DRCRNP

I've cached with my 7 year old son and a few of his cousins and it been great. Granted I'm rather new at this, but the fact that they had no complaints, and that the finds were difficult under the snow is an indication of how motivating the sport is. For two 7 year olds to snowshoe 4km without complaint is amazing. It's one of the few "family" activities we can do all year, and anywhere. I'm also a Scouter, and plan to get our groups youth involved.

Thanks for the input... I'm experimenting with some of the suggestions. One temporary solution emailed to me off-line was to use EasyGPS to manage GPX, and Fugawi to do the LOC file. I do two searches (same criteria, different file formats). It's not a final solution, but a duct-tape till I have more time to play with GPS Bable Thanks again...

Thanks for the quick reply... I followed that thread, and it sort of danced around the questions. I've used EasyGPS to upload waypoints, and that gets the message area filled in the Magellan waypoint, but would prefer to manage all in Fugawi, even if I have to do a pre-import step.

Couldn't find a thread to cover this, so here goes.... I'm new to geocaching, but not my GPSr, Fugawi my software of choice, or PCs. Fugawi nicely imports LOC files, but doesn't read GPX files... can it some how? The GPX files contain far more cache info than the LOC files, and I wouldn't mind some of that info brought in with the waypoint to Fugawi. Is there maybe an intermediate program to make this happen? When the waypoints are brought in to Fugawi there's a HTTP link to the cache page... which is great. Is there some way to get the cache name to come in/upload in the message section of my Magellan 320's waypoint?

I too have a Magellan 315/320. It's been a reliable unit and although I'm new to geocaching, it's never failed in many hikes, drives, and sailing races. It's been abused in direct sunlight on the boat, and worked well down to -30C. That said, it's also had the firmware updated (download from Magellan). The major change in the firmware was lowering the speed at which averaging occurs, to less than 2m/s. This helps greatly when sailing in light winds or geocaching. In comparison with a garmin 12XL on the boat (side by side on the bulk-head), the 320 regularly sees 1 to 2 more sats than the Garmin, and often has less error estimate by 5-10 ft. My next will probably be one that can accept an external antenna, and that has the ablity to upload maps. A magnetic compass would be a nice addition, but I'll still carry my Silva. There is a lot that can effect reception, and to say one is better than the other often is a matter of a few percent difference. If you are comfortable with operating your 315, stick with it till something on a new unit tips the scale. When you are seriously looking, seek out other cachers and tag along to "test drive" the newer units. Spec sheets never tell all about use in the real world.

The offer of leg work etc. still stands... It's unfortunate that they were asked to remove them. It was a progressive approach to using the park.

Something you may wan't to look into as a potential backer when talking to gov. about parks and geocaches, is how Samuel de Champlain park in Mattawa deals with caches. http://www.ontarioparks.com/english/samu.html The park is host to the Canadian Ecology Centre, and they use caches in their programs to teach GPS, and nature topics. Since this is pretty much in my back yard, I'd be willing to do some initial contacting, and leg work.

I'm new to Geocaching, and these forums... but dont expect me to lurk. I race sail boats, am a scout leader, and spend most of my free time outdoors.

Just out of curiosity... after reading the Pennsylvania State Park site info... why would they ban the use of ABS pipe for cache construction? I agree it's a good starting point for a policy...

I've used my Magellan 315 in temps as low as -30C, and usually it's in my gloved hand, or an outside pocket. Other than short battery life, and slow response to button presses, it's never failed. NiMH batteries are short lived, Alc. are better, and Lithium is the best for cold weather performance.

My family and I just started caching, and ALL of our cache finds have been winter ones . Actually it's great fun. Dress well; bring extras of everything if you bring kids. (Gloves, hats, etc.) You tend to get wet easily when searching. The suggestions about leaving and arriving from different directions are good, and reading the clues ahead of time helps when dealing with snow cover. The area around the cache gets fairly well trampled so it's hard to pin point the actual spot of the cache after you re-hide it. When removing and hiding the cache be careful to preserve any covering material (leaves branches etc.). Place the cache back carefully, and remember that when the snow melts it may expose the cache if not placed back carefully. We try to cover the cache and as much of the immediate area with snow to protect and conceal it. We pile snow onto garbage bags and toss it onto the area. The first snow fall will cover the area well enough to hide all traces. Be extra careful when searching, not to break too many branches. Even green saplings snap in the cold. Even if the snow cover is light, snowshoes distribute your weight over a larger area lessening the chances of damaging plants and shrubs under the snow. Caching is a great way to deal with cabin fever...