Mark your calendar for early November, 2013! Geocaching is rocketing into space once again. Astronaut Rick Mastracchio will deliver a Travel Bug® to the International Space Station. Mastracchio will be using the Travel Bug as an educational tool to help teach students around the world about geography and provide other educational lessons. The mission is currently scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan at 4:08 GMT on November 7 and we want you all to be there (at least in spirit). That means the launch is planned to liftoff at 5:08 a.m. in Berlin and November 6 at 8:08 p.m. in Los Angeles. Find out here what time the launch is in your part of the world!
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.”
Like what you see? You still have time to submit your own geocaching video! See details below.
Click the image to learn more
Earn a spot for your geocaching video on the big screen. Enter your geocaching video into the first annual Geocaching International Film Festival (GIFF). GIFF will showcase the best videos from geocachers around the world. You could win a 5-year Geocaching Premium membership, a personalized trophy and more!
Prizes will be awarded for the following categories:
Best Cinematography
Most Instructional
Most Inspirational
Most Creative/Experimental
Most Adventurous
Audience Award
Make sure you read the Official Rules before you submit your video. If your video is selected as one of the top videos, it will be shown to hundreds of geocachers on August 17, following Geocaching Block Party in Seattle.
Don’t wait: videos must be submitted by July 7, 2013. Good luck!
Mega-Events, or any Geocaching Event, are a way to decode all the unanswered mystery surrounding geocaching. You’ll discover geocaching experts who love to share their love of geocaching. It might be as easy as asking, “What’s it mean when the clue says you should tie your shoe?” (It typically means to bend down and look under a bench). You might also connect with new friends to help power your geocaching exploration. And that’s just the beginning. Here are 28 reasons, in no particular order, about what you could experience at a Mega-Event:
Earn a smiley. Meet local volunteers. Discover new friendships. Geocache before and after. Sign the official log book. Meet vendors.Buy sweet swag. Trade trackables. Ask questions. Ask more questions.Eat good food. Try something new. Discover a new city. Rediscover an old city. Connect geocaching names with faces. Take a picture with Geocaching mascot Signal. Be in-the-know on the latest trends. Discover trackables. Rekindle friendships. Introduce your kids to a new adventure. Log a new geocache type. Pinpoint a destination for your next trip. Compare epic geocaching stories! Find love (it’s happened before). Talk with someone who works at Geocaching HQ. Get inspired for your next hide. Brush up on your GPS tech skills. Get tips to finally find unfound geocaches.
If you’re searching for a great Mega-Event, check out the Geocaching Block Party in Seattle onAugust 17. The worldwide community will be attending and celebrating geocaching right outside Geocaching HQ. Do you know of a few more reasons to attend a Mega-Event? Share them with the geocaching community on comments below, or on our Facebook page.
It’s a “Will Attend” that will fuel memories for years to come. We’re inviting the entire worldwide geocaching community to join us at the 2013 Geocaching Block Party on August 17 in Seattle. It’s a Mega-Event not to miss. This year’s Block Party weekend lasts longer, promises more geocaching fun and has plenty of events for everyone. You’ll even be able to grab a cozy spot in front of a giant outdoor movie screen for the first annual Geocaching International Film Festival (GIFF). GIFF will showcase the best videos from geocachers around the world. You and the rest of the audience will choose one lucky video to receive the “Audience Award.”
The Thursday and Friday before the Block Party, you can reserve your spot on a behind-the-scenes tour of Geocaching HQ. You’ll get to find the Geocaching HQ geocache, meet some of the folks at Geocaching HQ and see where all the geocaching magic happens.
Saturday from 11AM to 6PM, you can soak up the fun at the Geocaching Block Party. Activities include a new GeoTour near Geocaching HQ and meeting the Geocaching HQ staff and many of the volunteers that assist the worldwide geocaching community. Sound like a lot? Don’t worry. You’ll be able to refuel at the onsite food trucks. Log your “Will Attend” now, then share this new Block Party Invite video with your friends. We’ll see you there.
Still want more? Wrap up your weekend in Seattle on Sunday with the Going APE Mega-Event. The journey through a long mountain tunnel delivers geocachers to a majestic and legendary location.
