MiTuCats

Thanks, that's actually where I started to get to the link I posted in my initial request. It's a great resource, I can't imagine how many hours went into creating it.

A husband and wife team of middle aged geocaching geezers from the state of Michigan in the U.S.A. will be in London in early September. We'd appreciate some advice on probable weather conditions and temperatures. We'll be arriving on September 1st around 11:15 AM and departing on Sept. 4 if I'm reading the itinerary correctly. Here's our profile if you're interested: MiTuCats Obviously, there are thousands of caches we could visit while we're there, but we only have a couple of days. We've made a starting bookmarked list of caches which are at this link: MiTuCat's London List These are ones which looked feasible and interesting to us, we know there are many more in the area and will keep updating the list as time goes on. However, the Best Half of the team insists on doing some shopping while we're there and we have limited time, so it's unclear how far we'll be able to travel and whether or not we'll be able to even hit all the ones we've got on the list. We found the following link, which has been invaluable to us in looking for caches - many thanks to the folks who created and maintain it: Geocache UK If anyone would be interested in meeting us, we'll probably do the 16th Century Pub cache one evening and that might be a place to get together. Or, you can e-mail us through GC.com and arrange alternate plans. We'd love to meet some London area cachers. We'll also be bringing along three or four MiGO (Michigan Geocaching Organization) coins if anyone is interested in trading for UK coins or other swag. Images of the MiGO coins are below. Coin Face Coin Back In addition, we'll have some of our signature cards (limited edition for this trip) if people are interested in exchanging signature items. We'll also try to have a supply of our signature magnets (Kansas US route 66 magnets), depending upon availability. Since we can only get them in Kansas which is over 800 miles from home, our supply is a little sporadic. Last, but not least, we're bringing along a travel bug that wants to get to Norway. We've been debating whether it would be better to leave it in a cache or hand it off in person to another cacher. Many of the caches on our list and in the area we'll be able to reach are either virtuals or micros. This TB needs a fairly good sized cache. If anyone is interested in acquiring him in a handoff, let us know. Otherwise, we do have one cache on our list where we think he will fit. The TB in question is Olaf the Red. He's been around quite a bit already, and has over 11,600 miles on him. We're going to keep racking up caches and miles (with the owner's permsission) until we come to London, then we thought (and they agreed) that would be a perfect place to part with him. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give us.

I'm not exactly new here, but haven't posted for a long time. Nor have I spent much time reading the posts in the last year or so. I think I posted once in September or October of last year in the benchmark forums and that's been the only post for a long time. Originally, I came to the forums with some general questions. They were politely answered and I was treated gently as a newbie. Over time, I posted some replies myself (no idea how many) and tried to help out other newbies in the same spirit in which I had been helped. Gradually, I found myself becoming disenchanted with all the sniping and flaming going on in the forums, and gradually backed away. I was particularly bothered by the bashing of the powers that be that was occurring at the time I quit reading the threads. I also got very busy and was out of town a lot, so I lost track from that standpoint as well, but didn't even try to keep up because of the antagonism that seemed to prevail. I'm mostly back in the forums now because I'm considering posting in the UK forum about our upcoming trip to London. I'm testing the waters and reviewing the current topics before posting on that forum. I've visited the forums several times in the last couple of months and have just been lurking and reading to catch up on stuff.

Well, if you click on the persons name on the left side it brings up the profile. What bums me out is that the photos linked to BMs don't show up in the "photo gallery" in the profiles. Hi, everyone I just dropped by into these forums to kill some time while recuperating from dental surgery and stumbled onto this thread. In the process, I noticed the comment about wishing BM photos were shown in the gallery. You may already know this, but once you have the profile for a player open per Muzikman's input, you can click on the Benchmark icon at the left hand side of the profile listing. That will produce a summary listing of all the benchmarks they've listed, from there you can click on the log for whatever benchmark you're interested in and at that point you can view any photos they posted with that log. For example, here's our log from NE0956 from earlier this fall: http://www.geocaching.com/mark/log.aspx?LU...ff-ebd7ec754279 Here's another that we found a couple of weeks ago that hadn't been reported since 1978 - QL0044. http://www.geocaching.com/mark/log.aspx?LU...9b-4e55530a0171 It's a bit convoluted, but actually might be more direct than trying to sort out a specific photo from a gallery of multiple pages. All the icons on the profile page work this way, you can click on them and see a list of the associated logs for the person whose profile you're viewing. In regards to the remark by Colorado Papa about "forum messaging" I didn't know that worked on this site, although I've seen the icon for it. On the MiGO site, it's known as "personal messaging" which explains the PM designation. I'm glad they've got it working here, I might actually use it sometime if I ever get back to spending more time in the GC.com forums. In regards to earlier comments by Evenfall about the length and detail in his posts, I find them both fascinating and educational and I've read every word of the posts in this thread as well as the clarifications and additional explanations by others. Like Leprechauns, I would never dream of reporting my finds directly to the NGS, but unlike them, I'm not too concerned about posting them here as long as I feel certain that I've found the mark in question. Posting photos with the log is a good way to ensure that as well as comparing the data sheet descriptions as suggested earlier in this thread. I'm a detail oriented person and feel competent to determine whether or not a benchmark that I've found is the one I'm looking for. I'll stick to disks however, and not get involved in some of the more esoteric types such as the intersection points. Regarding QL0044, one of you more knowledgeable benchmark hunters might have reported this directly to NGS as well, but that's where my lack of procedural information falls short, so I just tried to abide by the standards of GC.com as someone suggested earlier in the thread and posted it here with sufficient photographic detail to confirm the find. Like others, any attempt I might make to provide data to NGS might actually harm rather than help their database so I'd rather stay away from that aspect of the situation. If I'm unsure of something, or have a question, I won't be too hesitant to post a query after the cordial, informative and helpful responses I got when I did so a couple of weeks ago regarding a benchmark I had found that was not in the gc.com database. You were all very helpful with that one and no one seemed inclined to flame me for ignorance. I've always been fascinated with maps and the history of mapping the world and North America but never got into enough detail to feel I could hold my own in a discussion with a surveyor. As such, all the details I can read which clarify and improve my understanding of the subject are of great interest to me, and I glad to find people willing to take the time to explain in such detail, even if I don't fully understand every reference. (Hope this isn't too rambling, I'm on some medicine containing codeine and my thoughts are a little fuzzy at times. )

Thanks, that helps my overall understanding a lot. I've been wanting to get more involved in benchmarks, and I did find one more including a witness post that had a last reported recovery back in the 1970's. However, I don't have the in-depth background that many of you avid BM hunters do, so things are sometimes a little confusing for me. Again, thanks to all for the helpful answers.

OK, I posted a photo of it on the AuSable Light Station Virtual Cache site, and I'll put a link to that below. This should let you see what it looks like and the rest of the data that is on it. Thanks for the answers: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...4e-709366d30546

On September 23, we were hiking along the lakeshore trail west of AuSable Point in Michigan's UP. We stumbled across what appeared to be a benchmark along the trail, placed by the Department of the Interior in 1977. I took photos, but when I went to log it, I can't find anything that correlates in the GC.com database. The number stamped into the disk reads ASP6. It was located at N46 40.238 W086 09.381. There were trees on both sides of the trail, and I didn't think to check the accuracy ratings. However, the closest benchmarks listed are miles away, and I know the accuracy wasn't that bad. Is this not really a benchmark, or one that somehow got overlooked in creating the database? I haven't been on the forums for a long time, so I'm not sure how to post the photo here. I've never posted on the benchmark forums so please forgive any gaffs I may have made here. Any advice on what I should do about this?

Our preference would be to stay with the metal as well, for many of the reasons already listed by others. Among other things, if the number of metal tags sold drops, the cost per tag may well rise for those who continue to purchase them. Because the job runs are smaller, the setup costs cannot be spread over as many pieces. As far as printing the goals when the tags are ordered, many people seem to buy several then release them over a period of time. They may not know when they buy them what the goal will be. I think it's better for people to use their own formats to produce the goals once they know what they are. See the thread "labeling travel bugs" for some methods already in use. We tend to prefer Rocketman's template. http://ubbx.Groundspeak.com/6/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=5726007311&f=6016058331&m=75460905 "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown

Thanks, Stunod! I often know I've seen these things, but not where to find them quickly. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown

We have also added cards to two travel bugs, both of which had been considerably off course when we found them. In both cases, we contacted the owners. One responded, the other didn't but we added the card anyway. We used the format sheet developed by Rocket Man and linked on the thread "labeling travel bugs", but it wasn't as nice as the ones Sissy-n-CR have been using. It also has to be laminated to be durable. It's the about the size of a business card, maybe a bit larger, so for a small TB it adds some size. To look at it, check into this URL: http://www.eckeguides.com/geocaching_stuff/Travel_Bug_Front_and_Back.doc "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown

quote:Originally posted by MacPort:..... are just getting started and want to know everything! MacPort and The Hairy Iceberg Welcome to the fun! The D/T designation refers the the difficulty rating of the hide itself, and the terrain surrounding it. A single star is the least difficult, 5 stars is the greatest difficulty and probably requires special equipment. For your first few caches, you might want to stay with one or two star difficulty ratings until you get the hang of things. After a while, you'll have a much better feel for where and how other Geocachers hide their caches and you will feel more confident moving into more difficult levels. Somewhere on this site (I'm sure Markwell will repost a link to it), there is a method (or a link to a method) for rating the difficulties of the hide and the terrain that was developed by Clayjar. It's not only helpful if you're trying to hide a cache, but also gives a cache hunter a little better feel for what might be encountered while seeking a cache of a given rating. If you're interested, you might find it on the page pertaining to hiding a cache, that would be a logical place for it. Have fun and hang in there. Again, welcome! "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown

I agree that this would be an appropriate thing to place as a trade. Whether it is a trade up or down is a matter of chance, but potentially it could be a considerable trade up. There are people in our area who place punched out tickets (collect 10, get a free coffee) from local coffee shops in caches, this seems a step above that in my opinion, although there is nothing wrong with their approach either. I also would be inclined to return some of the proceeds to the placer if it turned out to be a significant winner (>$10). If it was a trivial winner, I would probably use the proceeds to buy more trade items. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown

In addition to the two forms listed here, there are a couple of others floating around. The one we've used the most was provided by Rocket Man and is found at the following URL: http://www.eckeguides.com/geocaching_stuff/Travel_Bug_Front_and_Back.doc This prints out business card sized labels which are quite nice. Another good idea was found at this URL: http://www.geocaching.com/track/track_detail.asp?ID=32365 The neat thing about this one is that it provides a means of removing the outbound goal and leaving only the return goal. That's handy if you want your travel bug to visit a specific place and return home. Once the outbound goal has been removed from the sheet, a finder doesn't have to check to see what direction it is heading. That might help to prevent oscillatory behavior on the part of the TB when in the middle of its travels. These are both found on the thread "labeling travel bugs" which also contains some advice about laminating, etc. from a variety of people. The WSGA sheet is also on that thread. My only experience with that sheet was similar to Markwell's comment, in that it was hard to put into smaller caches when we had a TB using it with us. All of these formats are great aids to the finders in my opinion and I greatly appreciate the effort people have put into them and that they have freely shared them with those of us who are less able to develop these templates on our own. Thanks to everyone who has done so! For some reason, the URL pasting didn't work right today, it ended up putting in the link twice on both of them. When I tried to edit it down, I wasn't sure which characters to remove and leave at the end of the string, so it still isn't quite right. However, it should be possible to make use of it if you really want to by copying it into your address bar in your web access software. Sorry, strange things often happen to me in the forums, but this is the first time I've seen this particular variant. Usually I just have to refresh after every thread change. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown [This message was edited by MiTuCats on July 21, 2003 at 09:41 AM.]

Very interesting breakdown on your statistics so far. Either or both of us COULD become scrapbookers if we aren't careful, but so far we've resisted. We take tons of pictures and have file drawers full of clippings, etc. We've just never taken the next step. Very interesting topic and poll. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown

We also print out and carry along the pages for each cache. When going on a long trip, we decided to keep a file folder for each state we were going to, then an additional "working folder" for the ones we planned to hit on any given day. When we parked, we would take the data for the cache we were hunting for out of the folder, fold it up and take it along, leaving the working folder in the car. As we completed each cache, we moved the printout for it back into the folder for the state in which it was located. That worked pretty well on our multi-state binge in late May and early June. By carrying the pages for each cache, it also gives us something on which to write data such as the date and time we found the cache, what we left or took, any TBs that were in the cache and if we took them or left them, etc. After several consecutive days of this sort of thing, those notes are very handy to fall back on for logging your activities. Having them on the cache pages makes it simpler, since we use the waypoint designation from the sheet to call up the cache for logging purposes. Another thing we did while travelling was to visit local public libraries for an hour or two to log our finds and check on the ones for the next day to make sure they weren't archived or disabled. As mentioned above, it's not too uncommon to get burned on something you printed out a few days before that went missing or was moved in the time before you arrived to look for it. We've had that sort of thing happen twice in 60+ finds, and we've forestalled the event two more times by checking in advance. If you can do this frequently, it cuts down on the amount of time you'll have to spend to do it all in one session later. It's amazing how time consuming it can be to log multiple caches, especially if you're hauling several travel bugs around and want to show them as being logged into and back out of each cache. Public libraries usually want you to fill out some sort of a temporary library card and agree that you won't go to any inappropriate sites, then they're happy to leave you alone in peace to use their equipment. They usually have a modest per page charge but will allow you to print. We also have used university libraries for internet access when we were in a town that had a good sized university that was in session. Finally, we printed and always carry with us the general explanation page from the Geocaching.com Website in case someone wants more data. Just having the cache page is ok, but the other provides more data for a skeptical law enforcement officer if a question ever arises. Even (or maybe especially)in small towns cachers do get queried by police at times, especially when visiting sites of disasters that have been made into virtual caches, etc. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=66075 We have also been known to at least look at the topo maps for a cache hidden near a river to help avoid the "wrong side" syndrome. We should have done that for one in Wisconsin where the bridge was out and a 20 mile detour would have been necessary to get to the actual location of the cache. We didn't get a chance to find that one because we didn't have time for the detour. Advance study would have prevented the problem. Keep experimenting and you're likely to hit on the mode that works best for you. We find that the more data we have the better we like it. We're intrigued by Scout65's idea and may try it the next time we're recording data for caches we haven't already printed. Welcome to the game from another pair of Newbies! "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown

Early in our career, we posted a couple of queries. We received prompt, courteous advice from people that even then we recognized as long standing forum members. That prompted us to do more reading of the forums, and we then discovered the "newbie-bashing" trend on our own without having directly experienced it. We made a response to one of the threads decrying this tendency and added that it had made us think very seriously about whether or not we wanted to continue with this activity. We received more courteous and thoughtful responses, again from long standing geocachers and forum members, basically telling us that the forums were not directly connected with the activity of geocaching and that we shouldn't let the opinions expressed therein drive us away from geocaching. That was some of the best advice we've had. In terms of knowing "netiquette", we're not really good at that yet. This is the only forum we have ever participated in, and when we first started we did not realize that one could search for topics. Therefore, we probably unwittingly asked at least one of the "trigger" questions on the forums, but we still received very helpful information. As a result of that, we've tried to follow the example set by those who helped us, often contacting those who ask questions directly via e-mail rather than posting. This tendency may have resulted from some of the "newbie-sniping" we observed, not sure about that. To sum this up, we've never felt that anyone failed to treat us with respect or made us feel unwelcome. However, we have felt uncomfortable reading responses on other people's threads. Thanks to all who have helped us over the last three months and have made sure that our experiences with geocaching have been positive! Despite the fact that we still consider ourselves newbies, we do feel welcome in the greater geocaching community due primarily to the efforts of a dozen or so individuals. You folks know who you are, and we thank you! "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown

Sorry, but I don't think it would be approved. See the following thread for a thoughtful reply to someone who suggested something similar. http://ubbx.Groundspeak.com/6/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=5726007311&f=4016058331&m=67360676 I'm sure somewhere (perhaps Markwell's additons to the Frequently Asked Questions), there is further discussion. Check into "vacation caches" and see what you find. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown

quote:Originally posted by Jomarac5: If I understand what Huntnlady is saying here, is that perhaps there should be a direct caching connection attached to the contest.... I think the essence of the photo is to show different aspects of caching. ..... The connection to caching is that the photo was taken while caching. Some honesty is expected from entrants and I think we can take his/her word that their entry was taken at the cache location. The proximity to a cache location is the connection to caching and I think that is enough. To me, adding a GPSr in the shot sounds more like a Locationless cache than a photo contest. ***** I agree with these points. In one case, we walked close to 8 miles while completing a multi-cache and to my way of thinking any photos (and there were many) taken during this time have pertinence to the concept. It took us a little over a month to complete, but that is immaterial. Unfortunately, if there is actually a prize or contest involved honesty often takes a back seat, but the real winners here would be the geocaching community who would get to see more of the spectacular photos taken by others. It might even lead cachers to visit areas and hunt for caches that they might have passed up otherwise, thereby increasing the benefit to them. As for putting a GPSr in the photo, I have never done that yet, and don't plan to ever do so. My photos are about the area, the cache and the experience, not the technology. If it became a requirement, I would simply avoid the contest and continue posting photos on the cache and travel bug pages as I do now. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown

Have you heard about the cannibal who passed his brother in the woods? Or how about the missionary whose partner was captured by cannibals. As they were preparing to drop the partner in the pot, the missionary came running down the hill from the place where he'd been watching. "Stop", he cried. "You can't boil him!" "Why not", they asked. "Because, he's a friar!" "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown

We approve of the idea as well. It would have to be determined whether or not photos taken prior to the official start would be eligible. If this flies, we'll have to start lugging our 35mm and some lenses with us to make up for the lack of a decent zoom capability on our digital camera which does a great job otherwise. That would give us more exercise. Sorry about the double post, every now and then weird things happen in the forums. I entered the first one, returned to correct a misspelled word and it vanished. I logged out, logged back in, refreshed and it seemed to be gone for good. I entered a new, similar post and suddenly both of them were there. Often when I first call up the forums, I get "most recent" topics that are from several days back until I refresh. After refreshing and viewing a topic, when I go back to the forums to look at others, I get the old topics again and have to refresh once more. I don't know if this is unique to me, or common. It sure takes up a lot more time due to all the refreshing required. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown

We like the idea as well. One question to be resolved would be whether photos taken prior to the start of the contest would be eligible, or only ones taken after the start. If this flies, I'll have to go back to carrying my 35mm and some lenses with me instead of just our digital with the limited zoom range. It takes very nice pictures overall, but it really can't compete with a good telephoto in many cases. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown

The Best Half of our team attended a conference where there was a geocacher present. He took a few people out to find a local cache one evening, then was telling the Best Half about it at lunch the next day. She came home enthused and told me about it with the same result. Now we're pretty well hooked after just a couple of months. Actually, I suspect we were hooked after the first cache! Too bad we have to mow the lawn, etc. in the summer, it's really slowing down our caching activities. We've been to more local parks that we had never visited than we can believe. We've also found some really nice places out of state in areas that we never would have visited just driving through. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown

What an addition to the history of the travel bug! Even to have been touched by the Great Markwell himself would be an exalted experience for anyone's travel bug, but to have had surgery at his august hands has to rank with the greatest possible travel bug honors! Congratulations on one of the funniest threads we've seen. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown

quote:Originally posted by SnowLeopard: I found lots of examples and combined them to make my http://www.geocaching.com/track/track_detail.asp?ID=32365 instruction sheet. I uploaded pictures of the instruction sheets - hope this helps! Now that is cool! I've wondered a little about TBs getting diverted again because they had outbound and return goals and if the finder didn't know if they had achieved the outbound goal they could get headed in the wrong direction. Great idea, and I love the graphics. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need .... roads" --Dr. Emmett L. Brown