kitmonster

Well done!

It appears to be programmed from a very early age - try taking anything away from my 2 year old boy!

Downloaded this morning including the UK data. Bit disappointing! Novelty wore off after a few minutes. No where near as interesting as an OS 1 to 25 thou!

Could well have been a fox / bird / cacher scarer! Certainly had me worried about my underware. Inukshuk - not sure how much longer I can keep this up! Nights are drawing in and the caches are getting further away!

harrogate hunters - thank you so much for posting this and thanks for those of you who have replied. Geocaching was brought to my attention through a photography website frequented by a very prominent UK cacher. Photography and walking / mountaineering are my two greatest passions so, Geocaching is perfect. It gets me and my camera to places I've never been. 90% I post here are taken on the day I visit. Some I've added because my local caches are all hidden in places I know very well and I've taken shots near them - like the orchids on white down. I had hoped to add photos to all my trips, but sometimes it's too dark or wet! I use a Canon 10d digital SLR and a handful of lenses including two macro lenses.

I'm still trying to do at least one cache a day since I started two weeks ago. Yesterday was looking a bit touch and go, as I had to work late. One of the nearest caches to me looked like a very easy one, so I had left it for such an occasion. Having studied the maps, it looks to be 120 feet from the road on the edge of a field - easy enough. So I parked the car and set off down the lane, a brief 3-minute walk. I discover to my dismay that there's no handy footpath, just a gate into a rather boggy meadow. There's no one around and it's 15 minutes before sunset. My hearts racing a bit as all the caches I've done so far have been on common or public land. Caches have to have the landowner’s permission - right? Guessing roughly where the cache is, I jump over the gate and spot a tractor in the field hidden by the hedge. Fortunately no farmer but now my heart is really thumping. I dash across to the corner of the field and check my location. The cache is 50 feet away behind a mass of stingers and brambles and small trees. This is ridiculous, I think. The co-ords must be wrong. Back to the lane, check the map; check up and down the lane no footpath, no access to the cache. Back over the gate and into the field. So into the stingers and brambles I head. A little way in the undergrowth clears to make way for a bog. Whoopee! There's an old fallen down willow tree lying across the bog, so I climb up on to the trunk, some 8 feet of the ground and spot the cache. Then I nearly had total heart failure. The double crack of a shotgun goes off somewhere very close! I fall of the log into bog, stingers and brambles and hide in the roots of the tree. My heart is pounding so loudly, can’t hear a thing. My mind is racing, what the hell am I doing, it's only a Tupperware box full of plastic trinkets. This is insane, what do I say? I wait for what seems like an eternity. The sun has set and the light is going. I shakily write note in the log, TNLN . . . and crack, crack. Same double shot. I crawl on hands and knees, through the bog, stingers, brambles and hedge, dash across the field, hurdle the gate and sprint back to my car. So I thought geocaching was good for the heart, all that fresh air and walking . . . I might have to think again!

More risky - but less painful!

Thanks - didn't know you could do that. Very useful.

Eckington - you might want to read the latest log - bit worrying!

Add me to the list! Would love to come along.

davester - as a newbie, I've seen lots of threads mentioning muggles but not nonini, and thought that was the normal term for the non-initiated. Is there a glossary around here somewhere?

All good advice! Mobile phone trick worked this evening.

Only been at this a few days and already having a problem with muggles. Is lurking something you just get better at? So what's your technique? I always carry around lots of camera gear, so that helps. Pop on the macro lens and stare at a tree roots for a bit. Didn't work at 6:30 am in the dark though - might have to resort to getting a dog!

Ah - foot in mouth - read about "The Cat " but as a newbie had no idea. Good luck with the site - sounds like it's pretty core to the UK scene.

As an mountaineer, photographer, hill walker and nature photographer, I'm amazed it took me this long to get started! First heard about it on the radio 5 years ago and thought - what's the point in that? I was Munro bagging at the time - I know - what's the point in that! I then read that Chris, as in "Chris n Maria", was into geocaching when not taking pics. He and I have met through a photography website. It just so happened that my etrex was nicked so I bought a replacement. The rest is history, although very modern history as I started a week ago!

You're probably right - just picking of the easy ones at the moment. Completed my first double lunch time dash! Thanks for the support.

I keep finding links to the site stats.guk2.com but they're all broken. I've even seen people linking in the forum in the last few days. Is it just me or is the site down and what is it anyway?

Gaiters will keep your trousers dry, stop mud spreading up you legs from your boots and help keep rain out of the tops of your boots. They are normally made of tough fabric, which will help when tackling forest undergrowth. They should be thorn proof protecting you and the plants. Personally, I think they are better than waterproof trousers. With a descent length jacket and knee-high gaiters most of your leg is covered and the bit that isn’t is where most of the work is being done and body heat alone normally keeps me pretty dry. I know it’s more kit . . . but you asked!

My longest run is 7 days from the Oct 6 2004 to today! But I only started 7 days ago . . .

You can't compare mega pixels from a digital camera and a film camera - they may sound like the same thing but their not. The Canon 20d will produce an 8MP image that when knock spots of a 35mm shot when printed at A2, I've seen a fair few. And you won't have to clean the neg or touch up either. You are right about 300 dpi's - you can actually push 240 dpi's for normal prints. Unless you're a picture editor or work in a stock library, it's unlikely you'll spot the difference.

Canon have a great range of easy to use compact cameras in your price range. I would suggest the A75. Not only are they easy to use, the software is very intuitive. I have it's older relation and never let me down after 10,000+ images. There's Goretex and there's Goretex. Like all things in life, you get what you pay for. If you go for cheap you will be let down and disappointed. Goretex is just a membrane bonded to other materials. Frequently, the bonded material hampers the way Goretex works. I have two jackets, one very light weight for normal use and one heavy weight, I use winter mountaineering. The light weight one is 8 years old and never let me down. It did cost over £250 quid but still going strong. If it lasts me another two years, then it's £25 quid a year. As the the mountaineering version, that's 5 years old and cost £300. You might not think you need something so robust and indeed you may not. But as someone who knows a thing or two about kit, it's the one you see most reporters wearing. The reason is, it won't let you down and it's tough enough to take a few knocks. Amongst my outdoor friends there is one individual who keeps buying cheap, keeps replacing and is wet most of the time. I'm pretty sure, he's also spent more than I have on jackets. From personal experience, Goretex is king. Cotswold are a great place for kit. As for torch, I'd go for an LED head mounted. Keeps your hands free and batteries last for a very long time. Something like the Petzl Tikka. What about foot ware? Get some good boots and gaiters. I hate ticks.

Great article kbootb. Having only completed 7 in as many days, I've already started wondering what will happen when I've completed all the caches in my comfort zone! As ten is the magic number should I stop now - no I don't think so!

- should have used that advice with the wife! Thanks Happy Humphrey - really nice to know they are appreciated. I'll upload some more this evening.

An event sounds good. Well just done my first dawn cache - and in the rain. Had to wait half an hour for the sun to come up as I hadn't figured on it being so dark under the trees. So how do you explain to your boss why yours shoes and trousers are covered in mud and you appear to have a few bits of ivy stuck in your clothes and hair?

Well rainy days aren't a problem - I'm a mountaineer whose spent plenty of time up Scottish mountains! I see there's a few I'll need to revisit . . . So why doesn't this come with a health warning? The stress of a mad lunchtime dash, the adrenaline pumping as you close in on your quarry, the unexpected muggle heading your way, the dusk time forage on the way home - can't be good for you!