WeeWillie
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Posts posted by WeeWillie
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Your cell phone uses local cell towers to plot your position. They work great when you are in a cell tower rich environment since you are generally within line of sight for several towers.
GPS uses satellites to plot your position. Therefore, you are not as bound by terrestrial obstacles to achieve the line of sight needed to plot location.
I live in SE Arizona. There are some really great caches in box canyons, wooded mountains and other locations where cell phone coverage is spotty or non-existent. When I want to use my cell phone I go to high ground. If I can’t get a fix with my GPS, then in all likelihood, neither could a cache owner.
When I am in Tucson I use my iPhone 4S with great results. I don’t have to preload my GPS. There is no way I would use my iPhone in the Huachuca, Mule, Dragoon… Mountains. ( I have a Delorme PN40 and Triton 400.)
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Thank you for the feedback. I am often disappointed by those who ask for advice/help and don't express their gratitude with a thank you with some feedback.
Next time you visit AZ, come South.
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Jess & Todd
Well, now you have met the first person with a State Trust permit holder. I had one last year so that I could legally visit some deactivated Titan missile sites. I didn't renew it this year.
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Sounds like you need to convert your non-caching buddy into a caching buddy - at least temporarily. If he refuses, go to the pet store and buy a big-dig collar and a leash.
Then, if he whines and cries.... Find some good looking girls and have them walk in front of you. Lol
Just kidding. We're going to AZ in June. Should be a wonderful trip!
When you get back please post your comments about your trip on your request for info on your post.
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GC10E – Cone Mountain is the oldest cache in AZ. Unfortunately it is on State Trust Land. You need a permit to use State Trust Land. Call (602) 364-ASLD about a month before you leave to get a permit.
I assume you will be in the Phoenix area. My daughter attends AZ State University in Tempe. Here are a few on campus caches you might enjoy.
G.U. Tempe – ASTRONOMY 101
Stage Door
World Traveler
Tower A Treasure
Waiting for a Date
Hayden Library Gardens
Secret Garden II
Tempe Historical Museum
Across the River in Papago Park there are a bunch more.
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If you are going from laughton to Grand Ganyon I suspect that you will be taking Interstate Highway 10. To get to Grand Canyon you will turn off at either Williams AZ or Flagstaff AZ. Both towns are cache friendly. Flagstaff has a bunch of chain hotels (Hilton, Marriot, Ramada) to spend the night before or after Grand Canyon.
Here are some notable Earth Caches in the area. There are traditional caches nearby that I haven’t listed because they are within the national forest or park and are obvious.
GC10959 / Elden Pueblo / Earth / Pre Columbian Indian Village
GC12CZN / Old Caves Crater / Earth / Great Hike
GCZ5H6 / Walnut Canyon Geological Sampling / Earth/ Pre Columbian Indian Village
GCZ5W1 / Wupatki Pueblo Blowhole / Earth / Pre Columbian Indian Village
GCZ5W7 / Wupatki Ripple Marks / Earth
GCZ5W5 / Citadel Sink - Wupatki NM / Earth
Williams AZ caches
GC6E48 / Eight Cribs
GC1GH8N / Spirit of Williams
GC2B7H7 / Star od Williams
GC2AY2R / Bearizona
GCNQKY / Route 66 TB Hotel – Great place to drop off a TB from NL.
Flagstaff
GC3EJTA – HistoricAZ66 Flagstaff
GC2YDP8 / Organ Pipes
GC1A2KV – Flg RT66-1 (Therer are 10 Flg Rt66 themed caches. This is the first
The Lumberyard Brewery in Flagstaff is a great place for a meal and beer.
Your itinerary is very ambitious. I don’t know how many days you plan for your vacation. You might want to use Map Quest to plan your routes and determine driving time. Ask yourself, do Iu want to see the Western USA or the USA Interstate Highway System.
Here is my standard visitor warning. You will be in the high desert. Drink water. Wear sun screen (SF 30+) Wear a wide brim hat.
Enjoy
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Apple Fan Girl
My son graduates from NAU in May so we won't have a convenient excuse to visit the Verde Valley wineries. Fortunately, I live in Sierra Vista so Sonoita and Wilcox wineries are nearby. So many have popped up that we now have to plan our wine expeditions.
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Here is a mixed list. There are plenty of others nearby so you aren't bouncing all over Tucson.
How far are you venturing? Do you want P&Gs or are you willing to do some walking?
GC2TA72 - Sign of the El Conquistador Water Tower
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=7cd695c8-0cbb-427e-a2dd-2902e586234e
Old Landmark
GC10V87 – Hope
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=01b7ab45-cd98-410e-ab2b-c30fb81e04b3
Inspirational
C20D6V Roundabout #8
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=970308ab-189c-4695-9585-719e336ccb11
Roundabout #1
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC1B8NJ
Some local color. There are 10 in this series
GC1TYCD - Fallen Heroes 5
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC1TYCD
GC1VDMT - Fallen Heroes 6
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC1VDMT
There are several tribute caches in Tucson
GC1WKDM - Ghost Bike 2
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC1WKDM
There are several tribute caches in Tucson – has links
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Try GC14DT7, TB Hotel in the Pines @
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=e1d175e4-9185-46a6-9d90-7289ab51c1c8
My son attends NAU @ Flagstaff. He graduates soon, so wouldn't be a good candidate.
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here is a link to some unique N AZ cache sites.
http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=3be4c8a5-f7dc-4252-8b0c-60335854117b
Try B24 Crash site virtual!
Mike
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This is not an endorsement. I get this info from a AZ Wine FB listing.
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You might find this interesting!
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My son attends Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. He graduates in May.
Water, Water, Water. Sunscreen, Sunscreen, Sunscreen. Hat, Hat, Hat. Did I forget - Water, Water, Water.
Bring a hiking/walking stick for balance and probing. You will need boots for the terrain. Don’t put your hands anywhere you can’t see.
As you go North you will leave the desert and enter Ponderosa Pine Country which is a lot more pleasant.
Give yourself a day or to acclimate. There is plenty to do, see and cache in Sedona.
Grand Canyon. There are a few virtuals in Grand Canyon. You can hike down Bright Star Trail to get a different perspective, but if you want to hike the bottom you will need to backpack. I will warn you that in June it can easily break 100 in the Canyon. Don’t let that nonsense about a dry heat fool you. Hotter than Hell is still hotter than Hell. You need to be in very good shape. Start with 3 plus litters of water. Hike down until you finish one liter then turn around and use the other two for the trip back up.
You can drive to Grand Canyon and expect to wait 1-3 hours for a parking space. Or!!! Go to Williams AZ and take the Grand Canyon Railroad. Williams is an old RR town with plenty of caches. The RR trip is scenic. You won’t need a parking space. Expect a train robbery.
Here are some side trips.
HWY 89 to Flagstaff. Lots of caches, plenty of views, expect crowds. Skip the water activities. Oak Creek is often closed for contamination. Rte 66 runs through Flagstaff and there are several caches. (Actually 1-10). Plenty of other caches in Flag too! Lunch at the Lumberyard Brewery. I-17 back from Flag. A long day.
Sunset Crater, Wupaki, Oak Canyon. I-17 or HWY 89 to Flag. Travel East. Indian ruins, volcano, Ponderosa Pine Country. Not a cache intensive trip, unless you cache along the route, but you will get a sense for the North Country and pre-Columbian Indian culture. Very scenic. Pack your own lunch.
Cottonwood & Jerome. South about 25 minutes. Plenty of caches along the way and in the towns. Jerome is a ghost town. Now for the best news. Cottonwood & Jerome are in AZ wine country. Plenty of vineyards. My two favorites – Pillsbury and Page Springs. Tuzigote Indian Ruins nearby. Skip Montezuma’s Castle. Too crowded with tour busses. If you don’t do the Grand Canyon RR, there is Camp Verde RR in Cottonwood. A long day.
There are lots of other things to do in the area. Just Pick a destination and cache along the route.
There is a caching group in Flag that informally meets Tuesdays.
Hope this helps.
Oh, did I forget. Water Water Water.
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NOVW
CA is too big, travel distances to long and cache density to high for you to just wander about. Surely, you have some ideas about where you want to visit?
Try caching along a route. For CA coastal routes pick two towns about 10-15 miles apart with a search radius of .5 miles. You will get more caches than enough caches to keep you occupied. Here are two examples: San Diego to La Jolla and La Jolla to Carlsbad.
Also check out San Diego/
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I checked the status for caches impacted by the Mounument Fire in Coronado NF (SE AZ). Those within the fire zone are/were temporarily disabled. Some have been returned to service as NFS personnel assessed the area. Also, because an area is in the fire zone, does not mean the fire burned a specific area. Why some areas were impacted and others not is a mystery to me, but some fire scientist probably can.
There are still hundreds of caches in Cochise County to find, just do a little investigation.
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Over the years we have gone to the Marriot Fairfield Inn on Harbor Drive (or Blvd) when we visit Disneyland. It is a 5 minute walk to the main entrance which saves you parking fees. The 3 day Park Hopper lets you visit CA Adventure and Disneyland at your convenience. Unless you do a one marathon day at Disney you will appreciate being able to walk back to your hotel for a mid day break. A marathon day will wipe you out the next day.
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If you are visiting the Grand Canyon I suggest that you stop at Williams AZ and take the tourist train to the canyon. Williams is an old rail road town that was the start of a spur line to the Grand Canyon. Interstate 40 runs through Williams. August is prime tourist season and parking fills up. It is not unusual to wait several hours on the road in to the park for a parking space.
The Grand Canyon Railroad runs from Williams to Grand Canyon Village. Besides avoiding a parking space wait, you are saving 2-2.5 hours driving. Williams has several historic virtuals in town and a couple of dozen traditionals. Here is the URL for the Grand Canyon RR. http://www.thetrain.com/index.html
If you are going to drive I recommend staying in Flagstaff AZ. You will drive through it anyway to get to the Canyon. Ramada Inn is as good as any hotel. From Flagstaff you go North to the Grand Canyon, South to Sedona, or East to some interesting Indian ruins. Flagstaff is a cache friendly, college town. Try the Lumberyard Brewery!
Hope this helps!
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The Navajo are not singling out Geocachers. Hikers, campers, fishers, and hunters are not allowed to wander on Navajo land. Hopi and Apache also restrict non-Indian access to their reservations. The amount of land isn't the issue, property rights are the issue. Geocaching.com has specific rules regarding property rights.
Cachers leave footprints and over time footprints become paths.
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The Navajo and other Indian Nations have restrictions regarding access to their land that encompass more than Geocaching. Hunting, fishing, camping and hiking are examples. Some of the reasons are religious. Relegion plays a far more signifciant role in their daily lives than many others in our society. Their religion extends deeply into Mother Nature / Earth and a bunch a non-believers are an intrusion. Some is environmental; leaving a cache creates a presence and the desert is fragile. There are cultural reasons also. Plundering historic, religious and cultural sites is a major problem. I live and AZ and can attest to the problem with sites being ruined by indivuduals destroying sites (including non-Indian) for artifacts to sell on the black market. There are also commercial reasons. Guiding is an source of income for any. Guides know and avoid religious historic and cultural sites.
Navajo (and Hopi) restrict picture taking too.
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Your welcome. Remember - "No Pity For The Kitty."
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I am not an expert on Tempe, but my daughter will be attending ASU next year. We visited ASU recently and I was able to pick up six caches walking on campus in about 1.25 hours. If I have another hour I could have logged a half dozen more. The Valley has a light rail line with stations for ASU. Along the routr there are several caches. North of ASU and across the Salt River is Papago Park with a bunch more caches. You will need a car to get to Papago Park.
Hope this helps!
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Just an update. Our friends from Canada should feel at home when they arrive in Northern Arizona. It snowed a foot in Flagstaff Saturday. Not to worry, there are still plenty of caching opportunities.
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Yes, Flagstaff has a lot of caches. Almost any of them in town will take you to interesting sites. I may not have expressed that well.
Sedona is pricy. If you don't have reservations it will be even pricier.
Flagstaff is centrally located from both Sedona and the Grand Canyon.
I am not into caching for numbers which is why I suggested Sunset Crater and Wupatki. It is a day trip. Bring lots of watewr, floppy hat and suncreen. Here are three caches to help you navigate. There are other equally interesting caches nearby.
Sunset Crater - GC6851
Wupatki - GC6852
Citadel Sink - GCZ5W5
Since you are going to the Grand Canyon I suggest you go to Williams (West of Flag off I-40) and take the historic train to Grand Canyon. During the Summer Grand Cayon parking is full and you may wait 2-3 hours to get in whereas the train takes you right there. Williams has some interesting caches too!
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Keep your dog leashed and carry a bat. Watch out for coyote, javilina, bobcat and other four legged creatures.
What does your geocaching title mean?
in General geocaching topics
Posted
Years ago I was a member of the Norwich University, Army ROTC, Mountain Rescue Team. We all had nicknames. I am 6'4" and my last name is Wilson. I was given the nickname Wee Willie when I was initiated into the team. Wee Willie was taken, weewillie was not. Hence, weewillie.