The basics of geocaching are inspiring in their simplicity. A geocacher hides a geocache and challenges others to find it. That’s it. And it’s easy to unlock the joy of geocaching when you discover clever hides and share the adventure with good friends. Becoming a great geocacher is all about remembering the little things. If you follow these five quick steps every time you geocache, you’ll be ready for Geocaching stardom.
1) Bring a Pen – There are few rules in geocaching. But one rule is that you need to sign the logbook. Always pack a pen to make sure you’re ready to sign your Geocaching username, the date, and leave a note.
2) Leave No Trace – Be kind to the geocaching game board (which is the entire world). Make sure to Cache In Trash Out (CITO) when you geocache. Pick up litter along the way and leave geocaching locations free of trash.
3) Write a Great “Found it” or “Didn’t find it” Log – When you find a geocache, or even when you don’t find a geocache, make sure to share the spirit of adventure. Write a log detailing the geocaching journey for the geocache owner and for other geocachers.
4) Put the Geocache Back Where and How You Found it – It’s tempting. You ask yourself, “Wouldn’t the geocache be better hidden if it were just over there?” Resist the temptation. The geocache owner placed the geocache at a specific location for a reason and will need to find the geocache when it needs maintenance or when other geocachers need help finding the geocache.
5) Move Trackables Along – If you remove a Trackable, like a Travel Bug ®, from a geocache make sure to post a “retrieved” log and move the Trackable along to another geocache as soon as possible.
These five steps will have you rocking the geocaching world in no time. What geocaching tips would you add? Post your thoughts in comments below. Oh, and don’t forget a 6th step: repeat steps 1 – 5 often!
Congratulations to the Featured Geocacher of the Month, The Weasel
The decibel level from the global geocaching community rose to new heights during voting in January. Hundreds of geocachers commented to support of outstanding nominees from the United States and the United Kingdom. More than 800 comments were tallied for all the nominees.
Each geocacher nominated offers the global geocaching community a unique example of a caring geocacher. All are truly winners, as we learned about these three gracious and giving geocachers. Thank you to all those who supported them. The nominees not chosen as featured Geocacher of the Month will receive a gift of appreciation from Geocaching.
After tallying the comments and careful consideration, 2013 begins with The Weasel being named January’s Featured Geocacher of the Month!
The Weasel is recognized for organizing Cache In Trash Out (CITO) events, helping guide local geocaching as a board member of the Iowa Geocacher Organization, and spreading the word about proper geocaching etiquette through conducting and assisting in over 50 geocaching 101, 201 and 301 classes and workshops throughout the State of Iowa and abroad.
A geocacher who voted for The Weasel writes, “I heard my parents speak over and over again about caches put out by The Weasel, so I had to see for myself what was so good about them. On a few visits to see my parents we headed out to get a little caching in. Inevitably nearly every cache that I liked turned out to be placed by The Weasel. His caches are fun, unique, well placed, and well maintained. You can’t help but get excited about geocaching when you are working on one of his caches! And to know how much he cares about his community, the environment, and the awareness and promotion of geocaching through friendships and education”
Featured Geocacher of the Month Icon
The Weasel will receive a collector’s edition featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat and certificate acknowledging his contributions, signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com. See a list of all the featured Geocachers of the Month here.
If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be considered for the honor, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com. Every nomination must meet the following requirements:
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 Geocacher of the Month
Please inform your nominee that you’ve submitted them for the award.
Nominations for the February Featured Geocacher of the Month must be received by the end of the day on Friday, February 8, 2013.
Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose three candidates and post them on the Geocaching blog. You will then get a chance to champion your favorite. Our goal is to involve the entire geocaching community in this process so we might learn from each other.
They put on events, they readily share geocaching tricks and tips and they challenge new and seasoned geocachers with their hides. They are the January Featured Geocacher of the Month Nominees.
December 2012 Featured Geocacher of the Month, Moneydork
Now it’s your turn to help select one of them as the Featured Geocacher of the Month for January.
Write a comment at the bottom of this blog about which of these geocachers you feel should be awarded the Featured Geocacher of the Month title.
In December, Wayne, a.k.a. Moneydork was recognized for establishing himself as one of Australasian’s most prolific geocachers. His efforts to support the community as a Geocaching volunteer reviewer and good Samaritan have not gone unnoticed. He even managed to organize New Zealand’s very first Mega-Event from 3500 km (2175 miles) away. According to fellow geocachers, Moneydork’s hides and events are legendary Down Under and he never hesitates to give his all to the sport.
Here are your nominees for the January Featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.
Mr Bluesky writes, “On November 29th, Don, [a.k.a. Kirret] will have found a geocache every single day of the year, since November 2011. He has done this in three different countries and on two continents. This year alone he has found over 1,700 geocaches, including a grand haul of 100 on March the 27th. Don worked in Scotland in 2010 and 2011 and I got to meet him through geocaching. We immediately became firm friends. I had the pleasure of geocaching with him in Canada in July 2012 and then again on August 18th in Scotland. Don is very enthusiastic about geocaching and has, just by meeting people while out geocaching, gotten many involved in this hobby by informing them of what he was doing and how enjoyable it is. He mostly geocaches with his wife and son and is one of Guildford, England’s most prolific geocachers. He is out in all weather conditions with a smile on his face and a GPS in hand. I think his achievements this year is a remarkable feat.”
ttcm4geo writes, “If you visit Prescott, Arizona as we were one weekend, you will note something curious. Many of the geocaches you visit will have a note stating that ‘while you are in Prescott, you must find a geocache called Raven’s Labyrynth.’ So many geocacher said this that we finally decided to pursue it. The geocache itself is amazing, which I am sure took weeks to construct. Then we found out that the geocache owner has many similarly thought-out geocaches in the area. In fact, Prescott is known as ‘Ravenland.’ But, even more amazing is that if you email Dan, a.k.a. The Raven with a question, he promptly replies and tells you to call him. So we called him and got some assistance. He was very nice, and you can tell that his only goal is to help people enjoy geocaching. His geocaches are creative, well thought out and so much fun. He does all this work for people many of whom he will never meet. Therefore, I think he deserves this recognition.”
SuperGoober writes, “Tim, a.k.a. The Weasel is what geocaching is all about. He gives back so much more than he takes. He hosted the very first CITO in the Midwest: EIGA 2004 CEDAR RAPIDS CITO EVENT. He is an active member and Board Director for the Iowa Geocacher Organization and a volunteer for the Linn County Conservation. Tim has conducted and assisted in over 50 geocaching 101, 201 and 301 classes and workshops throughout the State of Iowa and abroad. His knowledge of the wilderness extends well beyond that of an average geocacher. He uses his extensive knowledge of the outdoors to help other geocachers by placing some very creative and educational geocaches. The Weasel has an impeccable sense as to what geocaching is all about. He realizes that cache maintenance is very necessary to ensure that geocaching is fun and that the geocache is there. He is just unstoppable.”
Comment below to tell us who you think should be the January Featured Geocacher of the Month. A panel of Lackeys will use your comments to help decide which geocacher is awarded the honor. Each featured Geocacher of the Month will receive an exclusive special edition featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat, a Geocacher of the Month profile icon and a certificate acknowledging their contributions, signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com. We will be accepting comments for January’s award through Sunday, January 20th.
Those whose nominees were not recognized here are encouraged to submit their nominations again next month. If you know an outstanding geocacher you would like to nominate to be a featured Geocacher of the Month, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.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 Geocacher of the Month
Please inform your nominee that you’ve submitted them for the award.
Nominations for the February Geocacher of the Month must be received by Friday, February 8th.
Once we have received all of 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 we might learn from each other.
We are wrapping up 2012 with yet another outstanding featured Geocacher of the Month. Congratulations to Wayne, a.k.a. Moneydork for being named December’s Featured Geocacher of the Month!
December Featured Geocacher of the Month, Moneydork
Moneydork is recognized for establishing himself as one of Australasian’s most prolific geocachers. His efforts to support the community as a Geocaching.com volunteer reviewer and good Samaritan have not gone unnoticed. He even managed to organize New Zealand’s very first Mega-Event from 3500 km (2175 miles) away. According to fellow geocachers, Moneydork’s hides and events are legendary Down Under and he never hesitates to give his all to the sport.
A geocacher who voted for Moneydork writes, “My first ever event was Moneydork’s third Massive Easter Egg Hunt, which he held every year until he moved to Australia – that were seven events in total. I was the last to find a nearby Multi-Cache at one of the events, and he was walking the opposite direction as I walked towards GZ (ground zero). He promptly turned around to make sure I found it. I didn’t know who he was, but even in just three months of geocaching, I knew of his geocaching handle. When I first started geocaching, my town had a few active geocaches then for a while there was no activity. Moneydork came and placed a cache just out of town to try and get things moving again. He is always unassuming, quiet, and willing to help anyone with geocaching. He won’t tell you where it is but he will make sure you have to work it out yourself and find it. He has always been a bit of a legend down here and insists he’s no different from anyone else. I’m just surprised he hasn’t been nominated before now. Only shame is I can only vote once, but I’ll just have to make sure every other New Zealand geocacher votes for him too.”
Moneydork will receive a collector’s edition featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat and certificate acknowledging his contributions, signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com.
Featured Geocacher of the Month Icon
Thank you to the fellow December nominees and all those who supported them. The nominees not chosen as featured Geocacher of the Month will receive a gift of appreciation from Geocaching. See a list of all the featured Geocachers of the Month here.
If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be considered for the honor, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com. Every nomination must meet the following requirements:
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 Geocacher of the Month
Please inform your nominee that you’ve submitted them for the award.
Nominations for the January Featured Geocacher of the Month must be received by the end of the day on Tuesday, January 8, 2013.
Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose three candidates and post them on the Geocaching blog. You will then get a chance to champion your favorite. Our goal is to involve the entire geocaching community in this process so we might learn from each other.
Click on the image to learn more about each Geocacher of the Month
NOMINATE A GEOCACHER OF THE MONTH
They don’t speak the same language and they don’t all live on the same continent, but all of these geocachers above have something in common: they’re all united through their love of geocaching and the community it creates. They’re all Geocachers of the Month.
If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be considered fill out this webform now.
Every nomination must include the following items and abide by the following guidelines:
Your name, the name of your nominee, their username
A picture of the nominee
Description explaining why he or she deserves to be the Geocacher of the Month
Wonder who else has earned the Geocacher of the Month award? Check out this video below and click CC for subtitles.
