who play it — adventure-seekers, makers, parents, astronauts and (sometimes) celebrities. Read their stories.
The Arc de Triomphe. Photo by geocacher H20 de Mer.
As this is being written, cyclists are pedaling their way through France, racing through 2115 miles (3404 km) of countryside. Racers travel from all over the world to take part in this race. Despite recent controversies, the Tour de France is still one of the top physical challenges faced by cyclists. This year’s race ends with a loop around the Arc de Triomphe, right by this week’s Geocache of the Week.
Finally found it! Photo by geocacher Stillroaming.
While the full Tour de France is an extreme mental and physical challenge, this geocache is only a difficulty 1.5, terrain 1, so training anything but your geosense and stealth skills won’t be necessary. The geocache, aptly named Arc de Triomphe (GC18TKN), brings you to a spot with breathtaking views of the Champs-Élysées, the Tour de France (if you’re there on the right day), and of course, the Arc de Triomph.
The geocache creator, pacuso, made sure to meet two criteria for this geocache, “interesting location and/or great camouflage.” This geocache was placed in 2008. During that time, pacuso says, “Paris was lacking of stashes on touristic places, so I decided to fix that! Apparently 3518 visitors agreed.” Of the many visitors to earn their smiley for this geocache, geocacher Stone Raiders had this to say, “First find in France! Great location and excellent hiding place.”
The geocacher/Tour de France cyclist, Jens Voigt. Photo from his Twitter account.
If you’re near GZ when the Tour de France is there, there are two things to keep in mind. One, a wish from the geocache owner, “I just hope that geocachers won’t try to run in front of the “peloton” (the group of cyclists) to go log it!!” And two, keep an eye out for Jens Voigt, a cyclist competing in the race who also happens to be an avid geocacher. Maybe after the race, you can find this geocache with him.
Some cyclists competing in the Tour de France may find that the mental challenge is more difficult, while others may think it’s all about the physical challenge. When you’re out geocaching, which challenge (mental or physical) is harder to overcome? Tell us why in the comments.
Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.
If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, send an email with your name, comments, the name of the geocache, and the GC code to pr@geocaching.com.
Posing with the four men in the mountain. Photo by geocacher FrogJoeyDuring the construction of Mount Rushmore.
On this day in 1776, the United States of America formally adopted the Declaration of Independence, which declared independence from Great Britain. While this holiday is most often celebrated with barbecues, fireworks and get-togethers, we think finding this week’s Geocache of the Week would make a great addition to any Independence Day celebration. Granite Rushmore (GC33JW4) is an Earthcache placed by geocacher csr212 located at Mount Rushmore, where the faces of four United States Presidents have been carved into the side of a granite mountain.
The four presidents included in the Mount Rushmore sculpture are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington are two of the four Founding Fathers of the United States. Theodore Roosevelt is noted for his progressive ideologies, conservation efforts and unique personality. Abraham Lincoln was President during the American Civil War and is credited with abolishing slavery.
Earning your smiley for this difficulty 1.5, terrain 1.5 geocache isn’t as simple as just visiting this national monument. Those wanting to find this geocache will have the option to post a photo of yourself at the location and are required to answer a few questions about the history of the sculpture, as well as the rock it’s carved into. So far, this Earthcache has earned numerous Favorite Points and plenty of positive logs. Geocacher DevoeAM4 wrote, “On our way to Alaska from DC and this was an obvious stop. First time here and we went for both the lighting ceremony during the night and during the next day and we’ll be back for sure. Pictures just don’t do it justice. Thanks for the great cache!”
Maybe the next addition to the monument? Probably not, but a GPS enthusiast can dream. Photo by geocacher goodguys101
Another positive log comes from geocacher elvira_crew, who says, “On our way from the Badlands to Yellowstone we had to make a little detour to visit this famous monument. We had seen it in films and in pictures, but in reality it is much more impressive. It was interesting to read some facts about its history in the visitor center. Thank you for this interesting earth cache.”
Historical places and monuments make for incredible and interesting geocaches. What’s your favorite geocache that’s placed near a monument in your country? Tell us about it in the comments.
Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.
If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, send an email with your name, comments, the name of the geocache, and the GC code to pr@geocaching.com.
The earned, never for sale, Geocacher of the Month geocoin (sun flare optional)
From vlogging about geocaching, to geocaching events, to coveted geocache hides, the nominees for Featured Geocacher of the Month offer a custom-made welcome mat to new geocachers. They help craft unforgettable experiences. This is your opportunity to help name the Featured Geocacher of the Month.
Each Featured Geocacher of the Month will receive an exclusive special edition Featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, hat and profile icon. They’ll also receive a certificate acknowledging their contributions, signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com.
In May, OHMIC was named the Featured Geocacher of the Month. OHMIC has been geocaching since 2008. One geocacher who commented about OHMIC wrote, “He has hosted many training sessions for new cachers and he has also organized numerous caching events. OHMIC’s annual Cache the Marsh event is a favourite of new and seasoned cachers alike, and is renowned around Manitoba.”
OHMIC – Geocacher of the Month May 2013
Now it’s your turn to help us select the next Featured Geocacher of the Month. Write a supportive comment at the bottom of this blog for the geocacher you feel should be awarded the title.
Each geocacher named below is already a winner. They will receive a prize package from Geocaching HQ. A panel of folks from Geocaching HQ will then use your comments to help guide the decision of which geocacher is awarded the Geocacher of the Month honor.
Here are your nominees for the June Featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.
Cache Cracker Jacks – Nominees for May Geocacher of the Month
Logan Childress, aka altosaxplayer, writes, “I would like to nominate Cache Cracker Jacks from Kingsport, TN… In the 14 months since they started caching, Tom and Dori have found over 1200 caches and placed 83 for others to find, a good portion of which are custom created containers…as well as an area favorite “Excalibur” which has so far received a favorite point from each cacher who has logged it.
They have introduced several individuals to the sport, chiefly through their weekly volunteer work at geocache friendly Bays Mountain Park, the largest city-owned park in the state of Tennessee, and their new monthly event initiative. So far in 2013, they have held an event each month except February, with the events for the rest of the year already planned and soon to be listed on the website. They work with local restaurants for hosting the events to bring cachers to places they perhaps haven’t been before and to support our local businesses.
They are doing this in hopes of fostering a feeling of family in our geocaching community as well as attracting non-cachers to the sport.”
Jenny Nordqvist, aka jempas.se, writes, “I’d like to nominate the Swedish geocacher fredrikhast for Geocacher of the month! … Not only does he hold the record for most favourite points in his town, he also holds the 1st place in the entire state.
Numbers aside, Fredrik and his geocaching buddies in Team Cache Us If You Can frequently organizes events with elaborate themes, jam packed with fun stuff and breathtaking hides.
Fredrik often uses multimedia to enhance the experience for geocachers visiting his geocaches, whether it’s a trailer promoting the cache itself or building websites that expand the universe for the cache. It’s stuff like that that makes you want to log a cache twice! 🙂
As a father of a child with mental disabilities, I know he tries to put out hides to satisfy all types of geocachers, including the ones in a wheelchair.
Another thing Fredrik does for the geocaching community is vlogging about his geocaching adventures (Swedens only, in fact). I bet his videos are a big inspiration for beginners who just found out about this sport and go searching for info on Youtube!”
RAVILLOIS nominates French geocachers Bitzlav for Featured Geocacher(s) of the Month. The couple has been geocaching since 2009. RAVILLOIS writes in French, “Bitzlav est connu en France, Lorraine, pour l’ingéniosité de ses caches. Au delà du nombre important de caches qu’il possède il rend le géocaching encore plus attrayant car il imagine sans cesse de nouvelles boites. Faire des caches de Bitzlav est devenu un sport national chez nous. Malgré tout, il a su rester modeste.
ENGLISH: “Bitzlav is known in France, Lorraine, for the ingenuity of their geocaches. Beyond the large number of geocaches, they have made geocaching even more attractive because they are constantly imagining new geocache containers. Finding geocaches by Bitzlav has become a national sport here in France. Nevertheless, they still remain modest.”
Comment below to tell us who you think should be the June Featured Geocacher of the Month. We will be accepting comments through July, 17.
If your nominee wasn’t recognized here, please submit your nominations again next month. We’re always looking for the next Geocacher of the Month. To nominate a geocacher, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@geocaching.com and include the following information:
Your name, the name of your nominee, their username
A picture of the nominee
Description (200 or more words) explaining why he or she deserves to be the Featured Geocacher of the Month
Please inform your nominee that you have submitted them for the award. Nominations for the next Featured Geocacher of the Month should be received by July 15.Once Geocaching HQ has received the nominations, we will choose the top candidates and post them on the blog. You will then get a chance to champion your favorite. Our goal is to involve the entire geocaching community in this process so that we might learn from each other.
Maybe this was the train Ozzy Osbourne was singing about in “Crazy Train”. Photo by geocacher Brasstax.
This week’s Geocache of the Week was born from the depths a fiery train crash. You might be thinking, “Jeez, that’s kind of a bummer. I hope no one was hurt in the wreck.” Until, of course, you learn that the train wreck was all a piece of Hollywood cinema. If you’re up for a hike and a challenging find, Ring of Fire (GCJYHZ) will show you a piece of movie history.
In 1961, the film “Ring of Fire” was released. This film is a classic, campy story of boy meets girl, all while a giant forest fire rages through the Pacific Northwest. You can even watch the original trailer. Movie spoiler alert: The grand finale of the film occurs when a train is stuck on a flaming bridge. Eventually, the bridge weakens and collapses, sending the train cars tumbling into a ravine. While the movie is set in Oregon, the actual filming location for this stunt was in Washington. After filming, the crew did their best to remove the wreckage, but several pieces still remained. Several years later, geocacher ironman114 found the location and placed this geocache there.
Check out the epic grand finale (skip to the 13 minute mark):[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gGnzVdnFkmI#t=758s]
A piece of wreckage from “Ring of Fire”. Photo by geocacher cougarcach24.
Since then, many geocachers have found this difficulty 3.5, terrain 5 geocache and ended up with great stories. Geocacher crouchcrew had this to say in their log, “What an awesome, amazing cache for an awe-inspiring, epic milestone! He did good by picking this one. From the ropes, the climb, the railcars, the view, the history, the celebration, the beautiful day and finding the cache en masse made for a geocaching top 10 day! Thanks so much for placing and maintaining this consummate cache!”
As a fan of old movies, the CO, ironman114, knew this spot would make a great geocache. Regarding the positive logs and favorite points, he says, “I derive a lot of satisfaction to see all the cachers enjoying the trek and hunt for this cache… If you get a lot of positive logs then you know you did it right.” He goes on with a message for other geocachers who plan to hide a geocache, “Location, Location, Location. Take time to think about it and if location is bland then make a good container or story to go with the geocache. Just because you can hide a geocache within feet of a full smelly pit toilet doesn’t mean you HAVE to!”
Have you ever come across old wrecks, abandoned buildings or other once-inhabited places while geocaching? Tell us about it in the comments.
Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.
If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, send an email with your name, comments, the name of the geocache, and the GC code to pr@geocaching.com.
Many anxious geocachers set alerts to ping them when a new geocache is published. Within minutes of going live, a geocacher rushed to claim the FTF (First to Find). In the case of one lonely geocache, in an uninhabited swath of Canada, it took nearly 12 years for a brave and determined geocacher to venture into the wilderness and sign the logbook. 4.5lb Walleye (GCDFB) was hidden June 23, 2001. It registered its first find on June 8, 2013 by geocacher Stormgren-X. Here’s his story.
The idea for finding this geocache came to Stormgren-X months before he set out. “I planned the trip myself over a six month period from researching the route, history, other accounts of this amazing canoe route, food, gear, and logistics of getting to the launch site and getting out and back home,” he said, “I was prepared to do the trip solo, but managed to convince my life-long friend to join me on this amazing journey along this historical canoe route.”
On the day before they left, Stormgren-X posted about their journey in the Geocaching Forums and included a link to the Spot tracking page, “I expected a few people on the geocache watchlist to perhaps follow along from time to time. By the time we reached Fort Albany and were set up in our lodge, I…was overwhelmed to see 375 replies to my thread. It was amazing and I felt great that so many people were watching and cheering us on…So many emails of encouragement and positive comments. We were pleased that we offered some sort of live entertainment and discussion to the geocaching community on our journey…”
From there, the real adventure began. The first two days of canoeing proved to be the most difficult. Stormgren-X recalls, “The winds and rain were non-stop and made for freezing toes and fingers, [and] poor morale…” After the initial problems, the weather cleared and made for an enjoyable trip. On the eighth day, they reached ground zero and finally found the geocache, “…I saw a foreign object. It looked like a rounded corner of something, and I grabbed it between index finger and thumb and pulled on it. I easily pulled it out from it’s hiding spot under the moss and yelled at Gord, “Here it is! I found it!”I placed it on the ground and immediately took notice that it was intact and contents were still inside.”
Found it! Stormgren-X with the 4.5lb Walleye.
Regarding the trip, Stormgren-X said, “The eight and a half days we spent on this arctic watershed adventure is one I won’t soon forget. Being immersed in that environment, without communication with the outside world, and seeing so few people was so refreshing from the busy and modern life we are so accustomed to. The historic places we visited and the thoughts of men and women who toiled in this land to make a life for themselves was astounding. Many times we felt so small and insignificant in such a vast wilderness, but so connected to it at the same time. To travel 435 km along such a huge waterway and not see many people, any roads, bridges, railways, dams, or industry is something difficult to find in this world. I consider myself lucky to have experienced the voyage and the great memories.”
