It’s official! And there’s video to prove it. Geocachers didn’t just double the 2008 Leap Day totals – they combined to make Leap Day 2012 the biggest day in geocaching history. More geocachers logged caches on Leap Day 2012 than any other day in the 11-year history of the GPS-powered treasure hunting adventure. The previous all-time record was set on October 10, 2010 or 10-10-10. On that date 78,313 distinct accounts logged a cache.
As of 2:30pm PST on March 7, 2012 –
83,516 …geocaching accounts logged caches on Leap Day 2012. All told, geocachers logged nearly 300,000 finds and logs on Leap Day.
The old record of unique accounts logging geocaches has been beat by more than 5000.
Congratulations to all the geocachers around the world who united to log a geocache February 29. Thank you to the organizers of more than 900 geocaching events around the world.
Watch this Geocaching.com Presents: Leap 2012 video for a special look at caching around the globe on February 29. Special thanks to the Geocaching Vlogger for help compiling videos of geocachers around the world on Leap Day.
February’s Featured Geocacher of the Month Nominees show such creativity, innovation, and helpfulness that their fellow geocachers sit back and say, “wow.” Groundspeak Lackey’s selected these three nominees because of their ability to give selflessly to the geocaching community. Now you get the chance to comment on who you believe should be February’s “Featured Geocacher of the Month.”
January Featured Geocachers of the Month, SerenityNow
Write a comment on this blog post about which of these three geocachers you feel should be the featured Geocacher of the Month. Those whose nominees were not recognized here are encouraged to submit their nominations again next month.
Here are your nominees for the February Featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.
Nominated by RayandLynn, “Magicman65 is Vice President of the BC Geocaching Association. He is a member of the Mid Island Geocaching Association and a member of the Vancouver Island Geocaching Association. He teaches geocaching, creates and attends events. Magicman65 encourages geocachers to be respectful of the environment, caches, each other and of course (be respectful of) Muggles. When he comes across a cache that needs maintenance, he will fix it right there on the spot.”
Nominated by HotBarbecuered, “My first encounter with this AMAZING cacher was when I moved to the Windsor Ontario Canada area for my university studies. I later went to my very first caching event in Michigan and found out that Rattrak was behind organizing many of the events in the Metro-Detroit area. Each year, Rattrak is one of the organizers of the Annual Detroit/Belle Isle Event. Rattrak also hosts an semi-annual CITO event and potluck on the island each spring and fall.”
Nominated by rvjn, “Steve ‘n’ Nancy has given their all to promoting caching in the North Bend/Coos Bay area. Caching was very limited when they began so they started getting the local cachers together, inviting visitors to dinner, meeting with all, and putting on events on a regular basis. Ask anyone in Oregon and they’ll tell you that the best caches are to be found in Coos Bay/North Bend area. Steve ‘n’ Nancy make every cacher who comes to the area feel special!”
Comment below to tell us who you think should be the featured February 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 February’s award through Monday March 12th.
Featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin
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 March Geocacher of the Month must be received by March 27th.
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.
More than 70,000 geocachers from around the world celebrated Leap Day by stepping outside for a GPS-powered treasure hunt. Their motivation was an opportunity that comes once every four years — going geocaching on February 29. They joined friends and family to explore the world around them, exercise, and earn a digital reward. The Leap Day goal was ambitious. Geocachers rallied to double the number of accounts – 36,696 – that logged geocaches last Leap Day in 2008.
Here are the latest numbers:
Current Accounts w/Logged Caches: 83,516!
GOAL: 73,392
Updated: 2:30 pm PST – March 7, 2012
Share Your Leap Day
Share your geocaching Leap Day pictures and video on the official Geocaching.com Facebook page. The best video and pictures may be chosen to appear in a Geocaching.com video. Subscribe to the Geocaching.com YouTube to be one of the first to see the video when it’s released later this week.
See a Leap Day geocaching adventure – watch the new video below
Sometimes one Trackable (or two or three or a dozen Trackables) from Geocaching.com simply isn’t enough. Shop Geocaching offers bulk orders of tracking codes. The options are endless. You might mint your own series of Geocoins, print a large order of Trackable t-shirts for your geocaching group, or wow your friends with Trackable cows. The minimum order is 50 tracking codes. Think of it, you can track a whole herd (of cows or friends).
Geocachers often use bulk orders of tracking codes to prepare for geocaching events. The codes can be used to make almost anything Trackable, from attendees’ nametags to the geocaching cake at the event.
If you’re interested in less than 50 Trackables at a time, there’s a solution. Purchase a Travel Bug® or two. Activate the Travel Bug and then include the tracking code wherever you like – you can tattoo it on your arm or carve it into your favorite walking stick. It is important that you do not place the tracking code in more than one location, as it will cause confusion as to which item is being tracked.
Once your codes are activated, sit back and watch your items, from cows to cakes, get ‘discovered’ on Geocaching.com. Find out more about the Geocaching.com tracking code policy and view the contact information for ordering your own codes here.
Check out the latest Geocaching.com video above. Share it with your friends to show how geocaching is more than finding plastic containers in the woods, it’s unlocking adventure — and it’s exercise and learning and exploration and, and, and… (your answer in comments)
[This video was shot with express permission from cache owner. The cache name is “The Outlet Mall.” It’s GC1RKTP, located in Washington State, USA]
It’s official! And there’s video to prove it. Geocachers didn’t just double the 2008 Leap Day totals – they combined to make Leap Day 2012 the biggest day in geocaching history. More geocachers logged caches on Leap Day 2012 than any other day in the 11-year history of the GPS-powered treasure hunting adventure. The previous all-time record was set on October 10, 2010 or 10-10-10. On that date 78,313 distinct accounts logged a cache.
