vanm

Congrats to IMSpider's induction to the 1K club at treequest's Green Berber! You put us slow pokes to shame!

Congratulations Laura! A round of vulture omelets to go with barbecued chipmunk are in order!

Wow, you've been busy! Keep knockin' em down! Congratulations!

yeah, yeah, wake me when you hit 10K (next week sometime?)... Just kidding. I thought I was doing good, with only 10% as many! Congratulations!

Thank you all for hiding the caches I love to find!

Wow that's a lot of caches! Good thing TreeQuest et. al. keep filling the pool!

Pre-event cache hike.... hmm... anybody bringing climbing equipment (hint, hint)?

Ok, I had an extended dream about a FTF last night.... anybody know a good therapist? BTW, it was a good hide, a whole ammo box hidden in a hollow tree root...

Reason #1 for me - been neglecting the family too much. However, I've been waiting to do certain nearby caches for about 2 years (and at least one new cache) now, and the weather seems perfect for it. Need to find the time!!!! But also, the sun seems to hide itself a bit too much this time of year.

Some people leave footprints in the snow (ok, in the old days, anyway)... some leave the fall leaves upside down or otherwise misplaced. It's all so cruel. It is usually best to look for caches that have not been found for over a year. OK, joking aside, it does seem odd to mark the cache location. I often leave the stick I was using to poke in the rocks nearby, maybe very near by (but not usually), but I think this is different from what you are talking about (making an "arrow" pointer on a trail?). Of course, there are some caches (e.g. "Moose Gills") where a pointer might have been welcome at the time! In general, I would frown upon leaving markers, and especially leaving CITO fodder. I have not yet seen anything that looks like intentional marking, and I hope it stays that way.

Congrats! Almost ran into you on Wednesday in Ramapo! And to think that I am somehow responsible for this...

Although Bears/snakes/etc are dangerous, and will attack when they feel threatened.... Mountain Lions are DANGEROUS - they think of YOU as PREY. When in California, we had a Mountain Lion near the LA area that STALKED MOUNTAIN BIKERS - it knocked one off her bike, and dragged her unconcious body (by the head) off into the undergrowth. That girl did live (and was not particularly traumatized, because she had lost conciousness getting knocked off the bike and never knew what hit her) by the aid of another passing cyclist who noticed the "crashed" bicycle, and was able to scare off the cat by throwing rocks and then stop another cyclist to go get help. Good think it was a fairly busy trail. They found evidence that the mountain lion had been stalking cyclists for awhile. I also think it took the wildlife authorities a few weeks to track the lion down afterwards (I imagine it was put to sleep when they finally found it). As Kevin states in his cache pages, knowing what to do with bears/snakes/etc is important and should keep you safe. I have no suggestions on what to do when confronted by a mountain lion - it probably will be detered by pepper spray if you have it ready to squirt, but may not sit dormant while you search your pack for it. Although I don't enjoy the thought of being cat food, I will probably still be out there hiking. If you see me being dragged off, please throw some rocks at the predator.

Could'a been at #300 by now if you had not spent so much time hanging with the chipmonks Congrats!

Y'er preaching to the choir on this one (unless there are some evil lurkers who are chuckling their evil laughs right now). A scene from somewhere else: Husband: [to himself] No room left to store all these coins I've collected. If only I could get all that other clutter in my house to fit into an ammo box!? Wife: Honey, where's my [insert cluttering object here]? Husband: Um, I think it's at N 40° 51.199 W 074° 19.494 Wife: [pause] Ok, any idea where the ax is at? Husband: Dunno, why? [pause] Aaaaah!!!!! [later] Policeman 1: Whoa, ugly scene! Policeman 2: Yeah, but what are all those coins ... ?

Some caches should get you 2 smileys... I would put Rock, Stock & Barrel in that category and it therefore should have pushed you to 101! Congrats!

Signs yesterday indicated that the Mahlon Dickerson Reservation would be closed for hunting also on Dec. 13-15 (until noon (each day, I assume)). When is ATV/motorbike hunting season? Yesterday, it sounded like their population was balooning to unsustainable levels...

Giddyap, indeed!

Just when I thought I was going to catch up. That's it, I quit. Congrats!

In good company, too! Congrats!

Shows dedication to be caching on Thanksgiving. Shows something more along the lines of insanity when you need to bother friends to snap your webcam picture for a find on Thanksgiving ! Congrats!

Started 4 months after I did. Won't cache in the dark. His "caching vacations" are done during monsoon season. And he has still cached circles around me. Am I "green" with envy ? Yep. Plus, some of his puzzle caches have me stumped, too. Congratulations on 1K! But, you know, it takes a really amazing cacher to clear out those "closest 20 unfound"...

Don't forget to pack wipes & diapers in your caching bag. It is not fun to be without (says the voice of experience... ). Congrats!

Just heard about your race. I'll buy a set (altho I know it will be stolen before I get many (any?) points)!

Harry Dolphin getting a week of vacation? Get out the rain gear!

Keep up the good work!