bumblingbs

Well, darlin', this might be a good time to choose a date. Yeah, if it's just you and your friends, it's not a democracy. Post it here, and you'll get opinions. Any reason not to do the 17th? I like all the geocachers out together, criss-crossing and running each other over with bikes. I like dinner, too. I like breakfast. Where is the lunch event? Wow. This post really rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe those who have the luxury of being able to plan their schedules four months in advance, right down to the weekend and day, should go ahead and plan on finding the cache on June 17th. Ever since becoming a divorced parent, I don't have that luxury. When my schedule does firm up, and I hope that happens soon, I'll make the appropriate contacts. Edited because I screwed this post up, and apparently the previous one due to the angry reaction I got. I don't know, if you are going to suggest an event cache, I think it's a good idea to have a date in mind. If you don't have a date in mind, and want to see who might be interested, and when, that's OK, too. Just say so. Whoo, now I'm scared to come, and I like Ambrosia just fine. Friends? It's a cool walk.

Well, darlin', this might be a good time to choose a date. Yeah, if it's just you and your friends, it's not a democracy. Post it here, and you'll get opinions. Any reason not to do the 17th? I like all the geocachers out together, criss-crossing and running each other over with bikes. I like dinner, too. I like breakfast. Where is the lunch event?

Looks like there is a breakfast contingent, a dinner contingent, a walking group, a biking group -- all a matter of getting them together in some fashion. Of course, if the walking group is walking without lights, and the biking group is coming fast....ooooh....that would be one way to get together. Don't spill the grapes, Allanon.

I hate to say this, but the walk is closer to six miles than it is to four. Everyone told me 4! Eh, 2 - 4 - 6, it's all the same to me. I most likely cannot do it. I can't at this moment, anyhow, and June is too far away to judge. So I need to prepare for the worst. It's been a while since I was there, but I remember it as pretty much flat all the way. Heck, if you can sit in a wheelchair, or be carried like an Egyptian princess, it's do-able. You know better than to say no. I don't do events. June 17th is my birthday. I am intrigued by the idea of participating. For sure, I'm not coming if Ambrosia doesn't.

I went a few years ago with Belleterre. Part way through, she turned off her flashlight. I AM a Bumbling B, and I was scared, but I held onto the back of her shirt, padded along after her, and it was, indeed, a cool walk. Yes. if you can, lights off.

Done. But my eight year old wants to race the >90 to the cache. Please log one in the <12 category.

I recently had a micro that went missing. A good cache finder had two DNF's on it - the first because it was dark and they decided it wasn't the safest place for a night hunt, the second just a frustrating search. So, I disabled the cache. In comes a DNF - "Yes, we searched for this cache a month ago, and thought it was gone." Well, if you'd told me that a month ago, I would have checked it out. It might have saved another cacher 60 miles of driving to get to it twice, and an hour or more of fruitless searching. Don't be afraid to look stupid, I do it all the time.

Twede's: http://www.twedescafe.com/

For just sightseeing - we took my Mom on the Argosy cruise through the Ballard Locks for her 80th birthday and really enjoyed it. It's not cheap, but it was a fun splurge. Helps if your kids are 12 and under, quite a price difference. http://www.argosycruises.com/publiccruises/locks.cfm

I'm no kayaker, but the currents under the Deception Pass bridge look FIERCE.

Dang! It's just been archived. Sorry; I briefly considered offering to be the local maintainer, or adopting this cache, but it had more problems than just two waypoints missing. It also had a waypoint that needed to be moved, a final that needed a different container and also be moved, and a waypoint that needed to have the camo re-done. It would have been as much work as starting from scratch, yet it wouldn't be a new cache for those 'round here who had already logged it. I know it won't fix your DNF, but I'll hide some new caches for you. I think I DNF'd Walk in the Woods twice, myself.

Cool aerial photo of the fairgrounds, by the way. On the right hand side of the infield, do you see the line drawing of the backpacker with the walking stick? Drawn by ancient Port Townsendites to attract UFO's, or geocachers or something.

Welcome! Port Townsend IS kinda nice.

Things that are not at all funny when they are happening can be really funny when you look back at them. I made a phone call to the police to report that my carport was missing, and asked them to keep an eye out for it. I believe the policewoman actually snorted.

[ From personal experience, it's not much fun in a sleeping bag with a cold, unresponsive body (and you can hold all you comments about wives/husbands/spouse/significant others) - but it does work wonders for rewarming a hypothermic person (as I found out in 1973 in a spring blizzard at 6800 feet on the windward side of White Chuck Mtn). Although it is better not to get to that point in first place. Other books: Backpacking One Step at a Time by Harvey Manning; Making Camp by Backpacker Magazine; Be Expert with Map and Compass by ?? (can't find my copy right now); and Don't Die on the Mountain by Dan Allen. On a related subject: Mountaineering First Aid by The Mountaineers - lots of good stuff for when accidents happen in the 'backcountry' (it has a good summery of the 10 essensials). And of course there is always the "bible" of back country travel: Freedom of the Hills by The Mountaineers. Hmm, an hour and a half is pretty short to really teach much (a lot depends on size/make up of group) - you could cover one subject fairly well, or introduce a number of subjects briefly. You're right. An hour and a half is hardly enough time to teach 10 year olds beginning survival skills. I'll pencil you in for one hour and 35 minutes. We have a small but serviceable guest room. It's clean. Or could be. In theory. The cat will join you in the sleeping bag. What day did you say?

I've just hidden a cache, that honestly isn't too spectacular, and I will never claim it as one of my best. It has better stuff in it than most, but I don't think that is what geocachers are looking for. If it takes a $50 gift card to get someone to visit your cache, we are all in a sorry state. Take people to a spot you love. A local spot, that not everyone from out of town is going to know about. Show them the sunrise, or sunset, or the rippling water in a pond. Don't think you have to be material to attract anyone. And, yep, find some caches before you hide some. Otherwise, you're just whistling in the dark. Or less.

Thanks, also for the suggested readings. DH and I had a grand time recounting our various close scrapes. and I have to agree that the mental outlook plays a good part in it. I can remember one time when I was ready to give up, and my husband saved my life with one well chosen word that brought me back to survival consciousness. And another time when he actually apologized to me for killing me and set off down the wrong path in a raging storm. That time, I just wasn't having any of it. I don't know, that may have been beginning hypothermia for him; I didn't have it. So, I'd say a ~partner~ is a good first line of defense. The offer is still open, though, I'll hide a cache in honor of anyone willing to come teach kids for an hour and a half. ) And by the way, hypothermia does have some good points. You understand that blankets won't warm you if your own body is not radiating heat. Best thing to do? Get naked in a sleeping bag with a warm person. Cool! I mean, warm!

I'm waiting for the punch-line. What do you intend to do with the candle, and have you ever actually tried to do it? Anyway, there’s a parallel thread over here where we are discussing just that. Everybody has ideas and theories about what they would do if they ever had faced that situation, so far we’ve gotten very little hands-on experience. I mean, your car/truck/SUV has a spare tire squirreled away somewhere, do you know how to get it out? The main difference is that in the woods you can’t call AAA to come help you. That’s what we were trying to accomplish, some hands-on real world experience. I thought it was an afternoon well spent. Yeah, I can get my spare tire out. (I'm talking about the one in my car, don't look at my belly) Can I light it on fire, and if so, would it be toxic? Uhhh.....

That's too bad. I was going to suggest a new washing machine as a prize, as mine has started spitting oil all over the floor.

Visiting? Heck, I mis-read it and thought you were moving here. Not sure, but it's possible that PCake's Mt Walker cache is clear. It's a good lung buster with views, down toward Quilcene. There's a road up to the top, but it's closed in the off-season, and you have to do it properly, by hiking.

Can't cut and paste yet-new computer to learn. This one- "If you see me spiraling inwards, all is well. If I am spiraling outward; offer assistance. Nice. Just my level of dysfunction.

Runhills, I've got to say ~ I love your quote.

There are books out there that teach the theory. That's where a lot of our perceptions have come from. Actual practice though really brings home what can and can't be done. That's why we went out to do this. Currently we can't share what we don't know but we can share what didn't work really well. Gathering tender along the way is a good start, but your pockets in these kinds of conditions aren't going to work really well to hold enough of what you need. I think I'm going to include into my daypack and little army diddy I have that can sling over my shoulder and act as a tender gathering bag. You say there are books out there. What book. What book would be a good place to start. Not just for lighting fires, but for outdoor skills in general. At a beginning level. Of course, if we were to read it, learn it, we'd then practice. Just start me from space #1. Thanks~

I'm sorry to repeat, but I ask again, is there a manual that I could follow to learn this stuff and thereby be able to teach it to kids? Boy Scout handbook? What? I've done some long distance hiking (6 months on the A.T.) and learned a few things through experience, but I'm still mostly hopeless. Well, I'm real familiar with lightening, bears and snakes. I just pretty much did everything else wrong and lived to tell about it. OK, I did bears wrong, too, but they didn't notice. I understand the importance, but I have trouble getting those pressed fireplace logs to light in my fireplace. Start me somewhere, please, so that I can learn for myself and share with the kids. Thanks.

Off Topic a bit, but grateful for suggestions. I'm coordinating a homeschool program, and would like to incorporate some outdoor and survival skills. The kids range in age from 7-14. Does anyone have suggestions as to how to design a program, or what resources to use? I'm still alive, so I must be doing ~something~ right, but I am most certainly unqualified to teach anybody on this subject. Can teach anything, though, if I do the prep work and learn it well myself. Failing that, do any of you want to come to Port Townsend and teach the kids for a couple of hours? I AM pretty good at sliding work onto others, and my group would hide a cache in advance in your honor. Thanks in advance....