The Once and Future Geocacher — Excalibur (GC2VQ88) — Geocache of the Week

The sword in the stone. Photo by geocacher Lady dreamhummie
The sword in the stone. Photo by geocacher Lady dreamhummie

As the legend goes, Arthur pulled the sword Excalibur from the stone to become King of the realm. Sometimes when I finally pull the logbook from a micro-cache, I feel like a king too. For those who want a little more of an experience fit for a true king, finding this week’s Geocache of the Week will put you on the right track.

While you could probably rate the original Excalibur at difficulty and terrain 5, the geocache Excalibur (GC2VQ88) in the Netherlands clocks in at a mere 1.5 for each. The story begins in the geocache description, where new evidence suggests that the original sword in the stone was actually located in the Netherlands, not England. While this suggestion may be inflammatory, those that seek out this geocache will find the truth.

So far nearly 650 geocachers have made the journey to gently pull the sword from the stone, sign the logbook and potentially become the King (or Queen) of geocaching. Once such geocacher is imke1967, who in their log, said,”This one isn’t very hard to find. It’s a classic “Drive-By”, but still it is a brilliant one: The craft behind it is phenomenal and the effort is well worth a favourite point. TFTC!”

Detail on the sword. Photo by geocacher patchanka
It’s really in there. Photo by geocacher patchanka

This geocache has earned 261 favorite points, which is a testament to the time and effort that went into its creation. The geocache owner, Zwiepjes, said,”This cache took me a lot of hours to build. Drilling the stone took me about 20 hours and making the sword about 5 hours work.” After creating the actual geocache at home, the perfect spot to place it had to be found. Regarding the inspiration for this geocache, Zwiepjes said,”Right from the beginning of when we started geocaching, we had this idea to make a geocache based on this famous legend. We wanted to make something where the geocacher could have the feeling he/she is King Arthur themselves. After some years of brainstorming, this is the final result.” Regarding all of the positive logs and favorite points, Zwiepkjes says, “It is great when your geocache is rewarded and certainly fun when we hear stories at events and when other people are talking about your cache. Reading the positive logs is so nice. We always say: that’s why we are doing this.”

Legends inspire many geocaches. Which geocache that’s inspired by a legend (well-known or local) is your favorite? Tell us in the comments.

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

If you would 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@geocaching.com.

Not everyone was meant to be king. Photo by geocacher King4family
PULLLLLLLLLLLLLL! Photo by geocacher King4family