WalruZ
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Posts posted by WalruZ
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I suppose I could argue the opposite. Why is my agenda any less valid than anyone eles's agenda? If I go to a cache and I find something that offends me, say a "believe in god or burn in hell (and send us some money while you're at it)" pamphlet, I can remove it if I want to. I reserve that right - it is not up to someone else to tell me if I should remove it or not.
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Speaking of same... I recently found a small tube of Femore' in a cache and took it out. I still.. um.. have it around here... somewhere...
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I didn't want to commit to spending much money until I found some caches, so I bought a gekko and have been pretty happy with it. It's really small and it has probably 80% of the functionality of the yellow.
The problem is that caches tend to 'cluster' in areas and it's nice to be able to load in, say, 10 sets of coordinates automatically via the PC link rather than have to tap them in by hand. I could do that if I had shelled out for the Legend or the yellow, and I probably will sooner or later.
The more obsessive cachers tend to just load in their whole home range and go looking for them on a whim. You should ignore those people -- they're already around the bend.
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In my area, Marky (umteenhundred finds) has taken to carrying a polaroid camera that spits out mini-photos with adheasive backing. He puts those in the logs. It's a neat idea. Me, I just always have a pen or 3 in my cache bag.
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you can get these little combo luggage locks lots of places, hardware stores and so on. they let you set the combo yourself. One neat thing you could do would be to hide the combo in a 3-stage multi (and put the cache at stage 4), leaving a digit of the combo at each stage. however, don't divulge the position of each digit. Ie, there are 3 digits, 1, 2, 3. don't divulge the order of the digits in the combo. could be 123. could be 321.
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Many people put their coordinates into their profile page and then start working off their "nearest list". You might also see if there's a so-cal organization like we have in the SV. Each week there is a list of caches nominated for 'cache of the week'.
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Minus the window-dressing, geocaching is just an excuse to go hiking. It is really goal-oriented hiking, very much in keeping with the our modern lifestyle - people who wouldn't hike a trail loop 'just because' will do so if there's a tupperware container hidden at the half-way point. I count myself in that number.
That said, it's good exercise and easy on the pocketbook. Try not to bushwack (my weak spot). And waypoint the car. and take a flashlight. and plenty of water. and an energy bar or two. etc, etc, etc.
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I like TBs and like moving them along. I've noticed some that I've moved have 'stalled' for a month or more. It disappoints me and they're not even my bugs...
Tangent: I went to a local (california) cache to pick up two TBs that had flown in from Deleware. The cache was a container stuck in ivy and bushes next to an exercise trail in a business park. That sort of underbrush is periodically maintained by guardeners, and guess what? Cache and TBs are missing.
I suppose it's just a risk you take. bummer.
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so... you got laid off in June. I got laid off at the end of July, so it's my turn to find a job, right?
I suppose I'll have to actually start looking...
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>> The loot consisted of moldy, broken, nasty sh!t. And it was all just thrown in a couple of small shopping bags.
-- you're sure that was a log book and not the diary of a homeless person?
Anyway. Worst so far is a micro on the front of a bar & restaurant. Apparently the hider really liked the place, but it didn't look like anything special to me. Many log entries read "this is it?" I'll go after micros, but not with the same enthusiasm as regulars, particularly those with TBs.
Geocaching to me is a blend of place and treasure. They really are mini-adventures for the MC. Not of the scope of Jason sailing for the Golden Fleece, but good enough for folks who want to be home (usually) by the time the streetlights come on.
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A cache should have a variety of items in it. My son always goes for the toy cars - he thinks sig items are worthless. I'll take an interesting geegaw and leave some party store things for kids (rubiks cube keychain, el cheapo sunglasses, noisemaker, etc) and usually trade up in quantity. Park interpretive stores often have cheap neat things that work well as trade items - I recently picked up pewter acorns for < $1.00 each and packaged arrowheads for 50c each. I also recycle finds to a certain extent. It's been said before - you might think that spiderman McToy is crap, but some 5 year old at the cache will tell you it's the best thing yet. Geocaching appeals to all ages, and so should the items found.
ps1. Went caching a few weeks ago with someone who developed blisters on the trail. Cache had a few band-aids in it. They were a great find for her.
ps2. In regard to if the 'treasure' even matters or not. Do you go after caches if they're missing? Is a missing cache a 'big deal', or not? Is a virtual as satisfying as a regular? (to some people they are, I'm sure.)
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My 'worst day so-far' was a week ago when God apparently took it upon his busy self to teach me the "know how far you are from your car and how many hours of daylight are left" lesson. I got fairly lost in a local 'open' space and wound up bushwacking across high ground for 3 hours in the dark since the trails back went through woods and were impossible to see. (Oh, God also recommended I take a flashlight geocaching, even if I think I don't need it.) Walking off-trail was alot more difficult (steep hillsides) and I got multiple blisters as a result. Narrowly avoided a past-curfew ticket on my car, so it certainly could have been worse.
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The only option I get on "Lake Elizabeth Outlook" is webcam picture taken. When I look at my nearest caches, it shows up on the list without a checkmark indicating that it was found. I do think it is being added to the total correctly though.
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I visited a WebCam cache recently (my 1st) and logged it. It's status is "webcam picture taken" but does not appear as 'found'. Do these caches require intervention on the part of their owners that they didn't before? Or what?
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>>We'll skip the part about a cache being an inanimate object and not having a point of view.
Ah, I don't believe that at all. Every cache I've been to has a spirit and a personality and something very close to a point of view. Saying that a cache is Inanimate is logical and literally correct and also sad and limited and imperceptive. Caches have an essence that begins when they are born and that is nurtured - or neglected - as people visit them and leave bits of their own spirits there. If you can't feel that a cache is much more than an object then you're missing something...
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It may not be in keeping with the spirit of LB, (handcarving & all), but you can get stamps made online through iprint.com. I believe they do more or less simple graphics. Long ago and far away I had a stamp made from a high-contrast picture of my face. It's around here somewhere...
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Ditto davidmac - I would like a "filter finds" option on the map page.
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<sigh> I used to work on this sort of thing. I'm unemployed right now - geez, I almost wish I lived in Seattle....
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oh, and it would also be nice to optionally send across enough javascript to have rollovers for the icons. *that* would be cool - you would only have to do "identify" if you wanted access to the cache page links.
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you get to the new maps using the "map it" link on a page that returns multiple caches, like 'nearest caches', etc.
-- it would be nice to have a "map it" link next to a few of these links so that you don't have to go through two steps (two DB queries too!) to get to the map. for example, on a cache page you can click on "nearest caches" and get them as a list, which I find helpful for planning outings. If there was a a seperate "map it" link on that same line then I could go straight to a map rather than having to go to a list page, then a map.
--- never mind. I found it. It's under the mapping options. This is nice!
[This message was edited by WalruZ on October 01, 2003 at 09:46 AM.]
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Perhaps I saw her - I was at a cache today ("Alviso Slow") and as I was coming down the trail I saw a woman approaching in her underwear. No lie. she saw me and ducked into the bushes. A moment later I saw her on a parallel trail in shorts and top. Not worth a picture though, sorry.
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What I usually do when I can't find a cache is to put a 'watch' on it. Either there will be more DNFs or more likely someone will find it and then rehide it slightly differently. Most of my 'second try' finds have come that way.
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I'm not sure I made myself all that clear. First off, I'm not talking about "drive-up" caches or city park caches where coordinates would spoil things. I'm talking about regional open space whose access points are surrounded by private developed property and not shown on maps - perhaps not even clearly on park maps. If I just "parked close" I would have to climb someone's back-yard fence (and the park fence) and then bushwack to a trail. (see "Goofus & Gallant go Geocaching")
There's one near me that I've visited many times in the last month and many of the caches are best accessed from secondary trailheads whose coordinates I've gotten from one or two specific (and IMO thoughtful) cache pages. In one case the trailhead was a barely marked gate between two houses. In the other, the gate is unmarked and at the end of a dead-end suburban street.
Maybe if you live out in the woods to start with you can drive all around and through some state forest and yes, park anywhere you like. Good for you. Where I'm at, finding that there's an unmarked (and *unmapped*) park gate at the end of some dinky little side street is an act of kindness, not a spoiler. If I'm going out on a 4 hour hike I don't want to drive around looking for parking too. I live in California and do enough of that as it is.
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I've had occasion to return something I found while at a cache (lost item) and did so by leaving it as a special "one time" geocache that I hid and emailed the owner through Groundspeak. (It was not entered as an actual cache.)
Alongside the issue of right or wrong to do should be advisable or not. An inexperinced cacher might not understand some note reading "this is for Whack-a-mole" means that the item is for an actual person. Good God, look at the trouble people have with travel bugs, and these say "Don't keep this!" right on them.
If you leave something in a cache you should be fully prepared to lose it to the forces of chaos.
Famous Quotes that could pertain to Geocaching.
in General geocaching topics
Posted
Every time I'm looking for a cache (within the accuracy zone) I'm reminded of this old joke...
A cop on the night beat walks up to a drunk who is weaving around a lightpost. The cop asks the drunk (who is really looped) what he's doing and the drunk says, "looking for my house keys". The cop wants to get the drunk off the street so he starts helping him look. After some searching with no results, the cop asks "are you sure you lost your keys here?" The drunk responds, "no, I lost them halfway down the block." The cop asks the drunk, "why are you looking under this lamppost?" The drunk responds, "because the light is better here."
How many times have you wandered around a cache site looking in the wrong places "because the light was better" - ?