Dan-oh

Don't get me wrong, "virtuals" aren't a waste of time and they are valuable. There are many places that people might not go if it we're for the info in a virt. I do feel that they have less to do with Geocaching and more to do with, um...Waypointing? How about reverse caches? Now there's a waste of time/bandwidth. Take a picture of something you just happened to see, but be sure to include a pic of your GPSr so it counts. Pull-ease!

My .02: no love lost on virtuals here. I feel that virtuals are a different animal compared to physical caches. I've always thought it odd that virts were tallied along with other caches. The core of geocaching (to me) is the physical log and the ability to trade some sort of item. I favor micros with a small container over log-only micros for the same reason. As geocaching picks up more steam, caches are easier to come by. Its only natural to split off the variations and keep the core intact. Regarding premium membership access to Waymarking.com, the log-in page states: At this time, we are only allowing Geocaching.com Premium members to preview the Waymarking.com website. If you are not a Premium member, please check back in a couple of weeks when we open the site up to all types of members. It implies that it will open to everyone shortly.

Man, you sound like a regular Fletch out there. I'm gonna' need some pliers, and a set of 30 weight ball bearings.

So spill it RM, were you caching up there? Get a "free" weekend in the hotel? Maybe playing in the snow? I think a family friend stayed there on her honeymoon. KInda ominous, doncha think?

Ok, I'll bite. This HAS to be the Rocket Family's new home in the Rockies! I'm not sure I would want to live in this place (hint), even if I could afford it. RM I pretty certain I knew but with the hint, it was too much to pass up. Here's another image, I assume from the same location. Here's a 30 second background story.

Not me in the pic but D-Jollyman. We looked very similar after completing The Secret Passage To Hogsmead. Oooh, the stank! Every step through the muck brought out this horrific odor. The kids didn't like the idea of crawdads nibbling on their toes either.

The first rule about Coin Club is don't talk about Coin Club!

Bwahaha! My wife kidded that she would sew me into my clothes. Even funnier is I know my partner because she runs with my wife. She keeps complaining that she wants her friends back. The final elevation is 11,499 ft for Mt San Gorgonio. I'm getting as ready as possible for Mt Whitney (14,497 ft) later this month. I hope to bag the peak and GC75C3, the highest cache in the lower 48.

I won't double post but take a look at my SAR Averted post in the main forums. Man, whatta day!

Sunday my hiking partner and I headed out for Mt. San Gorgonio here in Southern California. We hiked in on the Vivian Creek trail, a 16+ mile round trip with 5,400 ft elevation gain. It’s a tough all day hike at best. We made slow time to the saddle and since I felt sick, she went ahead for the summit while I rested up. After her return, we realized we better make up some time on the decent. See a problem coming up? Not 1 mile later, she tripped and fell. It wasn't the skinned knee I hoped for but either a bad twist or a sprained ankle. Crap! We tried taping it up but that was too painful so we dosed her up with Advil and hobbled down with the trekking poles. When it got dark, we busted out the headlamps and the going got even slower. By the time we made the 7 mile haul back to the truck, it was 9:30 pm, well past our check in time. There was no cell coverage on the mountain or in the canyon so we stopped at the first pay phone to check in with our spouses. Here's the good stuff: I left an itinerary, a check in time and contact numbers with my wife. We were prepared to hike in the dark and have a cold/hungry overnight but still live. Two hours after we didn't check in, my wife called my partner's husband then the San Bernardino Sheriff/SAR. It turns out that they were going to start SAR efforts 1/2 an hour after finally I checked in. While my partner felt bad about the inconvenience, the system worked the way it’s supposed to. Tell someone where you're going, when you'll be back and who to contact if you don't return. BTW, so far her ankle looks ugly but it should be fine. Dan-oh

Alternately titled: If that trailer in Brawley is 'a rockin'...git out and run! or Yeah baby, the earth did move for me.

It sure looks like my cache that got away. I'm sure the distance (s)he traveled is pretty big!

Resistance is futile? Now there's some PhotoShop fodder...Harmon-Borg!

No, its the big concrete pilaster that its next to. You have to tip it over to open the cache. The hard part it setting it back up again!

Our own Princess Toadstool at the recent 'San Diego GeoPizza Meet-and-Greet' event. Feel free to caption and PhotoShop as you see fit. "Attention back in the kitchen: I said NO ANCHOVIES! Got it?"

Props to iTrax and FoxTail for a great job on their podcasts. We talked a little about them at the pizza event so I'm getting caught up the last few days. Since I don't have a portable MP3 player, I've been listening to burned CD's during drive time. Hey, I hardly noticed the mondo traffic jam this morning while I listened to shows 8, 9 and 10. <plug> If you haven't checked them out yet, stop by their web site. www.podcacher.com </plug> Keep up the great work!

I think getting "accurate" coordinates can be one of the biggest problems for new cachers on their first hides. I know that I've had problems with bad coords on some of my earlier caches but hopefully I'm past that now. Parsa taught me an averaging method that seems to work. I let the unit settle in then record coordinates every 30 seconds for 2-8 minutes. I throw out the extreme high and extreme low and average. When I go back to actually place the container a day of two later, I make sure to get within 10 ft of ground zero, the accepted GPSr accuracy. Its a real drag to get incorrect coords when I make permanent WP tags on a multi. You be sure Parsa and I worked on the numbers for Snake & Ladders for a while. There's more than 2 way points on that one!

...that was soooo last year! Bwahaha! You are such a mean bas...guy. I only know one solution to a TT puzzle so I apply it to everything.

So do attorneys bill for this silence by the hour, minute or second?

We've set up an ump-teen waypoint multi here in North San Diego county. It was intended as a milestone cache and its turned out to be just that. We spent 4+ months laying it out, constructing and testing so there certainly is substance to the cache. Its important that your area can support a large multi cache. It would have been crushing to have 3 cachers a year come through. Turns out 35 in a year, not bad. Snakes & Ladders (GCJG08) Typically, I have 4-6 stage multis but even those take a while to set up.

I'm much better at 60's era cars but I'll have a go. Maybe put the pics in your profile gallery? Email works too.

Lets ask the triple FTF cachers, Cornerstone4, D-Jollymon and John&Jess what they thought. I tend to think its '******' meets '********'. Never mind, I don't want to give any hints. And since the first three have found it sans hints, its doubtful I'll add any.

The main idea was for Tucson Thompsen to be over 1000 miles away when I set up the cache. Bwahaha!

Hot off the approval desk: Ding dong, the witch is dead! (GCPZPK) All in good fun Jeff.

I'm just back in from a evening/night hike through Blue Sky and Lake Poway and I nearly soiled my armor I was so scared. No, it wasn't the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on, it was a rattle snake. It was just past sunset and it didn't have a light out yet when he saw me first. He let out a short buzz then shut up. Dang, my heart nearly stopped! Its the first time I've ever encountered a snake at night. It certainly puts up a red flag for me night hiking solo. There's such a slight chance of seeing them first. Night hunter and others, have you run into snakes at night as well? (did I work in enough Monty Python?)