Geocacher of Month Nominees for April 2013 – Add Your Comments
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
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.”
Comment below to tell us who you think should be the April Featured Geocacher of the Month. We will be accepting comments through Sunday, May 7.
If your nominee wasn’t recognized here, please submit your nominations again next month. We’re always looking for the next Featured Geocacher of the Month. To nominate someone, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@geocaching.com and include the following information:
- 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 the next Featured Geocacher of the Month should be received by Monday, May 26. Once Geocaching HQ has received the nominations, we will choose the top candidates and post them on the blog. You will then get a chance to champion your favorite. Our goal is to involve the entire geocaching community in this process so that we might learn from each other.
Eric Schudiske on April 25, 2013, 8:00 am
What a Red Geocaching Wrench Means to You
Geocachers Care | Geocaching Weekly Newsletter | Groundspeak's Weekly Newsletter
Geocache Maintenance in Two Acts
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!
Eric Schudiske on April 23, 2013, 9:15 am
CITO 2013 – It Takes a Village
Congrats Space Coast Geocachers… 9 events, More than 200 geocachers and 4300 lbs of garbage collected!
It’s takes a village to do many things, say, raise a child. It also takes a motivated village to clean up the earth. The village geocachers created with Cache In Trash Out (CITO) events has a population of 11,124. That’s the population of Fredonia, New York. That’s the exact number CITO souvenirs that have been earned by geocachers who have logged an “Attended” for a CITO event so far. Geocachers attended hundreds of events in dozens of countries from April 20 through April 22. If each geocacher picked up ten pounds of trash, that’s over 50 tons of garbage removed from geocaching areas worldwide.
Geocachers in Montana cleaning the roadside.
It’s the same weights as a couple army tanks or say a large metal bridge. But each piece of litter was a crumpled wrapper or an old tire or a piece of discarded lumber. It’s 50 tons of trash that’s no longer polluting that earth. Well done geocachers, well done.
CITO weekend isn’t over yet. It continues today during Earth Day. Expect the final total number of geocachers who earned the CITO souvenir within the next couple of days.
Geocachers from around the world posted pictures of their CITO events on the Geocaching Facebook page. We chose a few of the photos posted to feature in this blog.
While the CITO weekend occurs only once a year, please CITO every time you geocache. It’s as easy as packing out a few soda bottles or a few pieces of litter. It may not seem like much, but when we all do it, it adds up quick!
45 geocachers attended GC494V1 near Suhl, Germany to clean up all this trash.
CITO is for all ages. Kids, Caching and Cleaning CITO GC48DD9 in Ontario, Canada
CITO in Costa Dorada, Spain
Eric Schudiske on April 22, 2013, 2:19 pm
A Geocache 113 Million Years in the Making – Dinosaur Valley Earthcache (GCQMHY) – Geocache of the Week
Geocache of the Week | Geocaching with Kids | Movie References
Staring contest, you and me. Go. Photo by geocacher Indigo Parrish.
Millions of years ago, a sea covered a large portion of the land that is now the United States. During this time, dinosaurs called Sauropods and Theropods roamed North Texas. Some experts* say they were geocaching, potentially looking for terrain five geocaches. These giant reptiles left footprints in the soft mud that have been preserved for millions of years. And until this documentary becomes a (terrifying) reality, finding the Dinosaur Valley Earthcache (GCQMHY) might be as close as we can get to living dinosaurs.
Mrs. Scattermycaches excited to be at the park’s entrance.
The dino footprints that you’ll see while you’re in the park were made about 113 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. The tracks were discovered in the early 1900s, however they did not become famous until 1937 when palentologist R.T. Bird saw them while collecting fossils. Bird continued exploring the Paluxy River looking for more prints and eventually uncovered a large Sauropod and Theropod trackway.
As you follow in the footsteps of these dinosaurs, you might be wondering what these beasts looked like. The three-toed footprints are most likely from Acrocanthosaurus, a smaller relative of T-Rex. These meat-eating, giant lizards were about 20–30 feet long.
Discovering Theropod tracks. Photo by geocacher Silver Fox 62
The round and smaller hoof-like footprints come from Sauropods. This group of dinosaurs are large plant-eaters that walked on all fours. Bones found in 1996 led to the discovery that the tracks belonged to a new species of dinosaur: Paluxysaurus jonesi. At 60–70 feet long and 12 feet tall, these giants became the official dinosaur of Texas in 2009.
To earn your smiley for this Earthcache, you’ll have to answer a few dino-related questions. Although the questions aren’t easy to answer, that hasn’t deterred geocachers from experiencing this amazing place. “We love Earth caches for the education that they provide, and this one was no exception. It was amazing to walk in the same footsteps as the dinosaurs!” said geocacher BANDA in their log.
These amazing tracks were discovered by someone searching in the woods. What’s the most amazing (and appropriate) thing you’ve discovered while searching for a geocache? 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 or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.
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.
*experts at Geocaching HQ
Derek H on April 18, 2013, 7:00 am
Texas Challenge XI: A Taste of Southern Hospitality
Adela (left) and Texas Geocaching Association President, De
Editor’s note: Geocaching HQ staff are joining geocachers at Mega-Events around the world to celebrate and share the adventure of geocaching. Adela Bahtijaragic, a.k.a. DellaBell, attended Texas Challenge XI (GCW8GT) in Port Aransas, Texas, USA in April. Adela has been on Geocaching HQ’s marketing team since 2012. This is Adela’s account of her trip.
By Adela Bahtijaragic, a.k.a. DellaBell
They say that half the geocaching journey is getting there. This much was true when I traveled to Port Aransas, Texas – home to Texas Challenge XI. Located deep in the heart of Texas, “Port A” was the place to be during the weekend of April 5. Geocachers in the great state of Texas, and beyond, gathered to celebrate what they love – geocaching.
Over the course of 11 years, the challenge has grown into a fun-filled weekend comprised of activities for people who wish to compete in the contest or those simply looking to socialize and geocache around town. With plenty to see and do, I was lucky enough to have had my very own tour guide for the day. I got to hang out with the 2011 – 2013 Texas Geocaching Association (TXGA) President, De (of Team-DnD), who went above and beyond to make this an unforgettable day for me.
Human log book
De and I spent the day exploring the city, the beach, and local geocaches. She introduced me to members of the TXGA, seasoned and new geocachers, and a number of geocachers who attended from places as far away as Australia (firesafe). Of course, I took part in some of the creative Mega-Event challenges, including a joust with a knight from Monty Python’s Holy Grail.
Adela and knight square off
A bonfire gathering at the beach (GC454VH), which included a jalapeno eating contest, potluck, and limbo was the perfect way to end a busy day. We quickly figured out that the lack of a logbook was no problem. Thanks to Travis (SKnight579) and his Hawaiian shirt, turned geocaching “logbook,” we had a conversation piece and possibly even a new tradition for future after-challenge-events.
I felt welcome and a part of a community I had never celebrated with before. The weekend of April 5 was only my very first trip to Texas, but also my very first Mega-Event. I could not have asked for a better group of people to embrace geocaching with. Their hospitality and love for geocaching goes beyond everything I expected.
Texas Challenge XI Group Photo
Eric Schudiske on April 17, 2013, 9:59 am
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