Team Dennis

Once again thanks for the help. The event was a huge success and everyone had a great time! Team Dennis

Funny story about that: The caches are less than 50 miles from my house but I'm doing all the work in my basement so the GPSrs think they are still down in La Crosse which is where they came from originally. So that is why the caches were not showing up in the queue. It turns out I did NOT need EasyGPS after all but I've been using it as it is faster than downloading from the cache page itself. Edit to add: Seriously - Where is that beer?

Thanks for all the help on this one. I'm by far not the most tech savvy person out there. But by the grace of God, your suggestions and a with little luck I was able to make it all work. This all brings me back to 2 years ago when I started caching. Kind of a steep learning curve for a guy that never owned a GPSr before. Now where is that beer? Thanks again, Team Dennis

I'll give EasyGPS a shot. But in the meantime my original question still stands: Why can I download these GPX files for tomorrow's event to my Colorado 300 and download active and archived caches to the etrex but I can't download the GPX files for the event tomorrow to the etrex?

I just checked and I was able to download the files for the unpublished (temporary) caches to my Garmin Colorado 300 which is my primary (only) GPSr and they appear like any other cache. I also checked and I was able to download a cache (to the etrex) that I archived yesterday. However, I was unable to download a cache that was never published for a similar event I did last year. So...any thoughts? I'm getting the feeling that I'll be plugging these coords in manually tonight...

OK gang - Hoping someone can help me out. I have been asked to put together a small Geocaching exhibit for a local elementary school's outdoor "Tech Trek" tomorrow. I'm going to hide 3 ammo cans around the school grounds for the kids to find tomorrow. The teachers got their hands on 19 Garmin etrex Legend H GPSrs and I finally got them from the school last night. I created 3 "dummy" cache pages for the event with the hopes that I could just download the coords directly to the receivers instead of manually plugging them in one by one. These caches will never be published and I will be archiving the cache pages once the event is over having never asked a reviewer to look at them since they violate several GC rules including temporary caches, caches placed on school grounds and proximity issues. These are just meant to be "practice" caches for the event. So I attempted to download the first set to the first receiver today and NOTHING. My computer is saying the Geocache GPX was saved successfully but when I look for the cache in the queue on the receiver there is nothing. I tried to load an existing cache and it worked perfectly. My question: Is there a way to download the coords to these receivers from the cache pages? Or is it something that I have to do manually? I don't need the entire cache page to be on the GPSr...just the coords. Thanks in advance, Team Dennis

My personal best for most states in one day is 5 and I've done it twice: MO, KS, IA, MN & WI and then WI, MN, SD, NE & CO. We could have grabbed another state on our way out west but we would have had to drive several hours out of the way to do it and since we were already going to be driving 14 hours we decided against it.

I would rather go (and have gone) caching when it is -20 out. I think I was built for the cold and my body deals with it better than most. On the flip side, my body does not handle the heat very well. You won't see me doing a whole lot outside when it's above 95 unless it involves swimming in a pool or river.

To date I have solved (but not yet found)exactly ONE puzzle cache that involved using a cipher. Even with Google it still took me an hour or two to figure out the needed info. It was a lot of fun once we got the correct coords but it was quite frustrating when we tried about 100 things wrong before we got the solution. To answer your question: Google is your friend. You can use it to figure out how to solve ciphers on your own or use it to find programs that will solve them for you. I used it for both as I had no idea how ciphers worked and then to do the actual computing as trying to do it by hand would have taken me years and years to crack the code.

I brought up a similar question sometime last year. I asked whether or not it was acceptable if I could log an archived virtual if I could prove that I went to the intended spot, gathered the needed info and sent an email to the CO. The general consensus was that it could be done but it probably was not a good idea...which is a position that I agree with.

Out of curiosity...how did you manage to post this picture they day before you took it??? It was posted 3/26/11 but the date stamp on the photo is 3/27/11.

I've found a few that are hidden in a swinging gate. I was never sure if that was 100% legal but they were all easy finds so I didn't sweat it.

I probably drive past it 5 or 6 times per year (actually 10 or 12 times if you count the return trip) while visiting the in-laws down in Madison. If you are ever in Beautiful Stilly please feel free to look us up. We might even coax a certain bespectacled canine out for a drink if we play our cards right.

I'm hoping to do a few of the caches at the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN (roughly 40 minutes from home) as well as a series that is placed along the stops for our light rail system. Also there is a park along the Mississippi that I've been waiting for the flood waters to recede so I can go knock out some of the 100+ caches there.

Around here (eastern MN and western WI) a beacon can be one of many things but it always refers to the physical item that will draw your attention once you arrive at GZ (ground zero) to begin your search for the cache. In the woods it's usually an unusual tree/stump (usually hollow) or a pile of rocks/sticks. Of course I've seen hiders place their caches away from the "obvious" beacon in order to make the cache more challenging.

Schizo-Light is supposed to be a really cool virtual but I have not had a chance to try it. Seems like it is either light when we drive past or we're pressed for time and can't stop to do it. Officers Scenic Cache is another awesome spot if you want to stretch your legs for 30 minutes to an hour. It's the 15th oldest active cache in Wisconsin and one the most favorited. How long are you planning on spending on this roadtrip? With all the suggestions here you could be out for weeks and still only hit a small number of the awesome spots out there.

I generally try to NOT do cut & paste logs and even when I do I try to make some sort of comment specific to that cache. HOWEVER, when I've done a big series of 50+ caches in a day and they are all the same bison tube hanging from the same spot then it becomes a blur and it's rough to remember anything specific about them. In that case I usually send the CO an email thanking them for all the hard work they did with the series and apologizing for the cut & paste logs. But that's just me...

George Don't Live Here No More is literally a park and grab located about 500' from an exit ramp. As quick and easy and funny as you will see in your entire trip. You would also be in PRIME shape to qualify for The I-94 Challenge however you would have to actually find that cache on another trip...or take a massive detour on your way back home to go get it.

The Sword in the Stone is just a few miles off I-94 on the east side of the Twin Cities metro area. It's racking up favorites like crazy and (having done it for my 1000th find) I can tell you it is pretty cool. Totally worth checking out if you have a chance!

This one is indeed the oldest unfound cache. As soon as I hit the lotto I'll be making an attempt to find it. Might as well. The person who has posted about 5 notes threatening to find it is never going to. I think the fact that there is almost 50 miles (as the crow flies) of Canadian wilderness from this cache and the nearest permament settlement is the reason it's been unfound. It would be one heck of an adventure though.

This one is indeed the oldest unfound cache. As soon as I hit the lotto I'll be making an attempt to find it.

The sun going down. Happens to me all the time. My success rate drops precipitously after dark. Also rain. I can handle heat, cold, snow, bugs, and thorns but if I get soaked my ambition for anything drops to near zero. Dragons tend to leave their own alone...right? If so I'm coverd there.

Could be an old archived cache from a CO that is no longer in the game or was under the impression that the cache was gone.

I usually log a DNF for every time I visit GZ and make an effort to locate the cache. I once had a cache that took 5 trips to find and I logged each one of those 4 DNFs before I was able to get the smiley face. Oh, that cache required a 1 mile hike just to get to GZ as it was in the middle of a nature preserve. Totally worth it though.

I have nothing as bad as you but the thorns are already coming out here in MN so I have a few red stripes of courage on my arms. Take care and get better!