GeoTours are specifically designed to turn your next vacation, day trip or geocaching expedition into an extraordinary adventure. Locals in each destination pick out the best places to hide new geocaches, including historic sites, parks, cities and more. Some GeoTours showcase special themes, like the Taking Flight GeoTour, which reveals the wild spaces and bird life of Florida, or the Cateran Trail GeoTour, which takes you along the trail of ancient cattle thieves in the Highlands of Scotland.
There are more than two dozen GeoTours online right now and more will deliver geocaching adventures near you soon, including new GeoTours launching in Bermuda and the Mediterranean. Visit the GeoTours page and start planning your next trip today.
Deciding the size of your geocache can be a bit like ordering a coffee drink from your local coffee-snob barista—overwhelming! Before you’ve even had your caffeine pick-me-up, you are forced to decide whether you would like a Short, Tall, Grande, Venti, or even Trenta (yes, “Trenta” is now a real size). Choosing the correct size for your geocache can be just as tricky. What is the difference between “Regular and Small”? What in the world is a “Nano”? What does it mean when a geocache is labelled as “Other”? Knowing the answers to these questions can make all the difference in getting that smiley, so we’ve created the following geocache size-guide to give you the answers to the ultimate questions of life, the Universe, and geocache sizes. And no, the answer is not 42.
Traditional Sizes
While these may seem straightforward, it can be a tough call when your geocache falls somewhere in between.
Micro – Tiny containers that most likely will only hold a log sheet, e.g. a film canister.
Small– Just big enough to fit a sandwich. Holds only a small logbook and small items, e.g. a small plastic container. Note: Please don’t put a sandwich in your gecoache.
Regular –Think shoe box. If you could fit a pair of shoes inside, you’re golden, e.g. an ammo box.
Large – Think Bigfoot’s shoe box. If he could fit his hiking boots inside, it should probably be labelled as a Large, e.g. a 5 gallon bucket.
Other Categorizations
A camouflaged Nano cache container.
For times when the traditional categories simply aren’t enough, you might need to use the following:
Nano – For the very tiniest of geocaches. ‘Nano’ is not officially listed on geocache pages, so players should mark Nanos as Micros, e.g. a fake bolt.
Other– Unusual geocache containers that just don’t fit into other categories, e.g. a magnetic strip.
Unknown– For when a little extra surprise is needed, e.g. when knowing the size of the container would completely give away the find.
What benchmarks do you use to size out your geocaches? Tell us about them in the comments below.
Maybe this was the train Ozzy Osbourne was singing about in “Crazy Train”. Photo by geocacher Brasstax.
This week’s Geocache of the Week was born from the depths a fiery train crash. You might be thinking, “Jeez, that’s kind of a bummer. I hope no one was hurt in the wreck.” Until, of course, you learn that the train wreck was all a piece of Hollywood cinema. If you’re up for a hike and a challenging find, Ring of Fire (GCJYHZ) will show you a piece of movie history.
In 1961, the film “Ring of Fire” was released. This film is a classic, campy story of boy meets girl, all while a giant forest fire rages through the Pacific Northwest. You can even watch the original trailer. Movie spoiler alert: The grand finale of the film occurs when a train is stuck on a flaming bridge. Eventually, the bridge weakens and collapses, sending the train cars tumbling into a ravine. While the movie is set in Oregon, the actual filming location for this stunt was in Washington. After filming, the crew did their best to remove the wreckage, but several pieces still remained. Several years later, geocacher ironman114 found the location and placed this geocache there.
Check out the epic grand finale (skip to the 13 minute mark):[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gGnzVdnFkmI#t=758s]
A piece of wreckage from “Ring of Fire”. Photo by geocacher cougarcach24.
Since then, many geocachers have found this difficulty 3.5, terrain 5 geocache and ended up with great stories. Geocacher crouchcrew had this to say in their log, “What an awesome, amazing cache for an awe-inspiring, epic milestone! He did good by picking this one. From the ropes, the climb, the railcars, the view, the history, the celebration, the beautiful day and finding the cache en masse made for a geocaching top 10 day! Thanks so much for placing and maintaining this consummate cache!”
As a fan of old movies, the CO, ironman114, knew this spot would make a great geocache. Regarding the positive logs and favorite points, he says, “I derive a lot of satisfaction to see all the cachers enjoying the trek and hunt for this cache… If you get a lot of positive logs then you know you did it right.” He goes on with a message for other geocachers who plan to hide a geocache, “Location, Location, Location. Take time to think about it and if location is bland then make a good container or story to go with the geocache. Just because you can hide a geocache within feet of a full smelly pit toilet doesn’t mean you HAVE to!”
Have you ever come across old wrecks, abandoned buildings or other once-inhabited places 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.
Jared and geocachers at Evergreen Park in Bremerton, WA.
A lot of geocachers will pull over between point A and point B to find a geocache. For Make-A-Wish® recipient, Jared, he and his family would often pick up geocache finds between home and the hospital. His early teenage years were often spent in hospitals from Aberdeen, South Dakota to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He logged smileys all around the three medical centers.
He says, “When I was in the hospital I would look on the website. I would look for trackables and take them to geocaches back home with me.” Jared123, as he’s known in the geocaching community, endured three major surgeries for a life-altering digestive issue. Through traveling to treatment, he and his family logged hundreds of miles. They tapped into geocaching to break the tension between medical procedures.
Jared discovered he had been chosen for Make-A-Wish. Make-A-Wish grants the wish of a child diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition in the United States and its territories. Jared thought about where he could go and what he could do. Many children decide to take a trip to Disneyland or spend time with their family on a vacation to Hawaii.
Jared (center) with his family and Make-A-Wish volunteers
Jared was born in the Seattle area, and when he learned that Geocaching HQ was located in Seattle, he made his choice.
Make-A-Wish organized the visit and contacted local geocachers. An event called Jared From SD Wishes for your Presence was planned to welcome him to the Northwest. And Jared wanted to meet, and geocache with, one of the most creative geocache hiders on the West Coast of the U.S: goblindust.
Geocachers from several counties away showed up to greet their fellow geocacher. Jared says, “I couldn’t’ really believe how many people came there. There were 85-90 people who attended. There were a whole bunch of volunteers and businesses who donated for the event.”
Jared then took to the geocaching trail, claiming, The SUPER Pages as his favorite geocache of the trip and perhaps of all time. He says, “I found some of the most unique geocaches ever, or even in the world.” To offer you some proof, geocacher goblindust has a creative geocache found in this video (we just won’t tell you which one).
Jared then visited Geocaching HQ, meeting with the founders of Geocaching.com and having lunch with the people who power the experience. He also led his dad to log his first geocache—the giant treasure chest in the lobby of Geocaching HQ.
Jared and his dad at Geocaching HQ
You can watch Jared’s tour of Geocaching HQ in this 6 second Vine video. Jared did what any geocache might do when they leave Geocaching HQ, he went geocaching some more.
Geocachers who logged the event say, “Thanks to all who put this together, the vendors who donated, and to Jared for inviting us to help make his wish!!! It was a pleasure meeting you and your parents! Enjoy your visit, and hope you enjoy all the fun caches we have to offer! Goblindust…you’re a rockstar! TFTE!”
Jared says the trip was a wish come true, “I guess I couldn’t really believe it. I’ll remember this day forever.”
Good geocache maintenance is the story of two smiles. You earn a digital smiley for your Geocaching profile by finding a geocache. If you’ve found a well-maintained geocache it often leads to a real, in the flesh, teeth showing, ear-to-ear smile. Now, we’re on a quest for even more smiles.
It’s the perfect time to help.When you find a geocache, treat it with care and lend a helping hand if it’s necessary. After signing the log book, make sure the geocache is clear of debris and return it to the original hiding spot. If you notice the geocache is no longer water-tight, the log needs to be replaced, or anything else that needs some geocache love, submit a “Needs Maintenance” log on the geocache page. The geocache owner will receive a message and a red wrench icon will appear.
If the geocache is well-maintained, make sure to include a thank you to the geocache owner in your log. And, of course, don’t forget to smile.
Geocaching GeoTours are popping up around the world, from a GeoTour of 100 State Parks in the Washington State Park Centennial GeoTour to the Thing Sites GeoTour that explores ancient meeting sites through Northern Europe.
