n0wae

Read through all the replies and have to agree with Cachew Nut and RK. Variety is the spice of life and I just don't understand why we need to stifle creativity. When I find a cache that's different and a new experience for me it makes my day.

I've got one in Colorado but the Zoo animals are all dead! Swetsville Zoo

Well I did a cache once that was half way down a cliff

I looked for the old dream thread but couldn't find it. Perhaps a new thread on current Geo dreams is in order. Don't know why but I seem to dream about Geocaching a lot and wanted to share. Any one else caching in their sleep lately? My latest dream had me and Mrs n0wae on the terrace of a skyscraper in a big city. It was a tad windy and we noticed several other people with Gpsrs in hand. I noticed a particular cacher that was apparently new at the sport and having trouble. She was a nice old lady in her 80's with a brand new GPS. I introduced myself and showed her how to work the different screens so she could find the 1st step of this multi. I then found myself in a car body shop (presumably looking for step #2) and noticed that same old lady talking to one of the shop personal. She was carrying a plastic shopping bag. I turned around and was watching some one welding on a car frame (didn't hurt my eyes in the dream). When I looked back the old lady was gone but had left her bag on the floor. I went over and opened the bag and sure enough her GPS was inside. (That poor lady!) I made my way out of the shop through a doorway that the welding cables ran through about chest high. There was a two inch section of bear wire that I made a mental note to ovoid as I squeezed by. Now the dream gets wild... I was wearing an anti-gravity belt like the fat man in the movie Dune wore. I've had a few flying dreams years ago but this was the best and most vivid of them all! I was having so much fun with controlled flight in a semi dessert setting flying above a scampering rabbit. I landed by a rock that had some type of wildcat sitting on top and the animal had no fear of me. I was able to pet it and enjoy the moment. I next found myself at a large outdoor zoo still wearing my flying belt. There was Mrs n0wae needing help... she had just found the cache but couldn't reach it. The cache was a plastic tool box that was hung on a branch of a display tree. I used the flying belt to ease my way up to the branch and retrieved the cache that I gave to Mrs n0wae. Several nearby zoo visitors thought I was one of the Zoo workers and one woman came over and asked for help...she had dropped her paper notebook in a display and a small rodent was chewing up her notebook. I recovered her note book but when I handed it back to the lady it was just a hand full of shredded paper. (oh well, I tried) Next I woke up. (Darn!) I asked Mrs n0wae if she signed the logbook and she said "What???" Oh well, doesn't matter if we get credit. It's the memories and the hunt that matters even in dreams. (Boy that Peter Vella is good stuff!)

I've always been an outdoor person but since I started Geocaching I find myself off the couch and outdoors more often. Before Geocaching I planned a hike, camp out or 4WD trip without a goal in mind. Now I use a cache as a goal or reward that makes my outing more interesting and enjoyable. Finding new cool places outdoors because of caching is a bonus that I didn't have before.

Near as I've ever been able to figure it, it's a way for long-time and/or high-find cachers to demonstrate what caching purists they are. Think of it as a kind of showing off what a showoff you're not: "Look, Ma! I'm not calling attention to myself!" It's also amusing to me to notice that it's the cachers that claim numbers don't mean anything that seem to talk about the subject in the forums the most.

In the January 2006 QST (Official journal of the American Radio Relay League- correspondence section) features a letter from KG6MYA about Geocaching. David writes about Geocaching as a popular sport and explains how a GPS receiver works and how one goes about finding a cache. The letter is bound to spark an interest with the readers of this hi-tech magazine. Way to go David!

I've noticed a slowdown at 12 midnight (Mountain time) when I try to access the forums. Is that when the hamsters turn into pumpkins or is there a certain time when maintenance programs run?

Very cool program! I had *no* idea that 23+ percent of the caches I've found are now archived! A statistic of how many 'last to find' caches would be interesting. (Hopefully my numbers in that department are low). 1242 unique caches found. Avg. Difficulty = 1.72 Avg. Terrain = 1.60 Avg. Challenge = 1.92 204 hard caches (16%) 1 countries 4 US states 292 (23.5%) archived Oldest cache: #24 (GC18) Newest cache: #316645 (GCRD99) Difficulty: 1.0: 419 (33.7%) 1.5: 274 (22.1%) 2.0: 326 (26.2%) 2.5: 101 ( 8.1%) 3.0: 82 ( 6.6%) 3.5: 22 ( 1.8%) 4.0: 13 ( 1.0%) 4.5: 2 ( 0.2%) 5.0: 3 ( 0.2%) Terrain: 1.0: 559 (45.0%) 1.5: 312 (25.1%) 2.0: 169 (13.6%) 2.5: 88 ( 7.1%) 3.0: 61 ( 4.9%) 3.5: 17 ( 1.4%) 4.0: 23 ( 1.9%) 4.5: 4 ( 0.3%) 5.0: 9 ( 0.7%) Cache types: 3 ( 0.2%) Cache In Trash Out Event 4 ( 0.3%) Earthcache 5 ( 0.4%) Event Cache 4 ( 0.3%) Letterbox Hybrid 13 ( 1.0%) Locationless (Reverse) Cache 99 ( 8.0%) Multi-cache 958 (77.1%) Traditional Cache 26 ( 2.1%) Unknown Cache 129 (10.4%) Virtual Cache 1 ( 0.1%) Webcam Cache Containers: 13 ( 1.0%) Large 281 (22.6%) Micro 70 ( 5.6%) Not chosen 46 ( 3.7%) Other 584 (47.0%) Regular 127 (10.2%) Small 121 ( 9.7%) Virtual Countries: 1229 in United States US States: 8 in Alabama 1212 in Colorado 1 in Tennessee 8 in Wyoming

You're so right! I totally forgot about the PQs not including archived caches. Now that you have jogged my poor memory I even remember a lot of past posts talking about the subject. I didn't understand the problem then but sure do see the problem now. I'll clean up my database as you suggest for now. Perhaps other cachers or TPTB will chime in with any new news or future plans to help deal with this little paperless problem.

I have been enjoying the PQs, GSAK and Fugawi navigation software for some time now and it's great. Thank You for the PQs! Just had an odd thing happen Saturday that surprised me though. I did GCQMRA (found it and signed the log) but when I later got on-line to log it I found out it had been archived 10/8/05. (?)Since this cache was only 17 miles from my home and my last PQ (centered on my home) was 11/19/05 I was a bit surprised that I didn't have up to date data on this cache. I started to investigate the problem in GSAK and discovered I had over 1200 caches in my database so I created an empty database so I could look at my last PQ by itself. I did get 500 caches as I requested and some were as far away as 53 miles but it didn't include some of the caches closer to home. (?) These missing cache updates in the PQ are not on my ignore list or any other filter that I set. The closest missing cache is GCQQFN which is only 12.4 miles away. I would understand not getting updates on caches farther away due to the 500 limit but why are a few caches closer to my home coordinates falling into the PQ crack? Am I doing something wrong or did I discover an anomaly? Thanks for your help - n0wae

I own several remote caches in the Colorado mountains. As you can imagine snow can close off access during the winter months. One of my caches is unavailable now and my attempt to check on it failed due to snow. Some areas in the mountains here get 20 feet of snow every year! It will be next summer before I will be able to check on most of my mountain caches. I also own caches in areas free of snow. It usually only takes me a week to check on them. If I'm out of town I post a date on the cache page when I'll check on a cache that has been made unavailable that I can get to.

My first GPS was a Garmin GPS100 which I purchased in 1992 for the small sum of $1,350. Most people back then never heard of GPS and the units were very expensive. I had a hobby of mapping 4WD roads and just had to have this new technology. The first GPS units didn't have a built in map base display. The GPS100 only had a Long/Lat display that I used with Topo Maps. I had to prepare my map borders with the Long/Lat marks hand drawn in every 10 seconds. The unit also took 2 to 6 minutes to acquire the satellites! My second GPS was a Garmin 2+ and my third is a Garmin V which is now mounted in my jeep. My current handheld is a Garmin GPSMAP 76S that I use for Geocaching and hiking. GPS has come a long way and It's been fun watching and experiencing it's evolution.

How long does it take for a SBA request to be acted on? I'm guessing the approver e-mails the cache owner and waits x amount of time before taking action. Can a SBA request fall in a crack? The reason I'm asking is I'm watching a cache with the first of 5 DNFs posted in Feb and the first SBA in May and another SBA in July... The cache is still listed. Just wondering.

I agree with Team Perks that the cache terrain rating should not be five stars just because a 4WD is used. I live in Colorado and half the vehicles on the road are SUVs! Cachers that want to do a 4WD cache need to know how hard the road is just as much as hikers need to know how hard their terrain is. The Forest Service uses "Easy, Moderate, Difficult & Extreme" ratings and the organized 4-wheeling organizations use other ratings like this one. In the future we should be able to search for caches based on attributes. All my 4WD caches use the "Off-road vehicles" attribute. Until then you can do as others suggested or seek out 4WD bookmark lists. In my profile for example I bookmark all the Colorado 4WD caches that I've done. Perhaps a KY cacher has done that as well and will respond to this thread.

Yes, the cache is listed in my "Show all Logs for Caches" and the "visit log" link does work. (I can read *only* my log to this cache) The cache link on my "Show all Logs for Caches" or the cache link on the "visit log" page doesn't work anymore so I can't re-visit the cache page itself or have access to the other logs posted to that cache, use the bookmark feature etc. I get the error message I mentioned before when I try. It suggests that the problem is with it's "unplublished status" given back to the cache after it was published and I logged a find on it. Don't know wheather it's a bug or an approver hit the wrong archive button or what. Thought you'd like to know about it. Thanks for your time, Eric

Well, that's the problem. I can't read the log from my account page and I get the "cache not approved error". I can read all other caches that I've done that have become archived just not this one via "my account". I was just wondering if the cache was tagged as "not approved" instead of "archived" by mistake. No biggie, you've got bigger fish to fry. Thanks for all your great work. The bookmarks are especially nice. Thank you.

While going down "memory lane" re-reading my old cache logs I discovered this peculiar glitch. Apparently a now archived cache has been tagged as not approved. My 4-27-04 log on "West Nile Aisle" cache (Sorry I don't have access to the GC #) gives this error when I try to read it: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...d2-9c647f31ca94 No biggie, just thought you would like to know about it. Thanks for "workin on it"!

Quite a few white jeeps have briefly visited one of my caches

Ah, someone who remembers the 'good old days' of soft and hard lay, braided and even green goldline! It was so much better than that manila stuff. Yep, we would just grab our prusik knots and our trusty carbide lamp and be on our way. These younger SRT kids are just spoiled rotten with all this new fangled stuff! Too bad my body hasn't improved with age like the equipment has. I'd be doing allot more caches like this one. Be safe guys.

Well to me the two choices are inseparable. I like a good experience and lots of them. I enjoy all the flavors of Geocaching and can't say any particular flavor is better than another even if a particular flavor is "politically correct". One day I might satisfy my "addiction" by doing allot of caches just for the numbers. Another day might be a 12 mile hike to do only one cache. Or I might do a long 4-wheel drive to a very remote 4x4 cache that takes all day. I guess I like my menu to have allot of choices on it so I can satisfy my particular appetite for that day. I like easy caches and I also enjoy puzzles and the hard caches. (My latest DNF is on GCP17W) If I'm having fun and enjoying myself that's all that matters to me.

I would be a type #1. I do read posts most every day but mostly lurk. Most of the time someone beats me with a post reply that expresses my viewpoint probably better than I could express it myself anyway. After a hard day caching it's nice to kick back, relax and eat popcorn while reading the new posts!

Congratulations Leprechauns! A very nice post putting numbers in perspective. The "fun" is what makes the game. I guess I'm lucky because I like all aspects of Geocaching and derive "fun" from it all. I especially enjoy bumping into other geocachers on the trail or going on the hunt with family or other Geocaching friends. Whether the goal for the day is numbers or one cache with a challenge it doesn't matter so long as it's "fun". It's the memories that you can reflect on that make geocaching very special. Last weekend I enjoyed one of Colorado's special caches with my grandsons. Precious memories. May Leprechauns enjoy many more years of geocaching and enjoy his own precious memories!

I've added the 4WD attribute to all my 4WD caches and am eagerly awaiting the planned upgrades that will allow us to search for them. I plan on creating a 4WD database in GSAK as soon as the attribute upgrade is in place. I'm an avid 4-wheeler and take every opportunity to combine wheeling with caching. I guess hard core hikers can hike to allot of the 4WD caches and indeed they have hiked miles to reach my hardest 4WD cache. That's ok by me. I do however know wheelers who are only interested in doing caches that they can 4-wheel to. That's ok too and the 4WD attribute will make it easier for them to find the caches that they are interested in. I wonder if the hikers would do a cache at the end of Utah's "Hole in the Wall" 4WD trail if I put one there. (26 miles one way)

TPTB can correct me if I'm wrong but it's my understanding that: (1) The "Yes, this cache is currently active" check box on your cache submittal form could be translated to read: "Yes, my cache is ready for review and listing (leave un-checked if you are still 'work'n on it')" If so this a handy tool if you want to summit your cache to the site so that you can view it and continue to work on it without worrying about it being reviewed and/or listed prematurely. (Working out all the bugs on links and HTML, etc. can take hours). When your creation is finished you would edit your "on hold" cache, activate it, then summit changes. (The reviews can now see it and do their thing). (2) The cache owners cache page "enable/disable" is meant to be used (if needed) after a cache has been listed (published) and has nothing to do with the cache submittal process. I think this is what Tzoid and others are confused about.