/ Eric Schudiske /

PROJECT GeoGames 2012 – A Lackey’s Journey

A Mega-Event with a 20-story zip-line

Groundspeak Lackeys are traveling thousands of miles from H.Q. throughout the year to share smiles, shake hands, and make geocaching memories at nearly 20 Mega-Events worldwide. Ben Field aka, LackeyBenno, attended the Mega-Event PROJECT: GeoGames 2012 (GC32012). It took place in Leipzig, Germany. Ben has been a Lackey since 2008 and works in IT. Here’s Ben’s account of his adventure.

Written by: Ben Field

Lackey Ben “LackeyBenno”

As I read through the descriptions of the games being hosted at the Geogames Mega-Event in Leipzig, I had two questions running through my head:  How many of these games should I actually attempt and what exactly IS a PETling???  The answer to the first question took a few hours to figure out, the second one was answered relatively quickly.  A PETling is a small plastic preform for a 2-liter bottle. The clear water-tight containers are frequently used as geocaches in Germany. The PEtlings were the focus of three of the GeoGames I was about to attempt.

The day leading up to the event I managed to take the tram with Jeremy, the Co-Founder and CEO of Geocaching.com, to grab a few caches and explore downtown Leipzig.  I’d already seen a small amount of the downtown area having come down the night before to watch Deutschland’s agonizing defeat in the Eurocup semi-finals, but wasn’t about to pass up more opportunities to explore.

PETling

There was an added layer of difficulty finding some of the caches with our limited knowledge of German.  After looking for one cache in the wrong area for a lengthy period of time, some nearby geocachers helped us out by explaining that the name of the cache we were looking for translated to “old town hall”, which happened to be the building across the street from where we were searching.  We had no trouble logging the find once we had what should have been an obvious giveaway.

Between caches, we also managed to explore the Bach museum, which held some fascinating pieces of history. The museum was positioned next to the site of the Thomasschule, where Bach taught students and composed during the latter part of his life.

After a great meal at Romanushof on Katharinenstraße, and a gracious ride back to the Messegelände from cachers Manuela and Peter (Schulze&Schultze) but better known by the name of their geocaching and dining blog “Schlemmercacher“, we prepared for the opening party.  While Jeremy was busy preparing a speech, I represented the US in the opening parade with only Signal at my side.  Thankfully, Caro (saxony) was gracious enough to hold the sign for us as we marched through the masses of people gathered for the event.

Dosenfischer in concert

Still feeling some effects of a cold, I wasn’t feeling overly adventurous the next day, but I was too excited for the event to let the cold hold me down.  Enjoying the PETling toss first, my enthusiasm grew. By the time the 6:00pm cutoff arrived, I’d made it through all of the games. My new geocaching friend Jana (tkrholic) kept me moving, determined to complete all of the games and keep me company throughout the day.

The games weren’t the only activities at the event. There was ample time during the day to take photos of Jeremy descending the Trau Dich (zip line – see the photo at top) from the top of the 75M high tower.  Later in the evening, it was time to take in the geocaching band Dosenfischer and mingle with the masses of geocachers as a thunderstorm passed by.  All in all, it was a fantastic day.

We found time the next day to explore some areas of Leipzig with Andy (stash-lab) and Nils (Nilos).  A trip to the Völkerschlachtdenkmal monument commemorating the German victory over the French at the Battle of the Nations was a worthwhile glimpse at the history of the location. After snagging the correspondingly named cache, we stumbled upon some other cachers, including ORaMo and Rennrodler. They graciously shared some personalized swag with us.  Before heading out, there was still time to snag a few more caches including Connex and then Gleis 26 – Reloaded at the train station.  It was a great day to end a great trip.

Ben (far left) at the Völkerschlachtdenkmal Monument with Jeremy (center) and geocachers
/ Adela B /

Stone Appendix – GCR8N3 – GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK – July 23, 2012

Inside the cave

Stone Appendix (GCR8N3) takes geocachers on an adventure inside a deep, dark, rocky cave in the outskirts of Turku, Finland. The difficulty 3.5, terrain 4 cache tests geocachers’ bravery and challenges them physically.

Tuskaretket ry placed this regular-sized traditional cache in November of 2005, inviting fellow geocachers to leave their suits at home and check out the cache that’s guaranteed to get them dirty.

Over 335 geocachers have dared to step into the cave and crawl in the dust to log this cache. Many of them managed to take fantastic photos inside the dark, hollow cave.

Tuskaretket ry explains on the cache page that, “to find the cache you have to forget the claustrophobia and dare to step deep into darkness.” While a flashlight is required, the cache page recommends bringing “a helmet and a partner” on this journey.

Coffee break outside the cave

Stone Appendix has earned 77 Favorite Points so far. One cacher who dared to crawl in to get to this cache writes, “The idea of exploring the essence of a deeper cave had been running in my mind for a long time. I decided to step into the dark and the unknown, while in the company of a friend. Claustrophobia struck mid-stream. Fortunately, the fear was in vain. It was not at all difficult and overwhelming in the cave. It was surprisingly spacious. Have fun!”

If you plan on attending the Geocaching in Turku Mega-Event the weekend of August 3 and are up for the challenge, be sure to check out this Geocache of the Week!

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’d 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.

Logging the cache in the dark
/ Eric Schudiske /

FTF 10 Years in the Making

FTF 10 Years in the Making (courtesy FradoMedia)

Belterra, Brazil seeps back into the rainforest. It’s a small town on the wrong side of progress. It’s getting smaller. A few thousand people now call the community home. The population has fallen from more than 10,000 when Belterra was at its peak as a rubber production hub.

At the beginning of 2012, a cache placed in Belterra in 2002, “Belterra” (GC3DF7), had never been found. The FTF (First to Find) on the cache remained unclaimed. The cache was without a log, without a DNF. No one logged even an attempt to find the cache for a decade… until this year.

German geocacher Frank Dornberger FradoMedia made his intentions clear to find the cache  at the end of 2011. He wrote a note on the cache page. “I will try to get to the cache in January, when I am in the area. I am really keen to find out if it is still there…” The jungle had crowded around the cache since it was placed. Frank still thought the cache was worth an attempt while traveling through the Amazon on vacation.

He wrote, “I found out that I was going to pass by close enough to try to get to this place. Some research about the area and even more proper preparation of the equipment was necessary to make sure that I could really get to this 1,5 star rated cache. Almost 13 hours on the plane and two days on the river Amazon, plus another hour in the car and a 15 minutes walk later, I was finally there.”

Frank at the geocache location in 2012 (courtesy FradoMedia)
Geocache location in 2002

But the “there” Frank saw in person was much different than the “there” he saw on the cache page from ten years ago. He wrote, “I was completely astonished what the place looked like. But after the first shock I thought, what could I have expected after 10 years of that temperature and humidity.” The open air building where the cache had been placed had completely collapsed. His only clue was that the cache was hidden inside a drawer.

His log reads, “… the building was almost completely rotten. So I went closer and into the rest of what was formerly an old house. I had my concerns that some of the wood would fall down and crash on my head, but I couldn’t resist. I had to look for the drawer… after about 45 minutes of searching and dragging I found a box that probably once was the cache.”

Frank new location of replacement cache (courtesy FradoMedia)

Frank says, “As I figured out  that the drawer was still in one piece and I saw the old glass bottles and then this black box I got pretty excited, of course. What was inside was a lump that looked more of coal than a logbook. So I cannot be 100% sure. But the location and everything  makes it very probable that I had a find.”

Frank logged a smiley and decided to keep the adventure alive for someone else to potentially be the STF (Second to Find) for this cache, “The hut is almost gone completely, but archiving the cache would be a pity. So I decided to place a new [cache] box nearby.”

FTF’s for Frank will now have to occur closer to home. He’s currently geocaching on the German island of  Rügen but says the trip to be FTF revealed a new piece of world, “Belterra is far away, that is true. But it is a little nice town nowadays, which is definitely worth a visit.”

 

 

 

 

 

/ Adela B /

July Featured Geocacher of the Month Nominees – Add Your Comments

Each of July’s Featured Geocacher of the Month nominees has made their mark on the geocaching community. Though many other qualified candidates were nominated, Groundspeak Lackeys selected these three influential and inspiring nominees.

Sniperchicken – June 2012 Geocacher of the Month

Now it’s your turn to help select one of them as July’s Featured Geocacher of the Month.

Write a comment on this blog post about which of these three geocachers you feel should be crowned.

Last month, SniperChicken was chosen as the June Featured Geocacher of the Month. SniperChicken was recognized for his kindness and creative ability to engage the geocaching community through his caches. As the Board President of the Mississippi Geocachers Association, he is known to go above and beyond to research every hiding location to provide fellow geocachers with a unique geocache and story.

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

daggy

daggy

Nominated by Deermark, Lynn, a.k.a, daggy “has been the Chairman of the Indiana Fall Geocaching Picnic for 8 years. This event draws between 200 and 300 geocachers every fall. She helped found INKY (The Indiana-Kentucky Geocaching Group). This group meets once a month for a social and has drawn between 30 and 80 new geocachers every month since inception. Daggy has volunteered with Lincoln State Park in Indiana to help with the park’s annual geocaching event for the last 5 years. She was also instrumental in writing the proposal that brought Geowoodstock X to Indiana. Daggy has been caching since September 2001 and has almost 16,000 finds and 137 hides. Her traditional hides have 248 favorite points and 67 of them are still active. She has hosted 14 Event Caches and has found a cache in 50 states. She gives so much back to the geocaching community, not just locally, but nationally.”

 

De Wijngemachtigde

De Wijngemachtigde

“Every year a Geocoin race is organized in the Netherlands to encourage people to put their coins in circulation instead of keeping them at home,” says irisisleuk. “When the original organizer suddenly stopped organizing this race, Guus, a.k.a. De Wijngemachtigde stepped in and took over this race. But his actions didn’t just result in copying what was done before. He really wanted to take it to the next level. This year, Guus managed to get a record number of 250 participants in the race. And the coins didn’t just visit the 12 provinces, but all 415 municipalities of the Netherlands. He thought of the idea that photos of the coin with the city limit sign and city hall and/or coat of arms of the city where a coin is dropped/retrieved, should be rewarded with bonus points as well. So, he now checks every log, of each coin for photos to see whether this coin should get  bonus points. He does all this himself. The way Guus has organized everything has really got our geocaching community in the Netherlands closer, more involved and resulted in many, many fun coin logs to read. This race has given a whole other dimension to geocaching. It really spices things up and makes moving trackables so much more fun.”

 

T&AD

T&DA

bigfish97 writes, “My name is Dustin and I am 14 years old. I have only been geocaching since February and now it is one of my favorite things to do. I was introduced to geocaching by my aunt and uncle, Troy and Amanda,” a.k.a. T&AD. “They showed me everything about geocaching such as Trackables, Geocoins, different types of caches, etc. They have been geocaching since January but have already found over 350 geocaches! I learned everything I know about geocaching from them. They still guide me through a lot of my finds, even from 300 miles away. I love to share my experiences with them because they are beginner geocachers that I can relate to. I am thankful that they introduced me to this great hobby and what I am asking is for you to choose them for the month of July because it would mean the world to me!”

 

Featured Geocacher of the Month Icon

Comment below to tell us who you think should be the featured July Geocacher of the Month. A panel of Lackeys will use your comments to help decide which geocacher is awarded the honor. Each featured Geocacher of the Month will receive an exclusive special edition featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat, a Geocacher of the Month profile icon, and a certificate acknowledging their contributions signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com. We will be accepting comments for July’s award through July 31st.

Those whose nominees were not recognized here are encouraged to submit their nominations again next month. If you know an outstanding geocacher you would like to nominate to be a Featured Geocacher of the Month, 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 a description (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 Geocacher of the Month must be received by August 10th.

Once we have received all of 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 we might learn from each other.

/ Eric Schudiske /

2012 Geocaching Block Party Invitation – Geocaching.com Presents

You’re invited to the 2012 Geocaching Block Party on August 18!

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The world is invited to Groundspeak HQ in Seattle, Washington USA to celebrate the global phenomenon of geocaching. Check out the cache page, and log your “Will Attend” to meet geocachers from around the world and talk with the Lackeys and Volunteer Reviewers who help power the Geocaching.com experience.

Each year, Geocaching.com celebrates International Geocaching Day on the third Saturday in August by hosting the Geocaching Block Party. The Geocaching Block Party on August 18 runs from 11am to 3pm at Fremont’s Solstice Plaza by the JP Patches statue. Geocachers can challenge themselves with beginner, intermediate, and advanced geocaching courses. They can also explore the Fremont neighborhood where Groundspeak is based and win prizes with “Fremont Funventures”—all while swapping geocaching stories. The public is invited to explore the family-friendly adventure of geocaching and meet geocachers from around the world. More than 2000 people from a dozen countries attended last year’s Block Party.

Around the world, there will be nearly 200 events in more than a dozen counties. Anyone who logs a cache or an “Attended” for an Event Cache on August 18 this year earns the 2012 International Geocaching Day souvenir for their Geocaching.com profile.

Subscribe to the official Geocaching.com YouTube channel to be one of the first to see new videos about the evolving world of geocaching. Watch the more than 50 videos produced by Geocaching.com on our video page.