john31874

I have a GPSMAP 60CS (no memory card - 64 MB memory). I have never bought any mapping software for it and am now wanting to do so. I see on the example maps on the Garmin site that City Navigator and Topo 2008 both have small rural roads and (seemingly) all of the roads in my hometown also. I use my GPS mostly for geocaching and traveling, but would like to use it for yearly backpacking trips as well. Should I just get Topo 2008? Or is there something reason why I would be better off with City Navigator since I will rarely actually use the Topo features?

I've found my first Geocoin today and was very excited when I saw it. I traded out some things and took the coin, but now I don't what to do. It is in the plastic pouch it came in and has no activation code written on the front. I checked and it has not been activated. The cache listing said nothing about a geocoin, but there is a log entry down the list by someone who left a geocoin. I see some people like to collect them. If I had realized this before, I may have left it alone. I did not have another coin to leave for it. I assumed the coin was meant to travel and be tracked. Here's my question(s): Do I activate it and send it on it's way? (My original plan was to log it and take it on about a 75 mile trip tomorrow and find it a new 'home'.) Do I leave it in another cache without activating? (If so, I wont have a record of finding a geocoin. Not that important, but I would like be able to log my first geocoin find!) Do I keep it? (That hadn't really occurred to me until reading though this forum.) Do I email the person who left the log and verify it was left by them and, if so, what would they prefer. I left some new items in the cache, but in my brief time enjoying geocacheing this is by far the coolest thing I've seen. I don't really want to keep it if the original intention was for it to travel. What to do? FYI It's a Civil War Series- Shiloh coin. Silver, not one of the limited editions. I assume it's not a highly prized colectable, but I know nothing of collecting these. I'm going to have to go to the weekly meeting that is held by some local geocachers. Apparently there is even more to this hobby that I thought before. Awesome. I've been having a blast this last month!

I enjoy all sorts of caches, but my favorites are ones with a reasonable trek into the wilderness because I enjoy taking pics of things along the way. Not sure what kind of camera you use, but if it is an SLR or DSLR, Lowepro makes an awesome small backpack called the Micro Trekker 200. I have a DSLR and an extra lens but not enough to fill the bag. The compartments are all adjustable, so you have plenty of room for swag, a bottle of water or two (with a very tight cap!), extra batteries, snacks, etc. It's not too large and very lightweight. I poked a hole through a dishtowel and used a retractable key chain holder to attach it to the side. Now if I want to wipe the sweat off my brow, or the dust of of my camera I can just grab it, wipe, and let go. It snaps back to the pack. It is a little pricey at $80.