/ Eric Schudiske /

Happy Birthday EarthCaching – EarthCaches Turn 8 Today

"The Pinnacles" EarthCache in Malaysia (GC19A54)

The world’s first EarthCache turns eight-years-old today.  Saying “Happy Birthday!” is as easy as logging an EarthCache. Chances are there’s one close to where you’re sitting right now. There are plenty of EarthCaches, think thousands and thousands, around the globe. But that wasn’t the case back in 2004.

“Earthcache I – a simple geology tour of Wasp Head” (GCHFT2) triggered a seismic movement in geocaching. The first EarthCache was located in Australia. It was placed by geoaware on January 10, 2004. Since then more than 17,000 EarthCaches have been published, popping up on every continent on the planet.

Each EarthCache must share specific characteristics before being published. There’s no physical cache. At every EarthCache, geocachers learn about the forces that sculpted the earth. EarthCaches showcase volcanoes, seismic fault lines, salt flats, bizarre rock structures and more. Each Earthcache reveals how scientists understand our planet.

EarthCache at a green sand beach in Hawaii "Olivine" (GC1M15H)

To log an EarthCache geocachers must demonstrate to the cache owner what they learned about a specific geological feature. Geocachers might measure a rock structure or record a tidal movement. At the EarthCache “Olivine” in Hawaii, geocachers must answer questions about the unique green grains of sand.

EarthCaches are gaining in popularity as they grow older and more established in the geocaching world. Organizers are even hosting the first International EarthCache Event (GC33E6X) this year. It’ll take place in September near Portland, Maine, USA. More than 250 geocachers have already logged a “Will Attend.”

You can learn more about EarthCaching by watching the video below.

[vsw id=”f11fxuNsaE8″ source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]

/ Eric Schudiske

Humphrey’s Archipelago GC1ZPE8 GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK – January 9, 2012

Lighthouse near Douglas on the Isle of Man

Some geocaches take just seconds to find, others require days to unravel. Humphrey’s Archipelago (GC1ZPE8) is a Multi-Cache that can challenge geocachers for days. It’s a puzzle that has left geocachers saying, “an excellent geocache,” “very imaginative,” and “brilliant.”

The difficulty 2.5, terrain 2 geocache weaves the story of a fictitious Victorian explorer named Sir Humphrey Humphrey.

The cache requires following Sir Humphrey Humphrey’s whimsical story. Geocachers discover a faded map near a lighthouse on the Isle of Man. They then use the map and clues from an additional image on the cache page to answer the question, “Where did Sir Humphrey stay on his first night in the archipelago?”

Happy Humphrey created the creative geocache in 2009. The Woodsider IOM now owns and maintains the geocache.

Part of the adventure is catching glimpses of wildlife as you search for the location of the geocache. Happy Humphrey writes, ‘Look out to sea on the way; whales, dolphins, seals and basking sharks are often seen here (there was a Minke whale in sight when I first researched the cache.)”

Geocachers who logged a smiley on the cache write, “Brilliant cache just loved the first clue – never seen anything like it it before.”

Clue from cache page

Continue to explore of some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Explore 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.

/ Eric Schudiske /

Announcing the December Featured Geocacher of the Month

Every month, Lackeys at Groundspeak Headquarters have the chance to learn about the outstanding geocachers in our community. They are nominated by community members for “Featured Geocacher of the Month” because they exemplify innovation, creativity, respect for the environment, and helpfulness. Based off of these nominations and the votes on our blog, each month Groundspeak selects one “Featured Geocacher.” We continue to be stunned by the number of quality candidates as well as the number of geocachers who participate in this monthly process.

All three of December’s Featured Geocacher of the Month nominees have done amazing things for our community. This was a close competition. Over 100 geocachers submitted votes, showing great support for each nominee.  Based on these votes, a panel of Lackeys selected AbbeyAckbar as the December Featured Geocacher of the Month.

December Featured Geocacher of the Month, AbbeyAckbar

AbbeyAckbar, a geocaching couple, is known for organizing many of the most creative and popular events in Dublin, Ireland. According to one cacher, “AbbeyAckbar have gathered people for such events as: WWFM VIII – Dublin, Ireland and a mega huge International Geocaching Day (IGD)01: CITO Burrow Beach, Dublin, Ireland and later that day another event: IGD01: Dublin, Ireland and recently 11.11.11 – It’s all about the numbers. They are great planners, everything is always under control with them.”

AbbeyAckbar is also being recognized for their consistent willingness to assist a geocacher in need. One geocacher mentioned, and many others agreed, that, “they introduced me to Geocaching and have been great to me, on many a geocaching outing, helping and encouraging me along the way. They are all about fun and are so friendly and helpful, they deserve to be geocacher of the month.”

AbbeyAckbar will receive a collector’s edition Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat and certificate acknowledging their contributions signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com. Those nominees not chosen as the Featured Geocacher of the Month 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 renominate those not named December Featured Geocacher of the Month.

If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be considered for 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 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 January Featured Geocacher of the Month must be received by January 27th.

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.

 

/ Eric Schudiske /

Groundspeak Weekly Mailer– January 4, 2012

Teach Someone about Geocaching in 2012

Each New Year, millions of people around the world resolve to change something in their lives.

Common resolutions include: getting in shape, stressing less, traveling more, and spending more time with family. You can put someone on the road to accomplishing all these things simply by introducing them to geocaching.

If you are an educator, group leader, or facilitator, consider introducing geocaching to your group. Not only will they have fun going on an outdoor treasure hunt, but they will also learn about teamwork, problem-solving, navigation, and more along the way.

Visit our new Geocaching and Education page to read more on how to engage groups through geocaching.

/ Eric Schudiske /

Pigeon Island GCWBYC GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK – January 2, 2012

A view of the fortress on Pigeon Island

Pigeon Island (GCWBYC) reveals pirate lore on the Turkish shore of the Mediterranean. Geocachers cross over to Pigeon Island to discover an ancient fortress. It was used to defend against pirates in the 16th century.

The difficulty 2, terrain 2.5 geocache has collected the most Favorite Points in Turkey so far. More than 470 geocachers have logged a smiley by finding the small size geocache.

The cache owner, GB-Team, has some advice for avoiding muggles for those searching for the geocache. The cache page reads, “The location is not hard to find, I’ve posted some spoiler picts to help you. Search INSIDE the castle grounds. When attempting to retrieve this cache, make sure to look ALL around and check so NO ONE sees you, even the people ABOVE!”

The city is a stop for many tourists from around the world, including those traveling by ship. One geocacher who logged a smiley on the cache writes, “Our ship is in port for only a few hours today so went for an easy walk over to your GZ and found it no problems. This is our first cache here in Turkey and hope to find some more when we get to Istanbul tomorrow. Retrieved the Geocoin and will take it back to Canada. Thanks for placing a cache here. And Greetings from Canada.”

Cache contents with a view from Pigeon Island

Continue your exploration of some of the most engaging geocaches from around the globe. Explore 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.