Category: Extreme Geocaching

/ Eric Schudiske /

An Honorable Challenge: 200 Thunderbird Geocaching Art

The 200 Thunderbird Geo Art geocaches create a crystal clear picture that geocaching can extend beyond searching for a container outside. Geocaching means different things to different people. To many, geocaching is a reason to get outdoors, explore, and stay active. To others, geocaching is a challenge, a puzzle, or a creative outlet. To some, it is a venue for memorializing a certain event, location, or person. The 200 Thunderbird caches are a combination of all of the above.

200 Thunderbird Geo Art trail, birds-eye view

Developed by timtreinen, X$r, Johnny Rango, and Danzilla, four cachers from southern Idaho, the 200 Thunderbird is Geo Art compiled of 200 caches. The trail is located near the Mountain Home Air force Base (AFB) in Mountain Home, Idaho and forms the shape of an F-16 Thunderbird fighter plane in honor of the men and women who have served on the base over the years.

The Mountain Home AFB has been open since August of 1943 and has played a significant role in United States history. Cache developer timtreinen writes, “While we chose to do the F-16 as a nod to Mountain Home AFB and its men and women, we wanted the art to be part of something larger. We wanted it to be something our local area cachers would not only enjoy but be proud of, something they would want to invite their friends, locally and nationally, to come and enjoy with them.”

Thunderbirds in flight

After extensive research and preparation, the four cache creators spent ten hours placing all 200 caches in a single day. The plan was to have the entire Geo Art project ready in order to be introduced at the Western Idaho 11/11/11 Event. The event was orchestrated primarily by Johnny Rango and the League of Idaho Geocachers.

According to timtreinen the plan worked, “By 11/11/11, we were ready. More than 75 people showed up from all over Idaho and neighboring states to enjoy the fun of launching this new Geo Art. Many of them braved the dark, wind, and cold that night to start caching the art. ”

200 Thunderbird Crew

Here’s the catch – this Geo Art is more than an organized compilation of traditional caches. Included in the 200 Thunderbird Geo Art are 15 Wherigo Caches, 12 Letterbox-hybrid Caches, 22 Multi-Caches, and 151 Traditional Caches. The effect of using different cache types creates a color-coordinated design.

The Geo Art covers close to 5 square miles and is 5.7 miles long from top to bottom. Timtreinen states that, so far, “at least half a dozen others have finished the art with times ranging from 8 to 23 hours.”

According to timtreinen, “Judging by the participation, it seems evident that we have accomplished our purpose to create something cachers can enjoy.”

If you’re interested in popular existing  Geo Art designs, make sure to check out: Head Alien #01, PEACE SIGN SERIES #1: Can you feel the Peace?, and CREW Rookery #09 – Clyde Butcher (JP136).

/ Eric Schudiske /

“DSOM – Minero las piedras” GC273NE GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK – November 21, 2011

Dark Side of Mallorca

The warning is clear: “Never go alone!” This difficulty five, terrain five geocache challenges adventurers as they descend below the surface of the island of Mallorca.

The cache page for “DSOM – Minero las piedras” (GC273NE) weaves a ghostly story of phantom voices and those who did not obey warnings turning to stone. ‘DSOM’ stands for ‘Dark Side of Mallorca.’

Pullermann & Tossiman hid the small size cache in 2010. Some 35 geocachers have logged smileys on the geocache and it has received 23 Favorite Points so far.

The cache page tells the story of Pedro, the ghost of the stones. The cache owners tempt geocachers to hunt for the cache: “Do you want to unveil Pedro’s secret? His ghost may live in an old can which is hidden very well somewhere in the quarry. To locate it, you have to follow Pedro’s traces. But be careful, never walk alone…”

Dark Side of Mallorca

To find the final location of this Multi-Cache, geocachers must use clues collected at several waypoints. When they finally reach the location of Pedro’s ghost they discover artifacts which lead them to the final cache container. Geocachers must also use specialized climbing equipment and are advised to take extreme caution.

One geocacher reports completing this geocache took his group seven hours. He also said “DSOM” was one of his favorite caches. Other logs on the cache page read, “Wow wow wow!” Followed by a string of smileys.

Dark Side of Mallorca

Continue your exploration of some of the most engaging geocaches from around the globe. Explore all the Geocaches of the Week on the Latitude 47 blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com. If you’ d 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@groundspeak.com.

 

/ Eric Schudiske /

Geocaching Alter Egos: TheVillains!

TheVillains

Some people pack a GPS device or smartphone, a pen and some gear to hit the geocaching trail. Mr. and Mrs. Mysterious who geocache under the team name TheVillains also pack mustaches, sunglasses, and comic books. Their geocaching alter ego is all about spreading the joy of evil geocaching. Their logs and cache pages are populated with quotes like this, “Horrible Hunting…. Muhahahahahahaha!!!!”

When asked by Geocaching.com “How evil is your evil geocaching?” Mr. and Mrs. Mysterious simply replied, “Very.”

TheVillains humble beginnings

TheVillains beginnings are humble enough. They started geocaching in February of this year. Mr. and Mrs. Mysterious write, “Well it all started with comic books. We wanted to leave a trademark item and we decided that comic books were awesome and so were the villains in them. So we decided to become villains ourselves with awesome disguises and take over the world of geocaching.”

Like all great comic book villains, the geocaching team has a simple, yet universal villain goal. They say, “Our goal is to dominate the world of geocaching by finding every single geocache in the world!!!! So one day your own geocache will be dominated by TheVillains!!!!! BEWARE!!!!! We also leave every geocache with our calling card and a villainous comic book (if it fits).”

They’ve definitely left a mustachioed mark on their geocaching community. They write, “We get a few emails from other geocachers after finding their ‘difficult’ geocaches, challenging us to find others. We also have quite a fan base, and get photos of people who have found our own geocaches… or not… posing as if they had a cool mustache like our own.”

TheVillains cache page log photos

With their alter egos TheVillains injected some… well… theatrical, villainous flare into the Southern California geocaching scene. They even square off against arch enemies.

Mr. and Mrs. Mysterious write, “We published our most well know geocache Mrs. Mysterious’s Mustaches (GC316RZ) where there is a series of false geocaches that when you find them, they have similar logos to our own, but the wrong mustache! We got a message from a fellow geocacher saying that she recently published a cache nearby and it was just found by our arch nemesis’s BBsquared and Spoons1 and that they are probably on their way to ours to be the FTF right now!”

It’s at this point where the evil geocaching duo sprang into action. They say, “So we put on our disguises and jumped in the car and drove over. Sure enough, there they were crawling under bushes and looking in trees trying to find our cache. We rolled down the window, they recognized us obviously, and we gave them a few foreboding hints leading them in the wrong direction and drove off with a Muhahahahahaha!!! It took them over an hour to find it.”

TheVillains, the next generation

BBsquared logged the cache and wrote, “We hopped like bunnies, searched in trees, TheVillains stopped by and laughed at me. We searched and looked and laughed, our clothes are pretty dirty but Spoons1 and I weren’t leaving until we logged a smiley. T4T [thanks for the] very devious and horrible $ – Muhahahahahahahahahahahahaha.” He finished by saying, “Happy – errrr I mean Horrible hunting.”

TheVillains are still in their first year of geocaching, they’re gaining notoriety and a following. The photo to the left was fresh crops of villains was recently uploaded on their Facebook page.

Even TheVillains mustaches are open to change. “We have been through a plethora of mustaches we recently grew these new handle bar ones, what do think? But we are always looking for new styles. But as far as costume changes go, we are sticking with the glasses and ‘stashes as our trademark logo shows.”

TheVillains at a night-cache

If you’re thinking about a career in evil geocaching, or creating an alter ego in your geocaching community, TheVillians have advice. “We can always use more henchmen…. But really, just be creative. No one likes finding lame geocaches, try to make everything you do interesting and create a theme, maybe one day you can be as cool as us….. not…..”

Then they signed their email with their trademark sign off, “Horrible Hunting,- TheVillains”

 

/ Eric Schudiske /

Geocaching.com Presents: “The Rock”

[This video contains spoilers with express permission from cache owners. The video is in German. For English subtitles, play the video then click on the CC button.]

 

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A war-torn bridge along the banks for the Rhine River serves as the imposing destination for geocachers attempting, “The Rock” (GC1EJ43). Watch the Geocaching.com Presents video, “The Rock” to experience what over five hundred geocachers have accomplished. Go along as geocaching daredevils attempt this physically intense difficulty five, terrain five puzzle cache. The cache is one of Europe’s most popular geocaches with more than 300 Favorite Points. Geocachers should only attempt “The Rock” if they have advanced climbing experience and proper equipment.

Filming of "The Rock"

Geocaching.com will continue to release English, Czech and German language geocaching videos in the coming months. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to be one of the first to see new videos. Watch the more than 50 videos produced by Geocaching.com on our video page.

Eine am Ende des Kriegs zerstörte Brücke am Ufer des Rheins dient als imposantes Ziel für Geocacher, die den Cache “The Rock” bezwingen wollen. Schau Dir das Geocaching.com Presents Video, “The Rock” an, um zu erfahren, was schon einige geschafft haben. Schau zu und sei dabei, wenn waghalsige Geocacher diesen physisch intensiven T5/D5 Rätselcache machen. Der Cache ist einer der beliebtesten Geocaches in Europa mit mehr als 300 Favoriten-Punkten. Geocacher sollten “The Rock” nur dann angehen, wenn sie fortgeschrittene Klettererfahrungen und die richtige Ausrüstung haben.

The Rock

Geocaching.com wird auch in den kommenden Monaten weitere Geocaching Videos auf Englisch, Tschechisch und Deutsch veröffentlichen. Abonniere unseren YouTube-Kanal. So erfährst Du umgehend, wenn wir ein neues Video veröffentlicht haben. Du kannst Dir inzwischen mehr als 50 Videos auf unserer Videoseite anschauen, die von Geocaching.com produziert wurden.

/ Eric Schudiske /

Geocaching in the Dark: The Great Canadian Night Caching Event

Geocaching doesn’t stop when the sun goes down. That’s especially true when the winter days grow short. A group of Ontario, Canada geocachers known as the BFL Crew go night caching every Friday. Once a year though, it’s not just a few people on the hunt for night caches – more than two hundred geocachers take the woods after dark. Saturday, October 29 will mark the sixth annual “BFL BOOT CAMP.”

The cache page promises, “an evening full of mischief planned, and we’re sure you’ll enjoy it.” John Robb of teamvoyagr is one of more than 15 organizers for the event. He’s been introducing people to night caching for years. He says, “It is natural for people to be apprehensive about going in the woods at night to find caches. Your senses become heightened. You have to keep your eyes open for branches, roots, rocks and other obstacles that are in your path. Noises sound different and much closer at night. The creaking tree always seems closer when it’s dark. This heightened sensitivity is what makes night caching so much fun. You feel the experience more than you see it. ”

BFL Boot Camp

The night caching community has grown over the last six years of BFL Boot Camp.  Attendance for the 2011 event has  already climbed to more than 200 “will attends” and there’s still time to register.

John says part of that success of the event is experiencing the joy of night caching and part of it is enjoying the geocaching community. Hey says, “The BFL Bootcamp combines the fun of caching at night with the group camaraderie of caching with friends. Small groups form up and head out to find the caches. The event runs from 2100h to 0400h and over the course of the night groups will encounter each other on the trails.  At those meetings previous finders pass on encouragement and warnings about the challenges of certain caches.  As word spreads anticipation mounts.”

This year John says there’s more to experience at night than any other BFL Boot Camp. He says, “This year there have been caches that use reflectors, ultra-violet light (UV), infra-red light, glow in the dark, lasers, LEDs, polarized light, Wherigo and one even used braille.”

If you can’t make it Ontario for the BFL Bootcamp, John offers this advice for your own night caching event, “Start with the basics. Not everyone wants to go traipsing through the woods at night. Create some caches that aren’t too complicated so that people can be rewarded for overcoming their apprehension with a find or two.   Finding a night cache is more about your awareness skills than it is about your GPSr. ”

Here’s four easy tips from John about how to get started night caching in small groups:

1) Find a Partner: (or partners): John says, “[We] encourage group searching.  We don’t advise doing anything in the woods alone at night.”

BFL Boot Camp

2) Light up the Night: John says, “Another important point about night caching is having good lights.  An LED headlamp is the best type of light to use.  FireTacks [special reflectors] seem to show up better with an LED light.  Anything that is retro reflective is much brighter the closer the light source is to your eye.” You may also want to bring a UV light. Many night caching clues involve UV light.

3)Don’t go Dark: John says, “And don’t forget the extra batteries.”

4) Be Aware: Check out some of these favorite night caches to see what’s out there. John says, “Blind Man’s Bluff (GC2G4AV) which required the finder to use locate six tubes that had braille numbers punched on the inside. Underworld (GC2D81G).  This cache required the finder to enter several slot caves in the Niagara Escarpment and locate reflectors.  This was a physically as well as mentally challenging cache. A tricky cache from two years ago was Signs of Night (GC1Y19Z).   The simplicity of this cache can fool you. My group couldn’t figure it out without the help of the hint. I really enjoyed this cache for its elegant simplicity.”

For more on night caching check out this Geocaching.com video.

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