Shiraz-mataz

PM sent... A haunted spot in Maryland

The best swag item I've found was a 64 Meg thumb drive. I know it's not big by today's standards but I used it for over a year and then gave it to my son to use at school. He's still using it to this day! Ordinarily I'd worry about viruses before plugging a used thumb drive like this into my computer but I know who left it and was confident that he would scrub and check it before leaving it in his cache.

Seeing this thread pop back to the top reminded me of my recent, and first, experience filtering water with my Katadyn Vario Microfilter. I just finished hiking the Maryland portion of the Appalchian Trail a few weeks ago. The northern half of the state is slim pickins when it comes to water sources since we've been in a drought all summer. Be that as it may, there was just enough water trickling down a couple of nearly stagnant creeks to top off three Nalgene bottles and a bladder lickety-split! It may be slightly bulky and some might complain that it's heavier than a Steripen but man, that was some mighty fine water coming out of the filter! I felt 100% confident that all the nasty bugs that will ruin a trip were left behind. Two thumbs up for the Katadyn Vario!

I've read a couple of good books on the AT. The first one was A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. He "only" hiked about 800 miles of the trail but his book is pretty entertaining. I also read Walking With Spring by Earl V. Shaffer. It recounts his journey as the first person to thru-hike the AT back in the 1940's. Not as entertaining as Bryson's book but interesting since he was "tha man" who did it when everyone told him he couldn't. On my wish list is The Adventures of the Barefoot Sisters who yo-yo'ed the AT back in 2001 - mostly while barefoot. As a barefoot hiker myself I would love to hear their story. Reading trail journals online was also mentioned. I did this over the summer on a site called Trail Journals. I read the awesome adventures of a hiker called "Gatorgump" who has diabetes and had suffered a heart attack. He posted a journal entry for every single day and his writing was absolutely hilarious! I'm heading out tomorrow (10/6/07) to finish up a section hike in Maryland. See ya on the trail!

My son was bitten by a water mocassin in Florida a couple months ago and ended up spending three nights in the ICU. During his stay we had a few conversations with the doctors about the do's and don'ts of treating snake bites. They said do NOT waste your time with snake bite venom extractors. Once the venom is in ya, it's IN ya - slicing and sucking on the site is only going to cause more damage and will delay proper treatment. If you're way out in the wilderness you may apply a contriction band at the next joint upstream from the bite (at the elbow if bitten on the hand...). This is something like a belt or tie wrapped just tight enough to slow the bloodflow. Do NOT apply a tourniquet which is when the band stops the bloodflow. This is bad, bad, bad... You're gonna lose the limb if you do that. The doctors said that unless folks have an acute allergy to snake venom that you actually have about three hours before severe tissue damage (necrosis) sets in. The anti-venin available today is orders of magnitude better than that available only ten years ago. It comes with a price though - my son's bill for the anti-venin alone was $20,000!!! Insurance covered every penny.

The most-distant cache that I've ever found was in Fort DeSoto Park south of Tampa at 814.2 miles. That was a business trip though. As for actually driving somewhere to look for caches I have to plead guilty to being a slacker! Heck, it's probably less than 25 miles. Some of my friends in the MDGPS laugh and ask if I ever leave St. Mary's County!!!

I just finished reading "Walking With Spring" by Earl V. Shaffer, the first person to thru-hike the AT back in the late 1940's. It was cool to read his account of that hike so many years ago. Not any whining about heavy pack weights or poor arch support! He just got r' done when everyone around him said it was impossible. As far as writing goes, it doesn't have all the wit found in "A Walk in the Woods" but Shaffer deserves a read nonetheless simply because he was first. On a much less grand scale, I'm going to finish my section hike of Maryland over the Columbus Day weekend. This time I'm starting at Pen Mar and heading south to Greenbrier State Park. Several caches to hit along the way!

I've heard of someone using a Target gift card as a travel bug. I think he called it something like "Temptation" or some variation. He launched it with about $25 on it and the idea was to see if the person moving it would either buy something with it or add more money to it.

This is one of those anomalies with the GC site you have to get used to when logging finds. If you WANT your finds to appear chronologically in the list then they must be entered in the reverse order in which you found them. This is true for finds on any given day. Kind of complicates things if you use a personal TB to log miles because you don't want to log it in reverse order...

I've always used a walkin' stick made from a big mop handle. We made them years ago in one of my son's Cub Scout activities. It's definitely sturdy! Back in May I used it on my longest continuous hike to-date, about 25 miles along the Appalachian Trail. After that many miles I realized that STURDY = HEAVY! Never thought I'd be an "ounce weenie" but I've found myself eyeing those lightweight trekking poles... The other bad thing about the stick is that there is no ergonomic grip like the trekking poles have. I might try one of those cheap poles at Target in a few weeks to see how they work.

I've lost my cell phone - TWICE! I was fortunate to get it back both times, found by a friend one time, and a mountain biker the other. I recently FOUND a nice pair of sunglasses next to a cache, was able to locate the owner and mailed them back to him.

It WILL happen so we all have to deal with it at some point or another. The situations that come to mind from my experience usually involves me waiting them out. One time, a couple was eating their lunch on a park bench where a magnetic micro was hidden. I just sat on a bench across from them and waited until they left. Wonder what they thought when I went over and started looking underneath the bench where they'd been sitting??? Another time in a parking lot cache, some girl was on break from the store where she was working and was standing outside her car making out with her boyfriend - right next to the cache! I waited and waited... Geez, how long of a break do you get!?!? They finally left.

Amen, Mule Ears! I recently did about 25 miles along the Appalachian Trail, half in Tevas and the other half barefoot - No wet boots! Back to the OP: The best advice in a situation like you describe is "don't step in water more than ankle deep with your boots on!" Most distance hikers who tent at night with no means to rapidly dry their boots generally employ the philosophy that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. When you come to a water crossing, use your hiking pole (assuming you have one) or a stick to gauge the depth. If it's too deep and you can't find another crossing, take your boots off and put on a lightweight pair of shoes like Tevas or Crocs. If you don't like carrying an extra pair of shoes, look into using gaiters which are like wearing knee or thigh high waders. If all else fails and you haven't taken any of these precautions, water has saturated your boots with no way to dry them.... You're a geocacher, right? Maybe you have a couple of CITO bags tucked away in your pack somewhere? Take kabuthunk's advice and wrap the bags over your DRY socks before putting your foot in the WET boot. It will make the walk at least tolerable until you make it back to civilization.

Just to chime in with my own, personal idiosyncrasies... I've only logged one event (one I helped host) and will not log any more as found. To me, it's kind of the same logic GC used to justify eliminating virtuals. If someone holds an event in a giant piece of Tupperware hidden in the woods, THEN I might log it as a find! But to the OP - do what you want, as long as the host is OK with it.

My sister-in-law lives in Land O' Lakes, Florida. Land O' Lakes is to nudism as the Vatican is to Catholicism with more nudist resorts than any other county in America. We visit my in-laws every summer and I spend a lot of time caching while in the area (my in-laws are not nudists by the way...). Last year someone placed a cache right outside the wall of Paradise Lakes which is a large nudist resort down there. The cache, Cache au Naturale, is now archived since the palm tree it was on was cut down. But it was an easy park & grab with no worry about having to air one's naughty bits. It may have looked like I was lurking about, hoping to see over the wall, but other than that it was a pretty "normal" caching experience. In my log I said something to the effect that they should have placed the cache 20 feet to the west! I'll be down there in August - if you plant them I will cache...

Like AndrewRJ said, there are several links with instructions on how to make the Pepsi can stoves. But I thought the really cool thing about my particular setup was the titanium burner/pot stand and windscreen. I took a series of photos showing how the whole thing breaks down to fit inside my pot. When I tried to upload the photos to the forum I discovered that they had to already have a URL and that I could not load them directly from my hard drive. It weighs so little I have to put rocks in the pot to keep it from floating away!!! Keep an eye on that other thread and I will find some way to upload the photos...

Cutting half the handle off of toothbrushes and trimming the borders on maps?!?! (Just kidding, though some people might go, "Hmmm... That's a good idea!") When a significant portion of your weight CAN be food, opt for meals that can be rehydrated since you'll be carrying water anyway. Ramen noodles, Lipton Soup packets, Easy Mac... Even denser meats like tuna and chicken can be found in foil packs. Save the weight for beer!

Jeepers! I've only lost one toenail in my life when I was closing a garage door, missed the handle and tried to keep it from slamming to the gound by catching it with my foot! Ouch! I second what was said by MarcusArelius about a proper shoe fit. And if you are "slamming" your feet down because you are tired then using hiking poles can also help by relieving the strain on your legs. Here's where I offer a different approach that may be worth trying. This may sound counterintuitive to a lot of folks but hiking sandals could go a long way toward solving your problems, especially the open-toed styles that still have a solid anchor to the footbed. My personal sandal of choice is the Teva Terra-Fi. They will definitely "free your feet" but they put the onus on you to BE CAREFUL! If you're tromping around now with boots on, you CAN NOT walk the same way with sandals due to the added risk of scrapes from sticks and briars. You will have to be more diligent about picking your feet straight up and putting them straight down without dragging them along - mostly while off the beaten path. As someone who hikes barefoot a great deal of the time, this is a normal gait for me. It will slow you down a little but I have never, ever, not even once had a problem with lost toenails, blisters, scrapes or punctures! Either way, do what works for you and enjoy your hike...

1) Snoogans found "Oceola Isthmus" (GCN0C2) on 9/14/06 2) Parents of Sam found "Oceola Isthmus" (GCN0C2) on 4/1/06 3) Parents of Sam discovered "I Met Simulatmore" (TBMJKM) on 5/27/07 at GW5 4) Simulatmore is the former coworker who got me hooked on geocaching!

I recently went on a very short section hike along the AT. A friend and I attempted the 42 mile Maryland portion from Harpers Ferry, Virginia, hiking north toward Pen Mar, Maryland. Being sea-level dwellers we were somewhat unprepared for the thousand foot elevation changes when coupled with all the stuff we carried. From an AT perspective I've read that the Maryland section is rather easy compared to the rest of the trail. If so, phew! My dreams of taking a six-month hike from Georgia to Maine will require a little more training! We ended up hiking around 25 miles, camping out two nights along the way. If you want to read my caching adventures for that trip, check out my Personal AT Travel Bug. If you would like to read forums geared specifically toward the Appalachian Trail, I'd suggest checking out: Whiteblaze. And to read the cool adventures of a lot of the folks currently hiking the AT, check out: Trail Journals.

Steak and Mashed Potatos This is really just a "luxury meal" that I'll reserve for my first night on the trail. For the steak, when you grill steak at home prior to your trip, freeze a hefty piece along with any sauce in a ziploc bag. On the day of the trip, grab the steak out of the freezer and stuff it in your backpack as you're heading out the door. During the course of the day it will slowly thaw and by the time you reach your camp site it should be at ambient temperature. Fire up the stove and boil about a cup (or two) of water, letting the steak basks in its baggie. When hot, remove the steak from the bag and place on a plate. Use the still-hot water to mix with some instant potatos. Your campin' buddies will be so jealous while they're suffering through their ramen noodles!

Shoes: Teva Terra-Fi Sandals for extremely difficult terrain, or Barefoot for the other 80% of the time! Pack: Mountainsmith internal frame. I got this for my son when he was in scouts. Since he quit, I adjusted it to fit me and am happy with it. Not sure what specific model/size it is. Tent: Kelty Gunnison 2. I also have an Eagles Nest Outfitters (ENO) single-nest hammock that I'm looking forward to trying. I still need to buy a tarp for it. Lots smaller and lighter than my tent! Sleeping Bag: L.L. Bean 20 degree bag Padding: Egg crate roll-up padding from Walmart. Stove: Homemade Pepsi Can stove Cookware: GSI Bugaboo pots Water Filter: Katadyn Vario Walking stick: Homemade stick made from a mop handle. I made it back during my days as a Cub Scout Den Leader. I might consider upgrading to the lighter "Leki-like" poles at some point but for now it works quite well.

How 'bout that! I had no idea my son was actually encrypting his homework all this time!

TURN YOUR KEY, SIR! Based on the 1983 movie, WarGames. The cacher follows the posted coordinates to a vacant store in a run down part of town. A puzzle on the cache page is solved to obtain the combination to the pad lock on the door. Once inside, the cacher finds a lone video game in the middle of an otherwise empty room. When the room's motion sensors detect the cacher's presence the game chimes to life and asks, "Do you want to play a game?" The cacher drops quarter after quarter (geocoin after geocoin?) into the machine, playing the game over and over until at long last a threshold score is achieved. At that point the game ejects a single key from the coin return slot. At one end of the room a door pops open when its magnetic latch releases. Through the crack the cacher sees a flickering, flourescent light, beckoning. The cacher takes the key and walks through the door which slams shut and locks. Electronic equipment is everywhere, old computer reels are spinning and lights are flashing. THERE'S SOMEONE ELSE THERE! The cacher is frightened to see another person at the far end of the room. On a large-screen monitor the cacher sees what appears to be his own GC Profile Page and some sort of Administrator command prompt window with the words "Delete Account" and a cursor poised over the "OK" button. The shadowy figure has his own key in the console about ten feet away and his left hand on the computer mouse. All of a sudden he starts to yell at the cacher, "TURN YOUR KEY, SIR!" The cacher takes in the scene and realizes that if he doesn't obey, this administrator is going to wipe his geocaching account out! The cacher puts his key in a console across the room and they turn their keys simultaneously. All of a sudden, loud, creaking noises eminate from the wall and a large garage door begins to groan as it slides to the side, revealing a very dark hallway. The cacher, hesitant at first, take a few steps into the musty darkness and in the distance sees a light shining down from the ceiling onto a pedestal. On top of the pedestal is... a Rubbermade container full of broken toys and McDonald's crap!

SPIDERS! When a cacher moves the suspicious pile of sticks next to a root ball it activates about a half-dozen autonomous robotic spiders with six foot leg spans to emerge from their hiding places nearby. These robot spiders have infrared sensors and are programmed to seek temperatures around 98.6 degrees. To log the find, the cacher must down a handful of asprin to ward off a heart attack from shear terror and then actually wrestle these creepy, hairy creatures to the ground before being overtaken and covered in web goo. The cache container is in the jaws of one spider. Find it, and the attack is called off. After making any trades and signing the log, hitting the "reset" but will send all of the spiders scampering away to their hidey holes.