Buzz_Lightfoot

I put lottery tickets in mine. (:

Brute force? Worked for me last weekend. Got back to caching after 3 years away. Found first cache. Frozen solid in the tree. Found a dead stick on the ground. Pried at the cache until the cache came loose. Then I couldnt get the LID off as it was frozen. Well, 5 minutes under my jacket solved that. BL

What a nice pic! I should join you guys some time. I'm in Pike County but have been inactive these past few years. I just ordered a new GPSr to replace my damaged eTrex. Hope to run into you all! BL

Just how good are the built in topo maps? I bought a new unit last summer (sorry, I'm at work, I don't remember model number) because I wanted to get back into GCing after being away for several years but the maps were AWFUL, even after I purchased and uploaded "hi-rez" maps. I was so disappointed that I never actually used the unit. Do the maps look as good as as the pictures on the ads? Does anyone have and screen shots of actual units? The old black and white maps uploaded to my old eTrex Vista weren't half bad. Trouble is the toggle switch on my eTrex was damaged so I cannot use that unit any more. How about it. Can anyone set my mind at ease? I am really tempted to get a 450t however I do not want to make a mistake again. Thanks! BL The built in topo maps are about 1:100K so you'll get 100' contour lines. Better than nothing but not great for hiking. You can add your own maps to any of these units. I have the free California topo from GPSfiledepot.com which is 1:24K and has 20' contours. Much more detail, but also requires more memory, so it's not practical to have that level of detail for the whole country. For me, the 450 is probably worth the upgrade for the 3-axis compass, better screen and 5000 cache capacity, but the 450t only adds mediocre topo detail, so I'll pass on that. Thanks TC, I think I may get the unit. I've been meaning to get back into Geocaching for some time but the cost of replacing my broken Etrex kept putting me off. Time to take the plunge! BL

Just how good are the built in topo maps? I bought a new unit last summer (sorry, I'm at work, I don't remember model number) because I wanted to get back into GCing after being away for several years but the maps were AWFUL, even after I purchased and uploaded "hi-rez" maps. I was so disappointed that I never actually used the unit. Do the maps look as good as as the pictures on the ads? Does anyone have and screen shots of actual units? The old black and white maps uploaded to my old eTrex Vista weren't half bad. Trouble is the toggle switch on my eTrex was damaged so I cannot use that unit any more. How about it. Can anyone set my mind at ease? I am really tempted to get a 450t however I do not want to make a mistake again. Thanks! BL

quote:Originally posted by BrianSnat: quote: You don't want to use pepper spray or such, because sometimes animals (esp. bears) get a taste for the stuff. Don't I know it. I've been using a product called Squirrel Away to keep the furry tailed rats out of my bird feeders. It's pure, powdered capsicum (red pepper) and speaking as one who got it in my eyes once, it's strong stuff. For 6 years, it kept the squirrels out of the feeder. Suddenly, this year, they hang out on the feeder and munch away, even though I doubled the recommended application. _"You can't make a man by standing a sheep on his hind legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position, you can make a crowd of men" - Max Beerbohm_ Well now you've gone and done it... you've bred capsican resistant squirrels!! Don't you listen? Experts always say, done use antibiotics too much or you'll breed resistant germs, use incecticide too much and you'll breed resistant pests. Now you've bred resistant squirrels! No bird feeder will EVER be safe again! I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA

quote:Originally posted by SamLowrey: I keep hearing people talk about the clock on your GPS. IIRC (don't have it with me) the clock is just set manually, right? Or does it get the time from the satellites as well (the GPS system, not Iridium, I know) (mine's a Map 330, btw) The clock in your GPS is set from the satellites. Extremely accurate timing is one facet of how GPS works. The clock in your GPS is the most accurate clock you'll ever own. I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA

quote:Originally posted by Stunod:Here are Stu and Abby (Stu is the Shepherd-Collie and Abby is the Golden Retriever) Hey, my golden is called Abby too though she's a bit younger! (1 Year old.) Here's a couple pix of her. At "Knobs on High"... I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA [This message was edited by Buzz_Lightfoot on August 12, 2003 at 09:09 AM.]

quote:Originally posted by arrowroot:My handle comes from the book "Bored of the Rings" by the Harvard Lampoon. I think it dates from the '70s. I was rather surprised to see it was unused when I signed up -- I figured the number of Lord of the Rings fans online would be huge, and Arrowroot is the parody's name for Aragorn. Also called Stomper, and a bunch o' other things. _I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know_ "I bet you do." I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA

For another view on pesticides and DDT from Duke University, click the link below. http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/pest/pestindex.html I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA

...when I don't go out in my nice, brand new boat because it is interfering with cache hunting! I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA

quote:Originally posted by Rich in NEPA:The way I see it, BL, (and by your own definition above) it was Rachel Carson who was the lunatic fanatic who seduced millions of people into believing luridly false and misleading claims, and created a worldwide cult following which __in effect__ has committed mass suicide and manslaughter (this topic did start out about the lives of children and others being inflicted with tick-borne diseases, right?). By appealing to raw emotions and relying on the spread of panic and unjustified fears over some (highly dubious) global catastrophe, she (along with her "followers") succeeded in banning the use of DDT and indirectly sacrificed the lives of untold numbers of human beings for the sake of fishes, birds, animals, and "the planet." The sad part is that most of them never knew they were being sacrificed, understood why, or that it was done under the guise of a noble cause! (I suppose you can thank our modern anti-reason, socially progressive, politically correct, government-controlled, tenth rate education system for that.) It's the exact the same method that the mankind-hating eco-freaks of today are applying to a new generation of "believers" with their gloom-and-doom "Global Warming" prophecies. (Oh, and weren't these the same people who 10 years earlier were forecasting total global annihilation due to a coming ice age?!) I happen to agree with Steve Milloy's well-reasoned arguments for the elimination, or at least the temporary suspension of the ban on DDT. Lyme Disease is real, deadly, and it's spreading. I suggest that people think about this carefully the next time they are outdoors trying to enjoy "nature" and have to remove a disease-ridden tick from theirs or their child's flesh. Cheers ... _~Rich in NEPA~_ __--- A man with a GPS receiver knows where he is; a man with two GPS receivers is never sure. ---__ Yes, she WAS on the edge. As is steve. An alternative can be found to the resumption of the use of DDT. It is a non-specific killer. Yes, it killed insects, yes, stopping its use has had some negative effects but what about the effects of using a general poison on the environment? A poison that kills not only the insects that it targeted but many other species as well? You could kill off ticks with a neutron bomb as well but to what purpose if all other life is eliminated in the process? Remember how Lake Erie used to be dead? Let's not take steps backward towards the world that allowed that to happen. Lets look forward and find an answer that a) eliminates or at least reduces the danger posed by insects that carry dangerous diseases such as lyme diease and west nile virus and is not a cure that is worse than the disease. I have confidence that such an answer can be found. Call me an optimist. Having lived through the cold war, bomb shelters and air raid drills in my school and fallout shelters in the backyard, I can honestly say things are better today. Yes, perhaps someone on that infamous lunatic-fringe may yet set off an A-bomb and trigger WW III. I hope for something better for the future. Take care, Buzz Lightfoot

Here is one caused by fat-fingering the entry of cache coordinates. This is for a multi called "Delaware Rock Show". July 20 by Buzz_Lightfoot (9 found) You can [edit], [delete] or [permanently encrypt] this log entry. I'm going to have to mark this one as a work-in-progress. I parked at the boat launch and bushwhacked through thoroughly impenetrable rhododendron groves the whole way. Once I fought my way to the coordinates there was no place that could have held a cache in it at all. I then double checked the coords and found I had mis-keyed a digit. I had gone .44 miles further than I had to through the mess! I then corrected the entry and struggled BACK to the correct spot. I then found the hint with little difficulty. I checked and found I had .34 miles to go. (If you have not visitied this cache you will not realize the .34 miles is about 45 minutes to an hour! This cache certainly deserves its 4 star terrain rating!) At this point I checked and found it was only .2 miles to the parking area. By this point I had been tripped several times, had my glasses ripped from my face twice and was scratched to ZXY123! I said, ENOUGH! I'll finish this another day! (: Buzz Lightfoot. Oh, and by the way, the correct path does NOT go through those groves! I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA

quote:Originally posted by Zhanna: quote:Originally posted by Buzz_Lightfoot: Eco-nuts and anti-eco-nuts are just that, nuts. The truth lies somewhere between the extremes. The difficulty is having the wisdom to determine truth from fanaticism. I don't disagree, and I'm sure than many of us, especially those who have studied the sciences, do have the wisdom to determine what is true. I wanted only to provide another viewpoint. Thanks for your input! Zhanna Please don't think I was attacking you personally. I was just deeply disturbed by that person's opinion. I actually thought about it for a good day before posting a reply. I did not want to sound strident but wanted to take the time to express my dismay in a clear manner. I read Rachael Carson's "Silent Spring" in high school and it had a profound effect on me. Her book was the beginning of society's realization that we could not plunder and pollute forever and that we, as a species could destroy the planet. I remember the New York skyline in the 60's. The very air was GREY from all the auto exhaust. We're making good progress now because of the awakenings provided by people like Rachael Carson. Now I'm not one who believes that all technology is evil. I'm no luddite. Neither can we just plunder and destroy at will. As I stated in my previous post, the true path lies somewhere in between. Take care, Buzz_Lightfoot

quote:Originally posted by Rich in NEPA: quote:Originally posted by Buzz_Lightfoot:And if you look long enough you'll find someone who claims that nuclear radiation is not harmful and will provide "proof" using junk science, all the while claiming that the rest of the world's viewpoint is based on junk science. Eco-nuts and anti-eco-nuts are just that, nuts. The truth lies somewhere between the extremes. The difficulty is having the wisdom to determine truth from fanaticism. Howdy, BL! You make it sound like reason and logic are nothing more than a matter of someone's opinion. Aristotle was the first philosopher to explain that a thing is what it is—that existence exists! That means it is possible to know what's true and what isn't. Either the Earth is flat or it isn't. The truth isn't "somewhere in between." It has been shown that low-level doses of radiation and of even highly toxic substances can have a beneficial, life-prolonging effect on living organisms, including humans. The term for this is "_http://www.discover.com/dec_02/featradiation.html_." _~Rich in NEPA~_ __--- A man with a GPS receiver knows where he is; a man with two GPS receivers is never sure. ---__ Of course not. I was just being succinct. What I was commenting on, was the lunatic fring. Unfortunately, without going into tedious details perhaps I made it seem as if I was attacking all logic and reason. I was reacting to the idiocity of the opinion of the person who Zhanna quoted. People like that who, by making outrageous claims to further their own agendas, disturb me. I fear the harm that they can do because they make their arguments sound so logicical to those who are easily swayed. That is the awful power of fanatics. The power that can lure people into a cult and convice them all to commit mass suicide, for example. The Earth is flat, or it is not, is not a good example of what I was trying to convey. A woman is either pregnant or not, not somewhere in between. This too is a poor example. However, between the two extremes of people who say incecticide is completely harmless and those who say ALL incecticide should be banned, now THAT is what I am referring to and I stick by my statement that in this case, the truth and wisdom lies somewhere in between those two extreme viewpoints. Take care, Buzz_lightfoot

quote:Originally posted by Zhanna: quote:Originally posted by Rich in NEPA:What this country needs is a good dose of _DDT_ every couple of years. Seriously. Interesting: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,55843,00.html _Rethinking DDT_ Thursday, June 20, 2002 By Steven Milloy June 30, 1972 is a date that lives in junk science infamy. That’s when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned the insecticide DDT. The ban survives 30 years later, even as it has helped kill millions of people, mostly children. Widespread DDT use began in the U.S. in 1945 to control mosquitoes and cotton, soybean and peanut pests. DDT’s efficacy and low-cost were - and remain - unsurpassed. Rachel Carson inflamed the public against DDT with her book "Silent Spring." She claimed DDT harmed bird reproduction and caused cancer. But Carson misrepresented the then-existing science on bird reproduction and was dead wrong about DDT causing cancer. ........ Rachel Carson has been canonized by environmental activists. Ruckleshaus has had a successful business career and advised presidential candidate George W. Bush. The EDF and National Audubon Society raise millions of dollars annually. They built their "success" on junk science and the bodies of third world children. They are what’s infamous, not DDT. And if you look long enough you'll find someone who claims that nuclear radiation is not harmful and will provide "proof" using junk science, all the while claiming that the rest of the world's viewpoint is based on junk science. Eco-nuts and anti-eco-nuts are just that, nuts. The truth lies somewhere between the extremes. The difficulty is having the wisdom to determine truth from fanaticism. Buzz_Lightfoot Pike County, PA

quote:Originally posted by Doc-Dean:I must be missing something.... I live here in Florida, where the mosquitos grow to the size of cattle and I've never heard of one attacking someone or sucking blood... If it weren't for mosquitos, where would the West Nile Virus live??? Mosquitos should be protected... its the Manatees that are the real danger anyway! In Western Egypt, of course silly! It's easy for you to say they should be protected. You didn't LIVE through what I have. My poor wife still has nightmares from that encounter! She wakes up screaming sometimes.... " The buzzing... the BUZZING! I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA

quote:Originally posted by Marky:lol, that's great. Makes me think of theonion.com for some reason... --Marky "All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers learn to steer with a backlit GPSr" Ha! TheOnion.com..... yep, that's my kind of humor. (Bet you couldn't guess that eh?) I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA

quote:Originally posted by Jolly B Good:Of course you DO realize you were invading the Mosquitoe's territory. I certainly hope your use of noxious gases and sprays doesn't have an adverse impact on the mosquitoes mating and nesting activity. Perhaps she was only trying to protect her young. Now don't get me started! Some folks think we are CRAZY for hiking in mosquito country. Some have said we deserved what happened to us! They don't understand. To us, the thrill of hiking in mosquito country makes us feel alive. They'll never understand that. They think that all mosquitoos should be shot. They fight the reintroduction of mosquitos to their former ranges. Rangest, that humans drove them from! Sure, we could have backpacked in mosquito-free areas of the country. There is an office near me that is climate controlled and has no bugs... but the thrill of being in bug country is something that I live for. Trouble is, now Joann has been muttering about "'Only going backpacking in the winter'" now. I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA

Bug Spray Story By BUZZ LIGHTFOOT Lightfoot Gazette (Published: July 31, 2003) In the blink of an eye, a female mosquito was buzzing towards me through the underbrush. Then the brush was bathed in an chemical-smelling spray. And in that instant, hiker Buzz Lightfoot heard the wings stop beating "and then it was gone," he said. Neither Buzz nor his wife, Joann Lightfoot, clearly saw the mosquito leave. All they heard was the silence once the wings stopped beating. "It sounded like a hungry one," Buzz said. The couple hadn't known until almost the last moment that they had somehow walked into brush inhabited by mosquitoes along the Peters Creek Trail, eight or nine miles into Chugach State Park last weekend. Similar situations have prompted nasty encounters with mosquitoes. They fly in and suck out your blood. Statistics on mosquito attacks show a predominance females sucking the blood of their victims, though they don't often kill. Almost always, mosquito experts say, their goal appears to be to neutralize the human by draining all of their blood. That's why standard advice for unarmed people is to get down and cover up, linking the fingers behind the neck so the mosquito can't grab you. Unless, of course, you have some way to defend yourself. Buzz and Joann did. Buzz was packing DEET spray. He admits he wasn't a true believer, but he had decided years ago that it was a lot easier to carry a lightweight canister of DEET than a heavy shotgun. "Up until about three or four years ago," he said, "I needed to take a 12-gauge, but I got tired of lugging that thing." Besides, he admitted, he wasn't sure of his ability to hit a charging mosquito with the shotgun if the need arose. Mosquito attacks happen so fast that to be effective one's shooting must be instinctive. There is no time to take careful aim. "It takes a lot of practice," Buzz said. "I have a significant amount of experience with firearms, both during my time in the infantry and out. There is no way that with a heavy pack in thick brush (with) a mosquito coming in fast from my side (I could have) done anything other than wound that bug -- if I had even gotten a round off, which I doubt.'' He could, however, fire off a burst from a can of the DEET called Deep Woods Off, which he ripped from a holster at his hip, because no aiming was required. Like most other DEET-based mosquito repellents, Deep Woods Off fans out from the nozzle of a spray can in an ever-widening arc. One need only point the can in the general direction of the mosquito and squeeze the trigger. "We've been carrying it for about two years now," Buzz said. "I did some research. We were both reasonably confident of bug spray." Now, he said, they are "evangelical true believers." He confesses to being astounded at how the spray instantaneously stopped the mosquito and dropped her to the ground. "I don't think this was a bluff charge," he added, "because we were between her and her blood. "The spray hit, and she dropped like a stone. That's what amazed me." Still, Buzz and Joann could have lived without the exciting weekend experience. Veterans of 20 years of tromping through the Alaska backcountry, they've been contemplating for days how it might have been avoided. "The whole thing is kind of embarrassing," said Buzz, who is convinced that if the couple had made more noise and paid more attention while working their way up the Peters Creek Trail, they could have avoided the encounter. "It was the classic mosquito-charge scenario, I guess," he said. "We were walking into the wind, in dense willows, near a loud, fast-running creek. We should have been shouting at regular intervals, but weren't. ... We might not even have been talking at the time. "Anyway, we startled her, and we were quite close." The Lightfoots did get a quick warning from the bug. "I heard her whining," Buzz said, "though whining seems like a trivial word for the intensity ... and force of it." The sound alerted him to grab for the bug spray. He had it in his hand and ready by the time he actually saw the bug flying towards him. He remembers turning to his right, pointing the DEET spray, thinking "This is really bad,'' and pulling the trigger. Then the bug was gone. "The point I want to make is that all this happened in no more than six seconds," he added. "The mosquito was certainly within 2 feet by then. There wasn't a big margin of error. It was a very serious screw-up for us to have gotten into a situation with so little room for error and such serious consequences." The encounter, he added, wrecked the rest of the outing. Buzz and Joann continued on into the high country above Peters Creek, but they had the bugs on their minds the whole time. "We both should have been carrying DEET spray," Buzz said. "Not that we should have both been using it then, definitely not. Once was enough. (But) with another full canister we would have felt fine about staying back there for the full length we'd planned. Instead, we hiked back in another four miles or so, spent the night and packed back out the same way the next day. "There weren't," he added, "a lot of alternatives for ways back out." Peters Creek has one trail and lots of brush. The bushwhacking is miserable. "We would have liked to stay longer," Buzz said, "but we just weren't sure how much spray, in practical terms, we had left." DEET-spray aerosols are considered a one-shot deterrent. All companies recommend replacing the cans if they are used. The Lightfoots are now replacing theirs. Buzz hopes never to need Deep Woods Off again but adds that he's now confident that it will work if he needs it. "We'd be happy to proselytize for DEET based bug spray," he said. I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA

Alan2: That must have been really interesting! I love seeing things like that. It's one of the benefits of hiking! To get this back on topic, I grew up on NWNJ (Sussex County) and spent most of my childhood in the woods there. I also spend of lot of time hiking where I now live. (Pike County, PA). I have never seen a rattlesnake or coperhead. (Doggone it!) I would consider it a very good day if I did. It's a real shame some folks have this fear of snakes and that they let it effect their hiking. Rattlesnakes and coperheads are very rare and even if one encounters them, a little common sense will protect you. Most times I hear about snakebite it is from some dodo that does something stupid. I particularly remember hearing about one dolt who got bit by a rattlesnake because he picked it up so his friend could get a picture of them. Darwinism at work! I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA

That was me that saw the water snake at Wheelin' and Dealin' It was one of the largest water snakes I ever saw. It did not bother me and I did not bother it. I felt privileged to have seen such a creature. I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA

Oh, that was N41°24.044 W075°07.828 NOT N41°24.044 W075°07.282! (Now don't laugh too hard but now go read my entry for Delaware Rock Show!) http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=46239 I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA

Hmmm... I've though long and hard for a long time what trail name I would like to have if I ever thru-hiked the AT. One day it came to me and I started chuckling. I hike a million miles an hour so 'Lightfoot' was easy, and if you have ever backpacked with me and slept in the same shelter your would KNOW where 'Buzz' comes from! I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA

My first thought was, 'They're kidding, right?' My second one was 'Jack of all trades, master of none!' My experience of these types of multi-combo gee-whiz-bang tools is that they are all trash... If they are able to do the job at all, they do it poorly. Although I have to say, this one carries the genre to an art form! I bought an invisible fence for my invisible dog. Buzz Lightfoot Pike County, PA