January 27, 2012 / Eric Schudiske /

January Featured Geocacher of the Month Nominees – Add Your Comments

January’s featured nominees are fabulous examples of uniquely talented geocachers. Though many other qualified candidates were nominated, Groundspeak Lackeys selected these three helpful, innovative, and creative nominees. Now it’s your turn to help select one of them as January’s featured “Geocacher of the Month.”

Write a comment on this blog post about which of these three geocachers you feel should be the featured “Geocacher of the Month.” Those whose nominees were not recognized here are encouraged to submit their nominations again next month.

Last month, AbbeyAckbar was chosen as the December Featured Geocacher of the Month. AbbeyAckbar, a geocaching couple, was recognized for organizing some of the most creative and popular events in Dublin, Ireland. They were also acknowledged for their consistent willingness to assist geocachers in need. Congratulations again to AbbeyAckbar and all other December nominees.

Here are your nominees for the January Featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.

Bloodhounded

Nominated by BigAI437, “Kevin has not only started the geocaching blog, Cachecrazy.com, that reaches international geocachers, but he is constantly getting involved with the local community. Recently he set up a geocaching day for a group of local Girl Scouts. He took them out to find some caches after teaching them all about geocaching. Kevin made sure that these young girls had lots of fun and learned about a new sport that is not only fun, but takes you to places that you might have never visited. I am totally inspired by his commitment to geocaching, the geocaching community, and to his local community.”

SerenityNow

Nominated by TeamDotOne, “SerenityNow is responsible for the largest annual events in Ohio known affectionately as the Grand Caching Events (GCE). An example of one of these events is CSI: Cleveland. Not only do to they go way out of their way to host the best events ever but they always seem to come up with something new each and every year to make people want to keep coming back. We have spent countless hours enjoying their company, enjoying their events, enjoying their caches and most importantly, enjoying their friendship.”

Memomls

Nominated by Horseshoechamp, “Memomls has put on many 101 events and always embraces new cachers with her friendly charm. She is the back bone of North Florida and is known far and wide for her giving- not only her knowledge but her wisdom of caching to all she comes in contact with. Memomls is part owner in a starting Geo-Business here in North Florida called The Cache Station which supplies all sorts of items for both new and old cachers alike. She looks out for many geocachers and willingly hosts events for different people’s accomplishments, even when they are new to geocaching.”

Comment below to tell us who you think should be the featured January “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 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 Monday February 6th.

geocacherofthemonthGeocoin(anniephone) — Geocacher of the Month Geocoin

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.

Every nomination must meet the following requirements:

Please include your name, the name of your nominee, their username, at least one picture of the nominee and a description (500 or fewer 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 February 17th.

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.

January 16, 2012 / Eric Schudiske /

Lowest Cache on Earth GC1EHNZ GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK – January 16, 2011

Lowest cache on earth 2 — View of The Dead Sea from new the geocache location

The sunbaked rocks near the shore of The Dead Sea hide a geocaching adventure. Treasure-hunters trek to a location unlike any other on earth. Geocachers descend 111 meters (364 feet) below sea level to search for what’s billed as the “Lowest Cache on Earth” (GC1EHNZ).

The journey, as geocachers’ GPS devices track closer to the cache coordinates, reveals a scorching desert of shepherd tending flocks, palm trees and wiry brush.

The cache is hidden on the Jordan side of The Dead Sea. The cache owner Limbo placed the small tradition cache in 2008 at an ideal vantage point. Limbo writes on the cache page, “After you find it, find a place to sit and enjoy the great view of the Dead Sea.”

Geocachers from around the world have logged smileys on the cache. One writes, “Given the altitude of this one, I really wanted to pick it up. My driver was pretty interested in the idea and accompanied me across from the parking spot to GZ, and was suitably impressed when I walked straight to the cache and voila! I signed the log while he sorted through the stash, and then it was back to the car to escape the ridiculous heat. They both reckon it was about 50 degrees Celsius [122 F] out here today.”

Lowest cache on earth 3 — Geocachers log smileys on the cache

If you’re in the neighborhood in March, and can stand the heat, you could also log an Event Cache. “Meet & Greet @ the Lowest Point on Earth” (GC3AC47) is scheduled for March 3, 2012. It’s within a few kilometers of the “Lowest Cache on Earth.”

Lowest cache on earth — Cache container for "Lowest Cache on Earth"

Continue to explore of some of the most engaging geocaches 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.

January 9, 2012 / Eric Schudiske

Humphrey’s Archipelago GC1ZPE8 GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK – January 9, 2012

Humphrey 1 — Lighthouse near Douglas on the Isle of Man

Some geocaches take just seconds to find, others require days to unravel. Humphrey’s Archipelago (GC1ZPE8) is a Multi-Cache that can challenge geocachers for days. It’s a puzzle that has left geocachers saying, “an excellent geocache,” “very imaginative,” and “brilliant.”

The difficulty 2.5, terrain 2 geocache weaves the story of a fictitious Victorian explorer named Sir Humphrey Humphrey.

The cache requires following Sir Humphrey Humphrey’s whimsical story. Geocachers discover a faded map near a lighthouse on the Isle of Man. They then use the map and clues from an additional image on the cache page to answer the question, “Where did Sir Humphrey stay on his first night in the archipelago?”

Happy Humphrey created the creative geocache in 2009. The Woodsider IOM now owns and maintains the geocache.

Part of the adventure is catching glimpses of wildlife as you search for the location of the geocache. Happy Humphrey writes, ‘Look out to sea on the way; whales, dolphins, seals and basking sharks are often seen here (there was a Minke whale in sight when I first researched the cache.)”

Geocachers who logged a smiley on the cache write, “Brilliant cache just loved the first clue – never seen anything like it it before.”

January 2, 2012 / Eric Schudiske /

Pigeon Island GCWBYC GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK – January 2, 2012

Pigeon Island 1 — A view of the fortress on Pigeon Island

Pigeon Island (GCWBYC) reveals pirate lore on the Turkish shore of the Mediterranean. Geocachers cross over to Pigeon Island to discover an ancient fortress. It was used to defend against pirates in the 16th century.

The difficulty 2, terrain 2.5 geocache has collected the most Favorite Points in Turkey so far. More than 470 geocachers have logged a smiley by finding the small size geocache.

The cache owner, GB-Team, has some advice for avoiding muggles for those searching for the geocache. The cache page reads, “The location is not hard to find, I’ve posted some spoiler picts to help you. Search INSIDE the castle grounds. When attempting to retrieve this cache, make sure to look ALL around and check so NO ONE sees you, even the people ABOVE!”

The city is a stop for many tourists from around the world, including those traveling by ship. One geocacher who logged a smiley on the cache writes, “Our ship is in port for only a few hours today so went for an easy walk over to your GZ and found it no problems. This is our first cache here in Turkey and hope to find some more when we get to Istanbul tomorrow. Retrieved the Geocoin and will take it back to Canada. Thanks for placing a cache here. And Greetings from Canada.”

Pigeon island 2 — Cache contents with a view from Pigeon Island

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.

December 26, 2011 / Eric Schudiske

Salar de Uyuni GC2M6GC GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK December 26, 2011

Salar de Uyuni 1 — Salar de Uyuni - EarthCache

Geocachers hoping to log a smiley for Salar de Uyuni (GC2M6GC) encounter one of the world’s largest salt lakes. Werwolfi created the difficulty 3, terrain 4 EarthCache at the beginning of 2011.

The cache page reads, “Driving across it [Salar de Uyuni] is one of the weirdest and most fantastic experiences anywhere on the continent, especially during June and July, when the bright blue skies contrast with the blinding white salt crust and in the rainy season they turn into a gigantic mirror.”

To log the cache, adventurers must explore the geological site and answer two questions on the cache page. The answers must then be emailed to the cache owner. A photo must also be taken at specific coordinates.

Travel to the salt lake region will take geocachers to an altitude of 3650m (11,970ft). As one geocacher noted, not all equipment can endure the harsh environment, “We had a great day on the Salar de Uyuni and the Islands, but the engine of one of our Land Cruisers gave up.” So far, at least six geocachers have made the voyage and logged the EarthCache.

Official Blog

Category: Trackable Items