Sol seaker

Don't you know you're supposed to trade for the stuff INSIDE of them, not for the cans themselves? I saw a cache the other day without a container, Now I know where it went. I might take some. Let me check with "the boss" on this one. We live pretty close by and go caching in Maple Valley periodically.

Well that was just too bizarre. If it wasn't so close to Halloween I think I'd really worry. Should I worry anyway?? So the night caches I'm aware of are: Beam Me Up Scottie GC16E4K In Bonnie Lake area. Really cool idea. You have to bring your TV remote with you. Use it and you get an LED flashing back at you. Man I wish I were this creative!!! And Puyallup's Things That Go Bump in the Night GC110VZ This one uses fire tacks that you follow with your flashlight. I haven't done them, so I can't report, but they are high on my list of caches to do. What other night caches are out there folks???

I'm no expert on this really, but I hate to see a question go with no answers. Don't want you to think you're being ignored or anything. So the ones I know about, are: I went to a CITO event: Cache in Trash out . There is no cost. Those are about picking up trash or doing something else to help the area (removing non-native plants for instance). It's a work party really. And it gets you a new icon for your page of caches found. I may be helping out with the geo-boo. I haven't been to one, but I've been talking to some people about it since I'm helping out. It is an event cache, so you get a smiley for it, and a new icon, (if you haven't been to an event yet). But basically it's a big halloween party. Haunted house, costume contest, food, fun, and yes, it's free. A group of people are creating and paying for this event. I don't know if they'll be asking for donations to cover costs, but they told me it was FREE. They'll be some geocaching stuff, coins and the like, but that's all I know since I haven't been to one. The organizers are great and will answer any questions if you e-mail them. Just be patient. They're pretty busy with it coming up soon. A lot of the events are just get-togethers for geocachers to meet other geocachers. It's good to be able to talk to others about this game. Good to talk to others who know where you're coming from.

My boyfriend and I didn't meet geocaching, but he's the one who taught me geocaching. The interesting thing is that it has really helped our relationship. We're two strong-headed people, so we've been known to have our share of fights (as I guess most couples do) When we've had some cooling down time, we have repeatedly used geocaching as a way to bridge the gap again. For instance, say our last words were angry two days ago. I write him e-mail telling him about a new cache in his neighborhood. Or sending him links to the hamster thread I've been enjoying on the forums. Or something similar. He e-mails back where he wants to go caching this weekend. We talk on the phone and discuss the caching plans. This has worked repeatedly to get us talking again. To begin to open communication again. Then we'll go off tromping through the woods and discuss what went on that bothered us in a good natured way. We did not come together caching, but caching is helping us stay together.

After reading this thread I was getting so inspired to create some hamster caches of my own... But then I ran the search engine on Groundspeak and came up with over 50 hamster caches already out there. I guess out of 909000 caches, 50 isn't that many, but maybe this IS old news. so what is the new cache trend coming to these days? Anyone have any ideas? You guys are so creative I'm sure you've got ideas.

What someone just recommended has helped me a lot: searching ebay for the word geocache. I learned a lot of tricky hides that way when I was around 100 finds. I was geocaching with someone who had been at it a lot longer, and I figured that put me on even ground, although I began finding caches he wouldn't have found because he'd never seen those strange ones. c Geocaching with someone else I think is always more enjoyable. Try searching the section of the forums for event in your area (forums sections that is divided into geographical regions). Go to some events and meet some people to cache with. (or around here you just go to a cache that has just been published to meet people). One advantage to caching with others, besides all the obvious, is that you've got two GPSr's to use. This has been a great advantage for us. Turns out my old one was often 80 FEET off!!!!!!!! I would have never found anything if I wasn't caching with a friend. You might double check your GPSr if you can. There are tons of hides that the coordinates are off out there (and if you do have a good GPS it's always nice to leave good coordinates in the logs, or at least how many feet off you judge it to be). But if you're coming up empty handed a lot, it's good to check your GPS. Maybe it's not you at all.

"Took hamster, left gerbil" man that is the funniest thing I have read in a while. Thank you. I am so glad not everyone followed the instructions to leave only serious replies. Since I'm not so creative I guess I'll have to leave a serious reply. Sorry. Please note the date on the hamster caching thread. April 1st. That thread was only open on that day. Next april fools day maybe we'll do goldfish caching.

Do you want the kind of person who would do that getting even every time they visit another one of your caches? Seems to me that the kind of person who would do that in the first place is the kind of person who would happily destroy the rest of your caches. Do we want that type of person thinking that they can go around and distroy caches to get a smiley thinking they can keep on with this behavior and that it's OK, because they always get the smiley??? Must be fine behavior because no one ever deletes the log; no one ever complains.

I highly recommend checking out the American Red Cross Advanced Wilderness First Aid class in your area. It's a class that takes 8-10 weeks, but is well worth the time. They will teach you how to deal with all possibities in the wild, and also teach you about snakes and snake bites. When I took it last they talked about always carrying a snake bite kit. They recommend the type that is a suction type: a plunger, like of like a syringe but without a needle. Instead they come with different size cups to put on the end to put over the bite to suction out the poison. The old style snake bite kits that are those rubber ones that come in two parts, they call useless. Worse than useless are any parts of those kits that are for cutting the wound before suctioning. They say cutting the bite before suctioning has caused a lot more damage then any snake has. Likewise for sucking out the venom with your mouth. The idea is to NOT get this into your system. Having a friend suction it out with their mouth is ineffective and stupid.

I highly recommend checking out the American Red Cross Advanced Wilderness First Aid class in your area. It's a class that takes 8-10 weeks, but is well worth the time. They will teach you how to deal with all possibities in the wild, and also teach you about snakes and snake bites. When I took it last they talked about always carrying a snake bite kit. They recommend the type that is a suction type: a plunger, like of like a syringe but without a needle. Instead they come with different size cups to put on the end to put over the bite to suction out the poison. The old style snake bite kits that are those rubber ones that come in two parts, they call useless. Worse than useless are any parts of those kits that are for cutting the wound before suctioning. They say cutting the bite before suctioning has caused a lot more damage then any snake has. Likewise for sucking out the venom with your mouth. The idea is to NOT get this into your system. Having a friend suction it out with their mouth is ineffective and stupid.

I agree with the last poster. Kitchen sanitation is SO important. Interesting though, information on the Pacific Crest trail says that people who get sick on the trail are getting sick from bad hygene, not from bad water (although I am Not suggesting being lax in your water filtering either!!) Always use only clean water for cleaning dishes. Filter filter filter. My local backpacking expert says he boils filtered water for the food, and then just boils extra for hot water to do the dishes. Limiting dishes is good. Using plastics under a boiling situation is not good. You know all those discussions lately about the types of dangerous chemicals in plastics that has caused Nalgene to make all new bottles (and so many people are throwing away their old water bottles because of)? All chemicals in plastics get into food faster when heated. The hotter it gets the more chemicals get into your food. Plastics are made for specific purposes. If you use a plastic for a purpose other than it was made for, such as using sandwich or freezer bags for boiling, then you're using a product that has chemicals in it that will leach badly into the food. So my backpacking friend uses those cup-a-soup things a lot. He takes the food out of the cups puts them in baggies, but then puts them back into the cups when adding hot water. Then burns the cups when done. (the reason for the baggies is to preserve space in the pack and in the bear canister. You can put the cups all nested together when they won't always fit in if you don't open them). Another thing he does is he brings a couple cans of chicken ( I know the superlightweight people would not consider this one) and opens the lids slightly, then puts it on the edge of the campfire to warm. Does not have to cook, already cooked. Eats it right out of the can, then puts the can upsidedown in the fire afterwards to burn the food out of it. in the morning he adds the can to the garbage he is packing out, but it no longer has food in it. Add these along with dried fruit, nuts, snack bars, and jerky and you only have to wash some silverware in your filtered water. THese ideas are only for short trips of course. If you're on a long trip you're going to have to go with complete dishwashing. I've found campsuds are far superior to dr. Bronners soap for dishes, although I'm a big Dr. Bronner's soap fan (I have it at every water source in my house).

Is there a question here? Sorry, I'm not sure I'm getting it. Are you asking how to easily find when you're within range of a cache on a trail? We use two methods, one is a Oregon 400T GPSr that has a fantastic set of maps on it. The other is a cheaper Garmin GPSr that has a great option of "nearest waypoint" on it. I keep my GPS in the nearest waypoint screen until we get within 400 ft if I'm having trouble finding which one is closest. this is after my friend's maps get us to the right vicinity. I have to write out my caches by hand. (my friend has paperless caching) so it also helps to plan out a route when I'm on the geocaching website at home and put the caches in the order that I'm likely to encounter them. Not sure if this was any help or not. Hope it was.

Car camping, I don't have immediate access to my backpacking gear. That's the snag, I want to avoid developed campsites and people, but at the same time need to be able to drive in. The Jeep can go anywhere, but I can't just drive anywhere I want. I know good spots to hike in, and I know some spots to car camp, but all of them are developed. I guess a developed campsite would be fine if it wasn't overly developed. Seems like all the car camping I've done with people lately had the sites all butted up against each other, rules against burning native wood, rules about how you park your vehicle, some even had :eek: paved roads to the campsites. I just want to get away. We often go out towards Mt Rainier on highway 410. there is a lot of car camping out there, and even better than that there are TONS of spots where you can just park a car along side of a dirt road or river. Lots of little forest roads. Lots of caches out there too. I recommend the cache Yosemite Sam and Betty Boop http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...bf-5b9827e06bc1 if you're looking for adventure. There is a sister cache "where the elks go". You can camp right at the end of the road near this cache even. Those two are a lot of fun, and it's a great area with hundreds of possibities. Bring good maps.

the two reasons everyone keeps saying that these hammocks aren't good in cold weater is: 1. The cold comes up throught the bottom of the hammock really bad. 2. They come only with a mesh covering under the rainfly so the heat escapes through the mesh. It's like sleeping in a tent that is only made of mesh, only worse because you've got the problem of the cold coming in through the bottom that is much worse than standard tents. I've actually been fairly successful in solving these problems. 1. You've got to have good insulation under your sleeping bag. I've used an insulated pad under my bag, but had the added problem of it not staying under my bag throughout the night. I used a very lightweight bag, that is made for hot summer nights, and put my regular sleeping bag inside that and put the pad between the two. Held in place fast. 2. I sew and repair outdoor gear, so I was able to easily add a nylon layer to the top of the mesh fabric that velcro's on. Works fantastic. Holds the heat in well. With this new "skin" on the hammock and the pad underneath, I have been very warm in very cold situations.

Also, one of the geocaching sites that create statistic pages for your cache page has metals. I'm trying to remember which one. It might have been itsnotaboutthenumbers.com I'm sure the next guy will correct me.

Well this is a hot contender for the most annoying cache ever. I told my friend about it and he said he'd go take the cache and deposit it in the nearest trash can. He said he'd rather have snakes coming out of his barf bag on an airplane. We're very surprised this one got approved.

and assuming just because someone hasn't logged on for a while that they aren't keeping an eye on their cache isn't a great idea either. I had a friend who did just this. He quit finding caches for over a year, maybe a couple years, but still had a cache on a mountain. He checked on his cache whenever he hiked there; replaced the log and the container as needed. I know he would have been mad if his cache had of been archived just because he hadn't logged on. and now he's an avid cacher once again.

Also, I noticed you've got five hides while you only have 129 finds. There's nothing wrong with this, and it's perfectly fine, But a higher find to hide ratio teaches more about the game so you're more prepared for these things. Also teaches what makes a great hide. Just a thought.

Do you mean swag? The problem is, you start out with a cache with nothing but trash in it... 1. You are going to have to start with what you were complaining about getting in the long run. 2. It's not going to get any better. 3. You will have people have a lousy swag experience from the start, instead of at least having a good experience at your cache for a while. This is not that unusual. You can restock your cache so people continue to have an enjoyable experience, or don't worry about it. OR... Try a subscriber only cache if this really bothers you. You'll most likely have better luck.

Around here "unchosen" is used for odd containers, when they don't want you to know what you're looking for because it's something like .... Well, the wild pig I found this weekend. Had a lock and lock inside it. Just sitting out in the woods. Scared the pee out of us. Rounded the corner, well off the trail. Bear country. Or the fake squirrel sitting in the tree with the film can shoved up it's butt. Or the wooden log hallowed out with the plastic bottle glued inside. Or the magnetic reflector with the log taped on the back. Or the metal plate with bolts on it, that magnetically attached to the bottom of the guard rail. These are the type of things used for the unchosen around here. I think that's what it should be used for. Then we know to be expecting something different. Something strange. They just put nano's under the micro catagory, and if you're lucky they wrote in the description that it's a nano. I've found caches had have been replaced. A cache listing said it was a tupperware, and I turned up an ammo can. Stuff like that. I just note it in my log when I log it online. So the next guy knows. If he checks that is.

Just don't come back here complaining if it gets few loggers!

I had that happen. I went to my first first to find event, not really an event, but a local cache was published and I found out what a social event it really is. I told them I am Sol Seaker, and I immediately got asked about (by name) the person I go caching with and a lot of other questions that showed that people pay alot more attention then I realized. I was pretty surprised. They recognised me by my name and knew a lot about me. Very strange indeed. And I haven't even been caching that long!!!

I want my find NOW NOW NOW!! And If I can't get that I want this page outta my way, yesterday There is more to it than this. There is no page (that I've seen) that explains what should be done when one encounters problems with the caches they encounter. I'm often bothered by the fact that people on their numbers runs never stop long enough to log a DNF or needs maintenance. I'm only going to go to that one cache once. If there's a problem, I'll mention it. Someone has got to be reporting problems. If there is a procedure than I want to know about it. Do we always write a "needs maintenance" then e-mail the cache owner, and then wait a while, and then if nothing gets done in a month, put a "needs archived?" No wonder no one ever puts any notes on caches!! What a hassle. I encounter sometimes 5 caches a week that may be missing, are in bad need of maintenance, or , very rarely, need archiving. I'm supposed to go through that procedure for each of those caches? Too many cache owners never read the logs. Only a "needs maintenance" catches their attention. I do not want to place caches in the places people have other caches. I want to see the game maintained for the people who come after me.

You know you're a geocacher if... Your purse and pockets are always full of toy cars and bubbles and you don't have any kids You sleep with your boyfriend and you both dream of geocaching together all night. You always add on an extra day to any vacation, or trip to a wedding, or anything, to make sure you have plenty of time to grab the caches in the area. Everything is a potential cache container. Your wallet may not always be in your purse, but your GPSr is. You run into work or other events late with your GPS still around your neck. You navigate around your city by geocaches (It's by that evil micro in the rocks, honey) You know where every pocket park is in your city, and you don't have kids. You search an entire rock wall without checking the map, because you know there must be one here!!

Oh, and the problem with fancy geocache containers (such as otterboxes), is that they make better target for muggles. Tell me, which are you most likely to take if you find in the woods: An old peanut (plastic) butter jar a film canister or an otterbox? People have been doing the challenge cache of old WA state caches, and they have been commenting that the caches that have lasted are the ones far from anyone, and the ones that have boxes no one wants to take. Just a thought.