Let’s set the scene. You’ve heard a few friends talk about this thing called “geocaching” and you fancy you might be pretty good at it. After all, you are fairly certain that your uncanny ability to locate lost car keys must mean that you have pirate’s blood coursing through your veins.
With your handy-dandy smart phone in hand, you set off to find the nearest geocache. According to your GPS you are right on top of it – but wait! Where’s the X marks the spot? You search high and low. You are on the verge of giving up when you spot a rock that doesn’t quite look like a rock….and yes, you’ve found it!
Finding a geocache feels kind of like this!
Now rewind the clock to a time long, long ago – a time without smartphones, Facebook, or (gasp!) geocaching. Thirteen years ago today Mike Teague became the first person to find the first geocache (at the time called a “stash”). It’s an adventure shrouded in lore. The word “geocaching” hadn’t even been invented yet. You can read much more about Mike Teague and the history of geocaching here. But the sense of wonder the first geocacher felt, is the same sense of wonder that now ripples through six million more geocachers. Are you one of them?
Share the story of your first geocaching find below in comments!
Staring contest, you and me. Go. Photo by geocacher Indigo Parrish.
Millions of years ago, a sea covered a large portion of the land that is now the United States. During this time, dinosaurs called Sauropods and Theropods roamed North Texas. Some experts* say they were geocaching, potentially looking for terrain five geocaches. These giant reptiles left footprints in the soft mud that have been preserved for millions of years. And until this documentary becomes a (terrifying) reality, finding the Dinosaur Valley Earthcache (GCQMHY) might be as close as we can get to living dinosaurs.
Mrs. Scattermycaches excited to be at the park’s entrance.
The dino footprints that you’ll see while you’re in the park were made about 113 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. The tracks were discovered in the early 1900s, however they did not become famous until 1937 when palentologist R.T. Bird saw them while collecting fossils. Bird continued exploring the Paluxy River looking for more prints and eventually uncovered a large Sauropod and Theropod trackway.
As you follow in the footsteps of these dinosaurs, you might be wondering what these beasts looked like. The three-toed footprints are most likely from Acrocanthosaurus, a smaller relative of T-Rex. These meat-eating, giant lizards were about 20–30 feet long.
Discovering Theropod tracks. Photo by geocacher Silver Fox 62
The round and smaller hoof-like footprints come from Sauropods. This group of dinosaurs are large plant-eaters that walked on all fours. Bones found in 1996 led to the discovery that the tracks belonged to a new species of dinosaur: Paluxysaurus jonesi. At 60–70 feet long and 12 feet tall, these giants became the official dinosaur of Texas in 2009.
To earn your smiley for this Earthcache, you’ll have to answer a few dino-related questions. Although the questions aren’t easy to answer, that hasn’t deterred geocachers from experiencing this amazing place. “We love Earth caches for the education that they provide, and this one was no exception. It was amazing to walk in the same footsteps as the dinosaurs!” said geocacher BANDA in their log.
These amazing tracks were discovered by someone searching in the woods. What’s the most amazing (and appropriate) thing you’ve discovered while searching for a geocache? Tell us 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.
Your geocaching schedule should be packed as we enter the busy season, but everyone has 15 minutes to create an amazing Geocaching memory. The WWFM X (World Wide Flash Mob #10) is coming to a location near you. Nearly 400 events in more than 30 countries will take place on May 4, 2013.
Thousands of geocachers are anticipating the 15 minutes of fun from this global event. It’s coming up quick, but there’s still time for you to plan your own WWFM event. The WWFM events are 15 minutes of fun and excitement, packed with “typical” geocaching event activities like group photos, tiny event meals, prize giveaways and trackable trading.
The World Wide Flash Mob was born back in May 2007 when Sonny and Sandy of the PodCacher podcast hosted the PodCacher Flash Mob Cache Event, coordinated with 20 other events on the same day and time. From that small beginning, the WWFM has grown astronomically spreading around the globe to include more geocachers and more events every year. The previous WWFM IX held in June, 2012 brought together 15,487 geocachers at 312 events in 31 countries. This year is the milestone 10th WWFM and it is expected to be even bigger. With about three weeks left to go before May 4th, there are already 396 events posted in 31 countries.
WWFM events have come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny to enormous. And they’ve been held in all sorts of locations, from the cold of Alaska to the desert of Iraq and from downtown Zürich, Switzerland to a small town in Peru. WWFM events have been held in 50 countries and almost every single US state and Canadian province. It’s hard to say what is so appealing about a worldwide geocaching flash mob. Maybe its the sense of community and knowing that geocachers all around the world are having the same fun and hilarity at the same time. Maybe it’s having a lightning fast, organized-chaos event that happens in public and shows the muggle bystanders the fun and creative people who count themselves as geocachers.
WWFM 2012 Crazy Hair Themedf
The unique and creative twists that WWFM event hosts have added are endless. There have been water gun fights, bubble blowing, kazoo bands, banana-phones, a prom theme, chicken dances, umbrellas, frozen-turkey bowling and more!
This year for WWFM X, many events are planning Star Wars themed activities, based on the date of May 4th (“May the Fourth be with you!”). It’s a good fit, since many geocachers know that using their Geo-Jedi sense is the best way to find those tricky geocaches!
WWFM events are a fun, friendly and creative way to promote geocaching around the world. If you want to attend a WWFM X event near you, you can browse the bookmark list or check out the Geocaching.com event calendar for the date of May 4th.
If you would like to host a WWFM X event, you can find all the information you need at the Official WWFM Website. But you’ll need to hurry! Events must be published 2 weeks prior to the event date and you’ll need to make sure your local geocaching community volunteer reviewer has enough time to review and publish your event.
Come and FLASH (mob) with us—and May the Fourth be with you in all your geocaching endeavors.
Two million active geocaches is a big deal. But at the end of the day, two million active geocaches is a number. It’s hard to even imagine. Here’s a little perspective on the magnitude of two million. It takes you more than four months to blink two million times. About two million babies will be born around the world this week. And students spend two million minutes to complete four years of high school classes in the United States.
Two million active geocaches though, means adventure is closer than ever. Active geocaches can be found in more than 180 countries. Those at Geocaching HQ in Seattle weigh in on the significance. Cathy Hornback at Geocaching HQ has more than 11,000 finds. She’s been geocaching under the username Prying Pandora since 2003. She says two million active geocaches takes Geocaching into the mainstream, “It means we’re no longer the biggest game that no one has heard about.”
Jenn Seva, MissJenn, at Geocaching HQ says congratulations goes to geocache hiders, “Thank you so much for those quirky gems and amazing locations. Thank you also to those who take the time to award Favorite Points so that it’s slightly easier to choose my destinations.” (You can thank a geocache hider by sharing this video)
Recent “Corporate Day” at Geocaching HQ (no one really dresses like this at HQ)
MissJenn also helped power the worldwide geocaching volunteer community. Each of the two million active geocaches has volunteer reviewer fingerprints on them. Each geocache was individually reviewed. She says volunteers should take a moment to enjoy the milestone, “Being a steward of the game takes a lot of time and dedicated effort. Please take a moment to bask in a bit of the glory: beam with pride! Take a look at this awesome community that you have helped to create: one geocache at time, one forum thread at a time, and one translation at a time.”
Geocaching is now more than 12-years-old. Jon Stanley, Moun10Bike, has been geocaching since its infancy. He works at Geocaching HQ and says, “At the outset, I had no idea that this great game would ever get this big. When I placed Idaho’s first geocache back in 2000, there were less than 40 geocaches in existence, and I naively placed a hitchhiker in the geocache with the idea that it might someday visit every geocache in the world. Now we’re at two million. My hitchhiker, poor little Stash Hopper never had a chance!”
But Jon reminds us, “Remember, it’s not about the numbers! For this game to continue to thrive, we all need to become stewards of the game and push forward to new heights of creativity, cooperation, and commitment!” Well said.
Share your comments below. What does reaching two million active geocaches mean to you?
Homepage counter at 5:11 am Seattle time on February 28
Join Geocaching in celebrating a major milestone! The 2 millionth active geocache was published on February 28 at approximately 5:11am Seattle time. It’s located in Australia. The 2 millionth active geocache is Overwatch #1 (GC46N4E). The traditional geocache is rated a terrain 3.5, difficulty 3.5 and promises to take geocachers to a lookout over the city of Alice Springs. As of 6:12am Seattle time, the geocache has not yet been found.
To celebrate this milestone – Geocaching will be rewarding the global community with previously unreleased Geocaching Souvenirs. Hundreds of thousands of geocachers will receive never-before released country and region souvenirs. Find details here. Geocachers also have a new way to thank geocache hiders. Share this new “Thank a Geocache Hider” video with those who place and maintain geocaches so many enjoy.
Click to see the latest Geocaching Souvenirs to be released
