April 29, 2013 / Eric Schudiske /

Extreme Geocaching in Pictures (and Video)

Upside-down or right-side-up geocaching can lead you to some heart racing location. — Upside-down or right-side-up geocaching can lead you to some heart racing locations.

Geocaching can lead you to see the world in a different way. The symptoms begin early. First you see a location and think, “there could be a geocache right there.” Next you see a a park or a familiar fence line and think, “I’ve found a geocache there.” Finally you see an inspiring location and think, “There should be a geocache there.”

And some geocachers go even further. They see a geocache hide and think, there’s no way I won’t get that. It doesn’t matter that it might mean dangling from a cliff, or climbing a tree or navigating into the darkness of a winter forest.

Difficulty-Terrain_Rating300x75

These are an extreme breed of geocacher. They search for geocaches with a terrain rating of 5. Not only do they enjoy the thrill of turning upside-down or wiggling into a small cave to find a geocache, they also enjoy sharing their geocaching adventures online. Geocaching can be dangerous, so make sure you always take the proper safety precautions. A good example is the final picture of geocachers who brought a guard dog to a mountain top.

Geocaches have difficulty and terrain (D/T) ratings so you can make the decision before you even leave the house. The rating slides from a 1/1, which means the geocache is easy to find in a handicapped accessible area, to a 5/5, which means that after hours of exhausting physical work to get to ground zero involving specialized equipment like a boat, you’re still going to have a hard time finding the geocache. Find more info on the difficulty and terrain ratings.

Below you’ll find images posted to the Geocaching Facebook page of geocaches with terrain ratings of 4 or 5. When you see them, ask yourself, “would I make an attempt to find these geocaches?”

Up close and personal (Photo Credit:FradoMedia)(GC11A56) — Up close and personal (Photo Credit:FradoMedia)
GC11A56

“Triglav 2864″ (GC14N3H) — “Triglav 2864″ GC14N3H

Still want more extreme geocaching? Check out Geocaching’s Extreme Multi-Caching video below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXkTDMvEUX8]

April 25, 2013 / Derek H /

Venture into the sky without leaving the ground. – Way to Heaven (GCPJDZ) – Geocache of the Week

The Grossglockner. Photo by geocacher devilmanrocco. — “Hey, I can see my house from up here.” Photo by geocacher devilmanrocco.

At 12,461 ft (3798m) the Grossglockner stands proudly as Austria’s tallest mountain and the tallest peak in the Alps (east of the Brenner Pass). Though incredibly impressive from afar, those that dare can take a closer look with the Grossglockner High Alpine Road—a winding stretch of mountain road that takes you through 36 bends to a top altitude of 8,215 ft (2,504m). From the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe Visitors Center, you can look out on some of the highest peaks in the alps—and log a smiley for Way to Heaven (GCPJDZ).

The Grossglockner High Alpine Road. Photo by geocacher Milancer.

The Grossglockner High Alpine Road loosely follows ancient trade routes through the mountains that were used by the Celts and Romans. The idea for the road was first envisioned in 1924 and the first version, a 3-meter-wide gravel road, was completed in 1935.

Now, nearly 900,000 visitors per year make the trek through the mountains. This geocache has a difficulty and terrain rating of 3.5, however, if you want to kick both of those rating up a notch, you can travel up the Grossglockner High Alpine Road by motorcycle or bicycle.

Watch out for marmot muggles! Photo by geocacher parda.

Many of the “found it” logs (and even some of the DNFs) mention one thing: the incredible view. “Took a drive up the Grossglocker on a cold and rainey morning, skipped this area and saved it for the way back after heading to the Glacier. Got lucky as the view opened up on our return a little (before clouding over again quickly)…What a great location, so glad we came here,” wrote geocacher stephia4 in her “found it” log. When asked why he thinks geocachers love this destination so much, the geocache owner, Quaxi, said, “I think the reason for most of the travelers is to pass through a unique world of mountains with blossoming alpine meadows, fragrant mountain forests, massive cliffs and eternal ice to the foot of the Grossglockner, the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe.”

The Grossglocker High Alpine Road is closed during the winter, but should be opening next month. If you’re in Austria during the summer, this geocache is a must-find. For more information on the road and to see webcams, visit the official website. As with many geocaches, this hide is all about the amazing views. What’s the most incredible view you’ve ever had while finding a geocache? Tell us in the comments.

A panorama from GZ. Photo by geocacher js_plasma.

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.

April 25, 2013 / Eric Schudiske /

Geocacher of Month Nominees for April 2013 – Add Your Comments

The nominees for the April Featured Geocacher of the Month award hail from three different nations, but contribute to one global game. Each offers a welcoming hand to those new to geocaching and creative hides for all geocachers. The nominees come from the United States, New Zealand and Denmark.

Now it’s your turn to help us select the next Featured Geocacher of the Month. Write a supportive comment at the bottom of this blog for the geocacher you feel should be awarded the title. Each geocacher is already a winner and will receive a prize package from Geocaching HQ. A panel of folks from Geocaching HQ will then use your comments to help guide the decision of which geocacher is awarded the honor.

Each Featured Geocacher of the Month will receive an exclusive special edition Featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, hat and profile icon. They’ll also get a certificate acknowledging their contributions, signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.

WVTim - Featured Geocacher of the Month — WVTim – Featured Geocacher of the Month

In March, WVTim was named the Featured Geocacher of the Month. He’s known as an inspiration to geocachers for his unique geocaches, excellent maintenance habits and his geocaching YouTube channel. He’s accumulated more than 2,000 Favorite Points on his geocaches and he teaches geocaching in schools and to the Boy Scouts.

Here are your nominees for the March Featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.

Olefant

Michael Schwartz “schwartz-hansen” writes, “Our nominee is Olefant (the name is a combination of his first name Ole and his logo a biking elephant – elefant in danish).

He is a retired music teacher from Copenhagen who by now has released nearly 250 caches in Denmark and other countries. He started geocaching in 2009, and has been very active from 2011 until now. He has made a lot of cartoon caches and his FTF-certificates are often laminated pictures of the cartoon figures. At his last event on the 16 of March, he released more than 30 caches, with cartoon series and an Astrology series called the Zoodiak – because the theme of the event was animals.

With his events and his caches, we think that Olefant is a big inspiration for the other geocachers in Denmark, … besides that he is always taking his time to talk to all the persons he meets at events and when he is in the field geocaching.”

MulderNScully

Cristina Florez, “Mamabear Crew” writes, “My nomination for MulderNScully isn’t just because they’re “nice”… it’s because they take geocaching as a true sport. And their caches… ooooh their caches……. just like their username suggests, they are out of this world! Inventive, thought out, truly educational, and some of them hard as hell. They have been an inspiration to us and we will be trying to follow their lead in making this sport a true adventure!”

Jerry Lynn DellAmic writes, “They have helped me when I got stuck on puzzle caches, but they never gave me the solution. They made me talk out loud. …MulderNScully take pride in their geocaches. For them, it’s not about the numbers. It’s about enjoying life. Taking the opportunity to walk among nature. Go to places that you may not ever get the chance to see. If it hadn’t been for this great hobby, I would never have had the opportunity to meet these life long friends.”

Onslow Fisherman

Natalie Gray writes, “I would like to nominate Jim Greene, also known as Onslow Fisherman, as Geocacher of the Month. I met Jim by mail, when he very nicely answered some question I had about a puzzle cache he had. He invited me to meet him and his wife in NZ and I jumped at the chance. We became friends and he has helped me with computer questions,etc…We’ve even done an “International Cache” together, GC44F7A and GC42HKJ respectively. Jim is well respected in his native geocaching community, always giving back. He ran a GSAK seminar at NZ Mega in October, and also arranged a 4X4 event last year. His caches are great, and he’ll even lend you his GPS to find them. (GC2QAHK and GC2MF3T). He is helpful to newbies and experienced cachers alike, gets tons of favorite points on his caches, and makes our sport better every day. He also has over 1000 caches to his credit, which is hard to do in a relatively small island country. Jim Greene/Onslow Fisherman, epitomizes the best in geocaching and definitely deserves to be a Geocacher of the Month.”

Comment below to tell us who you think should be the April Featured Geocacher of the Month. We will be accepting comments through Sunday, May 7.

If your nominee wasn’t recognized here, please submit your nominations again next month. We’re always looking for the next Featured Geocacher of the Month. To nominate someone, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@geocaching.com and include the following information:

Your name, the name of your nominee, their username
A picture of the nominee
Description (200 or more words) explaining why he or she deserves to be the Featured Geocacher of the Month

Please inform your nominee that you have submitted them for the award. Nominations for the next Featured Geocacher of the Month should be received by Monday, May 26. Once Geocaching HQ has received the nominations, we will choose the top candidates and post them on the blog. You will then get a chance to champion your favorite. Our goal is to involve the entire geocaching community in this process so that we might learn from each other.

April 23, 2013 / Eric Schudiske /

What a Red Geocaching Wrench Means to You

Geocache Maintenance in Two Acts

maintenance_300x400 Each “Needs Maintenance” request has two acts. One act delivers a red wrench, the other act takes that red wrench away. A red wrench attribute on a geocache page means the geocache most likely needs maintenance. The geocache container could be cracked, the log book could be full or the geocache contents might be soaked with water. Or a giant plant may have eaten it (see image).

Act 1) The Geocacher. If you come across a geocache that needs some repair, post a “Needs Maintenance” log on the geocache page. This will notify the geocache owner and add a “Needs Maintenance” icon (red wrench) to the geocache page. This lets other geocachers know that the geocache may not be in the best shape before they start their hunt.

Act 2) The Geocache Owner. Once you have made repairs, post an “Owner Maintenance” log on the geocache page. This log will remove the “Needs Maintenance” icon. Don’t let your geocache be filtered out in searches by forgetting to post your “Owner Maintenance” log.

There’s a way to help stop “Needs Maintenance” logs: preventive care. If your geocache will not be accessible due to seasonal weather conditions, note this on the geocache page. Also, be sure to check in on your geocache and make sure:

Good time to perform geocache maintenance – unless ants are also geocachers…

The geocache container is still watertight
Contents are free of debris
There’s plenty of space in the logbook for more entries

Maintaining your geocache doesn’t have to be a pain. Think about working it into a monthly routine or you can even see if some of your geo-buddies will check in on it for you. Think of it this way: owning a geocache is kind of like owning a roller coaster: take care of it and it will keep making people happy for years!

April 22, 2013 / Eric Schudiske /

CITO 2013 – It Takes a Village

Congrats Space Coast Geocachers... 9 events, More than 200 geocachers and 4300 lbs of garbage collected! — Congrats Space Coast Geocachers… 9 events, More than 200 geocachers and 4300 lbs of garbage collected!

It’s takes a village to do many things, say, raise a child. It also takes a motivated village to clean up the earth. The village geocachers created with Cache In Trash Out (CITO) events has a population of 11,124. That’s the population of Fredonia, New York. That’s the exact number CITO souvenirs that have been earned by geocachers who have logged an “Attended” for a CITO event so far. Geocachers attended hundreds of events in dozens of countries from April 20 through April 22. If each geocacher picked up ten pounds of trash, that’s over 50 tons of garbage removed from geocaching areas worldwide.

Geocachers in Montana cleaning the roadside.

It’s the same weights as a couple army tanks or say a large metal bridge. But each piece of litter was a crumpled wrapper or an old tire or a piece of discarded lumber. It’s 50 tons of trash that’s no longer polluting that earth. Well done geocachers, well done.

CITO weekend isn’t over yet. It continues today during Earth Day. Expect the final total number of geocachers who earned the CITO souvenir within the next couple of days.

Geocachers from around the world posted pictures of their CITO events on the Geocaching Facebook page. We chose a few of the photos posted to feature in this blog.

While the CITO weekend occurs only once a year, please CITO every time you geocache. It’s as easy as packing out a few soda bottles or a few pieces of litter. It may not seem like much, but when we all do it, it adds up quick!

45 geocachers attended http://coord.info/GC494V1 in near Suhl, Germany to clean up all this trash. — 45 geocachers attended GC494V1 near Suhl, Germany to clean up all this trash.

CITO is for all ages. Kids, Caching and Cleaning CITO GC48DD9 in Ontario, Canada

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