jrcache

(8-3-04) Have been advised that the Independence City Council has OK'd the placement of geocaches in Mountain Fir Park. However, Riverview Park is not available at this time due to ongoing construction.

For first cache I suggest a public park, not private property.

If you can not get a good sat. lock right on the cache site then move off a bit and find some kind of object in the open, (unusual rock, odd looking tree etc.) get a good sat. lock there, pace off to the cache site and note that in your cache posting instructions. E.G.: "20 paces NW from split rock."

Your many replies have lots of fine suggestions, I would only add: Carry a grease cutting soap like Dawn, small bottle of Isoproply Alcohol, bottle of water to keep in the trunk of your car. In your GPS pack include some Isopropyl Alcohol hand wipes. As you can see I am a believer in being prepared for an encounter with Poison Oak or Poison Ivy. Prevention is better than a cure. I also carry an old mop handle as a walking staff/bush prodder. Those plastic and metal cache container sound off nicely when prodded (lightly) with the walking staff, it is also nice for shoving brush and branches out of the way so you don't have to do it by hand.

Encountering lots of poison oak and poison ivy while geocaching. So went to Google, printed out photos of both plants and carry them when geocaching so I can avoid this dadgum stuff. Also carry soap and water in my car trunk for a quick wash down if exposed. If infected a product called Zanfel should help, it is sold at Rite Aid and Walgreens but is very pricey. Follow up info (7-20-04): Researched Ask Jeeves on poison oak and poison ivy. Result: I will be carrying a grease cutting soap such as Dawn, bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol and a jug of water in my car trunk. I wil also carry a packet of Isopropyl Alcohol wipes in my GPS pack for immediate treatment if exposed. NOTE: Treat as quickly as possible after exposure, this is important. Remember to get photos of these pests and learn how to spot them, prevention is better than cure. More Follow Up: Have been carrying an old mop handle as combination walking staff and bush poker (I'm 78 and need a little help walking on rough terrain). Works great for for pushing brush and branches aside instead of doing it by hand. Great also for prodding around suspected cache sites, those metal or plastic containers really sound off when poked lightly through brush.

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Are there any geocachers in the Salem, Oregon area interested in forming a club or some kind of informal association such as a breakfast club? Contact: jacred@hotsheet.com

Recently got an Lowrance iFinder Pro as my first GPSr. At first was a bit intimidated by all the features but the Instruction Manual is well written and complete and would rate this GPSr as user friendly. Found 3 geocaches in 3 days and am looking forward to hiding one of my own soon.

Thanks to all those who answered, the advice has been very helpful.

Thanks, look like you have the manual. Have been rereading it and beginning to make some sense out of it at last. 1. My question is: How do I manually enter waypoints (geocache coordinates) so I can search for a geocache. The coordinates would be taken from the www.geocaching.com website. Would also like to be able to download geocache coordinates from a website to the computer to my card reader 2. I am not familiar with .loc files and have no GPS software. 3. I saw some downloads on the geocaching website that may be .loc files that enable direct downloading of coordinates to the computer but don't know how they work. 4. The only cable that came with my unit is a 3 volt power cable for the car cigar lighter. 5. I do have a card reader and wonder if there is a way to download waypoints (coordinates) from the geocache website to the MMC/SD card from the GPS in the card reader and then reinstall the card in the GPS and enter the data to the GPS. Thanks again for your help, I just hope my newbie questions and not too stupid. Gratefully, John

Thanks for the info. Have read the manual twice but the manual isn"t much help. However, I will go over everything again and do as you suggest.

Just got a Lowrance iFinder Pro. This is my first GPS. Got it for geocaching. How do I set it up to search for geocache coordinates found on the geocaching website?