One of the greatest things about geocaching is that anyone with a GPS-enabled device can participate in the activity. Whether you are a parent with young children, an extreme sports fanatic, or an individual with a disability, there are geocaches designed with you in mind.
As a Cache Owner, you can help fellow geocachers determine whether your cache is a good fit for their needs. Simply add attributes to your cache listing. Attributes are icons that indicate what to expect on the geocache journey and at the cache location. “Recommended for kids,” “climbing gear required” and “wheelchair accessible” are just a few of the dozens of attributes.
Cache Owners who are planning to add the “wheelchair accessible” attribute to their cache page or are debating whether their cache deserves a 1-star, 1.5-star, or 2-star terrain rating should check out handicaching.com. As you can see from this video, just because the ground is flat does not necessarily mean that a geocache is wheelchair accessible. Handicaching.com will help you determine the accessibility of your cache based on five factors: distance to cache, route surface, route slope, route obstructions, and cache height. When in doubt, mark the terrain rating as 1.5 stars and explain the details on your cache page.
The ability to rate caches based on accessibility is not limited to Cache Owners; everyone can help. All geocachers are welcome to contribute their input at handicaching.com. Thank you for your efforts to make geocaching more accessible for all!
The Geocache of the Week inspires a rappelling adventure into caverns in Portugal and reveals a glimpse into the distant past. A FENDA [Bombarral] (GCW5EA) is rated a difficulty 3, terrain 5 cache. It lures geocachers with the promise to discover caves that were once home to Neanderthals.
Miguelrk + João + Inês placed the regular sized cache in the location in 2006. The cache page, written in Portuguese, warns geocachers that the trek to find this geocache can be dangerous. Safety precautions and the right equipment are mandatory.
Signing the logbook
The experience is unforgettable. The geocache has won local awards. A FENDA has received dozens of Favorite Points.
The location of this traditional cache offers a visual wonderland. Just over 100 geocachers have logged smileys, but there are more than 500 images in the photo gallery. The logs are rich with detail and emoticons. Some geocachers spend years planning their trip to A FENDA and organize large groups to find and log the cache.
A recent expedition to the A FENDA titled their adventure, “Operação ‘Viagem do fundo da terra'” or “Operation ‘Voyage to the Center of the Earth.'”
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.
The last Project APE Cache is there... somewhere...The journey began in Peru
UPDATED July 5, 2012: Read the comment from Brad Simmons (MonkeyBrad) about his journey to the APE Cache in comments below.
—————-
You can track a geocaching team live as they attempt to log a smiley on one of the rarest and most sought after finds in all of geocaching. The team is attempting to find Mission 4: Southern Bowl (GCC67). It’s the last of the Project APE Caches.
For some geocachers, Mission 4: Southern Bowl is the most coveted geocache in the entire world. The cache was hidden deep in the Brazilian Jungle in 2001. Only about 50 geocachers have logged it in 11 years.
Four American geocachers accepted the challenge to find Mission 4: Southern Bowl to mark major personal geocaching milestones. The four geocachers combined have accumulated more than 50,000 cache finds. For Monkeybrad, the last APE Cache will mark his 20,000th smiley, Southpaw‘s geocache tally will reach 18,000 and 6Lindseys and MLRS1996 will each reach 7,000 finds.
Project A.P.E. Cache Icon
The team left the United States on Thursday June 14. They landed in Lima, Peru the following morning. They’re planning to make their way to Sao Paulo, Brazil and to the Project APE Cache. You can track their progress by clicking on the map above.
The Project APE Cache as found by ZobelMex on June 3, 2012
The Mission 4: Southern Bowl Project APE Cache was part of a promotion for the 2001 film Planet of the Apes. Thirteen A.P.E. caches, each with props from the movie and a story that tied into the movie, were hidden all over the world. Those who found the caches received a unique icon. Mission 4: Southern Bowl is the final active cache in the Project A.P.E. series.
Two German geocachers, ZobelMex and TC-Rudi last found the Project APE Cache in early June. The team of American geocachers is expected to land in Sao Paulo on Friday, June 15. They’ll begin their 300 km drive into the jungles of Brazil over the weekend, where they hope to log a smiley, receive the rare Project APE Icon, and make a memories that will last a lifetime.
Imagine a world built around all things geocaching. In this world traveling from “here” to “there” includes a customized list of your ideal geocaches. You choose which geocaches are on the list, including the cache types, sizes, and terrain and difficulty ratings. You even choose how far these caches are hidden from the road. If you’re a Premium Member, you’re in luck; this world exists today.
The Premium Member feature we’re talking about is called “Caches Along a Route.” It’s a custom search that pinpoints only the geocaches you’d like to find between Point A and Point B. A new route is easy to create and send to your GPS device. Premium Members also enjoy the benefits of Google Maps and can award and sort search results by Favorite Points. A Premium Membership costs as little as $2.50 a month, and it could turn your next road trip into an epic geocaching adventure. Explore Premium Membership now!
May’s featured nominees have climbed mountains and crossed borders to bring awareness to their favorite hobby. These brave, enthusiastic, and adventurous explorers may reside in different parts of the world, but they all share a love of geocaching.
Now it’s your turn to help select one of them as May’s Featured “Geocacher of the Month.”
Milosheart - April 2012 Featured Geocacher of the Month
Write a comment at the bottom of this blog about which of these three geocachers you feel should be crowned.
Last month, Milosheart was chosen as the April Featured Geocacher of the Month. Milosheart was recognized for their ability to organize numerous geocaching gatherings, their hospitality, and for the success of geocaching in their community.
Here are your nominees for the May Featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.
According to Team Monkeyboy, “when it comes to bravery and a sense of adventure, one husband and wife team definitely fit the bill; the iphone.cachers from Galena, Ohio.” Michael and Angela “will drive hundreds of miles for the sole purpose of grabbing a single leg of a Multi-State geocache, or defy a blazing lava flow from Mount Kilauea. These cachers are always up for the challenge because they love this hobby. Life has thrown iphone.cachers more than their share of surprises. In September of 2011, Mr. iphone.cacher was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and has since been fighting a brave battle. This amazing pair and their family are an absolute inspiration. They have managed to seize every adventure and are not slowing down, despite life’s obstacles.”
Nominated by cornishcay, One-Y Lee, a.k.a. kinglee, “is someone who never stops contributing to the geocaching community to keep the spirit and passion alive, especially in Asia, where we do not have a very large community of geocachers. One-Y started geocaching in Singapore many years ago, and even after moving to Hong Kong, his commitment to introducing this wonderful hobby to many new friends and keeping it alive for existing geocachers is absolutely amazing. He has organized geocaching activities in different parts of Hong Kong almost every weekend. Now, most local geocachers need not worry what to do during their weekend. One-Y hasn’t stopped there. He also organized trips to nearby countries like Thailand, China, and Macau for geocachers who are so keen to add additional countries to their statistical map. He raised so much awareness about this hobby that he was even featured in the local newspaper.”
Nominated by luisyopr, Lourdes, a.k.a. lulusoy, “is one of the most active geocachers from the island of Puerto Rico. ‘Lulu’ has managed to organize our very first official CITO event that was held in Puerto Real, Cabo Rojo. Lulu runs a podcast, called Cache D Island every two weeks. She loves to talk about anything and everything geocaching-related. Beginner geocachers can learn so much from her. She will guide them through everything until they have fallen in love with the hobby. Lulu also loves to explore new places and do new things. She and her crew organize different geotrips to various places across Puerto Rico. She is a great representation of an enthusiastic geocacher.”
Comment below to tell us who you think should be the featured May 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 and a certificate acknowledging their contributions signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com. We will be accepting comments for May’s award through Monday, June 18th.
Those whose nominees were not recognized here are encouraged to submit their nominations again next month. If you know an outstanding geocacher and would like to nominate him or her to be a featured Geocacher of the Month, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com.
Featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin
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 June Geocacher of the Month must be received by Monday, June 25th.
Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose the top three 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.
One of the greatest things about geocaching is that anyone with a GPS-enabled device can participate in the activity. Whether you are a parent with young children, an extreme sports fanatic, or an individual with a disability, there are geocaches designed with you in mind.
