/ Eric Schudiske /

Geocaching.com Profile – “The Hiders”

The Hiders

Kandy and Dann, Wheeler Dealers

Kandy and Dann, Wheeler Dealers

Wheeler Dealers caching career is all about hiding creative and fun geocaches. Kandy and Dann started geocaching in 2003. They’ve hidden more than 1500 geocaches around their Southern California home since then.

Kandy says, “We think you need to keep an open mind while placing geocaches. We like hiding caches because it feeds the creativity we have. It also has become a pleasure to be able to add fun to so many people’s lives that come to our area.”

Her advice for becoming a great hider is easy to follow, “Study an area, look for any nook and cranny, be ready to do a color match or similar texture and then make it a fun name. We like to have the hint in the name.”

Kandy says they like giving geocachers the same experiences that draw them to the activity, “We like Geocaching because we are always looking for an adventure. We have always liked getting out and exploring unknown territory so now we have an excuse to travel the unknown road or trail.”

Out of their more than 1500 hides one hide stands out: “Our favorite hide, we were out and about looking for places to put a cache and found a pair of HANDCUFFS  in the dirt. We put them on in an abandoned cement tube with a handle.  We then hunted for a fake severed arm and put the other handcuff on the wrist of the arm and glued an Altoids tin in the palm of the hand.

“We named the cache, The thief that got away…[now archived] with a description that we didn’t like people taking  our caches   The arm was finally taken away by someone but the cache made many people laugh and that is why we like placing caches.”

Just this year, hiding became more exciting for the Wheeler Dealers team: “Our reward now is the “favorites” votes.  It takes more time to place a cache than to find a cache.  We are pleased that Groundspeak is acknowledging the people that help make it a fun sport for others.” Geocaching Favorites is a new feature on Geocaching.com.

What’s your advice regarding creating great hides?

/ Eric Schudiske

“Lego – einer ist zuviel” GC13Y2Y GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK February 14, 2011

"Lego - einer ist zuviel" GC13Y2Y

“But something’s rotten in the giraffe from Denmark … ” that’s how the cache description for the German geocache with the most Favorite Points ends.

“Lego – einer ist zuviel” (Lego – one too many) GC13Y2Y is a difficulty 2.5, terrain one micro cache. The cache is hidden at the entrance to the Legoland Discovery Center in the heart of Berlin.

The geocache was placed by riechkolben & geometer42 in June of 2007. More than 2800 geocachers have since logged a “Found it” for the micro.

But it’s not an easy cache find. Almost 250 geocachers logged a DNF (Did Not Find) so far. The hunt requires a level of stealth. The bustling Berlin sidewalk is often crowded with muggles.

“Lego – einer ist zuviel” has earned 350 Favorite points. The cache holds the lead as the the most popular geocache in Germany by just two points. There are four geocaches with 300 or more Favorite Points in Germany.  Geocaching Favorites is a new feature on Geocaching.com.

The mico cache from "Lego - einer ist zuviel

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 /

A Video Two Years in the Making – Finishing “Cache Across America”

Lorrie LeBlanc “Lorriebird” is one of six Geocaching.com members that can claim a smiley on the Cache Across America – Series Final (GC12E08).  According to the cache page, “This is a series of caches that will take you on a coast to coast tour of the entire United States. One cache in this series is hidden in each of the 50 United States. These caches each contain a numeric clue that that will lead you to this final cache located somewhere in our nation’s capitol upon completion of the series.”

It’s a daunting series that Lorrie, an airline pilot, started in 2008. She says, “While traveling anywhere in the world is a great thing, I just believe that the United States has so much to offer that most folks will never see!  I have a ‘bucket list’ of places I wish to visit, but my list started with visiting all 50 states.”

Lorrie discovered geocaching after reading a newspaper article about the treasure-hunting adventure. “I tried to get my younger brother interested in geocaching…  I ended up being the one addicted.” Her discovery came only two years before beginning the Cache Across America series. “I started caching on July 9, 2006…the last day that I ever touched my golf clubs (which are still gathering dust in the garage to this day…).”

On the cache page for the final cache in the series Lorrie writes, “Oh sure, the many trips were amazing. The thousands and thousands of miles of driving seemed endless at times. Some of the sights I saw were breathtaking (and so were my VISA bills ).” But she says something was more important than all of that, “Cache Across America (CAA) was really all about people.” Read her Geocaching.com log to find out about the people who cheered Lorrie on to complete the challenge.

But she has advice for you too, if you’re considering attempting a major geocaching adventure. She says, “Technology is your BFF!  I wouldn’t do it without a ‘paperless capable’ GPS.  Spend lots of time beforehand planning routes and downloading Pocket Queries to save in your files before long trips in case your plans change. I carried an aircard so I could access the internet anywhere on my laptop and that became a real help many times on the road.  And if you are going after a specific cache research it beforehand and make sure it is not disabled before you drive thousands of miles!  Take lots of pictures and jot down some notes…you will happy later that you did.”

Lorrie not only completed the challenge and made new friends, but she also put her conquest in a video. She says, “Actually there is no ‘video’ in my video! It is just the collection of still photos that I had in my files from my Cache Across America journey.  I was recently asked by the organizers of Florida’s annual Cacheapalooza event to give a presentation about Cache Across America, and this video is what I made for that presentation.  I am happy now that I spent so much time taking pictures, especially of all the state boundary signs.  Those were the toughest and many times I had to exit a highway and circle back around to get another shot at a missed one.  I found my first CAA cache in October 2008, and finished the CAA final in June 2010.”

Watch the “video” and wonder… could you complete a geocaching series like this?

/ Eric Schudiske /

Groundspeak Weekly Newsletter – February 9, 2011

Habits of a Good Geocache Owner

As a geocache owner, your responsibilities don’t end once your geocache has been published. Owning a geocache is an ongoing responsibility that, when done properly, results in more geocaching fun for everyone. Here are some tips on being a good cache owner.

1. When someone reports a problem with the cache (missing, damaged, wet, etc.), check on the cache as soon as possible. If need be, you may temporarily disable the cache to let others know not to hunt for it. This feature is to allow you a reasonable amount of time – normally a few weeks – to arrange a visit to your cache.

2. Keep an eye out for Did Not Find logs. If there are several in a row, the cache may be missing even if no one has reported it as such. You may want to communicate with the people who logged a DNF to see where they were searching.

3. If a geocacher that is new to the game logs a DNF on your cache and you are certain that the cache is still in place, you might help them out by emailing a tip.

4. You should check on your cache periodically even if no issue has been reported. You may want to bring a fresh logbook in case yours is almost full or some new SWAG (trade items) for the cache.

5. When checking on your cache, see if the physical Trackable inventory matches the digital inventory. As a cache owner, you have the option of marking any Trackables listed in your cache as being in an “unknown location.” Learn how.

6. Cache owners are also responsible for quality control of posts the cache page. This includes deleting logs that are bogus or not within the stated requirements.

7. If you did not add attributes when you first created the cache listing, add them now by clicking “edit attributes” in the upper-right corner of the page. Attributes help other geocachers identify caches that suit their needs.

For more information and tips, check out the Knowledge Book Cache Ownership: A Long-Term Relationship.

Benefits of Adding Home Coordinates

Please enter your home coordinates so we can provide information on new geocaches and geocaching events near you.

/ Eric Schudiske /

“Entrance to Mordor” GC14NA0 GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK – February 7, 2011

"Entrance to Mordor"

Live the adventure of the Lord of the Rings by finding the geocache  “Entrance to Mordor” (GC14NA0). The search to find this cache takes geocachers into the darkness of an abandoned underground train service station in  Sweden.  Norpan & rand althor hid this mystery cache.

In order to crack the mystery and find the cache (referred to on the cache page as “your precious”) treasure-hunters decipher information at the cache coordinates. Geocachers take the information and plug it into a formula found on the cache page to discover the “Entrance to Mordor.”

Gollum?

More than 100 geocachers received a smiley for this cache since the difficulty 3.5, terrain 3.5 cache was hidden in 2007. “Entrance to Mordor” also has 22 Favorite Points so far. Geocaching Favorites is a new feature on Geocaching.com.

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.