/ Eric Schudiske /

Geocaching.com Caption Contest 35 – Win a Barely Coveted Prize

“mommy, what can we trade for the furry kitty?” — kthoms0319

Ever find a geocache to only stumble on a bigger surprise? Formulate your most creative caption for this picture. You could win a ‘barely coveted prize’ in the 35th Geocaching.com Caption Contest. This picture was originally posted on the official Geocaching.com Facebook page. Special thanks to geocacher Beverly Six for use of the picture.

What caption would you write for the picture at the top of this post? Submit your caption by clicking on “Comments” below. Please include your Geocaching.com username in all entries. Then, explore the captions other geocachers have posted.

Barely Coveted Prize

Try to ‘influence’ the voting process (*nudge*nudge*). “Like” the caption that you think should win. If you think your caption should win, convince your fellow geocachers, your friends, and family to “like” your caption. Lackeys vote from the top finalists to decide the winner of the contest.

The winner receives this month’s ‘barely coveted prize.’ The prize is a selection of swag from this Geocaching.com swag.

Click on the image to discover the winner from this Geocaching.com Caption Contest

More than 20 Geocaching.com Lackeys voted to award the winner of the 34th Geocaching.com Caption Contest a barely coveted prize. Click on the image to your right to read the winning caption of that contest.

Explore all the winning captions by checking out all the Geocaching.com Caption Contests. If you have suggestions for Geocaching.com Caption Contest photos, send a message and the image to pr@groundspeak.com.

/ Adela B /

Geocaching.com Weekly Newsletter – August 8, 2012

Write a Log to Remember

Some logs posted on Geocaching.com offer only a snapshot into the geocaching adventure, but great logs produce a panoramic view of the geocaching quest. Great logs inform other geocachers of what they might expect on their caching adventure. They also reward cache owners, who enjoy reading about the experiences of those seeking their caches.

Share your experience beyond a TFTC (Thanks for the Cache) or TNLN (Took Nothing Left Nothing) log by following these 5 tips:

1) See it and Say it – Describe what you saw and experienced on your way to the cache. Did you see a rare bird, a hidden waterfall, or George Clooney? Tell folks about it.
2) Be a Superhero – If there are new conditions in the area, like a fallen tree, warn other cachers.
3) Talk about Trades – Tell people what is in the cache container along with what you took and what you left.
4) Shout Out for the Cache Owner – Thank the cache owner for placing the cache.
5) Learn from Others – As part of the Lost and Found promotion in 2010, we asked people to nominate great geocaching logs. Read the nominations here.

Cache owners can reward those who write great logs by sending them a thank you email through their Geocaching.com profile.

Are you ready to go geocaching now? Visit Geocaching.com to find your next cache, and put your new log writing tips to use!

/ Adela B /

Announcing the July Featured Geocacher of the Month

The July featured Geocacher of the Month took matters regarding Trackables in his own hands, spiced things up, and brought a community closer together.

July Featured Geocacher of the Month, De Wijngemachtigde

Congratulations to De Wijngemachtigde for being named July’s Featured Geocacher of the Month!

Guus, a.k.a. De Wijngemachtigde, is recognized for encouraging a record number of geocachers across the Netherlands to participate in Geocoin races.

His creative approach to get the community to put their Trackables in circulation, instead of keeping them at home, allowed the coins to travel across all 415 municipalities of the Netherlands.

As one geocacher put it, “Not only has he [De Wijngemachtigde] put and continues to put a lot of effort in the Dutch Geocoin race, he also frequently gives away Geocoins to other cachers through quizzes and sweepstakes. These initiatives really create a very positive vibe for geocaching in the Netherlands and beyond!”

De Wijngemachtigde 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 July 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: Please include your name, the name of your nominee, their username, at least one picture of the nominee and description (in 500 or fewer 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 August featured Geocacher of the Month must be received by the end of the day on Friday, August 10th.

Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose the top 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.

/ Adela B

Taal Volcano – GC1GJ6N -GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK – August 6, 2012

Enjoying the view from the top of the volcano

Geocachers will need to travel by boat and on horseback to get to the Geocache of the Week.

Taal Volcano (GC1GJ6N) is part of a chain of volcanoes located on the western side of the island of Luzon in the Philippines.

The difficulty 5, terrain 5  EarthCache was placed by Team1337 in late September of 2008. Since then, it has attracted a number of geocachers to journey out to the volcanic island to claim a smiley.

Taal Volcano presents one of the most charming and picturesque views and is one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines, with its last eruption occurring in 1977.

Getting to Taal Volcano on horseback

Geocachers who make the trip to this volcano often dive into Crater Lake – a lake inside the volcano’s crater that holds sulfuric content – to celebrate their trip.

A geocacher who embarked on this journey writes, “Unbelievable, amazing, what a trip and very beautiful view!  It was a real adventure to reach the rim of the crater. I used a boat and I walked to the rim of the crater. The questions were a real challenge, but I did it! Thanks a lot for this EarthCache.”

The 112 images on the cache page have done a fantastic job revealing the volcano’s beauty and capturing geocachers’ experiences.

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.

Taking a dip in Crater Lake
/ Eric Schudiske /

Dog Finds Geocache

This is a 10 second video that may change how you train your dog. Geocacher of the Month, coast2coast2coast, shared this video of his dog Stewie, going into the final push for a geocache and coming out with the cache container.

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Dog Finds Geocache

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