15Tango

I have a Garmin GPS II+ and an Etrex Vista, and I think the accuracy is about the same, even though the old one has a quad helix and the new one has a patch antenna. The advantage of the the Vista is that it tells me it lost the satellites, and the GPS II+ would just keep me wandering around in circles, and I would have to go to the satellite screen to see that I didn't have any sats anymore. "Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other?"--George Eliot

I usually pre-treat with either Deep Woods Off or 3M Ultrathon (gotta support the local economy!!!), and let it heal naturally afterwards. If I do happen to get into some itch-weed, I've found that Band-Aid brand Itch Relief Gel Spritz works well--of course, being a manly man, I had to get over the word "spritz" in the title. "Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other?"--George Eliot

I came across this in the print version of the Superior Hiking Trail newsletter, but couldn't find it on their website www.shta.org--"We are looking for experienced GPS operators to volunteer to GPS sections of the Superior Hiking trail. You would need to have your own Garmin or Magellan unit or be able to operate our unit, a Garmin 76SMAP. We would also have to make arrangements to download your data. If interested, call or e-mail the SHTA office. It's time for our trail to come into the modern age!" --The phone number for the SHTA is (218)834-2700, and the email address is suphike@mr.net. "Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other?"--George Eliot

My name is Matt and I'm a geocacher. I found out I was adicted when I kept getting quote:Server Too Busy Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code. Exception Details: System.Web.HttpException: Server Too Busy Source Error: An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below. Stack Trace: [HttpException (0x80004005): Server Too Busy] System.Web.HttpRuntime.RejectRequestInternal(HttpWorkerRequest wr) +148 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:1.1.4322.573; ASP.NET Version:1.1.4322.573 and still kept trying to get my "stuff" from my "supplier". "Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other?"--George Eliot

I think the whole deck would make a good trade item--I've been trying to get one through the supply system of my Guard unit, and I'm about to break down and just buy one somewhere. I was able to get cold-war era armor identification and aircraft identification cards, though--soon to end up in a cache near me!!! Hoo-aah!!! "Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other?"--George Eliot

21 December 2000 Yeah, back in the day, we had to walk six miles to a cache, uphill both ways, barefoot, with 12 feet of snow on the ground, but we were thankful. "Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other?"--George Eliot

I was out in the weeds for 1/2 hour yesterday, and ended up with 4 wood ticks crawling on my clothes and one imbedded, but hopefully I got it in time. Since I spend so much time outside, I took the course of Lymerex shots a couple of years ago, and I got all my pre-deployment shots (yellow fever, dyptheria, tetanus, etc) a couple of months ago, so I can probably ride across country in a bug-infested box-car full of rusty nails without suffering any ill effects. "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--Calvin

It's now the mid-day monday, and the site is still really really really really slow--it just took me over an hour just to look up 7 cache pages--lots of server-not-available and server-too-busy messages. "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--Calvin

I don't log like 4 of 6 for the day, but I do number each log for my total caches up to and including that find, mainly for record keeping. In fact, the only time that was really cool was when my 296th find was cache GC296--now, with the #296 in front of my log, it can still be cool when the next person makes a log and changes my number of finds in the parentheses. "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--Calvin

I live in Minnesota, and know of a couple of corn mazes near the Twin Cities, so even though I get the razz, I know what he's talking about. "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--Calvin

My vote is for large micro, based on the size of trade items you'll need for it. I've been looking for some, myself, to use as caches--my Guard unit only issues me one with my mask, and I know that as soon as I take it to use as a cache container, I'll have a show-down inspection, and end up having to pay at least twice as much for it than I could have gotten it for at a surplus store. I have a hard enough time explaining the collection of ammo cans that I bought and currently use as CD cases, tool boxes, odds-&-ends containers, and occasionally geocaches. "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--Calvin

quote: I don't see an issue with a unusal seed pod that is left in a box and then removed. Most of the time it wouldn't be able to survive in the area anyway I beg to differ--lots of lakes here in Minnesota are infested with non-native milfoil. My lawn also seems to do okay, and most lawns here are planted with non-native grass. I don't think our woodlands will ever be infested with kudzu like the deep south, but who knows? "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--Calvin

This has been discussed before, but I don't want to Markwell you. The satellites send two signals--the signal you can pick up with a civilian GPS unit, and a second signal that is used to correct for ionospheric intereference, and only military GPSs (known as PLGRs, for Portable (?) Light (?) GPS Receivers) can receive the second signal. I don't know how accurate the current generation of PLGR is compared to a civilian GPS-R--I've used three different systems that have a PLGR with them, but the PLGR is used just for the time hack. "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--Calvin

Well, I had to upgrade my perfectly functional Garmin GPS II+ to a Garmin Etrex Vista, plus two different Mapsource programs (Roads and Rec, and just recently, Topo), an iPAQ, so I can save money on paper and ink (kind of like spending a dollar to save a dime, but hey, it's a neat gizmo that I can use for other stuff, like games), and I usually put around $30 a month into the change machine at work to get my signature item, Sacagewea dollar coins. On the plus side, instead of heading to the casino or the Mall of America when I can't think of anything else to do to get out of the house, I download a few caches and do that instead, so in the long run, I've probably saved money by geocaching. "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--Calvin

Before we all fly off the handle--there are some people with more that one account, and they could have found a few on one account, and placed a couple on a new account. They could also have gone cache hunting as part of a group, and placed a couple on their own. As long as the caches are on public land, I wouldn't be too worried, and just the normal precautions you would normally take if you were going to the areas where these caches are if you were there for some reason other than geocaching. "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--Calvin

Sounds like this is along the same lines as having to buy Polaroid cameras, because everytime you take a roll of pics in to get developed, the photo place sends a copy to the FBI. And with their data mining technology, digital cameras aren't safe, as well. For a couple hundred dollars, I can tell you how to disable the transmitter in Polaroid cameras........ "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--Calvin

For some of us, it's the thrill of the hunt, for others, racking up a large number of hides, or finds, or travel bugs--we have all found different ways to enjoy this sport, and our ways are as individual as we are. As long is someone else's method of legally enjoying this pastime doesn't adversely effect your enjoyment, I say let it be. No matter what technique we use to go geocaching, whether it be to find more than anyone else, or place more, or find more bugs, or just to leave a signature item without signing the log, it at least gets us out of the house to enjoy spending time in the outdoors instead of staying in and becoming a bunch of pasty-skinned techno-geeks. "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--Calvin

I've opened a cache container before that had some light-sensitive thing in it that made some sort of diabolical laugh--when I finally regained the courage to come down out of the tree I had jumped into, I started thinking, now, where can I get some of those? So, a plastic snake is no problem. I've seen enough toy spiders, mice, bugs, etc., and I'm sure most geocachers have, as well. I think beany babies that get damp and start to smell are a lot worse. "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--Calvin

Army National Guard, June 1986-Present. I originally enlisted in the Montana National Guard as a 91A, Combat Medic, then served as a SMP Cadet (Simultanious Membership Program--kind of dual membership in ROTC and Army National Guard). Commissioned as an Infantry 2LT in the National Guard in December, 1989, as part of the now defunct Early Commissioning Program (where one can get Commissioned without a degree if they were Guaranteed Reserve Forces Duty). As an officer, I served as an Assistant Battalion S-3, NBC Officer; Mechanized Infantry (M113A3) Platoon Leader; Infantry, and later (due to reorganization) Artillery Detachment Commander. Since I needed a degree to get my railroad tracks, and I don't have one, I resigned my commission and recieved an Honorable Discharge from the Montana Army National Guard and moved to Minnesota. I was out for four months, and two things made me go see a Minnesota Army National Guard recruiter--first of all, if I grow a pony-tail, I'd end up looking like Mick Fleetwood or George Carlin or any number of bald guys with pony-tails; and secondly, I was at a county park for a function and a Guard unit was having their post-AT picnic at the next pavilion over, and I realized how much I missed the Guard. So I enlisted as a 96B, Intelligence Analyst, and served as an MI Battalion Ops NCO, Analyst with the All Source Production section, and I'm currently The S-2 NCO for the 34th Aviation Brigade. "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--Calvin

Welcome, University of Minnesota Geocachers!!! When is your next meeting? You're more than welcome to check us out at mngca.org--we also just got started. Also, membership at mngca is free and open to anybody. Think Globally, Act Locally Life is good.

I always leave them--it let's whoever looks over the logs later know that there is something more involved than just a "park and log". I consider the purple frownies as "battle scars", and aren't scars supposed to be cool? Think Globally, Act Locally Life is good.

My wife and I started hunting caches last winter--almost exactly a year ago. But the last few winters here in Minnesota have been relatively mild--cold, but not the normal snowfall. The only concern I've read in the forums about caching in the winter is leaving a set of tracks right up to the cache, thereby spoiling it for the next person, but I usually leave so many tracks in an area after I hit my go-to point and start looking for hiding places that they are misleading. Plus, the cold sometimes makes my GPSr a little goofy--I won't be able to read the screen, but when I put it in my jacket to warm it up, I lose my satellites, so once again, I don't leave tracks right up to the cache. Think Globally, Act Locally Life is good.

A USB compatible PC cable from Garmin for E-trex--I had a Belkin adapter, but the driver software would sometimes get hinky on me. I had to hunt through quite a few computer stores to find another brand, and that's working fine so far, but I could have saved myself a lot of trouble if Garmin would just go USB like everyone else has. Think Globally, Act Locally Life is good.

I've seen plenty of thread about complaints, gripes, etc. so I thought I'd borrow an idea from the mngca forum, and ask, what do you love about geocaching? Just to get us started-- --I love having the excuse to get out of the house when there's not enough snow to ski, but it's too cold to do anything else. --I love finding neat parks that I wouldn't have found out about otherwise. --I love the fact that no matter what type of background or lifestyle you have, whether you are a banker, lawyer, baker, matchstick maker, machine operator, IT professional, soldier, sailor, pilot, Marine, etc. we are all equals when we are stumbling through the brush, cursing sticker bushes, swatting mosquitoes (summer), slipping on ice (winter), trying to keep our GPSr's warm enough to still read the screen while maintaining a satellite lock, while trying to find an ammo can or Rubbermaid container hidden in a hollow log. Think Globally, Act Locally Life is good.

I placed a bug this weekend, and put the cache I stuck it in on my watch list. Sure enough, the next person to find the cache was new (it was their first cache), and they grabbed the bug but didn't claim it on the website. I sent them an email welcoming them to the world of geocaching, and added "by the way, the link to find out about travel bugs is............."--they then went to the link, properly logged the bug, and thanked me for the advise. So, long story short (if it isn't too late), if you place a bug, watch the cache, and if somebody puts in their log that they grabbed the bug, but they didn't claim it virtually, just send them a friendly email guiding them in the right direction. As far as non-cachers that grab a bug, or people that don't log online, I guess you're SOL. Think Globally, Act Locally Life is good.