cooney

I would contact Northern States Power. I spent a number of summers camping on the flowage about 20 years ago. At that time NSP took care of the islands. The state has purchased some of the shoreline and the local Native American tribe also owns some land. That is where I'd start when asking permission. As for the cache being approved by geocaching.com, as long as you mention in a note to the approver that you and your family have a vacation cabin there, and that someone will be able to maintain it, you should be ok. I placed a cache in Vilas Co. near a family cabin that was approved. Are you planning on placing a multi on a number of different islands? That would be an awesome cache. Even better if one of the waypoints was inaccessible by the big boats of today. I'm thinking of the small channels leading into what we called Crystal Lake near the entraance to Crane Lake. Or the channels leading into the fish refuge off of Scott Lake. Not many people take the effort to get there.

I've had one Eureka and two REI tents in the last 25 + years. Currently, I have the REI half dome. I have no qualms about recommending it to you. It is a little small but if you don't have to pull any all rain storms inside it will do fine. Extended tent time and it will get a little tight. I once spent about 30 hours in a REI 3 season 3 person dome with a friend; only went out in the rain and drizzle to get water and pee. We are both still alive although there were moments.

If you are burned out because the challenge is gone, try looking for caches with higher difficulty ratings. If your mind and body aren't stimulated, you either have to up the ante, or take a break. Create challenges for yourself: find all of the caches placed by one individual; hunt for nothing less than a 3* rating; hunt only puzzle or multi caches; take a long weekend or vacation to another area of the state or another state. Focus on things other than finding the cache: take photographs / portraits; take fishing gear along for those hunts near water. Slow down and enjoy it rather than rushing off to find the next one. How about creating an unsual cache for others? If you still can't think of anything to make it fun, then find a new hobby for awhile.

One of my caches is seasonal any only can be reached by canoe or kayak. Part of the season the water may be too low to float all sections, but you still can drag your craft over the lowest spots. Because of heavy snow cover, ice perils and hidden springs the cache is not accessible in the winter. These cautions are clearly stated in the cache description. I do not think you will have a problem with your cache if you provide adequate warnings.

Just try reading your owners manual. I have had to do repeat readings on waypoint projectioins because I have not encountered too many caches that require it.

Time varies. It has taken me an hour or more just to find the logging road access point to a cache in northen Wi. It has taken me two days of several hour hunts to locate a couple of local caches. However, with limited time to hunt, those are the caches I prefer: ones that are close by, mentally and physically challenging. My immediate goal is to find every cahe hidden by jthorson.

One of the most useful I've heard is a skier friend takes the gondola up the mountain, caches his lunch in a snowbank to keep it cold, skiis the rest of the morning, and picks it up at lunch time. The rest of us have usually lugged our lunches around all morning and swuashed our sandwiches and fruit when enduring the inevitable falls.

Well, while Wis. has alot of public land most of the caches seem to be within easy walking distaance. For a mutliple day hiking and caching experience, you may want to try the Ice Age Trail. There are campgrounds and shelters scattered in certain sections of it. There are caches placed just off the trail and throughout the Southern and Northern units of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. I have daydreamed about doing a several day hike and cache along the trail. It might be worth your time.

Before ever being aware of geocaching, I stumbled onto the coordinates of a multi on a trail marker. I remember commenting, "Look somebody put the Lat. and Long. on this post." Had no idea what it was there for. Now it bothers me that I can't remember where I was, but now I'm always looking to stumble on clues and caches on my wanderings. I won't be surprised to find some unexpected caches in the future. "When life looks like easy street, there is danger at your door." Jerry Garcia

Ok, another dumb newbie question that can probably be answered in the FAQ, but here goes: When trying to submit a new cache, I enter the Lat. and Long. in DMS. When I submit it, the coordinates come up wrong. When I go to edit the fields are in DM ( I think ). What on earth is going on? I can edit everything but the Lat. and Long. Even tried doing it over with a new name, same result. "When life looks like easy street, there is danger at your door." Jerry Garcia

I am in the process of setting up my very first cache. I now understand the amount of work involved in making it fun as well as challenging. So far I've put in about 6 hours, traveling to and from the site, checking and re-checking the coordinates for the 5 stages, and gathering the contents for the final cache. I have yet to submit it for approval. This post is to thank all of you who have provided caches for us newbies to find. I now know not only how much fun you've had designiing your cache, but also how much work you've put into them. Thanks to all. "When life looks like easy street, there is danger at your door."

While I'm relatively new to this sport, I have been able to make a few observations that bear repeating. I know this has been discussed over and over, but tupperware containers do not hold up. I have found fewer than 2 doz caches; however, those of tupperware have generaly either leaked, have broken down by UV rays, or have cracked due to weather extremes. Ammo cans have always been in the best shape, followed by pill containers, and pvc pipes. With the popularity of placing and hunting caches, it is in our own best interests to keep from trashing up the forests. If we make a mess of things, someone other than ourselves will come in to regulate us. No one will want than.