July 28, 2015 / Janelle /

Incredible Geocaching Road Trips from Around the World

Three featured road trips from USA, Germany, and New Zealand

By this time, you’re probably aware that we are celebrating 15 years of geocaching this summer. We’re using the theme of road trips to make it fun for everyone. You have the opportunity to complete five geocaching quests, each of which will earn you a souvenir for your geocaching profile. Complete all five and you’ll earn a sixth, extra special souvenir.

Today, we highlight a three phenomenal road trips to take in three very different parts of the earth: Route 66 in the United States, a north to south bike tour of Germany, and a “New Zealand’s greatest hits” series of caches inspired by The Lord of the Rings saga.

United States of America – U.S. Route 66

150 miles stretch of Route 66 from Barstow, CA to Needles, AZ

U.S. Route 66 (US 66 or Route 66) originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending at Santa Monica, California, covering over 2,400 miles (3,862 km). In the 150 miles stretch between Barstow, California towards Needles, Arizona lies a power trail of 800 geocaches. A power trail is path with a large number of caches placed within close proximity to each other (though no closer than .1 miles apart). All the caches in this series are on the same side of the road; therefore, this series should be done heading eastbound.

GC2J17A - 001-Route 66. The first of 800 caches along the Route 66 power trail from Barstow,CA to Needles, AZ. — GC2J17A – 001-Route 66. The first of 800 caches along the Route 66 power trail from Barstow,CA to Needles, AZ.

GC2K087 - 400-Route 66 is a adorned with piles of rocks (SPR?) used to spell out where cachers are from, and the number "400". — GC2K087 – 400-Route 66 is a adorned with piles of rocks (SPR?) used to spell out where ‘cachers are from, and the number “400”.

GC2K6TW - 800-Route 66 is the final stop for this power trail, but unfortunately temporarily disabled due to repair work being done to the road due to damage from the flash floods of September 2014. — GC2K6TW – 800-Route 66 is the final stop for this power trail, but unfortunately temporarily disabled due to repair work being done to the road due to damage from the flash floods of September 2014.

A few caches along the route are not part of the series, such as GC1K592 – Kick up your feet! There lies an dead tree covering in old shoes. So, if the power trail wears yours out, you could always swap for an older, dirtier, more busted pair.

GC1K592 - Kick up your feet! is not part of the Route 66 power trail, but definitely a quirky stop along the route. — GC1K592 – Kick up your feet! is not part of the Route 66 power trail, but definitely a quirky stop along the route.

Germany – Deutschland-Tour

GC3JH5D Deutschland-Tour runs from north to south Germany and is meant to be completed on bicycles

GC3JH5D Deutschland-Tour is a 26 stage (with one alternate) Multi-Cache that runs from the north of Germany to the South, covering over 1,600 kilometers (994 miles). This is not a road trip for the weak, as it’s meant to be done by bicycle. The geocache listing page describes it best (German to English translation):

Es geht also um eine Radtour über 1600km durch 7 Bundesländer vom nördlichsten Punkt Deutschlands bis zum Südlichsten. Ja, richtig gelesen, die Dose liegt in der Nähe von Oberstdorf im Allgäu.
Ja, das ist völlig ernst gemeint und: ja, es ist sehr weit. Aber die Belohnung sind unendlich viele neue Eindrücke und das unglaubliche Gefühl, einmal aus eigener Kraft das ganze Land durchquert zu haben.

This is a bike ride of over 1600km through seven of Germany’s states, from the northernmost point to the southernmost. Yes, you read correctly, the cache is near Oberstdorf in the Allgäu region.
Yes, that’s meant entirely seriously and, yes, it’s very far. But payoffs are new experiences and the incredible feeling of having travelled across an entire country under one’s own power.

GC3JH5D Station 1 at the north end of Germany says, "Of course, we begin our tour at the northernmost point of Germany and let the solitude of the place affect us. Only the constant blowing wind, the sound of the waves and the cries of sea birds break the silence." — GC3JH5D Station 1 at the north end of Germany says, “Of course, we begin our tour at the northernmost point of Germany and let the solitude of the place affect us. Only the constant blowing wind, the sound of the waves and the cries of sea birds break the silence.”

GC3JH5D Rainbows and lush valleys are a big payoff when your thighs are begging for mercy! — GC3JH5D Rainbows and lush valleys are a big visual payoff when your thighs are begging for mercy

GC3JH5D The Final stage has a beautiful spot for reflecting on this life-changing journey

Middle-earth (aka New Zealand) – The Lord of the Rings

Focusing on New Zealand's North Island, there are a few of the Lord of the Rings inspired geocaches — Focusing on New Zealand’s North Island, there are a few of the Lord of the Rings inspired geocaches

There are so many great geocaches related to The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy throughout out the world, but let’s just focus on New Zealand’s North Island. The dramatic landscapes and large uninhabited areas make it easy to understand why all of the movies were filmed here. I’m sure many geocachers could add a dozen more great spots to cache onto this list – and please do! But here’s some of the top geocaches dedicated to this story:

GC1HCXK Hobbiton (Waikato) is a “popular tourist destination, and earned the esteemed honor of “Geocache of the Week”. It’s so popular that it’s actually getting “biggified”.

GC3VBMT There And Back Again is a simple multi is placed near the location of the filming of scenes in The Shire from both the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. — GC3VBMT There And Back Again is a simple multi is placed near the location of the filming of scenes in The Shire from both The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies.

GC24VXZ Ngauruhoe - Mt Doom (Central Plateau) is an Earthcache featuring the youngest of three volcanoes and is only 2,500 years old! — GC24VXZ Ngauruhoe – Mt Doom (Central Plateau) is an Earthcache featuring the youngest of three volcanoes and is only 2,500 years old!

GC4B4AR "The Shire" - Rangitikei packs a powerful punch despite its less-than-hobbity size — GC4B4AR “The Shire” – Rangitikei packs a powerful punch despite its hobbity size

EarthCache GC19NVM Putangirua Pinnacles was featured as the fictional Dimholt Road, Approach to Paths of the Dead in "The Return of the King" — EarthCache GC19NVM Putangirua Pinnacles was featured as the fictional Dimholt Road, Approach to Paths of the Dead in “The Return of the King”

Keep in mind if you plan it right, since New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere, you could geocache all summer long, twice a year! There are countless journeys to take while geocaching. Have you taken a geocaching road trip? What would be your ultimate geocaching road trip? Tell us in the comments below!

July 27, 2015 / Alex /

Ein Hoch auf die Erde!

MailerSuite_RoadTrip15_vFINAL_blog

Neues Geocaching-Road-Trip-‘15-Souvenir ab diesem Freitag freigeschaltet

Das nächste Geocaching-Road-Trip-‘15-Souvenir wurde zu Ehren des Geocaching Spielbrettes (also unserer Erde) entworfen. Finde ab dem 31. Juli einen EarthCache oder nimm an einem Cache-In-Trash-Out-Event (CITO) teil, um dieses Souvenir zu verdienen.

EarthCaches haben keinen Behälter oder Logbuch, sondern führen Dich zu geologisch interessanten Orten, an denen ein besonderes geologisches Phänomen zu besichtigen ist. Damit Du Dir einen Smiley verdienen kannst, musst Du die Fragen des Geocache-Besitzers zum vorgestellten Naturereignis beantworten. Das neue Nachrichten-Center macht dies einfacher als je zuvor.

Cache-In-Trash-Out ist eine von Geocachern unterstützte Umweltinitiative. Geocacher treffen sich bei CITO-Events, um die Landschaft zu säubern, Bäume zu pflanzen oder eingewanderte Arten zu entfernen.

Suche jetzt nach CITO-Events und EarthCaches in Deiner Nähe!

July 24, 2015 / Paige Edmiston /

The Quest for the Oldest Unfound Geocache in Washington

Watch a Geocaching HQ’er Take On a 5/5 FTF Challenge

About 4 hours from Geocaching HQ in Seattle, sitting atop Liberty Bell Mountain is Tensegrity on Liberty (GC1G5BY), the oldest unfound geocache in Washington State. The reason it remains unfound? It’s a Difficulty 5, Terrain 5 geocache that requires a long hike, a scramble and 400 feet of fifth-class technical climbing.

In our new video, Geocaching HQ’er Derek , along with a muggle friend, attempts to be the FTF and earn the new Geocaching Road Trip ‘15 Let’s Get Extreme souvenir. You’ll probably recognize him from some of our other videos, but outside of (trying to) act and writing things for Geocaching.com, Derek is an avid rock climber. Watch the new video to see if they make it.

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/134247543]

Inspired to find a T5/D5 geocache? Visit the new geocache search page to find one near you.

July 24, 2015 / Annika

Geocachegömmarnas quiz

July 24, 2015 / Lizzie Burton

Geocaching Event Special Guest

Geocaching events tend to attract a pretty diverse audience, so you never know who you’re going to have an awesome interaction with. You could meet a newbie, a Geocaching HQ employee, or maybe even a famous celebrity! And no, we’re not talking about our very own Signal the frog…

Geocacher Casseill “spied out” a very special someone at a geocaching event in Ireland, leaving us feeling very envious. Here is her wonderful story.

“I had only recently started going to events (this was to be my fifth) but as soon as I saw this one, I knew it was one I definitely wanted to do. One – because I grew up around the area. Two – I’m starting to like these events – great people and great craic (as we say here). The weather looked a bit iffy the night before and it was dubious whether the ferryman would be sailing the next day. But, the day dawned bright and sunny and Sarah sent out word that it was “go, go, go”.

Dalkey Island is a small uninhabited Island – with a couple of ruins and the Martello Tower. It is normally a very quiet and peaceful place with stunning views. Once on the island we set off in groups to find the final of a Multi-Cache and a Traditional. Around this time, we heard a rumor that Pierce Brosnan was on the island and soon after – there he was in the flesh. A couple of the cachers got a photo with him – I hesitantly went over to him but was bid a good day very politely but quite firmly letting me know that he didn’t want to pose again. Which is absolutely fair enough. I’m sure he escaped to the island for a couple of hours looking for peace – not a horde of mad cachers.

A while later, geo-chat and picnics finished so we started heading back for the return journey. Who followed us and waited in line behind us for the return journey? Only our celebratory of the day! This time he was very chatty and invited my children and self for a photo. We had a chat – he loves the area and I am from the area -so we had plenty to chat about.

His presence on the island added a lot of buzz to the event – which was already a huge success thanks to Sarah’s planning. Sarah has said she will make this an annual event – so we are all dying to see who she will organize to be on the island next year!!”

We can’t always promise there will be a celebrity in attendance, but geocaching events are a great way to meet new people and learn about the game. From July 3 – September 2, you can also earn a souvenir by attending any Geocaching Event (excluding CITO events).

Mr. Bond, we hope to see you at many more geocaching events to come. We’d also love to send you out on a geocaching mission to recover all the muggled caches out there.

Which celebrity would you love to see at a geocaching event?

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