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Celebrate the 10th birthday for a geocache type that often takes you tens of millions of years into the Earth’s past. For a decade, EarthCaches have delivered adventurers to the tops of mountains, to strange and unusual rock formations and into the the steaming, bubbling processes that created the Earth—all without a geocache container. Instead, geocachers must use their geological detective skills to uncover the answers to specific questions about the location.
EarthCaching in 6 Bullet Points:
16,600 active EarthCaches worldwide (there’s probably one near you)
It’s often said that the best thing you find while geocaching isn’t the geocache, but the people you meet along the way. You can meet other geocachers at events, on the trail, or while coordinating your finds for this pair of geocaches. Completing the Köln-Seattle Exchange MultiCaches takes geocaching teamwork to the next level. To make the find, you’ll have to pair up with a geocacher across the world. Here’s how it works: you go to the first stage of the geocache. There you’ll find coordinates for the second stage of the other geocache. You send those coordinates to your international partner, and then bam! You can both go find the geocaches in your respective countries.
# of Finds:
Seattle: 107
Köln: 118
# of Favorite Points:
Seattle: 39
Köln: 52
What one of the geocache owners, Thoto, has to say:
“In 2005 we had a similar cache here in Cologne which inspired me to create this transatlantic cache. I just loved the idea to connect with people from the other side of the world and play the game together.”
“It is always a great feedback you get. I am very happy to see that a lot of cachers like the idea of a transatlantic cache as much as I do. Furthermore I am extremely proud when I look at the high number of cachers who have already visited and logged both “sites” of the cache. Someday I hope to find the Seattle cache as well.”
What geocachers are saying:
“This is the best Multicache I ever played! Together with Pico69 and Schwarzer Peter in Cologne we solved the challenges together. As a Cologne citizen working for a Seattle headquartered company, I was in town and had some time to go after this cache.” – Arnold1967
“It is actually an interesting place to visit and search, and very rewarding once you actually find the cache. Thanks for setting up another one of these “hands across the water” geocaches. They add a new dimension to the game.” – Scouting4Ever
“Great adventure between the two cities!!! Thanks to DieGroppis in Köln and Quigquay in Seattle! This idea it allowed me explore new areas and see how interesting and multi cultural Geocaching can be!!” – MedicineManOfSeattle
A geocaching team in Seattle on the way to the find. Photo by geocacher SkyTrainOne of the sites to see while you’re in Köln: Kölner Dome! Photo by Geocaching HQ’er Prying PandoraFound it! Photo by geocacher Aga & Deti
This geocache is all about geocachers helping each other out. What’s your favorite way to help other geocachers? Tell us in the comments.
Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog.
If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, leave a comment below with the name of the geocache, the GC code, and why you think we should feature it.
Four eyes see more geocaches than two. Many hands fumbling under benches, in nooks, and crevices are more likely to make the grab. A difficult puzzle is solved more easily with combined brain power. If you took our Geocaching Quiz and learned you are a Social Butterfly, chances are that you know the advantages that come with geocaching in a group.
But finding someone to go geocaching with can sometimes be difficult, especially when just starting out. Luckily, there are geocaching organizations and associations all around that world that connect geocachers to other local geocachers, strengthen the local and global geocaching community, help beginners get into the game, and so, so much more.
This holiday season, we’re giving thanks for everything the geocaching community (that’s you) does. In 2013 alone, Geocaching surpassed the 2 million active geocaches mark and the community grew to over 6 million geocachers. Plus, there were thousands of amazing events worldwide—we even celebrated as a Travel Bug® launched into space! But out of all of the amazing things that happened this year, it’s the simplest thing that still makes us all warm and fuzzy inside: the smile that happens when another geocache is found. Happy Holidays from all of us at Geocaching HQ! Share your favorite moments of 2013 or just pictures of your best geocaching smile on the Geocaching Facebook page.
Geocaches tell the story of a specific location. Sometimes the story is something as simple as “I enjoyed a beautiful view here.” In the case of this geocache, the story is a bit more extraordinary. In the mid 1800s, Germany was experiencing a significant wood shortage. Around the same time, news of an enormous tree traveled across the ocean from California’s redwood forest. Shortly thereafter, seeds of these trees were sent to Germany and planted. Now, several Giant Redwoods stand in the middle of Germany, nearly 5,500 miles (8800 km) from where they are naturally found. The trail to these giants is passable in winter, so bundle up and head out to visit the trees and find this geocache.
# of Finds:
1546
# of Favorite Points:
680
What geocachers are saying:
(translated from German)
“Great idea, we are really amazed and now I understand the many Fav points! Thanks for the show, the redwoods are worth a visit. Impressive.” – aussietibo
“We went here on our caching outing on the cache-bikes. We scurried off into the bushes and found a very exceptionally great box! Absolutely fantastic. A very nice idea, well implemented. We enjoyed this very much. For this, we assign a blue bow!” – Sensa-5
“On today’s Wisdom Trail, this cache made curious. This is something we have never seen before. We were totally surprised, amazed and thrilled. So much effort is certainly worth several bows but we must indeed awarded only one.” – Bandiyak
The story behind this geocache joins two places that are nearly half a world away from each other. What other geocaches connect you to other places or other geocachers? Tell us in the comments.
Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog.
If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, leave a comment below with the name of the geocache, the GC code, and why you think we should feature it.
