Louise_Gerhard

Soemwhere in the world other cachers also do proper logs. Another example of a good log. February 1, 2009 by martinusen (1447 found) Well, today was the Super Bowl. I had planned on taking a quick hike to the Bridge to Nowhere this morning after church and watching the game with some friends afterwards. As I loaded a few GC's in the area I couldn't help but notice Iron Mountain just a mile to the East. It has been on my things to do list for over a year. I had not committed myself to the idea, but I told my wife that I would be home no later than 9:00PM. The life insurance is paid up so she didn't have a problem with it. I probably should have skipped church this morning to get an early start. I stopped at the Ranger Station on Hwy 39 to get the Wilderness permit for the Sheep Mountain Wilderness. The ranger advised me that the trail is not maintained beyond the Sheep Mountain Wilderness boundary. The official policy is to let it return to it's natural condition. In other words, let the trail get overgrown till it is no longer usable. Sure enough, the trail was moderately overgrown in many places. From the Coldwater Saddle, it was less than 2 miles as the crow flies, to the top. The trail was really steep and, not being a crow, it took longer to get to the top than I estimated. The wind really picked up as I ascended the ridge, but it was fairly calm on the peak. The view was well worth it. I signed the peak register and the cache log just in time to watch the sunset. I had about 30-45 minutes before it got dark, and there was not much of a moon either. I broke out the headlamp and continued down the trail. Now I really do not mind hiking in the dark, in fact I rather enjoy it. But, I lost the trail 5 times. The first four were not that bad, I just missed a turn. But the last one had me scratching my head. The trail just vanished and there I was with no idea which way to go. For some reason, my "tracks" on my Garmin were erased from the first couple miles. I knew that my car was just a mile and a half over that direction, I just wasn't sure if I had missed my turn, or just lost the trail. I trusted the map and once I found where I had lost the trail, I continued on my way. I can't imagine being out there without a light. Even with my light I missed my turns. I can't wait to see how many people get lost after the Forest Service lets the trails get more overgrown. Once I crossed out of the Sheep Mountain Wilderness, I figured I was home free.. Wrong. True, the trail was maintained from this point on, and I never lost the trail again, but I was not expecting to be watched. I do not know for sure what it was, I am pretty sure it was feline, and I am positive that it was watching me. At first I noticed 2 small lights up on the hill, but I soon realized that it was the reflection of a pair of eyes from an animal that appeared to be stalking me. I yelled at it several times, and it moved just 5-10 feet away and took up a new position. For all I know, it could have been a mountain lion looking for dinner. It was up on the hill just out of range of my rock throwing ability. I don't usually spook easily, but I was pretty uncomfortable. I had not seen anybody for hours, and my cell phone does not work within 10 miles of here. I started to pick up the pace and made a lot of noise. I was in a fast jog, singing "I don't know but I've been told..." After a while, I was pretty sure that I was no longer being watched. It had been a long time since I saw those eyes staring back at me. Well, I made it back to the car in one piece. I drank every drop of my 1 gallon of water. All in all, it was 15 miles, 11 hours, 6000' elevation gain. I think that this was the steepest mountain that I have ever climbed. I think the Vivian Creek Trail to Mount San Gorgonio would be a close 2nd place to this one. Thanks for placing the cache here. It is in good condition. I wish I was. My legs are killing me. I can't wait to do the next one. David

One from the man who is invited to all caches. I can not beat this log. Newbies please take note. Gerhard I revived my phone, so I guess its time for this log. Coming from Beula, I looked at the weather, and it seemed like a cool and overcast afternoon, just perfect for a stroll up the mountain. If rain would come, I'd be back down, I thought. All I had to do, was to quickly get the waypoint, punch it in, go get the cache, come back - no problem. Well I was wrong. (13:37) I searched for the way point using the clue, and then ignoring the clue, wondering if I was confusing left from right. No waypoint, yes I'm sure, its not there. I know, because I checked every possible spot. Then the rain came. I returned to my bakkie, re-reading the listing and all the previous logs. No extra clues there. A torch might help, I thought, still raining quite heavily, also thinking I made the effort to be here now, not knowing when I'd have the chance to come back. Just as I was formulating my rather nasty DNF log, the rain lifted and I had another look for the way point using the torch. Needless to say, don't bother bringing one - it is of no help. Still nothing, nope, not there.. How could 1Snowy have found it yesterday? Did they forget to replace it? I'll email later and find out. Rather moedeloos I had one last look before leaving, just maybe I missed it... All of a sudden a stationary car appeared in the street, and I heard the guy behind the wheel asking something like: "soek jy ook een van daai goetertjies, wat noem julle dit?" Turned out to be the cache owner's neighbour, who had a box of delicious looking slap chips on the passenger seat next to him. I said: "Geocaching, maar ek kry hom nie, is hy nog daar?" As luck would have it, he knew where it was, saying “Ons was net gister hier, moet ek jou wys?”. I recall saying something that resembles “asseblief” on which he got out of his car, took out the waypoint from a spot exactly where I had looked almost continuously for the last hour, and put in into my hand, saying “daarshy”. This took him no more than two seconds flat. I felt like kissing him so glad was I, but rather just thanked him, thinking a kiss just might not go down as well as the slap chips. He pointed me to the gate and drove off, waving good bye and saying, “ek sal hom sê Jors was hier!” By now it wasn't raining anymore, was only a passing shower earlier, and all is well. I was still on track. Keeping the cache name in mind, it's a good thing I had brought my walking stick, just for that extra bit of balance. Three legs has always been better than two. Either way, I had hardly reached the higher gate, when it started dripping again. Only a few loose drops, the shower had mos passed, quickly up and down this hill, I thought. I can't be that bad? My rucksack is watertight, water bottle is still full, sunscreen and hat thankfully not necessary today. Still perfect conditions for a stroll up the hill. (14:32) I quickly passed through the overgrowth getting to what I thought was the slip 'n slide part, saying to myself: “Self, dis nie so bad nie, ek is sommer nou-nou daar”. Soon after, I reached the first rock outcrop, then the heavens opened up. The shower of earlier was nothing compared to this. In no time I was soaking wet, but there's no other way but up. I haven't come all this way to turn back now... I was pleasantly surprised at the gripping power of my cheapskate 'Made in China' crocs copy footwear. It stuck to the rocks like the waypoint's magnet to the steel. (hint) That, and my modified golf club walking stick, made the trek up the hill (that somehow turned into a mountain) almost easy. The rain poured down, then seemed to ease off slightly, then coming down with more of a vengeance. At some stage I moved my eye glasses to my pocket to enable me to see at least something. I have seen glasses with wipers in a old black and white movie once, perhaps I should get some of those. I kept going, passing on the right of the white flag until my trusty GPSr told me to slow down. The GPSr is nice and clean now, all the dust is washed off, and its IPX7-rating confirmed. It's good to know, isn't it? This same GPSr also took me right to the spot, umm... well... almost. (14:45) Did some drunken bee dancing, like only sopping wet bees (and some other animals, about which I won't elaborate) would do, poking my walking stick under every probable rock and eventually... (15:05) Struck gold! The rain is still pouring down, as such that I can only see a white haze in the distance where the suburbs should have been seen. I however, have no idea what the gold looks like, I only tried to use my body as a shield against the rain as best I could whilst quickly scribbling my name in the logbook, trying too keep it as dry as possible. I really hope it didnt get too wet, and if it did, umm... sorry. I won't do it again, I promise. At least not for this cache. Smiling happily, whilst experiencing no lesser feeling of accomplishment than I had when finding my first cache almost nine years ago, I slowly and carefully made my way back down to where I parked. There's no need to rush now, even my underwear is sopping wet, but on the bright side, I'm drying as fast as I'm getting wet. It's a good place to be, remembering the one other time I also got caught in the rain while returning from now archived cache, Urban Tag #2 (Hike, Bike, or 4x4) (GCJMGD) almost four years ago. (15:25) Back at my bakkie, I opened what I thought to be my watertight rucksack, only to find my mobile phone in a puddle of water, inside the plastic bag I thought would protect it if some drops of water would find their way in. I quickly removed the battery, and while driving back home, still dripping and smiling, I successfully dried the phone using the bakkie's built in heater, made specially for that purpose. All is well now, ready for another day. Oja, Danie, net ingeval jy wonder, ek het die waypoint weer gebêre op sy plek. StirfS, if you missed it, I had an unforgettably great experience, thank you very much!

Besem, Well done on your EC’s. I have read them and they are well done and very informative. We now need one more EC from you for the platinum status. Gerhard

I replied offline to your e-mail. Gerhard

If I remember correctly the oldest live one in Gauteng is Pretoria East 001 (GC13FB) planted on 29 Jul 2001. Gerhard

Cincol, I took the liberty to visit this specific log in an attempt to discover the root cause for this. It appears as if we are loosing this team, not a fact but just a personal feeling when I read their logs. It is not your cache. They are a member for about one year. They planted one cache in RSA. This cache was visited by about 5 people before being archived. All the “find” logs on their cache are good and are longer than the normal average length. Strange enough their cache was found after being archived. They selected to archive and it is not done by the reviewer. However, it appears as if the cache is still in place. Their first log of a total of 16 finds was nice and quite long and has a happy tune. With time their logs are getting smaller and smaller. The last one is TNLN. I think they are slipping into ex-cachers. Maybe we should be more pro-active and give them a hand. Maybe you should contact them and find out if there are any problems. Normal stuff and not thrashing like “I do not like your log”. Try to get a connection; tell them how you enjoy finding caches and hiding them. Ask them if there is something that you can do to help them and tell them that the last log is a little bit lean and it did not bring too much pleasure. Maybe this will be more proactive to give them this little bit of feedback and maybe there is something that we could do to get their spirit back again. The log in this case is a reflection of something of which I have no knowledge but it is at the cacher. I hope my comments are of some value. Gerhard

Anton, Yes, we can try it at “2010 New years Bash”. I just need to convey our intentions to the event organisers. I always wanted to see the difference between the different GPS models and maybe I can select my next model. Talk about good logs. This is off topic but please read the log from “Visvangers” on the listing mentioned by iNokia. Gerhard

Hi to The Could Not Zee's, I liked the idea of a topic containing the best logs. Very positive and educational for the ones with the short logs, that could be the answer. Go for it. If you want to read stories please go to GC1DDRY. We stashed this cache with the idea that every cacher should publish a story to log a find. However, we can not demand this as it is against the placement rules so it is included as an option for the cacher visiting. Most cachers do use their writer’s talent and I do love to read the stories. At present there are 11 cachers watching this cache so I assume they love it too. It is so great to get home and to notice a new story. Gerhard

Thanks to all for the quick reply. I think the method used by Pooks is a good one and should be acceptable and I will remember his method. I save all my finds in GSAK in a separate database called “Caches found”. This database is maintained and is up to date. At regular intervals I do re-visit the logs and I do read all of them. Sometimes it does bring back good memories. During these reading sessions I noticed that some cachers are adding waypoints at certain caches and this is where the question originated from. But I received my answer. I would like to do a GZ test at the next event if all agrees. Each cacher must show GZ and we pin it, the deviation should be interesting. I just hope that I am not the single cacher standing in the car park across the street. Maybe this year I must replace the one that I have. Thanks. Gerhard

For the last 3 months I have this question in my mind and maybe someone have the answer. If you arrive at a cache and you note that the cache waypoint is out by more than 6 meters; do you have the liberty to record the waypoint as found as part of your log; some cachers actually do this. I also observed that in some instances the cache owner selected the “incorrect” waypoint for a reason and he adapts his difficulty rating accordingly. The recording of the correct waypoint is then defeating the objective of the owner of the cache and it could be seen as a spoiler. Or is this a case of specifics – contact the owner requesting his permission to log the waypoint. Gerhard

It is nice to chat with you. We all went through the same learning curve. Just the other day I had a slip up. I went up to Magaliesberg and somewhere in my mind I visualized a quick in and out on this mountain. I must say I was concerned for a moment when I met the GreenJam team with all equipment - from hamburgers to coke to spare caches. I had everything in my vehicle from torches, to spare caches for placement and a recovery rope, hiking stick and bag. I left it there and took a coke with. I was so wrong that day. I ended up in the middle of the berg and had one huge problem. To go back is not good. To go forward is better but …. I had to switch to survival mode that day with the sun at plus 30 degree Celsius with no hat but I learned the basics again. Never leave your stuff behind. Then there was one time when I met “Die Swart Kat” at a cache stashed by Ginger. Be careful for Ginger – she is a woman with the ability to seriously confuse you with some of her caches. Her hides are very good and some is easy and some is a challenge and different. It is easy to stumble at some of her caches. As I arrived at the location I noticed the “Swart Kat” team and I quickly went up and I sat down and I collected the cache in about 10 seconds flat. For a couple of seconds he just stared at me. He said “Oom weet jy hoe lank soek ek hierdie een al”. I quickly realized that this quick find is not good for his geocaching morale. But I was there previously and I searched for a long time and I could not find it. A cacher then whispered some clues in my ear and I knew where to find it. So I quickly explained to him that my second name is not Guru – I only had the correct info to get to it quickly. I think he was relieved to discover that there is nothing wrong with his searching technique. You discovered another irritating problem. If you send an e-mail then you need to right click and you need to select all the details. Copy the message. Sometimes the email does not work and a blank page will be returned. You then paste all the info back in the message block and you resend until it shows that the e-mail was send properly. There is another trick. You can double click on the send button but you have to be quick. Sometimes the other person will receive two e-mails and sometimes only one. Try to send it again to FE. I love the log from cownchicken, a good example and we should all try this one. Gerhard

Hi The Could Not Zee’s, I kept an eye on your logs to monitor your progress and to see if there is anything I can help with. You are doing well. You found a couple of caches from Noddy. You now need to sit down and think about his caches. Where did you find the cache and where did you find the zero point. Noddy has a specific strategy with his hides. If you break his hiding method you will be on a winning streak as his caches are probably the trickiest. Also he sometimes changes his hiding method and that is truly confusing. Lower Virgin bush is not that easy and some experienced cachers were caught. I myself had a nice battle. Every cacher has a method. There is one person in Nelspruit that do tricky caches, except when he starts planting them in isolated areas. Then he changes to obvious hides and easier to find than in the town, especially when tough terrain is involved. If you know this cacher you will start with the isolated and tough terrain caches to learn his ways and then move closer to town. There is another thing that I noticed on your logs. Please do not do caching after dark especially in parks with bushes where you can be ambushed. I had to smile when you and the rest of the team had to feel your way out of the park. I was there not long ago and I can remember that path. I can only imagine what was said in that darkness. It is not safe in our beloved country where a President can have 6 wives. Unless it is at a cache where you can see everything around you clearly with little hiding places. The Post-box caches in Durban are a good example of caches that can be done during the night. To see if a cache can be done during the night look at the little icons on the right of the listing. Every person has an inner voice or protection angel or something that will warn you. It is just a pity that we ignore it or that we lost that ability. So if you go in a park and some guys are hanging around with their caps low down on their foreheads and you are being watched and you feel uneasy; get out. It is a reality here in Gauteng. Do not do any caches near ledges or drops in the dark, sometimes the waypoint is pointing over the edge and you can be caught if you are not aware of the surroundings. As time progresses you can also get hold of two way radios. My wife and I uses this a lot. We have cheap ones which were bought at Game. We are impressed with them. Sometimes she stays in the vehicle while I do the climbing up the hill or tree. At least we have a communication line and she can talk to me and visa versa, especially when there is no cell phone reception. Just recently I climbed around a waterfall for fun and my wife was frantic. To her it is crazy to climb alone as she does not understand the basics. At times she could not see me and as soon as the rope stops to move she starts to worry. In cases like this where I have to use both hands I place the walkie talkie in VOX mode and we strap it to the shoulder. The moment I start to talk the message is send without pressing buttons. A classic example where this could be used is at Noddy’s “Hole in the wall”. I saw the cache location and the thingy as per hint from the bottom but I went alone and I got myself confused when I was on the ledge in the semi darkness. In this case my wife could tell me to go lower, higher left or right. But it was New Year’s Eve and too many strange characters were hanging around and I had to do alone. At one point during the search I looked down and I noticed about 15 people standing at the bottom watching my every move. I abandoned the search and climbed down and I just said “These rocks are extremely well preserved”. This group did not respond but they probably thought of possible places where I could have escaped from. No people were in this area when I went up the ledge. In cases like this my wife would warn me “Do not lift the cache you are being watched”. We had to use the radios to lift the Tonteldoos cache in PE, she sat in the car which has tinted windows and she scanned the area for any muggles watching. When I heard the word “Now” I lifted the cache. To scan the area, keep an eye on the GPS and to look around for possible hiding places is overloading my brain. Bottom line – You are doing pretty well and your caching ratio is increasing and you should feel proud of yourself. Do not worry about the DNF’s. Even the top 3 do get them. Did not finds are part and parcel of the game and it does keep you humble. Soon you will have more smileys in the form of finds and less DNF’s. Well done – you are doing well and I see you enjoy it. I hope we can meet one day at an event and share some stories and I hope to find a cache hidden by you in the near future. *** Mental note to myself. Check all the caches done by CapeDoc and take note of the one that was mentioned. Highlight in red and in bold. Gerhard

Wazat, I am trying to be a true geocacher. I stop anywhere anytime and I do it all the time with a thingy in the hand - when least expected. I wanted to say Hi but it was very quiet at your place and I thought you are sitting on a rock somewhere. Did I miss something? Did you move to a new location? The caches in Gauteng and in Mparalanga are now getting less so soon I have to move to KZN, Eastern Cape and Limpopo. I am planning to pitch a tent in Queensburg once a month. So if your timing is correct then you come along – only have to find caches that we both did not attend but I think this is going to be hard. I noticed your name in several logs. Thanks Wazat.

Maybe this will be of some value to you as well. Some stats information and a place where you see the progress of cachers. With this info you will start to learn the names and later on you will be able to add the faces easier when you meet them at a cache or at an event. RSA Cachers RSA Cacher Ranking Hiking Skills and Outdoors Last but not least if you are done with all of the above information you need to write a test – pass mark is only 95%. Sorry I got carried away. You now have all that is needed to have a good start. I am now above 1000 finds and I still learn everyday something new. The best teacher is “Do it”, sometimes you will fail but keep on doing it. Gerhard

You must not be ashamed to ask questions. It is better this way than to learn the hard way. Only a person that thinks are the one asking questions. You can contact GreenJam with regards to coins. He sometimes brings them into the country in Bulk and in a safer way. Drop him a private e-mail – he is a nice person and I am sure he will help you. Last but not least there is one bit of information that could add value to you. If you are angry with the cache owner for some reason - try to cool down for about 4 days before you write that nasty logs. In the beginning I jumped on several cachers. You will find one sooner or later that will annoy the daylight out of you. It is now much better – I only do it in once in every 4 logs. (lol) No – it is not that serious anymore. If you have to write the nasty log - do a very short one such as “Found, thanks”. Normally the cache owner will be able to read between the lines. If you like the caches please try to write a longer log. Normally the cache owner will like it and it builds positive relationships. Here are some links that can help you. Just click on them and download the info as needed. RSA Shop Cacher Jargon LogSheets

Please stay away from food stuff. Animals can smell it from distance and your cache will be eaten mainly by rodents. Also stay away from lighters inside the container. We had two incidents with cachers where these exploded after removal from the caches. Matches and fireworks is a no no as well. I came across several items such as energy pills which should not be in the cache. I also found some liquor in a cache. Nice idea but never practical. In most caches you will little things for the kids. The girls are normally on the short end. Not much for them to choose from. Use small cars, coins, marbles, old medallions that are no longer of value, small ornaments, soldiers, dolls, stickers, etc. With time you will find the best options in what to place and what not to place. I placed several items of higher value but this is not very good. Your cache does get downgraded with time with less wanted items. Gerhard

Danie thanks for the stats – it is good to see that caching is alive. I love the upward trend during the year with only a dip during the winter. December as expected was quite busy. Your stats also prove that GSAk is 100% correct. The highest cache density is occurring in the Western Cape and they top the 5 best locations for caching. Also good to see that FE is busy during the year – total of 40 caches is good. It will be interesting to see what the effect of 2010 soccer will have on these stats. I wanted to lift a cache near the stadium in Durban but it was impossible to do with so many muggles. While I was there I had a smile on my face. This cache owner will have to camp near the cache. That little log could be finished in the first couple of hours. If 70 000 people arrive with only 0.2% of them cachers then about 140 people will queue to sign the log. Maybe he must pitch a little hawker stand. Gerhard

I noticed that many a cacher achieved some good milestones. To all well done and I hope you have good finds for 2010. Danie – you done well. Jy het selfs “Constantia Cherry farm” gaan doen. Ek hoop jy het die pannekoek met die cherry liqueur probeer. Gerhard

I noticed you were in the area that was visited by us during December. You can contact me if the caches were visited by me via e-mail. There are some different caches in Natal and the quicker you find them the more you will learn. Welcome to geocaching and I hope to see many more finds and that you will enjoy them. Gerhard

Your guys are still lucky. I received a smiley as a log and that was that. I thought it was a tongue in the cheek one – maybe there was something wrong. I even contacted Wazat to explain the log to me as I was confused to what it indicates. Wazat was at Baboon rock and he noted nothing wrong and the log before this cacher and post was all ok. I then read his other logs and there was short comments and nothing additional. So something was not good for him but I have no idea what it is. Up to now it bothers me what he is trying to say. I do not delete logs even when the guy trashes me and my caches. I wish he had something to say – negative or positive; I think I am open for both. My personal opinion is that it is an excuse to write short logs. I have GSAK and I record all my logs in this database when I have some time available then I log. Just recently I logged about 50 caches and not one was short. When I do 20 plus caches for the day then it does happen that I forget certain caches and the details. But as soon as I read them it is back in memory and I can recall the cache. I think there are only excuses and nothing else. Just look at iPajero and look at the rate they caches. Just recently they had a couple of racing bugs with them. They got it right to do proper logs, photos and TB notes and all. No one can beat them when it comes to caching rate. I think we should discuss and agree what we need to do to correct the situation? Maybe if we receive a short log then we should contact the cacher and ask him to increase and to expand his logs. Maybe they do not understand that they should log something extra. Just maybe we can get some education across. If this specific cacher gets a request for more details from more than one cacher via e-mail then he should start to give a little bit more details and we are all happy. Gerhard

All the best for 2010 and a happy Christmas day. May you all enjoy it. Gerhard, Petra, Abi & Rex. It's Christmas Time by Bob Lazzar-Atwood. Put your problems on probation Run your troubles off the track, Throw your worries out the window Get the monkeys off your back. Silence all your inner critics With your conscience make amends, And allow yourself some happiness It's Christmas time again! Call a truce with those who bother you Let all the fighting cease, Give your differences a breather And declare a time of peace, Don't let angry feelings taint The precious time you have to spend, And allow yourself some happiness It's Christmas time again! Like some cool refreshing water Or a gentle summer breeze, Like a fresh bouquet of flowers Or the smell of autumn leaves, It's a banquet for the spirit Filled with family, food and friends, So allow yourself some happiness It's Christmas time again!

Hi ZS6BD I am glad your problem is resolved. If you have any other questions do not hesitate to call for help. I do not know it all but somewhere in the community there will be someone that can give you the direction needed. You should do well, you are at 3 caches but you are already 1 better than me. I could not find Magnetic Rock – I was there twice and still no luck. Antron have different caches and they are good hides but for some reason I battle to find them. So, you done well to find it. If you ever do any caches from me then you can request my cell number by dropping a private e-mail before visiting just in case you need help. But that is you choice – I do not enjoy DNF’s on my caches. Well done, and I hope I can say well done one day to your 50th hide. Enjoy the festival season with your family and be safe. Gerhard.

Just to confirm. I had no reply on the e-mail that was send to you. Maybe you never received it. Do not try to get it resolved with telkomsa. It much easier to hug a lighting strike instead. They will tell you it is the way you have installed your pc, your fire wall, etc. But it is never them. I hope you get it resolved as it is quite frustrating not to get the feedback on new caches, feedback from your own caches, etc. By the way; welcome as a cacher and I am waiting to see the first log. Gerhard

Anton, Ipajero did 331 caches in one month, average of 11 per day. To make it scarier is that they have done 100 caches in 5 days and 117 caches in one week. I can only get to 117 in two months. This includes some real scary ones and quite tough. Why my name on the list? I am sure Besem and or GreenJam must be up there as well with the rest? Gerhard

Sorry for my 2c but I think the problem is with your service provider. You can try to use www.smsad.co.za for an free e-mail account. Try to use it as a test. I had endless problems with telkomsa and this e-mail actually ended the trouble. As a test I send you an e-mail please let me know if you have received it or not. Gerhard