Amazon Annie

I checked to see if I could get a PQ that fit ones that had snakes, thorns, poison ivy, climbing, swimming etc, etc but I ended up with a PQ that had one of my caches (as an example) that was an easy walk in an urban park (it warned of thorns). I doubt I'll use the attribute feature in my PQ's. It would rely on whether the owner used the attributes and also on their opinion of the cache (not all 1/1's are wheelchair accessible!) and you have to use your own personal filter. Attributes are fun but I rarely look at them to tell the truth. I can see if you wanted ones that are kid friendly only or 24 hrs accessible (for the 24 hr gang) ... then it might be useful but again, that is owner-opinion dependant. Thanks for reminding me Northern Penguin; I will warn those of you that have carefully kept a database of your founds and then overwrite them with the "Founds PQ" that GC.com is now offering. The download will only provide you with only your logs on the cache and not anyone else's. (Nozzletime said his description of the cache disappeared in CacheMate too but I can't attest to that as I haven't tested it yet. My descriptions are there in GSAK, don't know why it would disappear in CacheMate).

I have to side with TrimblesTrek (I do that often!). After a muddy, yucky day of caching - this will be February after all - I would imagine we'd probably be refused admission to any formal dining establishment (as happened to us last the weekend). Despite our tons of $$ they didn't want us in their fine dining room. Go figure. It was probably that look on Flick's face when he saw the linen tablecloths that scared them away. Can't say I blame 'em. Give me a pub with Guinness and good friends and I'm happy (well good food helps too somewhat). Hopefully the waitstaff will be better prepared for an influx of people.

I have to tell you guys that the video is really fabulous. I keep playing it and laughing out loud. (If I could play it on my Palm the distribution would widen but for the time being it's being played at work and home). I've kept an eye on your adventures from afar and I wish I was closer so I could do some of the caches. Thanks for the hilarious entertainment and please keep up the good work! Watch out "Industrial Light & Magic", there's competition in them there Canuck woods.

I'll have the Geomobile gassed and ready for the Larry's. Can't speak for the other one that I spent the weekend with. I guess we'll just have to wait for the grumbles to come through (if he's still talking to me after some of the stunts I put him through ... or was it BQ?) Missed ya TT!

Last year's Hallowe'en Cache event turned up with lots of good costumes. My favourites are: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...01-4a33b7256a61 and http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...d3-f72b512c2a92 Unfortunately, no one took a pictures of the prize winner!

I have a question when figuring out DNF's... I have 56 DNF's (a couple I've visted a few times and they've been gone every time!) 23 I have gone back and found. 19 were not there and have been archived. 14 are still there taunting me and waiting. Do you subtract the founds from the list since they're now found? I'll assume the answer is no. 56 DNF + 2257 found = 2313 56 / 2313 x 100 = 2.4% Is that correct? Not too shabby! Now to go back and find some of the ones that are still there (although a few are in the US - Florida and Maryland - that I probably won't get back to).

Oh, when you spend a lifetime being vertically challenged you learn to be very resourceful, believe me! A nearby stick can be used to flick the cache out. It usually takes much, much longer to balance the cache on the stick and tip it back into the hiding spot. I can say that I've returned every cache (sometimes with help) to the original spot.

Around here people post in the cache description or in the logs "Not Annie Friendly" so I know to bring a tall friend along. Being 5' 1 3/4" if I stand 'tall' (and yes Septic I have blue eyes) is a challenge for some of these caches especially when you add on that I'm afraid of heights. There was one cache that I went with another vertically challenged friend. It was an ammo can in an old rotting tree about 7' up. Let me tell you, that was one hilarious situation - trying to get the ammo can out of the tree without getting bonked on the head and then returning it to it's place of origin. Did I mention the tree was rotting? We were also fearful of the tree coming down on top of us if we weren't careful. Turned a '2' into a 5 for us! I have ended up fashioning a tool on the spot to return a cache to the rightful place. I'm still looking for an extendable 'grabber' that would fold down and fit in my bag for those days that I don't have 'Stretch' with me. Let's just say I sure appreciate the warning so I don't hike all that way and end up empty handed.

Well said TT! All my caches have been within 10 or 11m of the trail. I don't like to go off trail any more than I have to and I don't want to take people off the trail. Actually, in my mind if you can hide a cache within 10m of the path and not have it "muggled" then it's a good hiding spot. Having to drag people 150m off the path to find a cache that is not necessary. Taking time to walk a bit farther to find a good spot is usually all that is needed. For every step that I take off the path to find a cache, my appreciation of the cache is reduced. With a bit of creativity, you can hide a cache right next to the path and not have anyone find it at all. You've done that quite a few times Keith, with great success! Urban caches prove that time and time again. With Parks caches I hope it would be all about the "Wow Factor" that the cache owner is concerned about. Taking me to a vista that I wouldn't otherwise have experienced. If there is such a place then most people would be concentrating on the view and you could probably find a spot to hide an unassuming cache nearby and say "stay on the trail 100m for a breathtaking experience". Force me to bushwack 150m off the trail and I won't be interested in continuing on the trail, I'll be grumbling about the bushwack and just want to get back to the car. I have spent the time and money to get to a cache (that was 100's of km from home) and I found it was far off the trail. I had come all this way and so I went for the cache but believe me, it's not memorable 'cause it was a good cache in a nice park. It was an older cache placed before these concerns became a public issue but it has not been relocated. I'm not even sure if the owner is still caching, I never did check. Recently I arrived in a parking lot and looked at the cache and saw it was a) on private land and b ) not on a trail. I turned around and drove out of the parking lot (much to the dismay of my caching partner that day). I later wrote to the cache owner because I was concerned. Some caches I have just refused to chase. Edit: Dratted smilies messing up text.

I just got a phone call from a friend - she said she was listening to 680 News (Rogers Communications Inc) on Monday night past (17th) and heard an article about "Geo-Chasers" digging in the graveyard. I don't know if there's been a retraction there either. I get a server error when I search on their site before Oct. 18th but I don't see any retraction at all between Oct. 18th and today.

Have fun Res2100, Spelunker is a good one to go for - not a straightforward cache at all. Just watch out for Prickles by the lookout. He moves slowly but don't get too close! Sorry I can't join you guys. My thoughts will be there with you though.

Parks Canada (and all land managers we have dealt with so far) are well aware that they can dictate how the cache is to be placed and that any additional information needed (ie parking, distance from trail etc.) can be made manditory on the cache application and cache description. We covered all of this in our discussion with them and they were quite happy to hear that if they have concerns (ie off trail traffic etc.) then there are ways of handling this. I hope that any cache placed whether it is in PC land or any other environmental area has some part in the description that says "Please stay on the trails even if your GPS says not to and you can see a deer trail that heads in the right direction. There are bends in the path that take you right to the cache." To me that says that the cache owner is environmentally aware and cares as much as you and I.

Oh heavens... with all this attention the man's ego will be unbearable! Thanks Shawn and Holly for your comments. Storming the castle with full guns blazing (okay, some mixed metaphors there) would have been a bit much I think, even for OGA. I feel that the proper avenues were followed and if there were no responses then a road trip would have taken place. Thanks to Nozzletime for taking on the ambassadorship (he called me from the site and I was thrilled to encourage him to carry the message. We all know what a charming fellow he can be... at times. Just don't tell him I said that. ) Retractions may be buried (not like our caches) but I think Swifteroo may have his hands full with PR jobs up that way. I'm sure he will do a great job. Sometimes we can make lemonade out of lemons. We may end up with some attention this way and the Oro-Medonte people may end up singing our praises and passing on the message. Who knows! I like to think this is will end up as a positive event.

Looks like a hastily written article. I believe the "hitchiker" they are referring to is a Travel Bug"

If you want to talk about unique series, how about BQ's Blue Box Series - Monday in Niagara? Not only did I get to log the ones in the series, I got to visit a bunch of caches that I hadn't done before (I was one of the luck ones).

After running a "Closest to the Pin" game at a local picnic I was surprised at the distances that some people had from the pin. Depending on the GPS unit you have, you may be able to 'reinitialize' it and hopefully get better reception. For my Magellan Sportrak - it can be re-initialized from the menu especially if you have travelled over 200km since you last turned it on....Place it outside and let it sit for a *few minutes to get a good lock on the satellites. The internal 'almanac' needs to be updated. *I have heard up to 1/2 hour suggested to get a good update. Make sure that your Primary and Secondary Map Datums are set to WGS84 (as mentioned), your Coordinate system is set to Lat/Lon DEG.MIN.MMM (should be default). I found out that the battery "save mode" on my MAP 60cs will not let WAAS work correctly. For Garmins try this site for a Hard Reset : Secret Startup Commands for Garmin handhelds (Use at your own risk, it will wipe out all data on the unit). Full batteries make all the difference too as well as if you are under tree cover or close to an escarpment or rock face. Good luck and let us know if any suggestions help.

Are you looking for something like this Stormcloud? Coordinate Distance Calculator ~Annie Edit: wrong initial poster.

Other than the ones Tomtec suggested, here are a few that I've found on my drives that way: Ez Off, Ez On GCGE62 Off the Hwy but not too, too far: Drive In Drive By GCKB9G The Durham Region Travel Bug Hotel GCKT31 The Carts GCJ95N (could be at certain times of the year)

I have to agree with Logger & Trail and TrimblesTrek. Can't see it as an attack on the Media at all. Maybe the poster ZoopD|ngle was a bit quick to hit the reply button. I am hoping that this 'glitch' will not affect our relations with Parks Canada can be smoothed over so we can continue to talk about our mutual concerns. Hopefully CBC will learn some more about the sport - after all they placed a cache themselves!

I have done the Bowron Lakes circuit (admittedly it was probably 30 years ago) and the area is remote and the circuit took us 4 days to complete. Any cache placed in there would be subject to animal invasion (constant bear sighting while we were there) and the owner would need to be willing to attend to the cache within a short time frame - would this be possible? Even urban caches are subject to discovery by little critters - the thought of a cache abandoned and scattered around a campsite in the Bowron Lake area makes me shudder. It was one of the most memorable canoe trips I have taken and I'd hate to think of reportings of an abandoned cache in that park. Please, keep 'em close and keep 'em maintained so that the sport/hobby/obsession stays fun for all of us.

I'm afraid I've done that and will never live it down thanks to my friends Actually it was just an hour or two, truth be told. I thought the page was 'hidden' when I submitted it and wouldn't show until I said so. I now know better! As BQ mentioned in another topic - knowing the environment when you place the cache- time of year and stuff makes a huge difference too! Place it in the spring and the place looks nice and clear. Go back in the height of summer and the place is an impenetrable fortress of vines and poison ivy - little did you know when you put it there. Sometimes it's hard to gauge just how your logs will be read by others. How about "I dug around until I found the cache". Okay so to you and I it might mean that we moved around some bark and twigs. If it's winter time then you might be moving snow around. To others it might mean that you pulled out your trusty shovel and dug a few holes! A local cacher hates cemetaries and we tease each other in the logs over it. I suppose others might take offense not knowing the likes and dislikes. If you saw "Not Annie Friendly" posted in a log it could be taken in many ways and you could even take it as an insult if you're a cache owner. Around here it's a warning that I need to take a friend to reach it for me. It's frustrating when you expend time and money looking for a cache and have a no-find only to find that the owner updated the logs 5 entries ago with new information and not the page. It's especially tough when you've put in a 2 hr drive and 1/2 hr hike to get there; I know from experience. I can't read all of the logs and cache comments before I go for each of them but I try to check out the ones with lots of no-finds so that I'm forewarned. When you have a bunch of no-finds in an area you can get pretty frustrated. If the terrain rating is very low and I am out in a rural area then I will take a 'wait and see' attitude as I have come across some "1" rated caches that I certainly wouldn't want to take even a kid on. Now that I think of it, there were a couple in Toronto like that too. I've done caches that others have rated as "tough" and when I finally got up the nerve I wondered what all the fuss was about. (Sometimes it's all about the approach ya know!) For me it's a matter of experience and attitude.

I think the Danes have already put a cache there. Check at the base of the flag: Hans Island Can't figure out if it's 1.3 sq km or 3 sq km of rock. Even on the same page of the article it says both. Not winter friendly I'm thinking though. I wonder if the Danish Cache Reviewer talked to Cache-Tech on this?

I have a curious problem (aren't they all?). I have 11 databases that I use to separate out my different areas. I then copy them all over into an "All" database that I use to upload / sort / view all the ones around the area. When I try to create an .mps file for my All database (514 waypoints) it brings up an error that says "...is not a valid Mapsource file and could not be opened". The only other error that I could find mentioned on the discussions said something about custom waypoints. This is not the issue here. I have generated each database separately and they work fine so I am wondering if it is a numbers issue? If I generate a .gpx file then I can open it in Mapsource so that is my work-around for now. I am using Mapsource 6.6.2 and GSAK 5.6.0

Thanks for a wonderful and very informative time Bjorn. I've got lots of notes and some new ideas with which to talk to our parks officials. I'm also contemplating writing an article for our local newsletter on tips for submitting a cache faster. It was good to meet you and all the other cachers I only know by name through the forums. You bet we're coming next year! Especially if you keep the theme - I went 'Mingo shopping on the way home! A whole Fairground to play on and $7 camping to boot? We'll be bringing reinforcements too so watch out. Oh and thanks to our neighbouring campers who ended up being decorated with all the Canadian flags the next morning.

Drat.. I'll be down in Ohio at the Mid-West Bash or else I'd join you. I've got one lonely cache sitting and waiting for me on the island. Hope the forecast weather doesn't appear! We're camping for the weekend and we might be coming home with webbed feet!