BruceS

quote:Originally posted by Lil Devil:(even found one of them twice. Found twice logged once second time was even without gps... had to go back to find it quote:Originally posted by Lil Devil: That means he'll hit 1,000 this coming weekend. Probably will stop at 999 this weekend. These will be over 300 driving miles each way from my home. Next week I will revisit my first. (500 feet from my office) And will find my 1,000th sometime the following weekend, cache yet to be determined.

quote:Originally posted by Lil Devil:(even found one of them twice. Found twice logged once second time was even without gps... had to go back to find it quote:Originally posted by Lil Devil: That means he'll hit 1,000 this coming weekend. Probably will stop at 999 this weekend. These will be over 300 driving miles each way from my home. Next week I will revisit my first. (500 feet from my office) And will find my 1,000th sometime the following weekend, cache yet to be determined.

I usually won't drive too far for one cache (100 miles or so) unless it is one I really want but even then I will find some along the way. I will drive great distances to find a cluster of several. Last weekend I drove over 800 miles but that was for 49 finds and 1 no find.

I think what you are looking for is http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=2778 It has been archived. Bruce

I believe the one you are looking for is here http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=23242 It has been archived

quote:Originally posted by alienpuppy: One question: Do you print all the pages manually? I find this very tedious, and the website doesn't allow off-line subscriptions because it blocks 'bots. Yes I print them manually. I used to copy and paste into word and delete all the extraneous stuff but now I use Cache Simplifier by Warm Fuzzies - Fuzzy to cleanup cache pages before I print them. http://216.202.195.127/cachesimple.zip . This utility saves me hours of time. I usually print only the first 2 pages of a cache (unless it has a very long description) and I print two pages to a sheet. The printing and reviewing of cache sheets is still a long process, usually a few hours for a long weekend trip. Bruce

I understand why some might want this but I have found that even though a group of people went together on a cache hunt the preception of what happened is often quite different between them. I find it amusing to read and compare what happened between people.

I will do almost any cache. To determine what cache/s I will do on a given day is normally determined by location and proximity to where I am or to other caches.

Please forgive my verbosity of my reply. It is with great hesitation that I am responding. If the topic were How does a person do this? Instead of What is wrong with this? My response would have been more forthcoming. If someone looks at my caching history they would find that I have several days with over 20 finds. Also they would find that in recent months most of my finds have been concentrated in 3 to 5 day “assaults” on an area. This is because I have exhausted most caches within 150 miles of my home thus if I am going to drive several hundred miles I am going to find few. (Currently there are 292 caches listed within 100 miles of my home coordinates and I have found all but about 20) How do I do it? To start with I am 44 married with four children ranging in ages 11-20 and live in the St. Louis area. I work as a project manager and travel for business usually 3 weeks out of every month. Thus I have “normal” family and work obligations. Specifically how I do it: I pick a general geographical area. I down load all caches for that area and all that might be along routes to and from that area (often several hundred caches in multiple states). I then upload all points to routing and mapping software (I use MapPoint). I start breaking cache groupings down to likely days worth of caches (20-30 usually). I then look for campgrounds near where I might end up for the day. I have MapPoint optimize the order of my stops and then route my driving. I then look at the routes and insure that MapPoint has not put me on the wrong sides of rivers etc. (sometimes it does). I then start looking at cache descriptions and remove any caches that don’t fit my criteria. I remove webcam , locationless, or multi caches that look like they may take several hours and I eliminate any that show several no finds in a row recently. I pay no attention to difficulty or terrain ratings except if they require special equipment… canoes, boats, etc. Wading streams and long hikes are no deterrent, in fact are preferred. I usually end up with a plan to do about 95% of all caches in an area. On a multi-day trip I plan on having a mix of urban, semi urban, and rural/remote caches. This country boy can only do about 2 days worth of urban/semi urban caching without getting back into the country. I then print out all cache sheets out in a reduced format. For rural/remote caches I will also print out topo maps from LostOutdoors.com. I make a file folder for each day with caches arranged in the order I plan on searching for them. I do this planning over several days prior to the trip. The day prior to the trip I check for any new caches along my routes or if there has been a status change of any of my planned caches, make any needed changes to my routes. I then print driving direction sheets for each day and file them with the cache sheets for each day. I upload all cache waypoints including parking locations and needed maps to my Vista. On a typical caching day I get up between 5 and 5:30 and try to be on the road before 6 after a quick breakfast except for the first day of the trip when I want to be at first cache site by 6 or so. Thus last Thursday I got up at 3:45 and was on the road by 4:15. My first cache was 124 driving miles away and I got there a little after 6. This cache ended up being a no find. As some people have mentioned I walk a little faster than most people usually 4-5 mph. When I get bored with walking I will jog or run a bit. Things that slow me down are wildflowers and wildlife. I always stop to watch small animals, weasels, otters, and raccoons are the worst, I will watch them until they don’t want to be watched. In small towns I sometimes get slowed down when I stop and talk with the old guys sitting in their rocking chairs, I enjoy listening to them tell me about the local history and their life stories. The other thing that sometimes slows me down is when the rod I have in my leg gets to hurting but I usually just ignore that. (On my latest trip I got slowed down by other events see my logs http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=20680 and http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=411 ) I usually don’t eat during the day when I am caching but usually drink a lot of water and juices through out the day. I adjust my route as needed throughout the day, I always bring my laptop with me in my car. I usually do the last couple caches of the day using a flash light. Usually my caching ends between 8:30 and 9:30. I drive to where I am camping for the night, call my wife and check in for the day. I set up my tent if I need to usually in the dark and then make my dinner. I usually crawl into my sleeping bag somewhere around 11 so that I can do it all over again the next day. By this time I am tired but feeling great. At the end of 4 or 5 days I am usually pretty tired, legs and arms scratched up and feet blistered but I feel enriched with all the sights and sounds I have experienced in the previous days. I have followed this routine on several caching trips including southern Illinois area, Kansas City area, southern Kentucky to Nashville area, southern Missouri and northern Arkansas area, northwestern Missouri and Omaha/Lincoln areas, and most recently southwestern Indiana and Indianapolis area. I have also found several caches in the Chicago area during business trips (usually there 2 or 3 trips a month). I have also found caches in Arizona, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Wisconsin on various other trips. I have put 23,000 miles on my vehicle since October. Hope this explains how I do it. I don’t encourage others to do the same. It requires a certain type of personality and a very accepting and understanding spouse . One of the great things about geocaching is that an individual can do it how they want to fulfill their own needs and desires. As my title says I am an ATM. (a cash …oops a cache machine)

In general I feel a cache should be logged as a find once however there are exceptions. Moving caches usually specify how many times they have to be moved before it can be found again. Caches that the owner has relocated and have indicated that it has been relocated and can be refound.

In general I feel a cache should be logged as a find once however there are exceptions. Moving caches usually specify how many times they have to be moved before it can be found again. Caches that the owner has relocated and have indicated that it has been relocated and can be refound.

Using a Vista, I come up exactly the same as your coordinates. Bruce

This file came from another site geodashing.org

Now I live west of the Mississippi but am originally from north of the Mississippi. In my home town in northern Minnesota the Mississippi flows west to east

Now I live west of the Mississippi but am originally from north of the Mississippi. In my home town in northern Minnesota the Mississippi flows west to east

How many people changed from using MapBlast maps to MapQuest maps when MapBlast started requiring registration? My guess is that most people using Geocaching.com made the switch. Why??? Because they did not want to register with MapBlast.

I have to agree with Stayfloppy on this. Usually it is under a few minutes. With me it seems the longer I have looked the greater potential that it will be a no find at least on that trip to the cache site. If the question was how long will I look before I give up looking it will depend on the difficulty given for the cache and if I feel that the cache is still there. (if the cache description says it is in a stump and there is only one and it is not there I will not look long) I usually limit myself to about an hour or so.

quote:Originally posted by cachew nut: Exactly, by doing something to prevent plundered caches there will be more, not less. Doing something that might prevent a new person from becoming involved in geocaching will mean less caches not more. If they don't become involved by trying it out they will not placing any new caches either.

quote:Originally posted by cachew nut: Those intent on "trying it out" will already have made an equipment investment and will not hesitate to register where it requires no investment except for information. They can remain anonymous for all practical purposes. Only the ones with something to hide will not register. Not all people buy a gps with the intent to go geocaching... GPS's are bought for other purposes and then used for geocaching thus no new equipment investment is made. I agree a person can remain anonymous however there are those that will not register prior to trying it out. (for that matter there are those that don't log finds on line because they don't want to register but that is another topic) Most plundered caches are not found by people out using gps but by people that stumble upon them. I know there are exceptions to this but again as I stated above if someone is intent on plundering caches they will register anonymously and plunder, thus nothing is gained.

I think requiring a person to log in to see coordinates may have a negative impact on new people that may just want to "try out" geocaching. Some people are not going to register for something they do not know much about just to play for the first time no matter how easy it is to register. Those whose intent is plundering will not hesitate to do so.

Gladware lids are quite tasty. Looks like Stayfloppy and myself might be guilty

Gladware lids are quite tasty. Looks like Stayfloppy and myself might be guilty

I seldom eat anything while caching. I may drink a gallon or more of juice and/or water in day of caching. Often my caching day starts before light and ends well after dark but I don't get hungry when I am out caching.

I seldom eat anything while caching. I may drink a gallon or more of juice and/or water in day of caching. Often my caching day starts before light and ends well after dark but I don't get hungry when I am out caching.

My highest total in one day is 36 and a total of 90 in 4 days on a recent trip to Nashville area (13-16 April). I had previously done 82 caches in a 72 hour period in Kansas City. Currently planning my next big marathon hunt. Bruce