geodarts

The Peter Iredale wreck is an iconic fixture on the Oregon Coast. It would have been on our list regardless. But this virtual brought the wreck to the game we play.

A couple of years ago, Ambrosia posted photos from the John Day Painted Hills. I put that on my "must do" list and finally was able to detour there on our way home from the Oregon coast. But it also allowed us to hike around and through the Blue Basin Loop at one of the other units of the John Day monument. It was hard to choose between them so my recommendation is to do them both. Thanks to Ambrosia for bringing this area to our attention.

With the Mobilite, I was able to cycle through internal or sd card by unplugging and plugging in the gpsr. I have only used the Rav File Hub once, but will test it after work. Uploading field notes involves a slightly different procedure. I'll email you separately (after work, either today or tomorrow).

I replaced the MobileLite with a Rav Power File Hub, but it's the same principle. The HooToo wireless travel router would be a similar product. I still use Geosphere to plan out trips, import queries, and export gpx files although it is not supported under iOS 11 - other apps can do this or you can simply upload a pocket query if that works for you. The Oregon plugs into the router and is connected as a NAS device. FileExplorer works for me to transfer gpx files or maps from the iPad/iPhone to the GPSr, but there are other apps out there as well, including the FileHub plus app if you end up with that model.

If I were to envision how it might work, keywords or tags would be an optional part of the submission process and subject to the same TOU that hopefully prevents users from editing their cache descriptions to include advertising or inappropriate words. Given the TOU, I would a keyword search for #@#%$#@ [or its equivalent} would not help users identify caches based on spam content. I don't know whether internationalization would be any more of a problem than when caches are submitted in any given language. What you have now is the ability to search by cache title: "Geocache Name Contains." I use that whenever I travel. The main thing I would like to see is that the search capability expanded to include tag or keywords that have been defined by the CO (perhaps limited to a certain number) that can better identify their caches. Book marks can be very helpful. Hzoi's list of airport caches is one example. I have thought about putting together some bookmarks relating to particular interests, but that is different than something that is initiated by the CO -- and would probably lead to a different result. It would not be a perfect method and at this point it might be like trying to lock the barn door after the animals have left (or open the door after three million doors have been built in the barn). I might be one of the few willing to go back and add keywords or tags to my themed caches -- but it would be easier to do that than trying to create a bookmark on my own.

A history cache would be a headache with or without a separate organization that managed it. And while it has been proposed as an attribute, is that the only way that the site can be indexed? I search by attribute for boat caches and would probably search for history attributes because that would at least give me a starting point. But history is rather broad and may or may not include what I am looking for. And attributes are primarily focused on things other than themes: what to expect at a cache location. I think we have enough attributes. Maybe too many, There are probably reasons why "history" has not been added to the attributes, given the many requests over a period of years. Still, it can be a challenge to find caches that have a particular reason for being placed other than to add a container to the game. There are google searches that can be done. And there are other sites that can help me find locations that I want to visit - and then to look for caches that might be close to that. But the discussion about history caches got me thinking about websites that support tags or user-defined keywords that make it easier to find things within that site. Flickr comes to mind - I often use its user-defined keywords a to search within that site. I have also searched with tags on twitter or Instagram. CO-defined tags or keywords could be used search for anything from history to pirate themed caches. Where would it end? I am not sure that it is a worry. I would rather find a petroglyph than a cache, but I recognize it is a niche interest. A rock art attribute is not needed yet if a CO could tag their cache as being near a rock art site -- or use a keyword to help identify it -- that would be useful for those of us who like to combine glyphing with caching. For that matter, it could help create more of a community of cachers with common interests. I have met sasquatching-cachers because I have a bigfoot cache, and have identified caches through them that I would not otherwise know about, but tags and keywords might make this process easier. I have a challenge and a comic-character based on UFO caches -- before visiting an area I do a lot of title searches to see if there is anything that matches -- places that Aura might visit. But that is not always the most efficient way to identify a cache or find something focused around a theme that may not be reflected in its title. Since tags and keywords are more flexible than attributes, there would not be a worry about whether there are only a small number who are looking for caches that are themed around niche interests. You would not have to change apps or gps software to accommodate particular interests. There are probably tecchniical concerns. I don't know how much user-defined keywords add to the server load on Flickr, but it must create a massive index. I think that the growth of caching has created more of a need to identify particular caches within the site. But is there an answer apart from google and third-party searches?

After reading a new thread about wanting a "history cache" type, I was thinking about how can caches with a historical theme be identified. I once found a cache where the CO believed that the game could aid historians by recording local legend, urban lore, or forgotten events. Its always great to find such a cache, but I usually do not bother with traditional caches because it is too hard to find ones that take me to places I might want to visit or that tell a unique story-- unless I already know about the stories or the history and simply want to find a cache to document my visit to that location. Some have suggested a history attribute. That might be nice, but how many more attributes will we see and what would that do to all the various apps and gps software? I wondered if being able to tag cache pages would offer a more flexible approach. It would be great if I could click on a tag at the bottom of a cache page and find caches that have been similarly tagged for history, rock art, paranormal stories, sculpture, or other themes. Although I am one of those who believe that we might have around 2 million caches too many, when you have that many, what are you going to do when faced with a map full of repetitive caches or caches that are placed simply to fill up a particular area? I wish that there was a system to allow COs to index caches that are developed around particular themes. If used by cache owners, it would go a long way of being able to identify caches that focus on lore, legends, history, or other themes.

Apart from whether Groundspeak will allow any new cache type similar to earthcaches (as FizzyMagic indicates may be problem), I am less enthusiastic about the idea of a history cache than I once was. History is a broad concept. My view of history is shaped more by Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States than it is by the textbooks we used during school. But within this, I am not sure I wold want to mediate between people's respective view of history. I once visited a cache that had a nearby plaque dedicated to a UFO crash -- according to the plaque, a spacecraft crashed there in 1948 and killed as many as 16 aliens. It is described as a "significant part of our Nation's history." Would that be enough to create a history cache at the site? Would a historical organization approve it? Would the category quickly become a repository of historical plaques or would people be submitting endless appeals when their version of history did not make the cut? There would be a lot to sort out. I once found a cache where the CO stated their belief that "geocaching will aid historians. What some document as geocaches will help keep alive local lore, urban legends or long forgotten events." That is precisely the kind of cache that I want to find. I have sometimes found these things through geocaching -- although I have sometimes been surprised when It has been up to me to write about the history that I find interesting through my logs -- Joe Hill's execution in Salt Lake City; the copper mine strike in Jerome, Arizona; the march of the farmworkers from Delano to Sacramento. Still, there should be a good way to identify history-based caches even if there is not a "history cache" as a new type. When traveling, I tend to research the history first and then see if there are caches nearby that might document that -- its often too hard to find anything of interest when looking on a geocaching map that is covered with repetitive caches or containers that seem to be placed for no reason other than to offer another smiley. Some have suggested a history attribute. That would be helpful. I wish that caches could be linked on the web through tags that would be a more flexible version of an attribute. My interest in caching would be increased if I could click on a tag and find caches that have been tagged related to history, rock art, ghost stories, and the like.

When the iphone caching app I use (Geosphere) stopped being developed, I picked up a rugged waterproof Android "just for caching" - just in case the older iPhone that still supports Geosphere fails or I did not want to risk dropping it into the water (again). I liked some of the offline Android mapping (and caching) apps so much that I rarely take either my iPhone or Garmin Oregon 600 with me if I am hiking or kayaking to a cache. If you decide to go that route there are a lot of options. Several Chinese manufacturers have moved into the rugged Android market - which perhaps entails a certain amount of risk if support is needed. I use a Blackview BV 6000 - some report that it was plagued with inconsistent hardware production or faulty firmware but I must have gotten lucky, We are planning some longer trips and I have looked at some rugged androids with even larger batteries and great specs - but there is no particular need for me to switch devices so I have not done anything but look online. The high end AGM x2 is said to be the best rugged phone out there with a large AMOLED display. What makes it tempting for kayak camping trips is that it comes with a case that floats. The Snopow M10 looks great - it's just been released but one user review stated that the M9 had better accuracy than any other phone or handheld he had used. The less expensive Ulefone Armor 2 advertises that it's antenna is optimized for accurate GPS. The BV 9000 seems more stable than the 6000, but would I want to take that chance or stick with a phone that offered local support? Of course that still leaves you with needing an app that meets your needs. I would have upgraded the iPhone if I had found an app that I like as well as Geosphere - the app I use on the Android works for me.

It's always hard to narrow a number of great things down to my favorite. Birth of a Dune at White Sands NM comes to mind. A stunning hike across the dunes. But where does that leave the hoodoos of Chiricahua and Massai Point, Kartchner Caverns, and some of the other earthcaches on that trip? Perhaps it was a fortunate year, to be camping among the Elk at Gold Bluff in the California Redwoods, hiking the Tokopah Glacial Valley in Sequoia or visiting other earthcaches where we traveled. Goat Mountain stands out - in the middle of nowhere in the Mendocino National Forest. This had been on my "to do" list for a long time - ever since friends had been the first to complete the earthcache several years earlier. When we finally got a vehicle that would take us there, we loaded up our small Go tent trailer, put the the kayaks on top, and headed out for the weekend After exploring the mountain area, the flat tire on our way back to camp was not that discouraging - mostly it was fun simply seeing where the forest service roads took us. A few months later the earthcache was archived after someone posted a find who did not submit the logging requirements. Sometimes it's just a matter of timing.

It's not only that both control the area, you can visit the DMZ from both sides of the border. The DPRK tour has been described as "tense". Given that, a photo of the DPRK guards would automatically be prohibited since pictures of the military are against the rules. Even if photos do exist, the DPRK has rules about what can be photographed and violating them can get you banned, expose your guides to punishment, or worse. it is one reason why every part of the DPRK is a sensitive area that should require permission as a virtual. Even if the restrictions on gps use could be ignored, a virtual like the now-archived Forbidden Country cache would be problematic. Before the travel ban was imposed I had entertained the idea of going to the DPRK - although going to a country with forced labor camps, torture and executions for political prisoners might have been an ethical stretch, I don't think my wife would have approved it in any event.

Although it is a subject for another thread, in another part of the forums, I have cached in other countries and in areas where there is no cell reception without a problem. Data roaming should not be an issue although you may have to do advance planning or have wifi access where you are staying so that you can download the cache information or maps. I use a third third party app and the specific answers will vary depending on what you use with the iPhone, but again that is a subject best addressed in a separate thread in another section of the forums. -- --- -- More on topic: I completed my goal for virtuals and made progress with earthcaches. Looking forward to next year with more time for travel that should take us to new countries and states (at least new for the purposes of this game). Ultimately exploring new areas, kayaking, and finding some semisecret petroglyphs are the only real goals for any year. 2017 was a good year for that. 2018 may be better. And it's fun when those things can be combined with this game.

I tend to view logging virtuals on the basis of previous visits in much the same manner as earthcaches. The Earthcaching FAQ states their view that "somebody has not actually visited an EarthCache if there was no EarthCache there at the time of their visit!" The practice was described by a Geoaware in the forums as "cheesy." But ultimately it is left to the discretion of the cache owner. It's similarly hard to say that a person was caching when they visited a virtual location before they started to cache or before the cache was published. But there are a lot about of things about this game that are ultimately left to the disecretion of the individual - whether it be the CO or the cache finder. If it did not violate either person's ethics then who am I to say anything more about it? If a person can answer "why" then perhaps they have answered the question for themselves If a person asks"why not" they are asking the wrong question.

Since at least 2013, you can bring a smartphone, although it can't be used online without a local SIM card that only provides access for either international calls or the domestic version of the web. North Koreans can purchase the Jindallae 3, which looks like an iPhone even if the specifications are a bit murky. When North Korean Olympians refused to take smartphones as gifts, one journalist pointed to forbidden technologies, such as a gps The North Korean said they already had better ones. Although with the current travel ban I (unfortunately) don't have to worry about it, I would be careful about using a smartphone gps offline there. The now-archived Forbidden Country cache was said to have a physical container in Kim Il-Sung Square - but what might happen if you searched for it? I doubt that a Mt. Paektu earthcache would go over well. And even a new virtual might require permission since the whole country is a sensitive area Perhaps this is why the Groundspeak wiki states: "Geocaching with a GPS is not possible in North Korea. Geocaching activity can't take place inside the DPRK because its not open to all geocachers." its too bad that the Marshal didn't get hooked on the game when he was in Switzerland but I don't think the timing worked out

Well, there was - for a short moment - this cache. i was not surprised by the eventual fate of it, but I did expect the respected marshal to get the FTF.

I don't view earthcaches as a test, but rather as an opportunity for people to think about the earth and perhaps learn something. Therefore I would have no problem if a YEC answered according to their beliefs, but I would want to know more than a rote answer. For that matter I would want to know more than a simple answer either way. I assume the logging question asks first for reasons that are based on the site. If a YEC can look at the site, engage with the lesson, and give me reasons for their conclusion, then I would not insist they do more than that. I might want to know more than the date of creation - at least tell me that a great flood came through the area (or whatever they see that justifies why something came to be). At the same time, if the other answers are fine, then I would be more likely to settle for an answer in dispute. If I would settle for an answer that simply stated that everyone knows the earth is billions of years old and that geological processes span vast amounts of time, then I would settle for an answer that stated the earth is young At this point in my life I'm going to pick my battles and not try to resolve fundamental disputes through an earthcache. The potential problem is not limited to believers in a young earth. There is a lot of Bad Geology out there that is used to sustain belief systems - whether it be advancing theories about a hollow earth, the effect of planetary alignments, pole shifts, or the date of the Kensington Rune Stone.

What is a writing instrument? I have been known to start off with a couple of pens but get to a cache without one. That is why God created leaves. Or anything else that leaves a mark, which sometimes is as legible as my writing. But that leads into a second question. What is a signature? Back in the day I used to cache with my real last name online and often signed the log with my real first name. In any case, I spent years developing my signature and was happy with it. A person who found a cache after me once complained that my signature was an A with a scrawl. Actually, I think he meant to imply that I had not signed it. But I believed that if it works for the courts, it works for this game. These days you might recognize the G and D, and there often is that squiggly drawing that is meant to approximate a dart hitting a circle. I leave the drawing out if I sign with a leaf. Or for that matter, what's a log? I once had my online log deleted because I signed a log in the cache, but not the right one. The right log was hidden in a container in the cache and the CO had not realized that he had left a second log in a another container in the cache. We worked it out. So while I believe that when you find a cache you sign a log, there is nothing particularly talismanic about any of it.

Many of the most memorable caches are listed on my profile. Perhaps Paoha Island in Mono Lake stands out. I knew I wanted to go there as soon as we had started to kayak in earnest - old resort ruins, an earthcache, and a traditional beckoned me, in that order. One piece of advise we had gotten was to be off the water by noon. My wife suggested that if we were going there, we should spend the night so there would be no need to rush. She had never wanted to camp before - so it came as a surprise that led to many other adventures. The other piece of advise was to trust the rangers who knew the lake well. We arrived on a very windy day. It was predicted to be calmer the next day when we planned to camp. Still, they would not give us a permit. We were disappointed but there were other things to do. We explored volcanic fissures that we knew about from an earthcache - like mini slot canyons. We kayaked a smaller lake in the eastern Sierras and went off to find petroglyphs and a virtual. By then, it seemed like the wind had lessened, so we called the rangers and this time we got what we needed. The three to four mile kayak across the lake was amazing. We left at first light, past tufas, across gentle swells and brine to a volcanic island. My wife had been right. We needed a day to fully explore the ruins, do the caches, and enjoy the solitude of having an island to ourselves. The stars burst from the dark skies. The only sound was from the lake as the winds picked up in the afternoon. It was calm again the next morning so we enjoyed paddling back across the lake and then went out to breakfast, before heading home across the Tioga Pass through Yosemite - stopping for an earthcache or two. Okay, this was more than a day. But it was memorable.

I have a Garmin GLO that I use with a wifi only iPad when I want a bigger screen for routing apps. I have tried it for caching with both an iPhone and Android. It did not seem to make any real difference. But both devices generally get me where I want to go - within a few feet or less of my handheld Oregon 600. I have a clip for the GLO. Still, it was one more thing to keep track of when hiking around. This thread made me curious so I might do some more detailed comparisons next week. Of course that would not tell you if it would improve your experience with your phone. Some drift is normal with any GPSr and it might vary depending on conditions. There was one time I was coming out of a slot canyon and my handheld GPSr was bouncing around over 70 feet. The iPhone got me to the cache. Under those circumstances I don't know what difference the GLO would have made .

All of my letterbox hybrids are cross listed. These days I usually include a log book for letter boxing stamps and a separate one for geocaching signatures. Although I do not do as much letterboxing as I once did, I always appreciate a cross listed letterbox-cache.

That is probably the reason I don't cut and paste. I do not want to read the same thing multiple times. I would have bored myself when I used to find a lot on a given day. Sometimes my logs will be a stream of consciousness that was evoked by a cache title or something I saw near the location. Sometimes it will be one line, the first thing that comes to mind. It may be an excuse to upload a photo. Every once in a while it might be something that needs to be said about the current condition of the cache or the flat tire I got after convincing my wife we could take some very poor roads a long way from anywhere. The only person whose logs I used to go out of my way to read was Oregone - there were many of us who appreciated long logs as an art form. Maybe when I stop working I can devote the time to write like that on a regular basis. But if you read one of his logs to get help in finding a container, you would have been disappointed.

In one of the previous threads on this topic, GeoawareGSA1 endorsed the view that "logging an EarthCache that you didn't truly visit (after it was published, and after knowing about its existence)" is "cheesy." As he wrote, "the person didn't 'really do the EarthCache,' in the true sense" but the Earthcache FAQ allows the CO to use their discretion. That sums up both the earthcaching policy - "somebody has not actually visited an EarthCache if there was no EarthCache there at the time of their visit" but the owner can do what they think is right - and my view. There are some earthcaches in places I once visited that I probably could answer, but it seems rather cheesy.

Location - to record visits to planned destinations, bring people to favorite locations, or sometimes discover new areas. A destination or goal for kayaking, biking, or hiking Earthcaches and virtuals Friendships made through the game

I have seen some of my favorite virtuals archived because the owner was no longer maintaining them. In the past I advocated adoption as an interim step. If the old virtuals represent some of the best - including ones that had passed the wow factor - then keeping them as part of this game seemed like a reasonable step to limit their gradual attrition. . . a step that could be taken without having to solve other issues. Now that Groundspeak has authorized a limited number of virtuals, they apparently are committed to retaining virtuals in a way that goes beyond other grandfathered cache types. It is all the more reason to allow adoptions.

There is a lot here so I will try to adddress some of the issues. Are the caches far away from you? If you are further than 150 miles or so away you will have to scroll to that area on the map before caches will list. Check the filter settings on the geocache page to make sure that caches are not being blocked. Did you see the caches that were preloaded into the unit? Although I would delete those caches, if you cannot see them it would point to problems with location or filters rather than how caches are being loaded. That is somewhat individual. I have always done it manually by saving files to the unit without the communicator - whether individual files using the buttons on the cache page or files containing multiple caches. Some use third party tools such as GSAK. I generally export caches directly to my Garmin from the caching app I use from the iPhone. The short answer is no. For instance, you can take a list of caches on the website, check them all and download the waypoints. Or you can use a tool such as GSAK that uses the Groundspeak API (geocaching live) and transfer files from there. Basic members will be limited in how much information will be displayed if you load more than a limited number of caches. The "light" listing will include basic information, such as the coordinates and terrain or difficulty. The full information includes the cache description, hints, and logs. i have always been a premium member from the day I signed up, but there are many people who cache just fine as a basic member. In many ways, the basic member features are similar to the type of information that was available to me at the time, back in the old days. But I'll leave any detailed answers to those with more experience on that end. You could use wireless to transfer basic cache information from one similarly equipped garmin unit to another, so technically the answer is yes. But for what your question really asks, the answer would be no. For instance, I use an iPhone caching app to export caches to my garmin, but it has to be hooked up with a usb cable to a small wifi router. On an android, I would have to use an otg cable. On a computer, a usb cable.