todd300

Rocketsteve, In my neck of the woods, the skeeters are big enough to have their own airports complete with a control tower. The ticks are big enough that I attach to them..not the other way around.

As you can see from my logs, I'm not a TFTC type of guy. Just about every log that I have written has a story behind it. Even my first ever find had a story. What I do is take a notebook with me when caching. On each page is the GC number, cache name and a space for me to write "Found" or "DNF" and any TB's that I drop in. I get home, look at the notebook and enter the GC number for each cache and type my experiences. I have a good memory, even after a day of finding 20+ caches as I just did the other day. I still remembered each one of them. I'm not saying that I remember each one of my 136 finds, but I will remember my most recent finds and log them as such. Even an LPC Cache in a Walmart parking lot has a story behind it. Short, but sweet. Many more to come.

Yes, Bartrod is quite good at caching year round. One time he took advantage of the winter by getting a cache on a river that was supposed to be only accessed by boat in the spring, summer or fall. The terrain was rated a 5 mainly due to the boat ride to the cache. In the winter, Bartrod simply walked to it over the ice and got it. He wasn't the only one that got it in the winter like that. Others have too. So it's funny how certain caches can have a higher difficulty level in one season, but be easier on other times. Myself, I only started caching for less than two months so far (April 17 , 2009 was my first find.) So I have no idea what winter caching is like. But right now as the weather is getting much warmer here in Green Bay Packer country, the ticks are out in full force and the skeeters are coming out too. We'll see if I continue to go into the woods. The ticks don't really bother me. I just pluck them off when I get home and put some triple antibiotic on any bites. The skeeters are another matter. Even with bug dope, skeeters can swarm around me and they are big enough to have their own airports complete with control towers. Even when it's 80 degrees outside, I wear a hoodie when I'm in the woods so that only my face and hands are exposed to limit ticks and skeeters on me. But I'm not gonna stop caching just because of a few bugs. Many caches that I found when I first started out are now covered by foliage so they would be tougher to find now. I spotted many hides in the early spring from a distance when the foliage didn't grow yet. Those same hides are well covered now. I'm looking forward to fall caching when the leaves turn colors. We have fall colors hikes in my area and I'll be able to do a little geocaching on the side and admire the fall colors. One of my caching friends told me that fall is his favorite time of the season for caching too. I guess seasonality is in the eye of the beholder

I agree with Bartrod. We have met each other a couple times and have helped each other out on a few tough caches. We also help each other out with quick maintenance on each other's caches. On one of my caches, the latch was broken, so I set out to take a look at it and ran into Bartrod. He said he did a temporary repair on it until I can order and replace the container. I repaid him the favor when on on of his caches, the log was very wet. I live right by that cache while he was like 30 miles away. So it was a snap for me to replace the log. I've done the same to other caches in the area and other cachers have done it as well. We all help each other out. Bittsen, as for a person not being active in geocaching and therefore should remove his cache, I look at this way. Every geocacher has his/her own life to attend to. Sometimes events in that person's life takes him/her out of the game for a while so I will help out the person by maintaining the cache for him until he can get back into it to keep it going. Look at it this way, Bittsen. Let's say you own a cache. You go on vacation or something happens in your life (death in the family, job change, etc). You get a notice that your cache needs maintenance but you can't get to it for a while. Would you want someone to take care of it for you or would you rather let it sit idle? I figured as much. This is a community and we all help each other out.

Cool container. Glad to see you got the photo thing figured out. Good luck with that new cache. Let us know the GC number after you get it published. I'd like to see the comments on that cache container.

Yup, what Starbrand said. I forgot to mention that. With permission from the mods, I would like to list 2 sites for photo hosting. Imageshack Photobucket There are a few others out there such as Flickr. Just have to google for them. Plus many personal websites can host photos as well. Good luck.

That's cool, Sweetlife. I'll check it out sometime.

Type in [img=*The photo url*] For example, I will use the Groundspeak logo here. It's located at http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/style_images/gs.gif So I would put that url between those two tags which results in.... Hope that helps.

Most private property caches that I have seen are usually rural properties. The land would be large enough that neighbors may not notice the cachers. I was planning to place a rural cache on a private land out in the country that is large enough to probably host an NFL Football stadium complete with parking. And I know the owner too, so permission will not be an issue as he allows deer hunters to use his land as well (I'll disable the cache for a few weeks during deer scouting and hunting season). Very rare do I see urban caches on private party. I went to one that was available for premium members only and it was at the edge of the property line near the drive way hidden by a tree. It was a TB hotel. Neighbors know about that one.

That's the nice thing about me caching with my PDA. I often park in a hotel parking lot when I'm not at home to "borrow" its wi-fi so I can download some more caches or check my e-mail for notifications. I'm getting my software set up so if I want to do some "Cache as I go" unplanned caching, I'll be able to do that. I've always planned it out in advance. But once in a while, I may take a trip where the GPS takes me, I go. Keep them coming

I like how everyone does it differently. Keep those stories coming. Thanks for your story, Harry.

I use Road Runner for my e-mails. Never had an issue getting notification e-mails (Finds, DNF's, new publications, PQ's). Road Runner is my ISP. They've always been pretty good even when I log on and see that I have 100 e-mails coming in. I do have a question here though. Among the boxes that I check on the type of notification that I want to get, a note log is not among those choices. Many times someone leaves a note for a TB drop or whatever and they don't show up in my notification unless I'm watching that particular cache. I don't like putting a cache on my watch list because then I get a double e-mail - one from the watch list and one from the notification. The only time a cache is on my watch list is if it is outside my notification area. So sometimes I miss getting a TB because someone else already grabbed it. I would like to request "Notes" as part of a notification. Thank you -Todd

Whenever a team of cachers find and sign a micro log, I only see their initials. Say their names are Dick, Tom and Jane. The log in the micro would be signed as "DTJ". Later each one (Dick for example) would log onto the website and write something like "Quick find with Tom & Jane. Signed log as DTJ" Saves a bit of room, especially on a nano log.

Congratulations. I got my 100th find yesterday, though it took me long than I would have liked. Started April 17th. Caches in my area are more spread out, so it's hard sometimes to get like 10 finds in a day, which I never have done. 9 is my best. The day will come though when I visit an area densely populated with caches. I may go to West Bend, WI next month as well in Door County, WI this week or next. Both are areas with a large amount of caches. I should be able to increase my find count significantly then. If you want to make sure you reach 100 in a month's time, just plan it out and visit areas with a bunch of caches in one area. Good luck and congrats on the 50 finds.

It's interesting to see all the styles of pre-caching preparations. Some are spontaneous. Others plan it out. Those that plan do it differently. Everyone is different and what type of planning may work for one person may not work for another. It depends on the GPS, what software is used, and so on. Keep those stories coming. I'm interested to see how each one of you set out for a day of caching.

Even a log book that is still fresh with only a few sigs on it is prize enough for me. I'm just as happy getting STF and TTF as I am getting a FTF.

Sounds like you are the spontaneous type, Pat. I like to plan what I'm going after though I can set up my GPS software if I wanted it to look for a nearby cache on the spur of the moment.

I talked to Ravenz and she said she's sending the unit back either for repair or replacement. From what you said, Tinkerjohn, it sounds like this particular Garmin model seems to have its issues. Hopefully both of you resolve the problem.

Are you telling me you've been a member for a half a year and you still cannot come up with 30 bucks for premium membership? Let me tell ya, it is well worth the money. Once you get it, you'll wonder how you got by without it.

Keep both. It helps if one GPS may be a little off while the other could be more accurate. Sometimes you want to look for a multi cache in which you already have the coordinates to each stage. You could split up with one person looking for one stage while the other goes after the second stage. You get back together to put together the clues/new coordinates and go from there. That's what I would do if I had someone to cache with me. Have fun

I know everyone have their own methods on how they plan a day of cache hunting and I have mine. I have a Dell Axim Pocket PC loaded with the Smache caching software. I use it with a bluetooth GPSr. For the computer, I use GSAK to organize my GPX files that I get via pocket queries. This is what I do anytime I want to go look for a bunch of caches in any one area. I open up the drag-able google map of caches in the area I want to hunt in. I filter out my finds then drag the map around to see what caches in that area interest me and open up their associated cache homepage. Once I get an idea where I want to start, I write down the GC number and cache name on a steno pad and go to GSAK to flag the cache. I drag along the route on the map to the next cache, write down the GC number and cache name, then flag it on GSAK. I keep doing this until I'm satisfied I marked all the caches in that area that I want to find. Then I go back to GSAK and set the filter so only the flagged caches are on the screen. I then export the flagged caches to a GPX file and put the GPX file on my pocket PC. I confirm that Smache has successfully imported the GPX file, then I'm ready to go. I made the mistake of leaving the house once with a corrupted GPX file, meaning I had no files to cache with. Luckily I was still close to home, so I had to go back home to re-install the GPX file on my Dell Axim. I made sure from that point on that any time I import a GPX file to my Dell Axim, the file actually is good before I leave the house. When I'm the road, I look at the steno pad to see what is the next cache to go to. I drive to that cache location, fire up the GPS and look for the cache. I either find it or I don't. I usually carry the pad with me unless it's a quick park and grab. The pad provides cover as carrying the pad along with my pocket PC makes me look like I'm an inspector of some sort. Very helpful on urban caches. The pad is also useful for me to write down tracking numbers of TB's so I can log discoveries if I don't take it. I return to my car, mark on the pad "Found" or "DNF" next to the cache name, then look at the list of caches on the pad to see what's next on the list. Then I drive (or walk if nearby) to the next cache on the list. Sometimes due to time constraints, I have to make a decision to cross out a cache on the list if it appears that I won't have time to find them all. That has happened a few times. Once I'm done for the day, I head home and log onto the internet. All I have to go is enter the GC number of the cache that I wrote on the steno pad and log my finds/DNF's/notes. With the GC number at hand on my pad, I can log several caches very quickly if all I write is something like "Quick Find. TFTC." I do detail some caches if it was very interesting, took me some searching, had a nice view or had an interesting experience (See my log for GC1T8EY for an example of an interesting experience that I had with that cache.) I know for some of you this seems like a lot of work. It was a lot of work at first, but as I have been doing this system for a while, I got to be fairly efficient about it and can get it done in no time. If all I want to do is look for just one or two caches, my Dell Axim usually has the latest unfiltered GPX file in it, so it's just a matter of grabbing the Dell Axim and GPS'r and off I go. I do pretty much paperless caching for the most part. The only paperwork I do is my steno pad. The only cache pages I do have to print out are some puzzle caches. But otherwise, it's mostly paperless. How about the rest of you? How do you go about planning for a day of caching?

Bit if a typo there, dude. It's GC number

I live right on the border of Michigan and Wisconsin as you can see from the city name under my avatar. I've cached in both states frequently. Even though I'm a Michigan resident, I consider myself a Wisconsin resident as well because I spend a lot of time on the Wisconsin side of the border with work, personal business, family, and caching. So really, I really have not cached out of state because both states are my home states. If I was to venture a guess on what would my first out-of-state cache would be, it might be Minnesota. Thinking of going to the Mall of America this fall. We'll see.

Take a look at the caches that got published in your area. Usually it's the same person(s) that reviewed them. Simply click on the reviewer's name and it will bring up his profile where you can send him (or her) a message. Hope I make sense here.

That's very simple to avoid those double and even triple posts. If the poster gets such an error message, simply open a new tab and visit the board that he posted the message on to see if the message showed up. Most likely it did. In the chance that it did not show up, then he can go back and resubmit. I've gotten the error message several times, but I always open a new tab to view the board to see if the message showed up anyways before I resubmit and every time it did show up. I never had to resubmit. Simple as that. Hopefully this tip can cut down on the double posts on this forum.