Tag: GeoTours

/ Guest Writer

Geocaching with Love in Alaska

Written by Annie Love, a Geocaching HQ Employee

This article was originally published in the Portuguese “GeoMagazine.”

Not many people would choose to visit Alaska in December. But that didn’t stop a group of nine Geocaching HQ Lackeys and friends from spending 24 hours visiting the capital city of Juneau. I feel fortunate to work with such amazing people who don’t think twice about spending their own money and giving up their weekend for a fun geocaching adventure.

Cute group

With a cheap flight and our sense of adventure, we took off early on a Saturday morning for a 24-hour geocaching journey. The only way to reach Juneau is by plane or boat, as there are no roads that lead to this isolated part of Southern Alaska. Our plane descended into Juneau at sunrise treating us to a spectacular view of seemingly endless white capped mountains.

Moody Mountain

Upon arrival we picked up our two SUVs and took off on our adventure. Within minutes we were stopping at our first geocache. The setting: a lifting fog on a beautiful wildlife refuge surrounded by mountains. We couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to Alaska. After a tasty breakfast, we set off for one of Juneau’s top tourist attractions: Mendenhall Glacier (a 13 mile long river of ice). This place is unreal. If you ever get a chance to travel to Alaska it’s well worth the visit. It’s also a great place to log several EarthCaches and learn about the interesting geology and history of the area.

Posing like a band cover

Local geocacher Avroair (Mark Clemens) was hosting an event at the Visitor’s Center to celebrate his accomplishment of finding caches in all 50 states. Our group of nine met up with a handful of local geocachers and enjoyed talking about our hobby while taking in the amazing view of the glacier.

Pointing

We then took off on the one-mile nature walk to Nugget Falls – an impressive nearly 400-foot tall waterfall. We posed for some silly pictures in front of the glacier.

Waterfall

Lucky for us, one of the local geocachers is a long time employee at Alaskan Brewing Co. We got our own behind-the-scenes tour of the brewery while sampling the local beer. Naturally, there was a geocache in front of the brewery that we had to find before starting our tour.

Arms out

Our very long day ended with a dinner event with even more local geocachers. Since it was a nice small group, we were able to have some great conversations and really learn a lot about the area and the local geocaches. We barely scratched the surface of the great geocaching Juneau has to offer and I was inspired to return someday – hopefully next time in the warmer summer months!

Group jumping

See Annie Love’s Geocaching journey atop Mt. Fuji. Where do you want to take a Geocaching journey?

/ Alex /

ENIGMA (GC427TF) — Geocache of the Week

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Geocache Name:

ENIGMA (GC427TF) — by The Seeker League

Location:

North Canton, Ohio, USA
N 40° 52.645 W 081° 24.875

Difficulty/Terrain Rating:

D4.5/T1.5

Why this is Geocache of the Week:

Enigma is pure geocaching entertainment. It’s the kind of cache that you’ll walk away from smiling, even if you DNF. If you do manage to locate the famed yellow logbook, you’ll walk away shouting with laughter.

See for yourself. Here’s a video provided by the cache owner, The Seeker League.

What geocachers have to say about it:

“Woo hoo!!! Been wanting to get this but kept putting it off cause of the stigma with it!!! But decided we should give it a try since it may be disabled soon. Otter9 joined us and we spent almost an hour but we FOUND IT!!!! So happy! Thanks for all the time you took to put this together! It lives up to its reputation!” –MR DR

“Wow what a cache! A dozen of us teamed up to work this puzzle. Took over an hour before we finally had the yellow golden ticket log in hand!” –Heidi & Zeke Jones

“Awesome! Messed around with the whole contraption and all the areas. Dropped a trackable that needs to get moving in a race! After looking everywhere ( and making a few trips back to the car for hats, gloves, and warmer coats), we started to think our way through the device. Mommy Scout started dancing around and singing when her hand retrieved the yellow log! Very exciting moment for me. (Yes, I need to get a life, huh?) Thanks for the fun cache. Took us about 20 minutes. Gets a favorite for sure! TFTC!” –ThorScouts

What the Cache Owner, The Seeker League, has to say about it:

Where did the idea for this sort of large, mechanical multi-part field puzzle cache?
“After 3 years of looking for a place to put it, I asked my husband Iron Horse to build a kinetic art sculpture to use as camouflage for this container. Over the next year and hundreds of hours, all the loose pieces of metal and machinery within our garage found its way into his hands and onto ENIGMA.”

The cache itself looks fairly complicated — did you have a pretty clear idea of what it would look like before you started construction, or was it sort of a “flying by the seat of your pants” kind of thing?
“There was no plan, no idea what it would look like at the end. ENIGMA evolved into 500 cubic feet of contraptions, containers and fun!”

What’s been your reaction to all the wonderful logs by people who’ve found your cache?
“Reading the logs about our creation are very enjoyable.  Watching the videos from the area have given us even more hours of entertainment, as we never know what is going to be said or what reaction cachers are going to have while doing ENIGMA.  Never a dull moment that’s for sure!  Cachers are warned that at ENIGMA you might just be on camera!”

What’s your favorite creative geocache hide?
“We had the honor of doing some spectacular caches while attending our 4th GeoWoodstock at XIII in Boonsboro, Maryland 2015. One of our favorite caches is GC4W6QX ‘GBC 3 – Mechanical Drawing 101’ by WVTim in Martinsburg, WV. His caches are all so creative it was difficult to choose just one favorite.”

Is there anything else you would like to say to the Geocaching community?
“Remember Geocachers, getting lost is more than half the fun. We have lived some of our greatest moments while being lost. Turn off interstates on your GPS unit, take the long back roads and enjoy life. See you on the trail.”

Photos:

 

ENIGMA, in all of its colorful glory.

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Continue to explore some of the most amazing geocaches around the world. Check out all of the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog.

 

If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, fill out this form.

 

 

/ Janelle /

Goodbye 2015 and Hello 2016

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So you got your party hats, noise makers, streamers, balloons, confetti, and champagne all ready to go. You’ve decided which geocaching event to attend, or which geocache to find on December 31 and January 1 to earn your Goodbye 2015 and Hello 2016 souvenirs. But how will you share it with the world?

We got you.

Post your great New Year’s photos to Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram using the hashtag #Geocaching and this downloadable Goodbye 2015 / Hello 2016 template (see photos below). Tell us your favorite memories from 2015 and your geocaching resolutions for 2016. We can hardly wait to see what the New Year brings everyone!

Just for fun, here’s a list of interesting facts about different New Year traditions from around the world:

  • Samoans used to be the last to ring in the new year, but are now one of the first since the International Date Line was moved in 2011/2012.
  • Filipinos wear a polka dot dress and eat round fruits (such as grapes) to attract good fortune.
  • Germans and Austrians pour molten lead in a bowl of water, and the shape determines their fate for the new year.
  • Americans kiss at the stroke of midnight in the hopes of finding true love.
  • Geocachers reflect on their accomplishments from 2015, and set their goals for 2016.

What geo-accomplishments were you proud of in 2015? What is your geo-goal for 2016? Share your #Geocaching photos with us! 

 

/ Alex

Pack Deinen Reisepass ein!

Das letzte neue Ländersouvenir dieses Jahres ist hier!

Trommelwirbel bitte! Das letzte neue Ländersouvenir dieses Jahres ist… Thailand! Die Kombination aus weißen Sandstränden, blauem Wasser und uralten Ruinen führt zu unglaublichen Geocaching-Abenteuern in Thailand. Wenn Du in Thailand geocachen gehst, solltest Du das auf keinen Fall verpassen:

  1. Thailand_vFINAL_111215_InstagramBesuche den Großen Palast in Bangkok, der Hauptstadt Thailands.
  2. Logge diesen EarthCache und entdecke die Insel Ko Phi Phi, wo Leonardo DiCaprio bekannterweise im Film “The Beach” gefilmt wurde.
  3. Teste Deine Höhenangst und finde diesen Kletter-Geocache – manche behaupten, es sei der beste in Thailand.

Finde mehr zum Thema Geocaching in Thailand auf dem Geocaching Blog und sieh Dir die Geocaches mit den meisten Favoritenpunkten an.

Thailand ist, mit Slowenien, Estland, Litauen und der Türkei, eines der neuesten Ländersouvenirs. Wenn Du in diesen Ländern in der Vergangenheit Geocaches gefunden hast, wirst Du das entsprechende Souvenir auf Deinem Profil finden. Hier kannst Du Dir alle Souvenirs anschauen, die Du schon gesammelt hast. Gute Reise!

 

 

 

 

 

 

/ GeoTours

KohlsFit GeoTour

GeoTour:

KohlsFit GeoTour

Location:

Valley of the Sun –  Phoenix, Arizona area

Total Favorite Points:

56

A beautiful view from a path in the city when you are finding one of the geocaches on the tour.
A beautiful view from a path in the city near one of the geocaches

Why this GeoTour is unique:

The name says it all: Valley of the Sun. If you need a little vitamin D and dry desert air in your life, you’ll love this GeoTour location.

All the geocaches on the tour are translated into both English and Spanish, making it the only bilingual GeoTour in the nation.

In the last year, families walked a combined 3,500 miles together while participating in the KohlsFit GeoTour.

A beautiful view from a path in the city when you are finding one of the geocaches on the tour.
A beautiful view from a path in the city when you are finding one of the geocaches on the tour.

Best time of year to visit:

Visit October through April to beat the heat. The area is beautiful in the winter, especially if you want to escape the cold.

Must-see attractions:

All the geocaches on the GeoTour are placed in unique locations around the Phoenix area including art installations, parks, an amazing library, and beautiful hiking & urban trails.

Hidden gems only locals know about:

Our focus is to help families be active. Many of the caches are tucked away on urban trails and in Maricopa County Parks, all of which bring you to breathtaking desert views.

Prizes: 

This fall, the first 150 geocachers to complete their passports will earn a special trackable. See more details on the October passport.

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Geocachers pedaling away at Pedal Power, one of the geocache locations.

What Geocachers are saying about KohlsFit GeoTour:

“Very cool! I was taking a stroll around this neat park. What better way to see it than to cache. Thanks for the stash. Thanks for the cache. SL. Nice Hide!”

“A beautiful spring day to go and look and find… great flowers, nice breeze, no snakes, great hides,… what more could a gal want???”

“This was our first day of vacation. We always enjoy our visits to Arizona to see roadrunners. Thanks Kohlsfitgeo for placing these caches for us to find and contributing to our fun. from South Dakota.”

Additional Information:

Make memories, have fun, and be active along the way! For more information and to print a passport, visit www.kohlsfit.com/geocaching.

 

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Note: All the above information was provided by the GeoTour host. Copy has been edited by Geocaching HQ.