Tag: GOTW

/ Andrew Baldwin

Schlossberg: His(_s)tory! GC1VCKY—Geocache of the Week

Multi-Cache
GC1VCKY
by Team Knofl
Difficulty:
2
Terrain:
2
Location:
Steiermark, Austria
N 47° 04.637′ E 015° 26.227

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This 7 stage Multi-Cache in Graz, Austria will give you a historical tour of the prominent hillside of Schlossberg. Along the way you’ll find cafes, restaurants, music venues, and other amenities. This tour will show you a side of the mountain, and will educate you on its history along the way.

It is easy to see why the natural aesthetics and historical and artistic value of Austria would captivate people all over the world to travel to this regal region.  Austria’s second largest city, Graz is located in the province of Styria. Graz offers a strong variety of culture, activities, and places to explore!

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Located at the center of the city is a prominent mountain by the name of Schlossberg. Coupled by the panoramic view, the famous Uhrturm (which translates to clock tower in German) sits atop Schlossberg and is one of the main sightseeing stops in the city. You may feel beguiled by the foothills off in the distance, the Mur river flowing not too far away below, and the classic red clay rooftops. This cache will take you to several historical monuments along a pathway, with breathtaking views.

Hauptplatz

The cache page tells the legendary story of 900 Graz soldiers defending Schlossberg after the Treaty of Vienna. In 1809, Napoleonic forces attacked the city with 3,000 men, and mostly destroyed the fortress atop the city’s modest mountain. The first stage of this Multi-Cache is in honor of the Major that led the defense, Franz Hackher. There were no known images of him, so the Hackher Lion was constructed in place of a human statue.

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But did you know lions like beer? The Hackher Lion not only likes beer, but has a favorite beer in which he has been sitting on for over 40 years! Now Franz Hackher’s spirit defends his beer. To move on to the next stage the geocacher will need to find out what kind of beer he is protecting.

From here the Multi-Cache brings you to a mid 16th century cistern (a fancy water well),an octagonal bell tower holding “Liesl” the big bell inside, an old canon cottage with more auspicious views out the windows (pictured below), the bishop’s chair, and a turkish well.

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Lastly, the seventh and final stage brings you to the symbol of Graz, the clock tower. The coordinates will bring you the gardens below, clad with colorful flowers and shrubbery. It is a tranquil area where students from the universities might study, or meet a friend.

graz garden

 

Built in the 13th century, the Uhrturm was designed to be seen from any point in the city. The clock hands were originally designed in the opposite way to what you normally see, in that the hour hand is larger than the minute hand. It was more important to them to see what the hour was from far distances. The people of Graz were forced to pay a ransom to keep the clock as part of the Treaty of Vienna.

Clock face

Not only is Schlossberg rich in history, but its vibrance is felt throughout the city. Each stop of this cache brings you back in history, and authentically tells a story that may not have otherwise been told to anyone just visiting the city. It is easy to see why the cache owner Team Knofl, would take the time to place a historical Multi-Cache here, TFTC!

/ Janelle /

Hilma Hooker (GC2W056) — Geocache of the Week

Traditional
GC2W056
by Hud4
Difficulty:
2
Terrain:
5
Location:
Bonaire
N 12° 05.974 W 068° 17.213
Geocache Hilma Hooker GC2W056 - photo courtesy of ~M&M~
Geocache Hilma Hooker GC2W056 – photo courtesy of ~M&M~

Ahoy, geocachers! When most geocachers think of T5 geocaches, they usually think of climbing to the top of a steep mountain. But some intrepid geocachers know that diving down, deep down, like, 29 meters (100 feet) down, is what T5s are really all about.

Continue reading →

/ Ellis

Arctic Circle Trail (K –> S) — Geocache of the Week

Multi-Cache
GC3QR3J
by TriNitro
Difficulty:
5
Terrain:
5
Location:
Kangerlussuaq, Greenland
N 66° 55.220′ W 051° 21.626

Arctic Multi-Cache Greenland

On a recent trip, I got the opportunity to fly over the Arctic Ocean. As the plane flew 36,000 feet above Greenland, I looked deeply into the ice, trying to spot a polar bear mid-traverse across an ice field. Ever since then I have been dreaming of a Greenland adventure and what amazing scenery and community I might discover there.

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With a population of just over 57,000 people, Greenland is a vast landscape that has yet to be developed and is slowly increasing in annual visitors (about 40,000 in 2016). For that very reason, I have dreamed of going to Greenland to explore such a uniquely raw place and experience pristine nature. What could make a trip to Greenland even better? Perhaps finding a Multi-Cache along the Arctic Circle Trail!

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As the most famous hiking trail in Greenland, the Arctic Circle Trail is a 160 km (almost 100 mile) backcountry trail between Kangerlussuaq and Sisimiut. Open until mid-September for hiking, the faint trail leads you through low arctic vegetation and into rocky mountains. Along the way, there are daintily placed huts for you to overnight in or take shelter from the unpredictable arctic weather and also find geocaches along the way. If you do not have 7 or 8 days to make this trek in the summer, or if you are a brave soul, you can embark on the journey via dog sled, snowmobile, or cross country skis. Although completing the trek in the winter sounds magical, you may have some trouble finding the final geocache due to lots of snow.

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Although we are featuring one Multi-Cache on the Geocache of the Week, geocache owner TriNitro was kind enough to place another one going in the opposite direction. So no matter which way you begin your journey, you can find a fun final stage. Check out Arctic Circle Trail (S –> K) if you choose to hike from West to East.

TriNitro hauled 12 days worth of supplies and the caches on his back into the backcountry with him:

In front of us, there were about 160 km of walking, 15 km of canoeing, and twelve days of unforgettable impressions in a widely remote landscape. Again, the weather was incredible and we had so much fun along the trail. And: silence! In my opinion this is one of the most impressive and precious things to experience.

  • Just a few of the gorgeous images from this amazing Multi-Cache

TriNitro was also nice enough to host a geocaching event in Greenland for the very small, but welcoming Greenlandic geocaching community:

Before leaving for our trip to Greenland, I submitted an event in Sisimiut to meet some of the local geocachers. So we found ourselves standing in drenching rain at the old church of Sisimiut waiting for other cachers. As we left directly after the event was published, we did not know how many geocachers might join us, if any at all. Finally, the only local Sisimiut geocacher joined our very private event. Due to the weather conditions he decided to put us in his truck and gave us a sightseeing tour of Sisimiut. Not enough, he invited us to his home where we met his lovely family and joined some tasty meal after we found a geocache in his garden. All the people we met during our trip have been very polite and open minded and we were absolutely overwhelmed by this hospitality.

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After reading about this geocache and viewing all the breathtaking photos, I am inspired to book a flight to Kangerlussuaq right now! It would truly be a badge of honor to have that guidebook in your home library and that find on your profile.

Thanks to TriNitro for sharing geocaching with the Greenlandic community and for sharing Greenland with all of us geocachers around the world!

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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.

/ Ellis /

Petrified Forest- Route 66—Geocache of the Week

Traditional
GC3EPG9
by PEFO Ranger
Difficulty:
2.5
Terrain:
1
Location:
Petrified Forest National Park, United States
N 35° 03.067 W 109° 48.319

Today is the US National Park Service’s 100th Birthday! In addition to the NPS offering free entry into all National Parks this weekend, Geocaching HQ has created a Find Your Park GeoTour where you can explore geocaches placed by the National Park Service and their partners.

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We want to highlight a fun, car-themed geocache that was hidden by a Ranger in Petrified Forest National Park. Besides, what’s more American than a road trip on Route 66?

Made popular by the Nat King Cole Trio song “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” and the 1960’s TV Series, Route 66, the road spans from Santa Monica, California to Chicago, Illinois. Along Route 66, you can visit Petrified Forest National Park, which was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Petrified Forest National Park was created to protect large deposits of petrified wood and other fossils from the Triassic Period, which makes this park Dino-Mite! Over 10,000 years of human history can be found in the park, including over 800 archeological and historical sites.

Things to know about the geocache:

  • There is an old car sitting in the roadbed of the previous road.
  • This place is a popular spot to visit, so watch out for muggles taking pictures!
  • This is a “TNLN” geocache, which means “Take Nothing; Leave Nothing”. Bring a pen, sign the log, and save your cool swag and trackables for a different geocaching experience.
  • Please respect the rules and regulations of the park and the resources it was established to protect.

While you’re in Petrified National Forest, check out other caches the PEFO Ranger has hidden:

Thanks PEFO Ranger for hiding some super fun and informative caches and also for serving our National Park Service.

And I’ll leave you with a seemingly relevant dinosaur joke:

What do you call it when a dinosaur has a car accident?

A Tyrannosaurus wreck!

Make sure to share your experience with the community by using the hashtags #FindYourPark and #Geocaching while on your National Parks adventure this weekend.

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.

/ Alex

The Secret Whitelist — Geocache of the Week

Mystery Cache
GC69Q0D
by El abnorgollums724
Difficulty:
4.5
Terrain:
2.5
Location:
Switzerland
N 47° 22.913 E 008° 51.881

“The Secret Whitelist” is a well-crafted, highly entertaining dramatic comedy short film and mystery cache.

The clues that will lead you to its final location are hidden within the film, created by and starring the cache owners: El Tornado, abnorMali, sven724 & die-gollums.

When the film opens, geocachers have been disappearing under mysterious circumstances left and right, and the frantic and frightened Thomas Upper finds himself next in line. He suspects the criminal organization, the Muggles, who target geocachers and geocaches, are behind it all. The police are no help.

Upper knows he must be added to the Whitelist, a list of geocachers who’ve paid protection money to the Muggles in exchange for being left alone. He appeals to David Öseler—a disheveled, rookie detective who loves his drink—who agrees to take the case. “My first case!” he says. “And maybe my last.”

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Detective Öseler listens intently as Upper describes the situation.

The detective calls an associate of his, and a meeting is set up. After an exchange of the secret code (“A crocodile is like this: the greener it is, the more swim…” and “In the winter, it’s colder than outside…”) they get down to business.

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Öseler meets a strange stranger in an underground parking lot (even stranger!)

The detective’s associate shows him which tools he’ll need to locate the secret Whitelist. He warns the detective, “The Muggles are more hostile than ever.”

The secret contact shows Oseler what he'll need to find the Whitelist.
The secret contact shows Oseler what he’ll need to find the Whitelist.

And after that, the viewer is told to slip into the role of the Detective, and begin the hunt for the Whitelist! The viewer has all the same tools and clues at their disposal as the detective…that is, if they paid attention!

In the seven months since being published, the cache has earned 94 favorite points (a 90% favorite rating).

The team that created this cache were elated by the response from the community. “Wir wollten etwas ganz spezielles auf die Beine stellen. Wir waren überzeugt, dass dieser MultiMystery bei der Community gut ankommen wird. Dass dieser so einen Hype auslösen würde, hat uns doch überrascht.” [We set out to create something truly unique. We were shocked at the incredibly positive response from the community. The fact that it generated such a hype really surprised us.]

The cache owners had this to say to the geocaching community: “Als erstes möchten wir uns bei der Community bedanken, für die positiven Feedbacks und die tollen langen Logs, die geschrieben wurden. Danke auch an alle Cacheowner für die unzähligen tollen Caches die wir besuchten und die wir noch besuchen dürfen. Passt auf die Muggels auf!” [First of all, we want to thank the Community for the positive feedback we’ve received and all the great logs that have been written. Thanks also to all the cache owners out there for countless amazing geocaches that we visited, and that we may still visit. Watch out for the Muggles!]

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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.