/ Adela B /

Announcing the September Featured Geocacher of the Month

You voted and we counted. And counted. And counted. Congratulations to Stuart, a.k.a. SpongeBob CachePants for pulling in a strong 106 votes to be named September’s Featured Geocacher of the Month.

September Featured Geocacher of the Month, SpongeBob CachePants

SpongeBob CachePants is recognized for his ability to influence and encourage geocachers around him, and for his commitment to providing quality geocaches for his community. SpongeBob CachePants is also praised for his work on the Hatfield McCoy GeoTrail Kickoff Event – a small community event that quickly became a Mega-Event.

One geocacher casting a vote put it, “SpongeBob CachePants gets my vote. He has done a lot for the geocaching community and his local community. His efforts in the Hatfield McCoy GeoTrail was a stellar. He brought his caching experience to help create a combination of history and locations to bring cachers together from all over the country. Not only did he recognize cachers when they attended the events, but he also sent personal e-mails to most attendees acknowledging their will attends. Now that is attention to detail.”

SpongeBob CachePants will receive a collector’s edition Featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat and certificate acknowledging his contributions signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com.

Featured Geocacher of the Month Icon

Thank you to the fellow September nominees and all those who supported them. The nominees not chosen as Featured Geocacher of the Month will receive a gift of appreciation from Groundspeak. See a list of all the featured Geocachers of the Month here.

The geocaching community is encouraged to re-nominate those who have yet to be honored as featured Geocacher of the Month. If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be considered for the honor, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com. Every nomination must meet the following requirements:

  • 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 Geocacher of the Month.
  • Please inform your nominee that you’ve submitted them for the award.

Nominations for the October Featured Geocacher of the Month must be received by the end of the day on Sunday, October 7th.

Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose the top three candidates and post them on the Latitude 47 blog. You will then get a chance to champion your favorite. Our goal is to involve the entire geocaching community in this process so we might learn from each other.

/ Eric Schudiske /

GC77 Germany’s First Geocache – A Geocaching.com Presentation

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Watch this video to see the story behind the first geocache in Germany. It started a craze that’s led to a quarter million active geocaches. Back on October 2, 2000 the owner of a brand new GPS device decided to try an experiment. He hid a geocache. Ferenc loaded the coordinates and a description onto Geocaching.com. He wondered if anyone might have heard of this new GPS-powered treasure-hunt. Days and weeks passes. Ferenc says he lost interest in geocaching. Years passed, and eventually he wondered if anyone had ever found his geocache or if geocaching ever caught on in Germany. One look at the cache page answered both questions. Watch, “GC77 Germany’s First Geocache” to discover a geocache that’s been logged nearly 4000 times.

First German Geocache

The video discusses how the geocache was initially buried. Geocaches are not allowed to be buried. This historical geocache is no longer buried and complies with the guidelines

Subscribe to the Official Geocaching.com YouTube channel for the latest tips and tricks in geocaching. Watch the more than 100 videos produced by Geocaching.com on our video page.

 

Schau Dir dieses Video an um die Geschichte des ersten Geocaches in Deutschland kennenzulernen. Der Geocache GC77 half den Boom auszulösen, der zu bisher einer viertel Million Geocaches in Deutschland führte.

Damals, am 2. Oktober 2000, machte der Besitzer eines brandneuen GPS-Gerätes ein Experiment. Er versteckte einen Geocache. Ferenc veröffentlichte die Koordinate bei Geocaching.com. Er fragte sich, ob schon jemand von dieser neuen GPS-unterstützten Schatzsuche gehört hat. Tage und Wochen vergingen. Ferenc sagt, daß er das Interesse an Geocaching verloren hat. Jahre vergingen und irgendwann fragte er sich, ob jemand seinen Geocache gefunden hat und ob sich Geocaching in Deutschland etablieren konnte. Ein Blick auf die Cacheseite beantworte beide Fragen. Schau Dir “GC77, Deutschlands erster Geocache” an und entdecke einen Geocache, der fast 4000 mal geloggt wurde.

First German Geocache

Das Video erörtert, daß der Geocache ursprünglich vergraben war. Geocaches dürfen nicht vergraben sein. Dieser historische Geocache ist nicht mehr vergraben und entspricht den Guidelines.

Abonniere den offiziellen Geocaching.com YouTube-Kanal, um die neusten Geocaching-Tips- und Tricks zu sehen. Schau Dir über 100 Videos von Geocaching.com auf unserer Video-Seite an.

/ Adela B /

Eisriesenwelt – Giant Ice World – GC108G08 – GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK – September 27, 2012

Inside the world of the ice giants

Pack warm clothes and get ready to climb a lot of stairs, because we’re headed into the tunnels of an ice cave to log this Geocache of the Week.

Eisriesenwelt – Giant Ice World (GC108G08) is a difficulty 2, terrain 3.5 EarthCache located 25 miles (40km) south of Salzburg, Austria.

The ice cave is only accessible six months out of the year. Yet, more than 600 geocachers from 56 countries have managed to log this cache and share over 850 incredible pictures.

As the name suggests, Eisriesenwelt – Giant Ice World is gigantic. In fact, it is the largest ice cave in the world. The cave is millions of years old and extends more than 26 miles (42km).

A long walk to the cave entrance

This EarthCache was created by Mountain Ninja in January of 2008 and quickly became one of the most “Favorited” caches in Austria. Its already racked up 116 Favorite Points. Mountain Ninja owns a number of EarthCaches across Austria, all worth exploring.

As one geocacher put it, “This place is quite the gem! The cave is definitely worth seeing and experiencing. This huge cave is filled with beautiful ice sculptures, ice tunnels, and frozen lakes. This is my second EarthCache, created by Mountain Ninja. I also took the liberty of exploring the Saltmine Dürrenberg during my visit to Austria. Great way to explore the country and do what I love – geocaching!”

Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Latitude 47 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@groundspeak.com.

View from inside the cave

 

 

/ Eric Schudiske /

Geocaching.com Presents: Swamp Caching

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Geocaching is about zeroing in on the coordinates, even if the direction leads you into the heart of a swamp. Watch “Swamp Caching” for a trek into the wilds of the Florida Everglades. It’s a caching adventure like no other. Adventurers encounter rare flowers, wild coffee, exotic birds, and even alligators (at a safe distance).

There’s a geocache in there somewhere

Florida geocacher, Lorriebird, takes an expedition into the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park to search for her difficulty 2, terrain 3 geocache, K2. The cache was placed with permission from Florida State Park officials. The geocache was designed to offer an environmental experience to those unfamiliar with swamps.

Subscribe to the Official Geocaching.com YouTube channel for the latest tips and tricks in geocaching. Watch the more than 100 videos produced by Geocaching.com on our video page.

/ Christy /

Trackable Tattoos – Never Lost

There is one way to ensure that your Trackable never goes missing – get a Trackable tattoo. Tattoos are not for everyone. In fact, there are fewer than 150 people who have ever earned the Trackable Tattoo icon. A geocacher can only receive the icon if they supply photographic proof of a Trackable tattoo to Geocaching.com.

User pumpkinking27 has an impressive tattoo from 2010 that reflects his username and includes a Travel Bug called PumpkinKing27’s Trackable Tattoo. The goal of such Trackable tattoos is to be discovered by geocachers at events and during geocaching outings. Ultimately, the Trackable tattoo becomes an engaging record of personal travels. The Travel Bug map for PumpkinKing27’s trackable tattoo shows that he has made many trips along the East Coast and the northeastern United States.

Watch video of a geocacher receiving a Trackable tattoo:

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Learn about CSavvy and his Travel Bug Tattoo in last year’s blog post, Become Trackable on Geocaching.com – Tattoos to Travel Bugs. An additional Travel Bug Tattoos resource can be found in the Groundspeak Help Center.

The first steps to getting a Trackable tattoo:

1)       Make a decision – tattoos are a commitment, you know.

2)       Purchase and activate a Travel Bug. Do not send the Travel Bug out to geocaches, as it would cause confusion.

3)       Use the unique Tracking Code from your Travel Bug as part of your design. Some tattoo designs include the Travel Bug scarab image and others include a custom design along with the Tracking Code.

4)       Find a trusted tattoo artist.

5)       Request the custom Trackable Tattoo icon from Geocahing.com by sending an e–mail to pr@groundspeak.com and including a photo of the tattoo and the tracking number.

 

Es gibt eine Möglichkeit um sicherzustellen, daß Dein Trackable niemals verloren geht – laß Dir eine Trackable–Tätowierung machen. Tätowierungen sind nicht für jeden geeignet. Tatsächlich  haben sich bisher weniger als 150 Leute das Trackable Tatoo–Icon verdient. Ein Geocacher kann das Symbol nur erhalten, wenn er einen fotografischen Beweis seiner Trackable–Tätowierung an Groundspeak schickt.

Der Benutzer pumpkinking27 hat eine Eindrucksvolle Tätowierung aus dem Jahr 2010, die seinen Benutzernamen darstellt und den Travel Bug mit dem Namen PumpkinKing27’s Trackable Tattoo enthält. Das Ziel solcher Trackable–Tätowierungen ist es, von Geocachern bei Events und auf Cachetouren discovert zu werden. Letztendlich wird die Trackable–Tätowierung zum persönlichen Reisetagebuch. Die Travel Bug–Karte von PumpkinKing27’s Trackable–Tätowierung zeigt, daß er viele Touren entlang der Ostküste und im Nordosten der Vereinigten Staaten gemacht hat.

Lerne CSavvy und seine Trackable–Tätowierung in seinem Blog–Artikel aus dem letzten Jahr kennen, werde ein Trackable auf Geocaching.com – Tätowierungen zu Travel Bugs. Zusätzliche Informationen über Travel Bug–Tätowierungen findest Du im Groundspeak–Hilfe–Zentrum. Der erste Schritt zur Trackable–Tätowierung:

1)       Entscheide Dich – Du weißt, Tätowierungen sind verbindlich.

2)       Kaufe und aktiviere einen Travel Bug. Platziere den Travel Bug nicht in einem Cache weil das zu Verwechselungen führt.

3)       Benutze den Tracking–Code Deines Travel Bugs als Teil Deines Designs. Einige Tätowierungs–Designs enthalten das Bild des Travel Bug Skarabäus, andere ein individuelles Design mit dem Tracking–Code.

4)       Finde einen vertrauenswürdigen Tätowierer.

5)       Fordere das individuelle Trackable Tattoo–Icon bei Geocaching.com an. Schicke eine E–Mail mit einem Foto der Tätowierung und dem Tracking–Code an pr@groundspeak.com.

 

ADDITIONAL TRACKABLE STORIES:

Zusätzliche Trackable Geschichten:

Share your Trackable stories for a chance to win a rare and covetedMoun10bike Trackable.

Share your Trackable stories for a chance to win the rare and coveted moun10bike coin

Teile jetzt Deine Trackable-Geschichten mit anderen und habe die Chance auf diesem seltenen und begehrten Moun10Bike Trackable.

Shop Now to Find Trackable Week Discounts of 10% or More

Finde jetzt Rabatte von 10% oder mehr während der Trackable-Woche
(Für Trackables von teilnehmenden Anbietern)

Learn and share Trackable Etiquette

Prüfe und schaue Dir die Trackable Etikette an

Check out the Travel Bug that’s traveled far enough to circle the globe 8 times… and is still moving (and moving, and moving…)

Schau Dir den Travel Bug an, der so weit gereist ist, um den Globus 8 Mal zu umrunden… und er ist immer noch unterwegs (und bewegt sich und bewegt sich…)