/ Eric Schudiske /

Groundspeak Weekly Newsletter – July 6, 2011

Version 4.5 of the Geocaching iPhone Application Now Available

The Geocaching iPhone Application allows you to search for, navigate to and log geocaches all from the convenience of your iPhone.

Version 4.5 of the application, available this week on iTunes, includes a newly implemented advanced search feature. Advanced search allows users to search by location, cache type, keyword, and difficulty and terrain ratings. You can also exclude your finds from search results and filter out the finds of up to four friends. This feature makes it easy for those geocaching in a group to identify which caches no one in the group has found. Premium Members also have the ability to filter the search results so that they can easily identify Premium Member only caches.

This update also simplifies the planning of geocaching outings. Choose a cache that you want to find and add it to one of your multiple allowed lists – such as “caches for the weekend” or “caches near work.” The cache will be added to the list and saved so that you can access it while outside of network coverage.

The latest version of the Geocaching iPhone Application is now available on iTunes.

/ Eric Schudiske /

“Liechtenstein’s First” GCC2F4 GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK – July 7, 2011

View from near "Leichtenstein's First"

“Liechtenstein’s First” (GCC2F4) brought geocaching to this 62 square mile European country in 2003.

When Heinz-Achmed placed the cache, he wrote on the cache page, “Still possible in Europe: a country without cache. Nice to be the first to place one in a country.”

It’s not possible any more. Liechtenstein’s First is now one of 115 gecoaches to dot the mountains and valleys in the landlocked country. Nearly 400 geocachers have logged smileys on the cache so far. It’s rated a 1.5 difficulty and 1.5 terrain. Cachers are able to drive within feet of the geocache location.

The winding roads lifts them about 1500 meters (4921 feet) into the Alps. More than 100 pictures on the cache page capture the stunning views and sites along the way. Some geocachers use the famous cache to mark their own personal achievements.

View near the cache location

One geocacher logged, “Decided to pick a special cache for our 3000th find, and the first in Liechtenstein certainly fit the bill!!”

Continue your exploration of some of the most engaging geocaches from around the world.Explore all the Geocaches of the Week on our blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.

/ Eric Schudiske /

Groundspeak Hamsters Find New Homes

Two Groundspeak hamsters find homes

Two retired Groundspeak hamsters found ‘forever homes.’ The toy hamsters were retired after playing a starring role in a Geocaching.com video. The segment aired in a continuous loop while the website received a major update in early May. The “Geocaching.com Hamster Power” video played on an old joke – that Geocaching.com is actually powered by hamsters. (It’s not.)

Thank you to the more than 100 geocachers who offered to care for the hamsters in their retirement years. Ultimately, a geocaching family from Germany and a geocaching couple from America will receive the hamsters.

CacheZwerge is a team made up of  10-year-old Kai-Luka and 12-year-old Catharina.

Team CacherZwerge: Catherina and Kai-Luka

They wrote, “We would be so glad to offer little Hammy a forever home. He was a hard working hamster for geocaching and now deserves a real good place to enjoy the sunny side of geocaching. We will show him all fantastic places in the Black Forest. Take him out to exciting adventures, visiting caves and climbing. Go kayaking with him and we will always carry him if he does not want to walk. Or he can get a special ride with our husky.”

The other hamster up for adoption won’t be traveling as far. It’ll find a home in Indiana, USA. Miss.Betsy and her fiance Mr.Charles have been geocaching since their first date, “We’ve camped, hiked, canoed and swam and now
we’re looking for a special pet to share in our adventures!”

Miss.Betsy

Miss.Betsy says no other pet would do, she’s allergic to animals. “His polyester-based fur wouldn’t require me to medicate myself, we could find some nice hiking gear for him (Or perhaps I could sew him some!) , He would have a forever home in Greenwood, Indiana. He could weekend with us wherever we decide to camp, and he could have a beautiful, two-story, to-scale townhome located in scenic my bedroom! There are many lock-in-locks in which he can nest, and if he feels the need for roomier digs, he can inhabit one of many ammo cans.”

Both CacheZwerge and Miss.Betsy will be receiving their Groundspeak pets soon, with care packages including Travel Bugs so that the hamsters will be trackable. You can watch the video below that made the hamsters famous. Stay tuned to the Latitude 47 blog. You never know when another hamster will come up for adoption!

[youtube]P8aIKEJDUPc[/youtube]

 

/ Eric Schudiske /

Geocaching.com Caption Contest 25 – Win a Barely Coveted Prize

WINNING CAPTION: Why do people keep signing my mail and leaving little army men and hot-wheels? – Team Snook

Share your genius for witty captions in the 25th installment of our Geocaching.com Caption Contest. You could earn a barely coveted prize. What caption would you write? “Geocaching, out standing in its field.” You can do better!

Barely coveted prize

Submit your caption by clicking on “Comments” below. Please include your geocaching username in all entries. Then, explore the captions other geocachers posted.

You can influence the voting. “Like” the caption that you think should win.  If you think your caption should win, convince your fellow geocachers to “like” your caption. Lackeys vote to decide the winner of the contest.

The winner receives a barely coveted prize from Groundspeak Headquarters. This contest the barely coveted prize is a biodegradable Cache In Trash Out garbage bag.

Click on the image to discover the winning caption from this contest

21 Lackeys voted to award the winner of the 24th Geocaching.com Caption Contest a barely coveted prize. Click on the image at right to discover the winning caption from the previous Geocaching.com Caption Contest.

Explore all the past winners by checking out all the Geocaching.com Caption Contests.

/ Eric Schudiske

Groundspeak Weekly Mailer – June 29, 2011

Geocaching with Kids

Geocaching with the younger crowd can be an unforgettable experience. In addition to being a great way for children to explore the outdoors, geocaching introduces them to problem solving and is a wonderful family adventure. Nothing is quite like watching the victorious “I’ve found it!” expression flash across the face of a young geocacher.

However, geocaching can become a very forgettable experience for kids if they don’t manage to find a geocache. To make sure this doesn’t happen to your family, we suggest the following:

• Seek caches with a lower difficulty rating. We suggest 1 to 1.5 stars. The difficulty rating is listed on each cache page as well as on the search results page.

• Seek larger caches. In addition to being easier to find, larger caches are more likely to contain items for the kids to trade. The cache size is shown as a graphic on each cache page as well as on the search results page.

• Make sure that the cache has been found recently. Scroll to the bottom of the cache page where you can view recent logs by other geocachers. Recent logs with “found it” smileys indicate that the cache is most likely still in place and findable.

• Read the cache description and any hints so that you have some idea of what to search for at the cache coordinates. For more of a challenge, bring along the hint and don’t read it unless you really need it.

Check out our guide page for more information that will help you choose a great adventure for the younger geocachers in your group.

 

Be the FTF a Knight and You Could Win

 

Geocachers have been unknowingly practicing for the Langley Knights Competition since the day the first geocache was found. This UK-based competition is a quest to be first to find – only in this case, the geocache is a knight. On Saturday, July 2nd at 9 am British Summer Time, five knights will be hidden around England. Three of these will be physical knights – full suits of armor placed in English parks – while two will be “cyber knights” that can only be found in images on Google Maps and Google Earth.

The first person to find each knight and input the corresponding code on the Langley Knights Competition website wins £1000. The person who referred them wins £500. The person who referred them wins £250 and on up the line.

Help us show the world the power of the geocaching community! Click here to join team “geocachers” and go hunt for some knights this weekend. You must join by July 1st to compete.

Check out the blog for more information. Any winnings directed to Groundspeak will be donated to charity.