Galvanisé de savoir que quelqu’un avait trouvé toutes les géocaches posées sur Terre, le HQ Geocaching a initié la suite logique afin que la croissance du jeu garde son rythme. Avec la mise à jour d’aujourd’hui et le lancement de la recherche galactique, les joueurs peuvent maintenant chercher des caches dans l’espace.
Geocaching HQ Announces Historic Expansion of Search
Geocaching is all about having fun. So naturally, we love April Fools.
Last Friday, April 1st, we introduced a new feature called Galaxy Search, a tool to start planning your greatest geocaching adventure yet — in space. (Boy, do we wish this feature were real…maybe one day!)
Our favorite astronaut Rick Mastracchio even played along by “hiding” his first-ever geocache, also in space.
In addition to Astronaut Mastracchio’s geocache, 65 other geocaches were “hidden” in space, forming some stellar geo-art.
[April 4,2016] Note: All ‘Found It’ logs on the space geocaches are now notes and associated souvenirs will be removed. The caches were archived, but you can still view them on this Bookmark List.
Introducing Galaxy Search
Buoyed by the knowledge that someone has found every geocache on Earth, Geocaching HQ has taken the next logical step to keep pace with the game’s growth. With today’s website release and introduction of Galaxy Search, players can now search for geocaches in space.
This historic development is nearly eight years in the making. The HQ team first began investigating the possibility of an all-encompassing Search tool when Richard Garriott (Username: LordBritish) placed his International Space Station geocache in 2008. Astronaut Rick Mastracchio (Username: AstroRM) was FTF on that cache in 2013. Shortly thereafter, Mastracchio informed Geocaching HQ of his desire to place another space cache during his time in orbit. At that point, it became clear that work on Galaxy Search must begin immediately.
Upon completing and implementing Galaxy Search, our developers made a stunning discovery. Search results yielded not only the International Space Station geocache and Astronaut Mastracchio’s new geocache, but also a previously unknown geo-art collection of more than 60 cache listings! These amazing geocaches were placed by such luminaries as James T. Kirk, Luke Skywalker, Ziggy Stardust and others.
We’re thrilled to now share these far-out geocaches with the community. Simply visit the Geocaching.com Search and check out the latest featured search.
Alternatively, players can download the public Bookmark List of space geocaches. With the recent addition of Offline Lists to the Geocaching® app, players can easily save these new caches to mobile devices, making it easier than ever to go geocaching in space!
Turnagain Arm Tidal Bore Earthcache — Geocache of the Week
It was almost 11 years ago, but geocacher and HQ employee Prying Pandora remembers the moment well.
Prying Pandora was with CENT5, also visiting Alaska on a geocaching trip, and NorthWes, a local Alaskan and geocacher who was their tour guide for the day. As they drove along the dramatically scenic Seward Highway in a rented minivan, they took in the never-ending range of snowcapped peaks, and fjords filling with and spilling out water.
Suddenly there came a cry from the back of the car.
“BORE TIDE!!!”
It was NorthWes, who had caught sight of the phenomenon that his EarthCache, GCN6YV, describes. The van immediately stopped, everybody piled out (some more or less confused as to what was happening) and NorthWes explained what they were seeing.
Later, in her log, Prying Pandora wrote, “What a totally cool thing to witness, and unbelievable luck to have caught it!”
You see, this EarthCache is all about a bore, but it’s not boring.
Turnagain Arm is a waterway off the Cook Inlet in the Gulf of Alaska. The Arm’s unique combination of topography and tidal activity results in the geological feature that’s at the heart of this EarthCache: the tidal bore.
Before you say, “No, you’re a tidal bore!” let’s talk about what ‘tidal bore’ means. Basically, it’s a wave—a very, very special wave. It’s the individual large wave caused by a sudden influx of water rushing into a narrow, shallow inlet that’s still draining water from the previous tide. The rush of water coming into the inlet runs right into the draining water going out in the opposite direction, and boom!
Well…slosh.
Making it to the right spot in time to catch that wave’s journey through Turnagain Arm (and take a photo of it) is the task prescribed in this Geocache of the Week.
Continue to explore some of the most amazing geocaches around the world.
Check out all of the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog. If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, fill out this form.
Geocaching adventures in Las Vegas
By Jen Pearce, Geocaching HQ Employee
Have you been to Seattle, home of Geocaching HQ, in the winter time? It rains here — a LOT and we just had our wettest winter on record. Many Seattleites try to visit sunnier climates during this season, and the employees at HQ are no different. So where to?
Factoring in our limited time (a weekend), our shared interest (geocaching), and our greatest desire (to see the sun), we decided to go to Las Vegas, Nevada!
Our first stop was Route 66, a historic highway that runs from Chicago, IL to Santa Monica, CA. The highway fell out of use in the 80s when the Interstate Highway System was created, leaving behind ample, rarely-disturbed space for geocaches.
Our next stop was Hofbräuhaus Beer Hall for GC6BJG6, an Event Cache to meet up with local and visiting geocachers in Las Vegas.
Our last stop was the Valley of Fire, Nevada’s oldest and largest state park.
The park is home to petroglyphs, gorgeous red sandstone ranges, EarthCaches, and the final resting place of Captain Kirk from the movie Star Trek: Generations.
The peak seen in the movie is called Silica Dome, which also happens to host GC4Z3F6: an EarthCache by Landondena. There is an “easy” way to reach the dome and a “hard” way — we took the hard way.
Other notable EarthCaches (and a Virtual!) we found within the park: GC1PPNP, GC1PPNG, GCH723 (limited time meant leaving the park before we found all of the caches).
The next time you venture through Nevada, keep an eye out for the Lackeys on Tour stamp in the local logs.
Until next time…
Letzte Chance für CITO-Events!
Bald ist es soweit! Im 14. Jahr in Folge haben Geocacher bei der Cache In Trash Out®-Woche die Möglichkeit durch die Teilnahme an einem CITO-Event positiv auf ihre Umgebung und die Community vor Ort Einfluss zu nehmen. Dies kann in Form vom Pflanzen neuer Bäume, Müllbeseitigung, oder sogar der Wiederherstellung von Lebensräumen geschehen. Vom 16. bis 24. April kannst Du dazu noch ein spezielles Souvenir verdienen, wenn Du an einem CITO-Event teilnimmst.
Finde ein CITO-Event in Deiner Nähe.
Du siehst keine Events in Deiner Umgebung? Dann ist es noch nicht zu spät selbst einen CITO einzureichen. Schau Dir diesen Blog-Artikel für Tipps an, wie Du Dein eigenes CITO-Event veranstalten kannst. Aber denk daran: CITO-Events müssen mindestens zwei Wochen vor dem Eventdatum eingereicht werden.
