Discover the wonders of the South Park National Heritage Area, a nationally designated region recognized for its cultural and natural resources. Unlock its secrets through this challenging but educational GeoTour that includes high mountain peaks, geological wonders and historic buildings. Set your own course toward finding enough geocaches to win a prize. Dozens of geocachers have already claimed their South Park Geocoin by finding 30 geocaches and even more have received a South Park t-shirt for finding 20 geocaches.

Colorado’s South Park GeoTour is expanding this summer to include even more geocaches at unique and exciting locations. Sign up for the South Park GeoTour e-newsletter to be the first to know when the new geocaches go live on Geocaching.com.

You find a geocache in an inspiring location, what log do you leave on the geocache page for the cache owner and other geocachers?

Here are 5 quick ways to inspire your fellow geocachers with your next log entry. It’s easy to share too. Just forward this email to your fellow geocachers and watch the geocache-logging knowledge spread.

Geocaching Tech Update

The Geocaching Weekly Newsletter is receiving a facelift. You’ll see an updated design with streamlined entries for Nearby Events and Recent Geocaches. Expect it to be in your inbox within a week or two.

MulderNScully – April 2013 Geocacher of the Month

The April Featured Geocacher of the Month nominees contribute to their local geocaching communities and inspire geocachers around the world. They not only hide quality geocaches, but make sure those searching can contact them to make the find, if necessary.

Thank you to all those who supported the nominees. Those not chosen as the Featured Geocacher of the Month will receive a gift of appreciation from Geocaching HQ.

The Featured Geocacher of the Month is named by Geocaching HQ after reviewing community input and blog comments. We all won seeing such great examples of how the geocaching community works together. After tallying the sentiment, MulderNScully have been named the Featured Geocachers of the Month for April 2013.

MulderNScully have been geocaching since 2008. They’re known for challenging geocachers with inventive Puzzle Geocaches. They support their local geocaching community by organizing events. One geocacher who commented about MulderNScully wrote, “My vote is for Mulder and Scully. They have been mentors to many new cachers and are always willing to give a helping hand to a fellow cacher and some of my most memorable caching adventures are because of them. They aren’t about the numbers, they are about the places geocaching takes us to.”

MulderNScully will receive collector’s edition Featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoins, along with Featured Geocacher of the Month hats and a certificate acknowledging their contributions, signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com. See a list of all the Featured Geocachers of the Month here.

If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be considered for the honor, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@geocaching.com. Every nomination must follow these requirements. Please include:

• Your name, the name of your nominee, their username
• A picture of the nominee
• Description (200 or more words) explaining why he or she deserves to be the Featured Geocacher of the Month

Please inform your nominee that you have submitted them for the award. Nominations for Featured Geocacher of the Month are accepted at any time.

Congratulations again to MulderNScully for being recognized as the Featured Geocacher of the Month for April.

The Most Found Geocache in the world is a distinction currently shared by two geocaches in this European city

Prague bridges geocache (left) Terezka geocache (right) both have been found more than 12,400 times

The ‘most found traditional geocache’ in the world is a distinction that’s currently neck and neck.  Two traditional geocaches both have more than 12,400 finds. That’s more than twice as many finds as the Geocaching HQ geocache in Seattle and more than any other traditional geocache in the world.

Prague bridge 1 – Karlov most

The most found geocaches are both hidden in the capital city of the Czech Republic, Prague. In fact, they’re just across the famous Charles Bridge from one another. The geocaches each rack up about five “Found it” logs during the work week and about 15 “Found it” logs each weekend. As of this writing, Prague bridges 1 – Karluv most is currently a few finds ahead of  Terezka.

Both of these geocaches have several similarities. Both offer tourists a chance to discover more than the average traveler and they’re both micro caches with interesting camouflage. While each of these geocaches has unique qualities that make them incredible finds, there are certain traits that help boost them to the top of the find count. If you’re looking to hide the next most-found geocache, take note:

1) They’re placed in inspiring locations that are well-traveled by tourists.

2) The geocache pages tell an interesting story in more than one language and include pictures.

3) They geocaches are not too hard to find. They have clear hints and easy-to-find spoilers.

4) The geocaches are well maintained.

Near Terezka

Geocacher Benjo5 owns and maintains Prague bridge 1 – Karluv most. And while this is the most popular of his 26 geocaches, it was his very first hide. He says, “When I wanted to make my first cache, I have seen that Charles bridge, one of the top monuments of Prague and whole Czech Republic is without a cache. It is the oldest bridge in Prague, so I made a cache about it. And as I felt to make just one cache about the most famous bridge a bit unfair thing to the other bridges, I started to make a Prague bridges series, publishing every month one cache about a bridge. The series is numbered chronologically, as the bridges were built.

Charles bridge was my first cache and I wanted it to make it easy for everyone, so it is totally non-problematic 1/1 geocache. But not even in my dreams would I imagine in the day of placing, that it will be once the top visited of those 2.000.000+ geocaches [in the world]”

The owner of Tereka, termiter.cz, owns just two geocaches.

While the find counts for each of these geocaches is incredible, it’s not all about the numbers. Each geocache that’s hidden has a different purpose. Some geocaches are designed to be so difficult and rewarding they’re found just a handful of times a year (if that many). It’s all part of the allure of geocaching. You’re able to choose your own adventure.

Thank you from Geocaching HQ to both geocache creators for providing memories for thousands of geocachers.

See below for the most found traditional geocaches in the top 5 geocaching countries.

Germany – Alexanderplatz more than 9,850 finds

United States – Original Stash Tribute Plaque  more than 6,700 finds

Sweden – OTTT #2 – Changing of the Guard more than 4,600 finds

United Kingdom – From a Swan to the Canary: Tower – Save me! more than 4,500 finds

Canada – Banff Micro Cache more than 2,500 finds

What do you think make the elements of a geocache that draws in thousands of finds? Add your comments below.

Join Us for the Geocaching Block Party Mega-Event

It’s a “Will Attend” that will fuel memories for years to come. We’re inviting the entire worldwide geocaching community to join us at the 2013 Geocaching Block Party on August 17 in Seattle. It’s a Mega-Event not to miss. This year’s Block Party weekend lasts longer, promises more geocaching fun and has plenty of events for everyone. You’ll even be able to grab a cozy spot in front of a giant outdoor movie screen for the first annual Geocaching International Film Festival (GIFF). GIFF will showcase the best videos from geocachers around the world. You and the rest of the audience will choose one lucky video to receive the “Audience Award.”

The Thursday and Friday before the Block Party, you can reserve your spot on a behind-the-scenes tour of Geocaching HQ. You’ll get to find the Geocaching HQ geocache, meet some of the folks at Geocaching HQ and see where all the geocaching magic happens.

Saturday from 11AM to 6PM, you can soak up the fun at the Geocaching Block Party. Activities include a new GeoTour near Geocaching HQ and meeting the Geocaching HQ staff and many of the volunteers that assist the worldwide geocaching community. Sound like a lot? Don’t worry. You’ll be able to refuel at the onsite food trucks. Log your “Will Attend” now, then share this new Block Party Invite video with your friends. We’ll see you there.

Still want more? Wrap up your weekend in Seattle on Sunday with the Going APE Mega-Event. The journey through a long mountain tunnel delivers geocachers to a majestic and legendary location.

Get more details on events, times, dates, vendors and more at the Geocaching Block Party website.

Geocaching is ripe for one more acronym. Move aside BYOP* and TNLN** —get ready for GIFF. It’s the Geocaching International Film Festival. The finest videos from the global geocaching community will be showcased as part of the 2013 Geocaching Block Party in Seattle on August 17.

You’re invited to submit up to two entries. All entries should be one to five minutes in length. The GIFF final entries will be judged by geocaching organizations around the world. They’ll vote on winners in five categories, including Most Instructional, Best Cinematography, Most Inspirational, Most Adventurous and Most Creative/Experimental. Those watching the final videos live in Seattle on August 17 will choose the winner of the Audience Award.

Will your video show on the big outdoor screen in front of a projected crowd of more than a thousand geocachers? The answer to that question begins by checking out the Geocaching Block Party website. You’ll find rules and information about GIFF. And get ready to use one more acronym… LCA (lights, camera, action!)

* Bring Your Own Pen

** Took Nothing, Left Nothing

Check out the Call for GIFF Submissions video to learn more.

Your caption here

Tell us your funniest caption for the above picture of these two geocaching dogs, like, “I have no idea what I’m doing.” You could even win a ‘barely coveted prize’ in the 38th Geocaching Caption Contest. This picture was discovered on the Recent Geocaching Log Images page.  You can discover the 1000 most recent images from recent logs.

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

Barely Coveted Prize… or is it?!?!

“Like” the caption that you believe should take home the barely coveted prize. If you think your caption should win, convince your fellow geocachers, your friends, and family to “like” your caption. Geocaching HQ staff will vote from the top finalists to decide the winner of the contest.

Click on the image to see the winning caption from this Geocaching Caption Contest

The winner receives this month’s ‘barely coveted prize.’ The prize, which might be coveted in many circles, consists of three vintage Signal the Frog pins, including a rare 2007 Happy New Year pin.

Click on the image to your right to discover the winner of the last Geocaching Caption Contest.

Explore all the winning captions by checking out all the Geocaching.com Caption Contests. If you have suggestions for Geocaching.com Caption Contest photos, send a message and the image to pr@groundspeak.com.

Upside-down or right-side-up geocaching can lead you to some heart racing locations.

Geocaching can lead you to see the world in a different way. The symptoms begin early. First you see a location and think, “there could be a geocache right there.” Next you see a a park or a familiar fence line and think, “I’ve found a geocache there.” Finally you see an inspiring location and think, “There should be a geocache there.”

And some geocachers go even further. They see a geocache hide and think, there’s no way I won’t get that. It doesn’t matter that it might mean dangling from a cliff, or climbing a tree or navigating into the darkness of a winter forest.

These are an extreme breed of geocacher. They search for geocaches with a terrain rating of 5. Not only do they enjoy the thrill of turning upside-down or wiggling into a small cave to find a geocache, they also enjoy sharing their geocaching adventures online. Geocaching can be dangerous, so make sure you always take the proper safety precautions. A good example is  the final picture of geocachers who brought a guard dog to a mountain top.

Geocaches have difficulty and terrain (D/T) ratings so you can make the decision before you even leave the house. The rating slides from a 1/1, which means the geocache is easy to find in a handicapped accessible area, to a 5/5, which means that after hours of exhausting physical work to get to ground zero involving specialized equipment like a boat, you’re still going to have a hard time finding the geocache. Find more info on the difficulty and terrain ratings.

Below you’ll find images posted to the Geocaching Facebook page of geocaches with terrain ratings of 4 or 5. When you see them, ask yourself, “would I make an attempt to find these geocaches?”

Extreme geocaching

Extreme family geocaching

Extreme geocaching

Up close and personal (Photo Credit:FradoMedia)
GC11A56

“Triglav 2864″ GC14N3H

Still want more extreme geocaching? Check out Geocaching’s Extreme Multi-Caching video below.

The nominees for the April Featured Geocacher of the Month award hail from three different nations, but contribute to one global game.  Each offers a welcoming hand to those new to geocaching and creative hides for all geocachers.  The nominees come from the United States, New Zealand and Denmark.

Now it’s your turn to help us select the next Featured Geocacher of the Month. Write a supportive comment at the bottom of this blog for the geocacher you feel should be awarded the title.  Each geocacher is already a winner and will receive a prize package from Geocaching HQ. A panel of folks from Geocaching HQ will then use your comments to help guide the decision of which geocacher is awarded the honor.

Each Featured Geocacher of the Month will receive an exclusive special edition Featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, hat and profile icon. They’ll also get a certificate acknowledging their contributions, signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.

WVTim – Featured Geocacher of the Month

In March, WVTim was named the Featured Geocacher of the Month. He’s known as an inspiration to geocachers for his unique geocaches, excellent maintenance habits and his geocaching YouTube channel. He’s accumulated more than 2,000 Favorite Points on his geocaches and he teaches geocaching in schools and to the Boy Scouts.

Here are your nominees for the March Featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.

Olefant

Olefant – Nominee for the Geocacher of the Month

Michael Schwartz “schwartz-hansen” writes, “Our nominee is Olefant (the name is a combination of his first name Ole and his logo a biking elephant – elefant in danish).

He is a retired music teacher from Copenhagen who by now has released nearly 250 caches in Denmark and other countries. He started geocaching in 2009, and has been very active from 2011 until now. He has made a lot of cartoon caches and his FTF-certificates are often laminated pictures of the cartoon figures. At his last event on the 16 of March, he released more than 30 caches, with cartoon series and an Astrology series called the Zoodiak – because the theme of the event was animals.

With his events and his caches, we think that Olefant is a big inspiration for the other geocachers in Denmark, … besides that he is always taking his time to talk to all the persons he meets at events and when he is in the field geocaching.”

 MulderNScully

MulderNScully – Nominees for the Geocacher of the Month

Cristina Florez, “Mamabear Crew” writes, “My nomination for MulderNScully isn’t just because they’re “nice”… it’s because they take geocaching as a true sport. And their caches… ooooh their caches……. just like their username suggests, they are out of this world! Inventive, thought out, truly educational, and some of them hard as hell. They have been an inspiration to us and we will be trying to follow their lead in making this sport a true adventure!”

Jerry Lynn DellAmic writes, “They have helped me when I got stuck on puzzle caches, but they never gave me the solution.  They made me talk out loud. …MulderNScully take pride in their geocaches.  For them, it’s not about the numbers.  It’s about enjoying life.  Taking the opportunity to walk among nature.  Go to places that you may not ever get the chance to see. If it hadn’t been for this great hobby, I would never have had the opportunity to meet these life long friends.”

Onslow Fisherman

Onslow Fisherman – Nominee for Geocacher of the Month

Natalie Gray writes, “I would like to nominate Jim Greene, also known as Onslow Fisherman, as Geocacher of the Month. I met Jim by mail, when he very nicely answered some question I had about a puzzle cache he had. He invited me to meet him and his wife in NZ and I jumped at the chance. We became friends and he has helped me with computer questions,etc…We’ve even done an “International Cache” together, GC44F7A and GC42HKJ respectively. Jim is well respected in his native geocaching community, always giving back. He ran a GSAK seminar at NZ Mega in October, and also arranged a 4X4 event last year. His caches are great, and he’ll even lend you his GPS to find them. (GC2QAHK and GC2MF3T). He is helpful to newbies and experienced cachers alike, gets tons of favorite points on his caches, and makes our sport better every day. He also has over 1000 caches to his credit, which is hard to do in a relatively small island country. Jim Greene/Onslow Fisherman, epitomizes the best in geocaching and definitely deserves to be a Geocacher of the Month.”

Each “Needs Maintenance” request has two acts. One act delivers a red wrench, the other act takes that red wrench away. A red wrench attribute on a geocache page means the geocache most likely needs maintenance. The geocache container could be cracked, the log book could be full or the geocache contents might be soaked with water. Or a giant plant may have eaten it (see image).

Act 1) The Geocacher. If you come across a geocache that needs some repair, post a “Needs Maintenance” log on the geocache page. This will notify the geocache owner and add a “Needs Maintenance” icon (red wrench) to the geocache page. This lets other geocachers know that the geocache may not be in the best shape before they start their hunt.

Act 2) The Geocache Owner. Once you have made repairs, post an “Owner Maintenance” log on the geocache page. This log will remove the “Needs Maintenance” icon. Don’t let your geocache be filtered out in searches by forgetting to post your “Owner Maintenance” log.

There’s a way to help stop “Needs Maintenance” logs: preventive care. If your geocache will not be accessible due to seasonal weather conditions, note this on the geocache page.  Also, be sure to check in on your geocache and make sure:

Good time to perform geocache maintenance – unless ants are also geocachers… 

• The geocache container is still watertight
• Contents are free of debris
• There’s plenty of space in the logbook for more entries

Maintaining your geocache doesn’t have to be a pain. Think about working it into a monthly routine or you can even see if some of your geo-buddies will check in on it for you. Think of it this way: owning a geocache is kind of like owning a roller coaster: take care of it and it will keep making people happy for years!