We all love earning smileys. Seeing that bright yellow face on your Geocaching profile page smiling back at you is the reward you get for a job well done. But how far are you willing to go for it? Would you spend days on the hunt for just one geocache? Would you commit to a 350-mile journey? If the answer is yes, then this week’s Geocache of the Week, Munich – Venice (GC1FPN1),  is for you.

The first step to finding this difficulty 2, terrain 4 geocache is to find a pair of comfortable, broken-in hiking boots. Step two is to get to the beginning stage of this multi-cache at Marienplatz in Munich. After you’re finished taking in the sights, it’s time to start putting one foot in front of the other. As you make your way through the 28 stages, you’ll have to answer questions in order to obtain the coordinates of the final stage. This may sound like a lot of work, but the stunning views along the way make the journey well worth it.

While only 36 geocachers have made the journey from Munich to Venice and earned their smiley, their logs are sure to inspire more geocachers to attempt this multi-cache. Geocacher Benjo5 said, “What an awesome experience! …Thanks for the cache, I am really happy to turn this into a smiley icon, as it was quite exceptional and challenging. And at the end, I recommend this trek to everyone. It’s really worth it. Thanks, I will not forget.”

Another geocacher who earner a smiley for this epic journey is voduska, who said, “It is difficult to express all the feelings I had and have now, but to everybody who is thinking to do this trek, I would say don‘t hesitate and go. It is such a great experience. It is extremely demanding, but extremely rewarding. And when you finally reach the beach after nearly a month and you can put down the bag and take off that terribly heavy shoes and go for a swim in the sea, you feel like … actually you feel like you’ve just crossed the Alps.”

When asked about planning and placing this geocache, DerPate said that the real planning came after he initially completed the journey. From there it was organizing all the places he had been into a great multi-cache. In regards to all of the positive feedback, DerPate said, “Even more impressive for me is the feedback of the people having done the cache: There are find logs with a length of more than 40,000 characters (almost 3 log entries are needed in average of all finds) or even more than 150 pictures were uploaded for one log.” For all geocachers aiming to earn this smiley, DerPate had one piece of advice, “To all those cachers out there: Have fun on making your own memorable experiences on your personal interpretation of such a tour :-)”

So the question is: how far are you willing to go for a find? Would you complete a 350-mile trek through the mountains? 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 or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.

If you would 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@geocaching.com.

Normally, rocks just don’t up and move on their own. They seem to be pretty happy with sitting right where they are, not moving. But there is a place on earth where the rocks aren’t content to waste their days in the same spot. These rocks have places to go. We’re not sure where they’re going, why they’re moving or how they’re getting there. However, one thing is for sure: when you visit these rocks-on-the-go, you can find the EarthCache, The Secret of the Rolling Stones (GC2FFRV).

This difficulty 2.5, terrain 3.5 geocache and these moving stones are located in a part of California’s Death Valley National Park called the Racetrack Playa. Whether or not these stones are actually racing has yet to be determined. In fact, they’re not even all moving in the same direction. The tracks left behind the rocks move up, down and zig-zag throughout the ground. There are even some tracks that have no stones at the end of them, which has raised some interesting questions.

There are plenty of theories as to how these rocks are traveling through the landscape. Some of the rocks weigh more than 700 lbs (350kg), so the thought of a person (or even multiple people) moving these rocks is out of the question. For wind to move a rock that size, they would have to blow at over 500mph (about 800 km/h). For reference, the strongest hurricanes have had winds at around 200 mph (300km/h).  Several geocachers have offered theories in their Found It logs. “My theory is that moisture, when there is any, creates a surface that allows the stones to slide. That or aliens. One of the two.” said geocacher HOFer29. Personally, I’d hope that beings who have the technology to travel through space have better things to do than move rocks in the desert.

The most recent set of scientific theories hinges on weather factors including intense rain, ice, wind and soil composition. While nothing has been proven yet, studies continue through the use of GPS (just like us!) and sensors in the ground. The movement of these rocks is yet to be explained. Have you ever come across something you couldn’t explain while geocaching? Tell us about it 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 or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.

If you would 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@geocaching.com.