Tag: International Earthcache Day

News & New Caches 155

We have 2 new earthcaches published on our patch so there are no excuses for not getting your International EarthCache Day souvenir:

GCAQQM1 Under Caernarfon Castle 🏰 by 74jen Earthcache D1.5/T1.5
GCAZ0TF REALLY SideTracked – Dinas by ECOBAKE Earthcache D2.5/T1

Event
GCAZ0QW 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 72 by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T1
When: Thursday 31st October 2024
Where: Parc Snowdonia, Waunfawr, Caernarfon, Gwynedd LL55 4AQ
Time: 7pm to 9pm or when the last person leaves

In for review but not yet published:
GCAZ0QW Come and Monster Mash with 9US by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T1.5

When: Saturday 2nd November
Where: Plas Gwernoer, Nantlle LL54 6BB
Party Starts: 5pm
Party Ends: 8pm or when the last person leaves
Attire:  Optional Halloween Fancy dress
Wrap up warm, as, weather permitting, we plan to have some outside activities including a pumpkin lantern competition. There will be prizes for adults and children, to enter bring your carved pumpkin on the night. Of course there will be a BBQ and the bar will be open to late.

International Earthcache Day

This coming weekend is International EarthCache Day (weekend). To earn the souvenir visit any EarthCache and complete the logging requirements from Friday, October 11th through Sunday, October 13th, 2024. All non-Premium EarthCaches are open to everyone throughout the weekend on the Geocaching® app.

Warlock’s Chamber Escape Room at Castell Conway

At Castell Conwy, just for Halloween, Cadw are opening a spooky escape room. 

Discover the secrets of notorious Welsh magician Maldwyn mab Diafol, and test your skills by escaping the warlock’s chamber! Over seven hundred years ago, the King of England captured one of his deadliest enemies, the Welsh magician Maldwyn mab Diafol. Maldwyn was kept prisoner at Castell Conwy, locked in the chapel tower for a year and a day. However, on the morning after Halloween night in 1303, Maldwyn’s guards unlocked his chamber to find the wizard had vanished! Over seven hundred and twenty years later, Maldwyn’s cell has finally been reopened. Visitors will get the chance to solve the mystery of Maldwyn mab Diafol, and to escape from the warlock’s chamber themselves!

From Monday 28th October to Sunday 3rd November 2024 11am to 4pm
For teams of 2 – 6 players; £4 per player
Prices: Normal admission charge. Plus £4 per player to take part in the activity.

Suitable for visitors 10+. All children under seventeen will require adult supervision.

Anyone interested? Please contact us.

News & New Caches 151

There have been no new caches or Adventure Labs published since our last post.

September Equinox

The September equinox represents a moment of balance in Earth’s orbit with nearly equal amounts of daylight worldwide. As the reverse of the March equinox, it marks the start of autumn in the northern hemisphere and the start of spring in the southern hemisphere. Geocaching HQ created a souvenir for geocachers to celebrate the September equinox. To earn this souvenir, geocachers must find a total of 3 geocaches, Event Caches, and/or Adventure Lab® Locations between September 22nd–28th.

International EarthCache Day 2024 Souvenir

Since 2004, EarthCaches have encouraged geocachers to explore and celebrate the extraordinary geologic features of our planet, like the Torres del Paine in Chile. This towering laccolith is as breathtaking as it is fascinating.

Earn the International EarthCache Day 2024 souvenir by visiting any EarthCache and completing the logging requirements from Friday 11th October to Sunday 13th October 2024.

CADW Open Doors

A quick reminder that CADW Open Doors has many historic sites, landmarks and hidden gems open to visitors free of entry charges throughout September. Here are a few of the places open this weekend:

St Mary’s Church, Caerhun

The aerial photo shows St Mary’s and outline of the Roman Canovium fort

St Mary’s Church is open Saturday 21st September from 10am-4pm
Surrounded by sheep fields alongside the beautiful Conwy River, St Mary’s still retains the simplicity intended by Cistercian monks who founded it in the early Middle Ages. The churchyard has ancient yew trees and occupies the corner of the Roman Canovium fort.
There will be a display of the Roman history of the Caerhun site and refreshments will be offered.

Barclodiad y Gawres Burial Chamber

Barclodiad-y-Gawres open Saturday 21st September guided tours will be at 11am, 1pm and 3pm. Meet at the monument.
A partially reconstructed Neolithic burial chamber sited on a spectacular cliff side position and is famous for its decorated stones. 

Penrhyn Castle

Penrhyn Castle is open weekend 21st-22nd September from 10am-4pm last admissions 3pm
Discover Penrhyn’s history, its vast rooms, neo-Norman stairways and Victorian kitchens.

News & New Caches 108

Two new traditional caches have been published since our last post:

GCAENRJ Milly’s Place by bobwedge Traditional D1.5/T1.5

Premium member Only
GCAEJ1C Modern Art/Pile of Bricks by Glaslyn1 Traditional D4/T2

Wheel Of Challenges

Today is the last day of the Wheel of Challenges, Teamwork souvenir challenge. To qualify for the easy earn 100 points and the hard 1,000 points, you can keep track of your progress on your leaderboard. Unlike other challenges Ad Lab stages do not count as a ‘found it’ log.

Thankfully this is the last in the series of the Wheel of Challenges, but I am sure it won’t be long before Geocaching HQ present us with another equally mundane series of challenges!

International Earthcache Day 2023 Souvenir and Event Reminder

This year International Earthcache Day is Saturday 7th October, any earthcache logged on either the 7th or 8th will qualify for the souvenir. To earn the souvenir visit the physical location of an EarthCache, complete the logging requirements to receive both a smiley and the 2023 souvenir.

All non-Premium EarthCaches are open to everyone throughout the weekend on the Geocaching® app from 11:00:00 UTC on Friday, October 6, until 10:00:00 UTC on Monday, October 9.

Photo Andy YnysMonBirders

GCAEC35 9 Usual Suspects Return to Cwmorthin, Tanygrisiau by 9 Usual Suspects Event D1/T3.5

Where: Cwmorthin, Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog
When: Sunday 8th October 2023
Time: 11am to 11.30am

We will meet up in the car park for the event, around 11.30am we will head up the hill to discover:

GC8AGBJ Rhosydd Crazy Stones…. by treboR nosnwoT Earthcache D2/T4.5
GC8AGQC Rhosydd Vesicles….. by treboR nosnwoT Earthcache D2/T2

Adventure Lab Map Update

Have you discovered the new “Play nearby Locations” map feature?

While completing an Adventure Lab I think we all have passed by a stage of another Adventure Lab. This can be very annoying when visiting a new area with many Adventure Labs, you are often forced to retrace your steps to complete the next Adventure.

Premium members using the Adventure Lab® app can now view nearby locations from different Adventures right on the map. This will help plan routes so that you can collect all stages from several Adventures, thus enabling completion of all nearby Adventures in one outing.

To turn on the new feature, first make sure you have the latest version of the app: version 1.15.0. Then visit your Profile in the Adventure Lab® app and tap on the “Premium features” option. Toggle on “Play nearby Locations”. Next time you use the Adventure Lab® app open an Adventure and on the map will appear all local stages of other local Adventures.

Sycamore Gap

The demise of the beautiful Sycamore tree has been in the headlines all week, an act of pointless vandalism that we will never understand. The tree enhanced the beauty of the area, something that cannot be replaced.

Of course there is a geocache here and it appeared in Dave, Cwm DJ’s, favourite 10 caches (to date)

‘No. 747 – Crag Lough (GCJ3QF) – THE SMILEYS – 24th June 2015
I’ve not ventured as far as many of you have & my favourite, out of the few I’ve done outside Wales, was while walking a 3 day walk along the central section of Hadrian’s Wall. Situated at Sycamore Gap, made famous for its scene in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner as Robin Hood.’

Photo by Dave showing the tree in all its glory.

News & New Caches 55

We have two new traditional caches and an earthcache to report, all Premium Members only.

GC9V8WT Black Rock Sands – Stack & Stump by The Magna Defender Earthcache D1/T1.5
GCA0ADV Pen draw’r byd! by Luby 29 Traditional D2.5/T2.5
GCA0AEJ Dechrau’r Diwedd by Luby 29 Traditional D2/T1.5

Event Reminder

GC9ZVCP CITO 2022 Season 2 by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T2.5
When: Sunday 2nd October, 2022
Where: Dinas Dinlle, Caernarfon LL54 5TW
Time: 11am to 1pm

Our task for the day will be to pick up as much litter as possible from the beach and car parking areas. We have given the event a terrain rating of 2.5 due to the steep banks around the hillfort, but there are wheelchair accessible areas along the promenade. By attending this event your efforts will be rewarded CITO Season 2 souvenir.

Signal’s Labyrinth, the Hedge Maze

Signal seems to be evolving into a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

On October 3rd, 2022 Signal leaves the Cave Maze and starts a new challenge, to complete the Hedge Maze. Like the other maze challenges there are 2 souvenirs, you must collect 50 points to earn the first souvenir and 500 points to earn the second souvenir.

Each labyrinth in Signal’s Labyrinth challenge has different point values for finding geocaches, Adventures, and bonus items. Mystery Caches are worth more points for this round on account of the puzzle solving skills required to navigate through the elaborate hedge maze. Friendly goats are the bonus item earning an extra 50 points, like previous mazes these are awarded randomly. The maximum number of points you can earn for any cache log is 85 points.

Found an Adventure Lab Cache (Adventure Location)10
Found a Mystery Cache35
Found a Multi-Cache30
Found an EarthCache30
Attended an Event20
Found a cache with 10+ Favorite points20
Found a Signal’s Labyrinth item 50
Found it*15
*Log a Found it on any other cache type

You have until the 5th December, 2022 to complete this challenge

News & New Caches 54

We have no new caches to report, just some event reminders:

Events Reminders

GC9ZPWC 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 50 by 9 Usual Suspects
When: Tuesday 27th September
Where: Anglesey Arms, Harbour Front, Caernarfon LL55 1SG
Time: 7pm to 9pm or when the last person leaves

Please note this N&N is on Tuesday night not Wednesday, also please log a ‘Will Attend’ if you intend to be there so that we have some idea on numbers.

GC9ZN6M Becky & Ralph On Tour by 3BearsUK
When: Wednesday 28th September 2022
Where: The Black Bull Inn, Bangor, LL57 1NS
Time: 6pm to 8pm or when the last person leaves

Becky and Ralph are on holiday, they are hosting the above event while here and would love to meet local and non local geocachers.

GC9ZVCP CITO 2022 Season 2 by 9 Usual Suspects D1/T2.5
When: Sunday 2nd October, 2022
Where: Dinas Dinlle, Caernarfon LL54 5TW
Time: 11am to 1pm

Our task for the day will be to pick up as much litter as possible from the beach and car parking areas. We have given the event a terrain rating of 2.5 due to the steep banks around the hillfort, but there are wheelchair accessible areas along the promenade. By attending this event your efforts will be rewarded with the above souvenir.

TB Raffle 2022

Raffle prizes and new ticket book!

We will be starting our TB raffle shortly, this year we are raffling 5 geocoins and 3 tags, the raffle will run until International Geocaching Day 2023 event. This raffle is our biggest fund raiser with the proceeds going to help fund the website, hiring of venues and any other expenses incurred with running 9US events. As I have purchased a bargain pack of 6 ticket books each containing a 1,000 tickets there is very little chance that we will run out of tickets again!

We would like to Thank Optimist on the run and the WM Mega for their donation of 3 coins.

News & New Caches 53

Just one new earthcache and an event to report

GC9V8XD Moel-Y-Gest Summit – Roche Moutonee by The Magna Defender Earthcache D2/T5

GCA02D8 9 Usual Suspects Visit Moel-Y-Gest Summit by 9 Usual suspects D1/T5
When: Sunday 9th October, 2022
Where: Moel-y-Gest Trig Point
Time: 2-2.30pm

This event is to celebrate International Earthcache Day and to enable all attendees to qualify for the above souvenir. We will be meeting at the trig point where there is a Lab cache stage for Highlights of Porthmadog, before discovering the newly published earthcache:
GC9V8XD Moel-Y-Gest Summit – Roche Moutonee by The Magna Defender D2/T5
and then heading to:
GC89RG2 Moel-y-Gest Stalactites by Rcrosby94 D2.5/T5
We have agreed with the earthcache owners that we only have to send one set of answers to cover all event attendees. Let’s hope the weather is good as the views are stunning in every direction and makes the slog up the hill worth while. Oh There will be cake……..