BCSasquatch

Even a DNF log can be creative and fun. This is one I recently submitted. I was a little frustrated as it kiboshed my "going for the 50th" streak, but I though I would have a bit of fun with the log rather than whine and cry about it ... ......................... Well, I got in a fight with some trees tonight looking for this one. They were kinda looking at me all shifty and I had a feeling when I first arrived that these trees would give me trouble. Sure enough, as soon as I started searching, out came the thorns and the prickles, and the needles. One of them even tried to rob me of my back pack, not to mention my beloved touque! But I was alright, I sucked it up for a while and actually thought I might be winning. Then all of a sudden I see a bunch of their tree buddies coming over the hill and I knew my goose was cooked. I beat it out of there! I was on my way to my 50th find tonight and these hooligan trees rained on my parade. They burst my bubble, popped my pimple, and mocked me as I ran away. But I'll be back, and with friends of my own, and those trees will give up their secret, oh yes, they will give up their secret. On the flip side, I did have a visit from a very nice cat who was happy to rub on my leg and help me search for a few minutes before resuming her own rounds. Thanks for the adventure! ........................

Ah, just saw this post ... I believe it was 1998 ... if you're talking tournament, I'm pretty sure the American team won it in '98 Memory is fuzzy about whether they beat the Canadians to take it though ... must resist the Google.

If I cannot search for a cache I won't log anything unless there is a specific circumstance that may affect the next cacher too. Pointless to say "Hey, I drove by the park today and didn't search for your cache". As far as DNF due to muggles, I have logged a couple, and have stated in my log that I was muggled and will come back another time. It lets others know that they may need to be stealthy and it let's the CO know that there is muggle activity around the hide site. The DNF option is okay for this purpose. But ... if there was another option for "muggled out" I suppose I would use it just as I would any other option that applied. I see no harm in adding it as long as people understand the purpose and are not claiming the cache itself was muggled because they could not find it due to muggles. People will need to be educated on the purpose of the new option and that may be easier said than done

Survey completed.

Well, it's been 2 months since I posted that and it looks like my goal is too low lol. New goal for 2010 ... 200 finds and at least 1 hide. for the record, I have lost 15 pounds so far geocaching

This is a question that has been on my mind since I started caching a few months ago. I am approaching my 50th find and I am still very much in learning mode when it comes to what makes a good hide and what doesn't. I do know this much, it will be a regular or large traditional with plenty of room for swag when I do hide it. There is much to consider first though ... Is it accessible without disrupting too much flora or fauna? It the area visible or exposed to others? If someone comes, how will the seeker stay hidden or otherwise appear inconspicuous? Is the hiding spot likely to generate attention from muggles, or will kids be climbing all over it, will a dog lift its leg on it etc.? Are there dangers that may put cachers at risk? If a strong wind or rain comes will the hide become exposed or fill up with water? Are there other caches nearby that may draw additional cachers to mine? Is the spot likely to be developed over the next several years? Do I have the ability to do a quick maintenance trip if needed? And most importantly .... would I like to find this cache myself? So, as you can see, I am still learning, but I am definitely paying attention and in some cases even making notes. I have a few waypoints saved for spots that I think are good candidates. For me I think when the questions above become second nature I will be ready to hide a quality cache. I won't put out something I would not really want to find myself, so I would rather have 2 or 3 quality, traditional hides than 20 mediocre ones. Not trying to hijack, but you experienced hiders, feel free to expand a n00bs list of "second nature questions".

I work online both in my "day job" and my evening freelance work so I will often have this forum and the GC site open in the background. Though I have no time to actually cache during the day, I frequently will take a 5 minute break and read the forums or download GPX files, so I guess that is sorta similar. The thought has definitely crossed my mind though, but I know myself, and once I start caching it's usually a 3-4 hours before I can even think about prying myself away from it

I think the CO has done a good job of outlining the risks and the suggestion to find an alternative approach if you are not properly equipped. I don't see this as too dangerous. It is up to the individual to practice safe caching, and that will look a little different for each person.

Edit: Actually I found one on my personal site. This one is not finished yet and I am carving it for my wife. Basic hand tools - a knife and a dremel. I'm still pretty new at carving, but I'm getting the hang of it.

I have looked at treking poles but I find the price a little steep and the collapsible ones do not inspire confidence in me at all. The ones I have looked at would actually start to collapse when I put my entire weight on them. These were ones in the $100 range. Don't remember what brand as I instantly dismissed them. I have always had a wood staff of one type or another, and apart from the fact that I cannot collapse it, I much prefer these. I also love to carve and decorate them myself so there is some pride that goes into them too. My latest is carved from Ash and I can do chin-ups with it. Not that I do lots of chin-ups in the woods, but at 225 lbs, I can't see a light weight pole standing up to that. My poles have always been multi-purpose and serve me as camp tools too and as I live and hike in mountainous terrain, there are times when I do have to climb a very steep slope and use the pole across the "trail" to pull myself up. It comes even handier coming back down. So for me, a hand carved wooden staff is what I use and most likely what I will continue to use. To each, their own though, whatever floats your boat.

Thanks for that clarification. I am just scratching the surface of how these things work. It's all pretty fascinating to me.

Granola bar ... I didn't realize one of the compartments on my backpack was not closed. I was crossing a log that was spanning a creek. I hear this "Bloop" and look down just in time to see my snack take off down stream I tried to recover it, but it was moving too quickly, and I was in danger of losing my paper money which was in the same compartment. Needless to say I am more diligent with my pack now.

That's awesome! My boys are 23 and 19, and they are pretty much the same when they tag along. Funny stuff to see these hairy young beasts acting like 4 year-olds on an adventure with Momma and Dadda

I keep a supply of all manner of useful items and some small toy items for the kids. Basically dollar stuff, but not those cheesy plastic toys, I will actually put items that can be useful for caching or everyday life. I also look at the cache listing for a theme and do try to stay within that theme. Examples ... Tweezers Golf Pencils Pencil sharpeners Erasers Zip lock bags LED key-chains Caribiners Small screwdrivers Nail clippers Compasses etc etc. Every payday I hit the local dollar store and maybe spend 10.00. I try to find items that have multiples for a buck if possible, or something unique and cool that is useful to other cachers. I have a pretty good supply built up now. I also keep an eye open for trinkets suitable for kids. For me a dollar store is just one giant geocache. I have also been known to place a loonie or toonie into a cache when I have nothing suitable to trade or leave behind, or if I find foreign coins with a monetary value. Here in Canada a loonie is a 1 dollar coin and a toonie is a 2 dollar coin. In my geocaching backpack I carry a lock and lock with trade items ready to trade, but I don;t always trade. I also often leave something when I find an empty or hurting cache. It's all part of the fun for me. So, it doesn't have to be expensive at all, and you can decline to trade if you like. Also, you may have a junk drawer somewhere with all kinds of "treasures" in it that you can use for trades. Edit: errant keystrokes

As I understand it, the limits placed on civilian units are in relation to real time signal acquisition discrepancies. I am not really versed in military specs, but error checking is much more precise with high-end military units and as such would give them a huge precision advantage over civilian units. For example, a cruise missile can be directed precisely through a 3 foot by 3 foot window in the side of a building while moving at mach speeds. We will not see that kind of accuracy while on the move in a civilian GPSr. While Doppler is more specific to sound and ultra sound, the result is similar where the signal strength and accuracy will change dependent on the speed and altitude in relation to the source. I came across the information while researching the outer edges of what these things are capable of.

LeftCoastCachers has the point and the next question. 60,000 feet or 18.xxx km is the maximum altitude usable by a civilian GPSr. For the record, 900 knots is the maximum allowable speed for a civilian GPSr. which equates to approximately 1666.75 kph.

Saying the word Sikh in a humorous way upsets them? Yes, as much as it would upset you if I came on here and started making jokes about the USA. So we are to fear that if we use the word Sikh in a way that they don't care for we will be retaliated against? They'd do something to the cache if the name offend them? I find that pretty offensive. I am neither offended nor fearful, but I do try to not put other people off if possible. I am not really what most would consider PC, but I do believe in fair play and giving each his own. For the record I think the name is clever and I personally have no issues with the name itself, but then, I am not Sikh either. See his threat above. Doesn't sound too kind and gentle. He did not make a threat personally. He simply stated that his community may find it offensive enough to not allow it to exist. Again I allude to hiding a cache and calling it something that you would find derogatory towards the USA. How long would it be allowed to exist before a patriot would simply remove it? I see no difference. A mans' passion is a mans' passion plain and simple. There is not really a right or wrong when dealing on this level, there are only feelings and opinions. It helps to see how ridiculous some folks can be when it comes to what they choose to be 'offended' by. Religion is a funny thing that way. All passion and the logic comes secondary. No different than any other religion in that regard. When you have to apologize for even discussing something you have already given up the rights and freedoms that this country worked and fought to defend. Actually I am Canadian and we have many of the same rights and freedoms that my father, grandfather, and great grandfather fought for as well. I am exercising those rights and freedoms by having an open discussion on someone else's point of view. I do not see where I apologized or gave up any rights. It is also my right to respect other peoples beliefs whether I agree or not just as it is your right to tell me to go jump in a lake. I may not actually jump in the lake, but I respect your right to tell me too Any way, this is getting so far derailed from the original question, I cannot sit here and defend an opinion that I don;t necessarily share. As stated above, I am simply reporting one person's take on it based on his faith and culture. <EOM>

I am willing to bet that there are! I had the same question, and what I did was find a remote area that I know of - on Google Earth, get a sample of coordinates from that area (from Google Earth), and then do a search on geocaching.com based around those coordinates. I was pleased to find that there are several caches listed on one of the main back country roads that I use frequently. Some are just off the forest service road, and some are on difficult 4x4 trails. Hope that helps.

Okay then try this one ... Civilian GPSRs are restricted in both the speed and altitude at which they will operate. Please state either the maximum speed of travel allowable OR the maximum altitude allowable by the US military in order to use your civilian GPSr.

Pocket Queries, and GPX file downloads are the 2 biggies for me. Well worth the membership price and invaluable time-savers.

I have a Sikh on staff here at work and I proposed the question to him. This is what he had to say ... Sikhs are particular about their identity and it is a source of great pride for them. Historically the Sikhs have endured some terrible events based on religious and political intolerance. What he implied was that most devout Sikhs would be offended by the title for the simple fact that they take a very dim view of their religion and identity being a source of humor or puns if you will. They take this stuff very seriously and he further implied that if the local Sikh community got wind of what they would consider a disrespectful cache that it may not last too long. The man who works with us is a kind and gentle person and not at all an extremist, and he has been both delighted and very straight forward on many occasions that I have asked him about his culture and faith. I have a great deal of respect for him as both a co-worker and fellow human being. Based on his words, if it were my cache, I would avoid the disrespect and keep Sikh right out of the title. Hope that helps. *** As I realize that this may be a hot-button topic for many Indian people, my point is not to draw the plight into debate, but rather to simply convey the opinion on this cache title straight from the horses' mouth ***

Yup, we're enjoying it up here in the Vancouver BC area too. El Nino is said to be responsible for a very nice second half to February! I'm loving it. We have had unusually high snow for the last 4 or 5 years and this year I didn't even have to plastic the windows. I even swapped the hard top off my Jeep and put the soft top on yesterday! Lovin' it!

I generally kick them in the shin and push them down. lol just kidding .... I have met a few cachers while searching and it's usually a grin exchange and a hardy "Didja find it?". I don't mind running into other cachers, but if I see someone already searching I will hang back unless they notice me, and then it's all grins It's those darned muggles that I don't like to see at GZ.

My question may be a little sideways and hence difficult to answer, but I was looking for EPE - Estimated Position Error. I'll leave it to you guys to determine who will ask next.

I saw that on the news last night. Pretty crazy stuff. People need to be way more aware of how the Internet can be exploited, and this is a wake up call for people who can hear it.