“Sputnik 2010: A Geocache Odyssey” (GC2JPJJ) offers adventurers one of the joys of geocaching: an amazing story. This geocache literally traveled through space before being hidden in North Carolina.

On December 18th, team GAIAcaching hosted an event to launch a geocache into orbit. Team member Woyi organized the event. It’s only the third time a geocache container has traveled out of the earth’s atmosphere. The first geocache in space (GC1G3H2) was launched from the West Coast of the United States and has since been disabled. The second geocache in space resides aboard the International Space Station (GC1BE91).

More than 30 geocachers attended “Event Horizon!” to watch the geocache, containing Travel Bugs®, a H.D. camera, two Android phones along with a geocoin and other items lift into space carried by a giant inflatable balloon.

The launch zone marks the first stage for this difficulty two, terrain three Multi-Cache.  After it lifted off, the geocache traveled approximately 124 miles. According to GAIAcaching team member, Waya, the balloon climbed to an altitude of 101,001 feet. During the decent Waya tells Latitude 47 the balloon reached a velocity of 130 miles an hour.

The landing zone is the final stage. The balloon touched down on private property. The team lead from GAIAcaching, e6c, worked with the land owner to allow geocachers access to find the cache.

The cache page instructs geocachers to let the homeowner know you’re geocaching for artifacts from space in his backyard. The balloon which carried the geocache also remains at the site for posterity.

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This Multi-Cache gets geocachers to take a swim then dries them off. Two of the stages for “Tulamben” GC1EBYM are underwater and final stage is on dry land.

Tulamben is a small village on the Northeast coast of Bali, Indonesia.  The tourist destinations draws visitors from around the world to dive the wreck of a U.S. Transport ship.

The U.S.A.T. Liberty sank here in World War Two after being torpedoed. Parts of the ship are submerged in as little as 3 meters and as deep as 30 meters of water.

Clues to the geocache are located in two spots on the wreck.

Geocacher glogloman hid the difficulty three, terrain five geocache in late 2008. According to the cache page more than 20 cachers from over 20 countries have found “Tulamben.”

Continue your exploration with some of the most engaging geocaches from around the world. Explore all the Geocaches of the Week on our blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.

“Nad Podkovou” GCXEWR hides in the hills of the Czech Republic. “Nad Podkovou” translates from Czech to English as “Above the Horseshoe.” The cache takes adventurers above a horseshoe in the Vltava River. It’s the longest river in the Czech Republic.

A. da Mek placed the difficulty three, terrain three geocache in July of 2006. Geocachers hike to a path 500 feet (160 meters) above the river. The cache is just off the path, allowing geocachers to avoid scrambling around the dangerous cliffs. More than 120 geocachers have logged a smiley on the cache.

Continue your exploration with some of the most engaging geocaches from around the world. Explore all the Geocaches of the Week on our blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.

Geocaching can be a voyage to uncover forgotten history.  “Fireboat” (GC1EJ4W) brings geocachers to an example of Hong Kong’s shipbuilding prowess in the 1950s—the fireboat Alexander Grantham.

Sir Alexander Grantham was a British administrator who governed Hong Kong and Fiji in the 40’s and 50’s.

AirQ placed the cache back in 2008. More than 30 geocachers have logged a smiley on the micro cache.

Geocacher Iain Morris even posted this video on the Geocaching.com Facebook page about his journey to find “Fireboat.” Watch Iain’s adventure in the video player below.

There are no spoilers in the video, but there are spoilers for frustrated geocachers on the cache page. This difficulty 1.5, terrain one cache is only available when the boat is open for public tours.

Continue your exploration with some of the most engaging geocaches from around the world. Explore all the Geocaches of the Week on our blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.

“Echo Canyon Summit” (GC18C9B) takes geocachers to a vista over looking Scottsdale, Phoenix, and a kaleidoscope of desert colors in Arizona, U.S.A.

The micro cache is rated a difficulty 3 and a terrain 3.5. Hands-On Cachers hid the geocache in January of 2008. The first line of the cache notes reinforces the high terrain rating. It reads, “Strenuous hike up Camelback Mountain.”

You’re also warned to watch out for muggles. This hiking path is a high traffic area. The cache owner says it’s the muggles in the area that increase the difficulty rating for “Echo Canyon Summit.”

Still, more than 100 geocachers have found the bison tube cache.  The hike is even suitable for athletic children. The cache owner does warn about the desert heat if you attempt this cache in the summer.

Continue your exploration with some of the most engaging geocaches from around the world. Explore all the Geocaches of the Week on our blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.