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I stand humbly corrected. Thank you, Mopar. What I have a really hard time with is the fact that it's a new cache listing, and the cache owner was made aware of this situation 3 days ago, and has not disabled or archived the cache! Talk about irresponsible!

I am a diabetic, and tho I am not insulin dependant, I do finger stick tests often. If I came upon used needles at a cache, I would use one of the baggies I alway have in my cache kit as a glove to pick them up. (You don't need to pick them up by the point; a baggie is an acceptable barrier for this.) If there is a discarded bottle. But if not, I would empty my water bottle and drop them into the water bottle, and dispose of them, bottle and all, in a trash receptacle. This is a legal and safe way to dispose of needles. If I were the cache owner, and learned that the location of the cache is used by addicts, I would REMOVE AND ARCHIVE THAT CACHE immediately. If people came there to shoot up once, they'll be back.

I got a verification email that my photo was submitted, but I don't see it in the listings. I kept waiting for it to turn up, but it never did. Yet, when I click on the link in my email, I can see the listing, including the 'nominate' link. My essay was accepted, and is posted, but not my photo. Here's the verification link. Am I blind? Volunteering at the American Red cross

Love mine, tho I don't use it when it's hotter than 80* out. Here's a link to a great vest, and it's only $39! Vestmate

Still a great spot to visit! Go to the Inn and try their cornmeal pie! We very much enjoyed two recent visits to Spring Mill Park. This park has so much to offer: 3 caves, the Pioneer Village, the old family cemetery, the waterfall that feeds the grist mill, nice trails. It's not a very big park, so short hikes get you where you're going. Check out this log for some pics: Little Village People

West side of Indy. I'm about to hit my 200th find, just in time for my 1 year cachiversary. Anyone have a particularly interesting cache for my 200th find? I did 'Something About Space Buffaloes for #100'. Very cool.

I live in Indianapolis and visit my St Louis sister often, so I've done a few between here and there. We especially enjoyed these: Sitting with a Friend Sarah's Treasure Under Cover and one is on the short list for another day. Didn't notice til we go to the park that I had accidently deleted the waypoint, so we didn't hunt it that day. But it's a very pretty park, and well worth pulling off the interstate to see it: Timber #1

I've been alone in most all things all my life, and it's always been a matter of: go alone, or don't do anything or go anywhere ever again for my entire life. So I do lots of things alone, and have no fear or qualms about it. Then came caching, and I love doing that alone, but after a couple of near misses with hostile dogs, I got a little smarter, and as other here have said, always carry pepper spray and a strong hiking stick. As to the fear of fellow human beings, well up until recently, I was so huge and fat and ugly that no one would bother me, because when you look like that, most people just look through you; they don't want to think too much about people different than themselves and they certainly don't want to interact with you. Also, growing up with 3 older brothers taught me alot about protecting myself in hand-to-hand combat. But then came caching; I lost alot of weight and can no longer count on the repulsion factor. People look at me now, and meet my eyes and smile and say hi. (How bizarre! I never knew...) But I digress. Take a look at my profile. You'll see that I included an invitation for a caching buddy, and have had two answers. One of them caches with me almost every week; the other didn't work because of work schedule conflicts. Every time you write an interesting Found It! log, or place a new cache, someone local may well check your profile. That's how I found my caching friend. You can also try introducing new people to the game. Invite coworkers or aquaintances from other walks of your life to join you. That's how I got my other caching partner, and he joins me sporadically, when his schedule permits. I took him out once, and the next day he called me up and invited me to go shopping for a GPS with him! He was instantly hooked. I still cache alone often, when my friends can't play, and I love the peace of the still woods when I'm alone. It can be a whole lot more fun with a friend along, but solitude is sweet too. I'm finding that I save some types of caches (urban caches, or long hikes especially) for days when I have someone with me, tho.

45 minutes is about my limit. Because if it's making me tense and hostile, it's not worth it; it's supposed to be fun. Once in awhile, I'll have a DNF day, where I go out and spend an entire day seeking ones I've DNF'd before. I almost always find them, eventually. I usually schedule a DNF day after the leaves fall, for the caches I feel failed due to dense tree canopy. And in the spring, I'll have a DNF day for the ones that I think failed for snow cover.

Just typing the word 'Puzzle' in the keyword search frame yields 166 caches. Check it out, and go crazy.

2 weeks ago(Sat), caching in a flood plain, looking for a new cache that was placed in a mound of deadfall and driftwood that was all deposited by floodwaters, I stepped up onto a log and it disintegrated beneath my feet. I was immediately swarmed by hundreds if not thousands of small termite-looking bugs, gray bodies, small white wings, and they proceeded to bite the hell out of my feet. Danced the bug boogie while I stripped off my trail runners and socks, shook off and pulled off the blighters, and then went back to looking for the cache (DNF, by the way, and it turned out to have gone missing.) The bites hurt, and itched, but it took them about 20 minutes to truely blossom into full fledged fire. More than 60 bites, and my feet became so hot and inflamed the only thing that made them shut up was a long soak in my friend's swimming pool. AHHHHHhhhhhhhh! I swear they sizzled when they hit the cool water. Did 5 miles of caching the next day, and ended up on steroids to reduce the swelling and fire after I saw the doctor on Monday. Two weeks later, my feet still aren't pretty, but at least they shut up and let me sleep now.

Gotta get that wet cat off the pole before he shorts out the entire grid! Sparky! Here, kitty kitty!

we call it the geep.

I love my Merrells Summits so much I made them my avatar! Bought the boots first, now I have the sport sandals and trail runners too. By my pedometer, the boots have more than 450 miles on them in almost a year's time and except for being very dirty, they look are holding up very well. I do treat them occasionally with a spray waterproofing, because the Summits are not Gortex, though other Merrells are available that are, I didn't want the added heat and weight of Gortex. I'm sure we'll be hiking together for years.

As to the water proof container, Does it matter if it floats? I'm partial to Coleman thermos jugs or small coolers. If you don't wat it to be opened, just glue or bathtub caulk it shut forever.

picnic tables.

Campco safari vest; 21 pockets, quality construction and only $39.00. Love mine, tho to be honest, I don't use it in really hot weather. I just use a big fanny pack with water bottles attached to it when it's over 80*. I always wear long jeans, no matter how hot. Way too much poison ivy and stinging nettles round these parts for shorts. Yeah, mighty sweaty, but healthier. Might have to look into those REI convertible pants. Looked them up on the web, but only saw them in men's sizes, tho. repaired Vestmate.com link

A few years ago, before I'd heard of geocaching, I started having hideous headaches that went on for days. Then a huge edema swelled up on the back of my skull. Doctor did a spinal tap to confirm it was viral encephalitis, likely from a misquito bite. (Even before caching, I hiked wild places every week.) I have never been so wretchedly ill in my life, and it took almost 6 weeks before I felt some semblance of normal again. It was so bad, it actually put me off hiking and green spaces for a year. Just what you needed: another disease you can get from caching.

I do enjoy caching in the snow, for many of the reasons already stated. I'll seek them, but may not find them. I do get lots more DNF's. But then, after the thaw, I go back with my DNF list and try them again. Same thing after the fall; I save the DNF's I had due to dense tree cover and understory, and do them in the winter. Still, a day full of DNF's in the snow beats a day sitting in front of Jerry Springer and Judge Judy, swilling beer with a bad case of cabin fever. Every time.

I am 5 weeks away from my 1st cachiversary, Aug 18, and I'm working hard to hit the 200 mark by that date. Even my caching friends don't understand my push for the number. It only means something to me. So, 26 caches to go! Hubba hubba...

Our car got broken into when we visited this cache north of St Louis: Chain of Rocks Cache log

A safari vest, aka photographer's vest, with about 20 pockets, one of which is big enought to hold the water bottle, and two that are waterproof, for the GPS and digital camera. Reasonably priced, because I've seen these things go over $100, and that's just nuts for a cotton/canvas garment. I have a beat up denim safari vest, and it's just the thing for fast easy access to everything, without lugging a clumsy backpack around. You don't have to take it off and set it down in the mud everytime you want to reach your waterbottle or find those friggin batteries. Except mine doesn't have a pocket big enough for the water bottle, so I'm still dealing with the shoulder strap digging into my neck. OH yeah! the vest needs epaulets to keep straps and lanyards in place. Like this, with the GC.com logo, of course! (this one's on my wishlist if I ever get any disposable bux.) Vestmate.com

Good on you for hitting 100! This one was my 100th, and without posting spoilers, I can't even tell you what was so very kewl about it. PM me if you care. Something About Space Buffaloes

Found one on the top deck of a 10 story parking garage once. Stood on the street below, and said, well, it's supposed to be within ten feet of here, but there's nothing here but concrete. Then, we looked up! Perhaps along with the coords, you could post elevation as well.

Bons, any hope you could type that marker's message out? It's very hard to make out on the stone. Thanks. This thread is very intersting; makes me want to go crypt crawling.