Be prepared to break a sweat to get to Green Lotus Peak (GCE866) in the off-the-beaten-path town of Yangshuo, China. This difficulty 3, terrain 4 1/2 traditional cache requires a hike and a climb to the top of a jagged peak.
The regular size cache container was hidden in 2003 by ooga booga / 10th_coq_scouts / meryl. Since then, more than 120 geocachers have dared to make the climb and log a “Found It.” This cache has earned a number of Favorite Points over the last nine years and it’s easy to see why.
The cache brings visitors to a striking scene, composed of numerous peaks, rosy clouds, villages and the Li River.
The trail to the peak
As one cacher logged, “WOW man! That’s one of the best caches! That’s how I like caching ;-)! The way up is some kind of a jungle trail with some ropes and bamboo in which are very helpful! And then you arrive on the top, totally wet from your sweat and you feel like you’re reborn! The view is just amazing! If you ever come to Yangshuo, you just have to do this cache!”
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.
Editor’s note: 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. Cathy Hornback aka, Prying Pandora, attended the Mega-Event GeoWoodstock X (GC2X6ZV). It took place in Indiana, USA. Cathy has been a Lackey since 2009 and works in Customer Relations. Here’s Cathy’s account of her trip.
Cathy aka Prying Pandora
Written By: Cathy Hornback
On Memorial Day weekend 2012, I had the honor of representing Groundspeak with our CEO and co-founder Jeremy Irish at GeoWoodstock X in the small town of Sellersburg, IN. Sellersburg is about 10 miles north of the much larger city of Louisville, Kentucky.
GeoWoodstock is not just any event, and this was not just any GeoWoodstock. The event is held annually at different locations in the US, and for its 10th anniversary, GeoWoodstock returned to its roots in the Louisville area where the first GeoWoodstock took place. The event has grown from 75 attendees at GeoWoodstock I, to 1500 attendees at GeoWoodstock X!
I was eager to begin my Mega-Event adventure so I booked the first flight out of Seattle on Thursday morning, which meant I needed to be at the airport at 4 AM. I hoped to attend an event in Louisville on Thursday evening after I arrived, but my layover in Houston was extended due to a delayed flight so I did not get there in time. One of the nice things about a big Mega-Event is that there are many opportunities to interact with the community spread out over the weekend, so I settled in my hotel for the night looking forward to Friday’s events.
Belle of Louisville
Friday began with a delightful event, a cruise aboard the Belle of Louisville with 650 fellow geocachers. The Belle of Louisville is the oldest river steamboat still in operation, and it’s a National Historic Landmark. We boarded to the merry sound of the boat’s calliope and spent several hours cruising the Ohio River, socializing, and viewing the massive steam engine and boilers that power the boat’s paddle wheel. An afternoon of geocaching with new friends followed along with a visit to Churchill Downs, the location of the Kentucky Derby. Soon it was time for the evening event, the Miles of Smiles Meet & Greet. Set up like a geocaching street fair, it was a chance to meet more of the community. The evening air was a relief from the powerful heat wave that had settled over the area for the weekend.
Saturday was the big day – GeoWoodstock X. I met up with Jeremy for breakfast, who was back in town after spending that Friday attending the opening of the Geocaching Adventures Maze Exhibit in Dayton, Ohio. When he and I arrived at the event, we were greeted by a crowd of geocachers and a traffic jam of more cachers arriving.
GeoWoodstock Wedding - Signal gives away the bride
A big hot air balloon was being inflated on the hillside where a huge Hollywood-style event sign had been set up. The temperature was even hotter than the day before – 93°F and humid – but cachers are an intrepid bunch and there was a smile on every face. A full day of activities awaited all of the attendees – a group photo, silent auction, educational sessions, caches in the park to find, a vendor expo, catered lunch, a reviewer panel for Q&A, and more. There was also something you rarely get to see – a geo-wedding!
Two cachers from Texas, Crossmage and Phoenix Lady, were married on the GeoWoodstock stage, with Signal giving away the bride! I had a wonderful day meeting more new geocachers than I can count and putting faces to names I had only seen online. I love our friendly, helpful, and clever community. All too soon, it was time for the closing ceremony and announcement of GeoWoodstock XI’s location. It will all happen again next year in Lakeland, FL!
Watch Geocaching.com Presents: World Wide Flash Mob (WWFM) for a look inside this geocaching phenomenon. The 9th geocaching WWFM is just over a week away. On June 9, more than 300 WWFM events are already planned in 31 countries. Those who attend WWFM IX will walk away with great memories, a smiley, and receive a custom WWFM Souvenir on their Geocaching.com profile. The Souvenir will be awarded within 72 hours of the WWFM.
WWFM in Germany
At least 10,000 geocachers are expected to attend WWFM IX events on June 9, 2012. Find an event near you by exploring the WWFM IX Bookmark list.
Check out this blog post for advice if you plan to attend a WWFM.
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Geocaching Premium Members have another powerful option in mapping their geocaching adventures. They can now access Google Maps on Geocaching.com. Google Maps offer extensive global map coverage, a shaded topographical map layer, and high resolution satellite imagery. Premium Members will be able to access Google Maps on the Geocaching.com advanced map. The current selection of maps, including OpenStreetMap and MapQuest, are still available.
The price of a Premium Membership will remain the same. Learn more about the benefits of Premium Membership, which also include custom searches, sorting search results by Favorite Points, and robust find statistics. Sign up for a Premium Membership for as little as $2.50 per month.
The subject of sustainable geocaching goes under the microscope during the German geocaching event “Gecko 2012.” The Geocaching “Konferenz” (Gecko) offers three days of workshops, lectures, and events on the topic of keeping and expanding, “sustainable geocaching in harmony with the environment, nature, and in harmony with our fellow human beings.” It’s a powerful undertaking in Germany, which has the highest geocache saturation of any country in the world.
Gecko 2012: Sustainable Geocaching
Jan aka Czerkus is part of the organizational team for Gecko-2012. Jan says a majority of geocachers play in harmony with nature. “Geocachers often say that the world is their playing field. If you use nature for your hobby, it should be self-evident to protect your playing field. This is the central slogan of the conference.”
This is one of the first conferences of its kind. Jan says, “All workshops, activities and discussions are focused on environmental education and building bridges between geocachers and their critics. As well, we’ll give geocachers who are environmentally aware a platform to develop networks. At the moment we are learning a lot, because there is no experience or event like this that we can lean on [and learn from].”
The events at the conference don’t just teach people about respecting nature, they embrace the outdoors and geocaching. Some of the sessions of the conference include courses on “T5 tree climbing,” “Observing and protecting animals,” and trips to nearby EarthCaches. Jan says there’s more, “There will be workshops about planning Cache In Trash Out (CITO) Events, discussions with hunters, forest rangers, and environmental activists and nature-guides will lead the geocachers in the woods to show them their play field.”
Location of "Gecko 2012"
Jan says geocachers have a great responsibility to the environment because geocaching is a highly visible activity, “Geocaching is very transparent and leaves geocachers’ marks in the World Wide Web. Everybody can see what we do, where, and how often.”
Along with seeing geocaching, Jan also hopes the greater community sees geocachers’ environmental efforts like Gecko 2012. He says, “We have a very special responsibility” to care for the environment. It’s even more fitting then, that after Gecko 2012, a giant Cache In Trash out (CITO) is planned. Gecko 2012 begins on June 8.
