Swifteroo

Hey C-A, I would recommend: No Easy Way Up or quite honestly, anything in this park. Excellent ups and downs, and a KILLER exit when you are done in the "Bowl".

Wow! Great job BQ and everyone involved! I absolutely *LOVE* the "Backlit" style look to the site! this looks like my GPS does at night []

Wow! April is shaping up to be a pretty rockin Month! with KeithWatson's CITO in Brampton, COG Spring Fling at the end of the month.. why not have an event early on! If you build it, I will make every possible attempt to be there! Don't see why it would be a problem for me at this point and time!

Hey Taxman! The good news is that the forum title for this topic is now wrong. This Event is NOW SATURDAY APRIL 30TH Still not sure if everyone is aware of this, however, just wanted to make note.

Hello Beerhound! Welcome to our fantastic sport/hobby/addiction!! We would be more than happy to have you at the event! Please do feel free to attend even if you do not have a GPS at the time! I would be more than happy to let you borrow one of my spares if you do not have one by then! Make sure to log if you decide to come at: COG Spring Fling Good to hear that you are looking to attend! hope to have you there!

Alas, I am not sure where I gathered the idea to do it for the COG Spring Fling page, but I had my troubles let me tell you! Originally I thought it would be easy to collect the cookie-cutter javascript that theweathernetwork.com provides, and simply add it to the cache page. However, it appears that Javascript code is not permitted on Cache pages (I can understand this). What I had to do was "Scrape" the actual Barrie image from the site simply by linking to the image they display on their site. I wasn't so sure it would work, but thankfully, everytime the cache page is loaded, it subsequently loads the most recent image that theweathernetwork.com is displaying at that time! Because theweathernetwork.com breaks what appears to be one image into 3, I had to use code as follows: <a href="http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/cities/can/pages/CAON0040.htm" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.theweathernetwork.com/inter/weathercentre/weatherbutton/images/headers/CAON0040.gif"><BR> <img src="http://www.theweathernetwork.com/inter/weathercentre/weatherbutton/images/observations/YBN.gif"></a> If that all seems tricky, feel free to email me and I will take the time to give you a better idea!

Hey Graylling! I am not from Calgary, or Alberta, but I did spend my Geo-moon there! (honeymoon!) We spent plenty of time in Calgary and Banff honeymooning (and caching) and it has to be some of the best country I have ever seen in my life. Excellent job on the page, and good stories! I do really hope to visit again someday!

I have also seen Lock N' Lock at our local Wal-Mart here in Ontario. Probably available at Wal-mart stores across Canada I would imagine. Not too expensive either.

Thanks for the great interest.. notice that the cache event has actually been moved to the 30th, and the cache page can be seen HERE Make sure to come and sign up so we know you are comin' for sure!

If you ask me, I would be absolutely ecstatic to find Tim Hortons gift certificates in a cache, and can see this being a great FTF prize!

I bought my camera refurbished because I typically drop them. I think I ended up paying about $125 for an outdated 2Megapixel Kodak 4230 The camera sucks pretty bad, and its only 2 Megapixel, but I love it to pieces! I have dropped it relentlessly. Although it never makes any claims of being waterproof, I have had it out in the rain more times than can be good. The shutoff mechanism stinks due to its location, but it does what I need it to do. The best thing I can say for this camera is that it takes pictures. No matter how badly I beat it up, it still takes pictures. Maybe if I paid more for a camera, I would take care of it a little better!

OK! so its official.. You can take a look at the cache page now HERE!

Barrie is not too far of Newmarket! I know cause I grew up in Newmarket! I hope everyone will be able to consider "COG Spring Fling" which barring any major disasters should be held in Barrie on April 30th! (sorry for the shameless plug!) I would love to see an event in Newmarket. I am sure that I could make the trip being that we are there a lot anyhow! I also believe that Earthquake would be in on it as well. Something to consider!

We have pretty much decided upon hosting the event at Springwater Prov. Park. We have gotten preliminary details and we are confirming permissions with the parks staff currently. At the moment, barring any hiccups, it appears we will be able to do some temporary Geocaching activities within the park. For those of you that were at "Cache-In" up in Mattawa, it will likely be quite similar to the activities that were performed there. Some of the fun stuff that we have thought of do not in fact require placement of any geocaches, and will be more than available within the park, or outlying areas. Apart from activities within the park, the actual area is littered with Simcoe County Forests which currently permit Geocaching, and will likely be used for more in depth Geocaching activities. In regards to a CITO within the park, I couldn't agree more. There is no better thing that I can think of that will display Geocaching in a good light. The only thing I am thinking of CITO'wize is that there may not actually be much trash in the park! They do a very good job of keeping the area clean. Nonetheless, I am sure that springtime will reveal some more trash!

Well Times have changed. Literally! Our new event date will now be changed to April 30th. This was done for a number of reasons really. 1. Its drier at the end of April 2. Booking Pavilions is easier at the end of April 3. This gives us more time for Planning 4. and most importantly. We want to make sure JPJohnson can go! I am sorry for the new post. The other can be closed CT. I just wanted to make sure that there was proper notification of the new date. We are now choosing between 2 venues. Both will be fantastic options. Its just a question of which will be the most bestest. Please feel free to let me know who is in for this revised date. We are looking at a few pretty cool activites to do throughout the day as well as new caches to be placed and found. If people are interested, we will likely be arranging an after-event pub outing of some kind. Also, I am not completely certain yet however depending on our venue, group camping *may* be available. Looking forward to the 30th!

Would this be on the official 14th/15th? I might be convinced depending on if I am still alive after COG Spring Fling on the 2nd! Calendar permitting I am sure I could get Earthquake to join in as well. I think I have been to Brampton once or twice!

Sorry Annie et. al for the confusion! April 2nd is the more-or-less official date of this event at this point. I tossed out the idea of incorporating a CITO with the event and changing the date, however that will not fly due to the other events that will obviously be going on Apr 14/15. We want people to be able to attend the COG Spring Fling without conflict! For now, simply consider April 2nd as COG Spring Fling Day! And now back to your regularily scheduled programming...

Just a quick note: We have been looking over a few different parks that seem to fit the bill that do not incorporate the "Provincial" kind. There are a few Conservation Authority areas in the Bradford Area, and even some KOA Campgrounds that appear to be perfect. The parks that we are looking at now to look at will allow actual caches in their areas if not permanent, temporarily for the event and are just as perfect for hosting a group like this. While Springwater is great, there is just too many positives at some of these other locations! I will definately keep you posted! Some we are investigating currently: LSRCA - Scanlon Creek Barrie KOA I will be calling around to different locations, and will be finalizing the location within a matter of days at this point.

This is actually listed in the Geocaching FAQ's under the "What shouldn't be in a cache?" heading. "Use your common sense in most cases. Explosives, ammo, knives, drugs, and alcohol shouldn't be placed in a cache." Anyhow, even though I agree that they are cool trade items, I can most certainly sympathize with the parks about children finding them inadvertantly. I'm sure it is rare, but even just once is enough. Really, if it means the difference between being able to have a cache in a park, or stashing a pocket knife, I know what I would choose!

Hey RM, There is unfortunately no camping facilities at this particular park so overnighting will not be available.

Ok, so our efforts are now being centered around Springwater Park just outside of Barrie. Springwater is a fantastic park with Picnic pavillions, barbecues, hiking trails, a lake, and even a Zoo! There is a nominal entrance fee to the park. This should not be any more than 7 bucks or so. Keep posted for more information. We are expecting to talk with the park today, so any information I will update any new information.

Would anyone be interested in being part of a CITO event if we were to co-ordinate around April 14thish?

I don't know that Accomodations will be necessary if you are in the Barrie Area. We have been scoping out Sunnidale park in Barrie as a possible solution to the events we are thinking of. I certainly think that Misha should be welcome. We will know better in a few weeks. This should only be a day in length. Things to do in the morning/aft and likely some pubbing in the eve followed by some night-caching im sure later on if Tomtec is coming

SoooOOoooo... While I know it is Christmas time , and many of you are settling into your homes for the holidays, or rushing out to grab that last-minute gift, or even some of you crazies here in Ontario who are out caching in our recent -25 and below weather , I want you to think ahead to a warmer, more inviting time. Think ahead to April 2nd. Think ahead to a time of thawing warming and Sunshiny days. Think of a time when the bulk of Geocachers are removing themselves from their winter Hybernation. The date of April 2nd 2005 has been chosen as a day of GREAT proportions! (well "proportions" anyhow!). Start preparing yourselves for COG* (Central Ontario Geocachers) Spring Fling! While all details have not been ironed out at this point, the event will be centered around the Barrie, Ontario area at one of a few yet-to-be-finalized locations, and will involve "pubbing" and Geocaching on some level! I encourage everyone's feedback! You can email me at swiftone@rogers.com or through my profile here at GC.com or simply reply here. While Myself and a few others have gotten the ball rolling on this, I am excited to hear from any other local cachers that are interested in assisting in any way possible. You will also shortly be able to see updates and information on the Central Ontario Geocachers Resource Website. *Central Ontario Geocachers (COG) is a newly thought of, autonomous non-bureaucracy of loosly to non organized Geocachers within the Greater Simcoe County area

Well Niss, naturally I was listing these locations in relation to distance from my home co-ordinates!