Geocache Name:

Castle Northmoor (GCX612)

Difficulty/Terrain Rating:

1/1.5

Why this is the Geocache of the Week:

There’s hidden history all around us—and geocaching is a perfect way to discover it. Seeking out this geocache will bring you to a castle tower—no, not in Europe—in Kansas City. While Missouri isn’t traditionally known for its castles, this tower has been bringing joy to geocacher’s faces since 2006. The tower itself was constructed in 1980 by Harlan Shaver, which included the structure as well as the intricate carvings throughout the interior. For a more detailed history, the geocache page even has a phone number to call for a guided tour.

What the geocache owner, SunshineWalker, has to say:

“I was inspired to place this cache because the property owner used to walk at E. H. Young Park in Riverside, MO. (the town next to Northmoor)…He told me about a strange Tupperware container he had found in the bushes. He said it had notes and little doodads in it.  The container also had the Geocaching Logo and website information. I was curious and looked it up on the computer.  It was a cache that had been lost and Larry’s dog found it.

I got very interested and took my family to several local caches. I still walked in the park with Larry [the property owner] and he told me about his father. The more I heard, the more I wanted to see it. When I saw the castle tower I knew I had to make it a cache site.  Larry has been quite nice about sharing his property and he loves telling visitors about his artistic mother and stonemason father who built the tower.

I’ve really enjoyed the geocaching community and loved creating caches…It was great to take the family on hikes in places we would have never visited and look for treasure. A few years ago we even went to a cache on an island in the middle of the Kansas River. The kids LOVED the adventure, but we were a muddy mess! Fortunately the river was quite low and we waded most of the way.

I think Geocachers are some of the nicest and most interesting people I’ve ever met. They love adventure and are willing to search for hours in the dark for a camo box with penny trinkets in it. How devoted and determined! (The poison ivy generally doesn’t show up for two or three days.)”

 

What geocachers are saying:

“Found this cache thanks to the recommendation from a local friend. I was visiting from Seattle. Wow, what an amazing experience…It’s amazing to me that I never would have had this experience if not for geocaching. For this I am most grateful.” — Bryan

“This amazing cache was about 6 miles from our hotel, and it was well worth the trip. This place is amazing! Such amazing detail! I was glad that I made the trip out here! This one gets a favorite point for sure. I will be recommending this cache to anyone that travels to Kansas City. TFTC!” – croling

“This is one of my favorite caches to date. A further treasure was the builder’s son was nearby and told us much about the man who built the tower…Great geocache! Thanks for the cache owner and the property owner!” – Jawman173

 

Photos:

 

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

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Geocache Name:

Kjerag (GCXKXJ)

Difficulty/Terrain Rating:

3/4

Why this is the Geocache of the Week:

When you see a 3, 4, or 5 next to “Terrain” on a geocache, you can usually count on two things: 1) it’s going to be a pretty good hike and 2) there will most likely be an epic photo-op at the end. Sometimes earning the smiley can take a backseat to the amazing photographs that get taken from GZ. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at the Geocaching Instagram or search #geocaching on Instagram. Photography and geocaching go hand-in-hand, so it’s only appropriate to feature a geocache with world-class found it photos.

What the geocache owner, Andix, has to say:

“My first visit at the Kjerag was in summer 2004 and I was led there by a friend not knowing what to see there. I was so impressed by the feeling standing upon the Kjerag stone, that I quickly decided: this is a MUST BE for a geocache. But I had never hidden a cache box and needed a prepared cache box. So I was planning another excursion two years later… Geocaching isn´t only a hobby – it´s a passion! Nearly my whole life has changed between the past 11 years since I got a geocaching-member.”

What geocachers are saying:

“Puh, what a stressful climb to the top. But after seeing the Kjerag every stress was forgotten. What an amazing view. Thanks for hiding :-)” – silkeli53

“This walk has been on our “want to visit” list for several years now, and it was amazing to finally be able to take the amazing hike.” – optimistene

“First time in Norway! What an nice and beautiful country. This one was found easy, TFTC! awesome hike, standing at the Krejag was pretty scary!!” – The Bennies

 

Photos and Video:

 

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, just fill out this form. Thanks!

Geocache Name:

Heads of State (GCE041)

Difficulty/Terrain Rating:

1/1

Why this is the Geocache of the Week:

There are some places that deserve to be seen. These rarely visited gems can be anything from a hidden pocket park to a piece of beautiful graffiti—or even a place full of giant presidential heads. However, you can’t always place a geocache there to bring people in. That’s where Virtual Caches come in. While a few rule changes made new Virtual Caches into Waymarks, some of the older Virtual Caches have been grandfathered in since they existed before the rule change. This spot, located in Houston, Texas, is where an artist sculpted and cast these presidential busts for use in a park near Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. You’ll also find sculptures of the Beatles here.

 

What geocachers are saying:

“I came down to Houston for the weekend to grab a bunch of challenge caches and virtuals…this one was on my list…..very cool place….added a few pictures to my log….thanks for bringing me here……TFTC!” – mightymouse21

“Wow, this was a hoot! Detouring through Texas on our way to GeoWoodstock and had to stop at this one. Glad we did. Took pictures so we will post after we get back to Florida next week. Thanks for the adventure.” – Wilemon

“Wow this is great…the things you get to see while geocaching, never would have come here or new about this had it not been for caching, thanks for placing!!” – Holn1b4IDie

 

Photos and Video:

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, just fill out this form. Thanks!

Geocache Name:

A Moagem (GC4QYFG) [translated from Portuguese: The Grind]

Difficulty/Terrain Rating:

1.5/1

Why this is the Geocache of the Week:

Geocaches take on many forms: some are cool containers, some are in interesting places and some are mind-bending puzzles. This week’s Geocache of the Week is a combination of all three. The geocache itself is an incredibly well-made, large cryptex. Geocachers have to use the clues in the description to decipher the code, then line up the different wheels in the right spot to release the geocache. The place where this geocache resides is also interesting. “A Moagem” in Portuguese translates to “The Grind”, which is appropriate since the geocache is placed inside a grinding mill that has now been transformed into a museum, arts exhibit and meeting place. After you earn your smiley, you can even take a look at some of the original grinding machinery.

What the geocache owner, fundao365, has to say:

With this cache we used the concept of indoor geocaching. After understanding this kind of cache rules with the help of the reviewer btreviewer, we started the developement and prototyping process. We take this opportunity to thank him for the cooperation. The cache is inside a reconstructed milling house, that a long time ago used to collect the rye seeds from the local producers and produce the flour. According to this, we  inspired in the grindstone to build the cache. We also thought that the container opening method should be as original as the design. After thinking about a few possibilities, we came to decide to build a big dimensions cryptex with an opening device that looks like a grindstone.

• The geocache is inside a museum, how did this partnership come about?

The museum belongs to Fundão city hall. The team fundao365 is composed by some of its employees, that share the passion of geocaching. The partnership was born naturally.

• Can you talk about how you created this geocache?

The cache was developed and created in Fab Lab Aldeias do Xisto, that is a Digital fabrication laboratory recently created by Fundão city hall, wich main goal is to support open access to entrepreneurship and idea development.

• What do you think of all the positive logs and favorite points?

It’s rewarding seeing that our work is being recognised by the geocaching community and it is an inspiration to future projects that we are already working on.

• Is there anything you’d like to say to the geocaching community?

We appreciate the opportunity that Groundspeak gave us to invite all geocaching community to visit Fundão and meet its wonderfull territory, wich has too much to offer to geocachers. We’d also like to promote our nearest Mountain: Serra da Gardunha, that has an unique landscape and offers other activities like mountain bike, hiking, Hang gliding, canoeing etc…

What geocachers are saying:

[all translated from Portuguese]

“Excellent cache that I got to know during the event held on the same day. Cache that deserves a visit from all geocachers.Thanks to the owner for sharing.” – jccms

“I confess that I was very impressed with the work that went into the design of the container and was even more surprised with the logbook cover is genius. Throughout originality gets the deserved FAVORITE!” – scalpelman

“…this is wonderful, very original and well thought out! now here’s a cache to last a few many years! TFTC” – grilo85

Photos and video:

[vsw id=”6hy5zScHFTs” source=”youtube” width=”853″ height=”480″ autoplay=”no”]

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, just fill out this form. Thanks!

Geocache Name:

The Meeting of Waters (GC3XGGT)

Difficulty/Terrain Rating:

2/2

Why this is the Geocache of the Week:

With much of the world in the grips of World Cup fever (Go USA!), we thought it would be a great time to show off some of the cool geocaches in Brazil. This week, we’re near the city of Manaus, where the soccer/football matches between England  &  Italy, Cameroon  &  Croatia, United States  &  Portugal, and Honduras  &  Switzerland will take place. For the fans visiting this area, finding this Earthcache is a must. At this location, the Amazon River and Rio Negro come together, creating an incredibly unique view of dark and light waters mixing together. If you’re lucky, you’ll even catch a glimpse of one of the pink dolphins that frequent the area.

What geocachers are saying:

“What a fun day! Took a tour with David Andrade’s Amazon Jungle Tours, filled small bottles with water from both rivers, swam with the pink dolphins, and more!” – molokaihuakai

“Very cool at this location! To me the darker water was colder today! Thanks for this earthcache!”  – bubbag04

“Cast away on an Amazonas Beach!!! Next Year we will come back… FIFA Wold CUP 2014!!! Thanks for the cache” – Günni Ka-Li

Photos:

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, leave a comment below with the name of the geocache, the GC code, and why you think we should feature it.