Jeep_Dog

Sometimes there is quite a bit of angst in these forums. However, I am continually stunned by the overall thoughtfullness, concern, and overall good-nature of the Geocaching community. Septic1 has said it a hundred (perhaps thousand?) times... "I have never met a geocacher I did not like." Quite often, a gem of a gracious thoughtfulness and concern for fellow cachers is readily apparent, despite the gnashing of teeth that can occur in the forums. I just wanted to point out some of the brighter aspects of geocaching (other than the obvious - it is a WONDERFUL pastime) and the warm comradarie of the community. Thanks.

With a Venture, then (from the manual), you are limited to "Points of Interest" that you can upload from a purchased Mapsource Points of Interest software. You can build a planned route with roads, but it is rather labor intensive; you would have to determine coordinates between road interesections, make those waypoints, and then make a route in between them. You could upload the waypoints with something like EasyGPS, then with your Venture make a route from those waypoints, and the "route" would include the "roads" between intersections. Whew, I did that once, and it was the last time I did it. Luckily, I just snagged a mapping capable GPSr from a friend for $50. I will probably still use my Garmin Venture on the actual hunt after parking, though, since it is a great little unit that I trust.

Cortizone is actually a steroid, so from what my doc told me can take a few days to kick in. Different over-the-counter products work different depending on the person. I have found Lanacane to be effective to stop the itching. For 38 years I was immune to PI. Then, POOF!, that went away and now I get pretty bad cases of it. Now, I have learned the best medicine is to spot it and avoid it, and if there is a cache I just HAVE to get in a field of PI, I wear protective clothing and am careful in taking it off, then I clean thoroughly after exposure.

Yes, Jeff, that is safe to assume. OT is for PMs. Do not worry, while you are missing quite a bit, you are not missing much (I hope that makes you feel better).

Which Garmin Etrex do you have? The Etrex line starts from the basic Etrex (yellow) all the way through Etrex Venture, Legend, and Vista (several Vista models available). If you have the basic Etrex (yellow), then mapping functions are not available to you. If you have a Venture, you have very limited mapping functions (points of interest only, no roads). If you have Legend or higher, you have road mapping capability. However, with all Etrex units, you do have the ability of loading waypoints from GC if you have the computer cable (serial type for GPSrs, so if you do not have a serial port as is the case with most newer laptops, then you will need a serial-to-USB adapter). You can go to the cache search results, check to download a .loc file (I believe these are available to non-premium members, if I remember correctly). Then, use a program such as EasyGPS to open the file, edit your waypoints, and upload them to your GPSr. Hope this helps.

I am a fan of Garmin. I purchased a magellan in 2000 that gave me fits since it did not work as advertised, and returned it for a Garmin. Since that time, I never looked back and considered Magellan for purchase. However, a friend of mine has a spare SporTrak Map, new in the box with computer cable, he iswanting to sell. I grabbed it up, but have until Monday to pay and close the deal. I know you will all do cheetah flips over the price - $50. Does anyone have experience with this model, and the pros/cons of it? I currently have a Garmin Venture as my primary GPSr, so already the mapping functions look pretty darn good. Thanks...

Some simple advice: 1) Read the manual. If you have any questions after reading it, then try coming back here and asking help on what you do not understand. I would imagine you can have it read by Sunday. The Garmin Etrex manuals also have a little practice session they outline for you to get used to your GPSr in your own back yard (or whatever space you may have). 2) Get on to a regional forum and ask for local cachers to assist in your first couple of finds. They can show you the ropes with a GPSr very quickly. I introduced family to Geocaching after they purchased an Etrex (they had purchased their first computer a month prior, if that gives you any indication of their lack of "tech savvy"), and after a 20 minute rundown on the GPSr functions, I gave them coordinates in the neighborhood for them to find. They found it, and were off after their first cache (successful find, a pesky 2.5 difficulty micro) within an hour of purchasing their GPSr. 3) As you get really spooled up and want to download cache waypoints to your Etrex, one of the mods has a really nice site called Geocacher U that may help with .loc files. Have fun!

MO caches are only visible to premium members. Sooo, now you see it, now you can find it. Isn't it nice being a PM? (stated by a PM who has yet to encounter a MO cache )

This is a duplicate thread to one with similar replies over in Getting Started. So, joy! We can read about "slapping" in two forums. However, since it was appalling and offensive in the irc room, why is it less so here?

Also be advised that even publicly accessible benchmarks may not be correct. I have found quite a few of them (never bothered to log them, I suppose one of these days I may get to it, but also have found 9 that do not exist in the database, so I figured "why bother?"), and at least 3 of those had inaccurate coordinates. Each benchmark listing says "Coordinates may not be exact. Altitude is ADJUSTED and location is SCALED." Other than that, the other folks who posted here, unlike most GPS receivers, are "spot on."

In our response, we all think you have placed an actual GEOCACHE. Previous responses are correct, you probably should follow the links provided and follow the guidelines. If by "waypoint" you actually mean "waypoint," or a GPS point of interest, and that there is no geocache at the location you have placed, then you may want to check out Waymarking.com.

GC has a decent page to help decide on a new GPSr here. At the bottom of that page, a link to gpsinformation.net that is a very useful website for assisting in making a decision. That website has more information than 100 folks posting here could give you, since it all depends on how much you are willing to spend, what else you want to do with the GPSr over and above geocaching, and what types of features you want.

Come to think of it, BEANS are a bad item, too. Critters love beans... I have been pondering this issue since the topic was started. First, I have not noticed any business cards in caches. Then again, if I have found one, I probably would have ignored it, and gone on my happy way, thus forgotten the card(s). If I noted an Avon card (or any other similar business), I may raise an eyebrow. It would probably be fine by me if the card stated something like "call for a free gift, no strings attached." As long as there was no sales pitch or sales-person follow-up after the free gift was sent, I do not see any harm in placing the card. You are giving something away. I would probably leave off the "XX% discount to geocachers", since that indicates a possible solicitation.

Right here at Shop Groundspeak. 2"X3.5" should be close enough... Uh-oh. I just solicited. Edit: OK, Starbrand was a nanosecond quicker, since both our posts were 5:02.

In early summer I became somewhat infamous in the imediate caching community for continually leaving my sunglasses at caches, requiring quite a number of returns to cache areas. However, my most embarrasing losses (even though temporary), were losses of my Jeep. Yes, my Jeep. Mind you, the losses occurred in heavy Juniper (in these parts erroneously called "cedars") where GPS signals are quite weak. My first Jeep lost, where you can learn what the acronym "PFFCLJSL" means. My second Jeep lost, which is a more humorous read of the two (I used the vehicle's alarm to locate it).

I second that. I could care a less about someone dropping another cache and claiming a find, if it did not impact others. Yet, in this case, such a cacher could indeed impact others. Fortunately, I have only encountered one of these situations. I found a cache, the cache fit the description perfectly, even the top page in the micro's logbook stated the cache name and who placed it. The logs coincided about 90% with the online logs, so I thought I had the cache. However, the lid had critter bites on it that went all the way through, compromising the log. I let the owner know on line, the owner went and checked. He emailed me back that the lid was fine, but he did not find my entry in the log, nor the entry for the previous 25 or so cachers. Uh-oh. I changed my find to a note, since I realized I had found a doppleganger, courtesy of some previous lazy cacher. A week later, the owner found the doppleganger (after 3 attempts, since the second hide was just as sneaky has his original), and it was only 6 or so inches from the original (on the other side of a tree). The owner collected up the doppleganger, and get this... put the doppleganger log in with the original log in the original cache. The owner sent me an email and stated "you can change back to a find, since your log is in the cache." Apparently, this owner took responsibility for not catching more than two dozen physical entries not matching up on line, and thought the doppleganger was at the same coordinates and an almost duplicate hide, so allowed credit for all the finders of the doppleganger. Pretty thoughtful owner. Yes, I changed my entry online back to a find. I intend to someday get this one again, but it is over 1300 miles away, so it may take a while (no, I will not take a second "find"). In this case, the action of a cacher out there impacted over two dozen other cachers and the owner. Again, I could care a less what folks do with their own stats (unless it is a bogus entry on one of my caches, in that case I abide by the guidelines and enforce proper on-line logging), but am adamantly against their actions impacting others. The person who placed the second one may have done so with good intentions (they obviously took pains to make it look like it was "the" cache), but even good intentions can really screw things up. The only instance I would replace a cache is if the owner was with me (I do not believe in a telephone hide, since I agree with another poster in that then it would be "mine") or if I was cache-sitting while someone was out of town.

I can't wait until then! In the meantime, I can kick puppies. Oh, I suspected the reviewers were evil. Now I have proof.

I'm not sure what you mean, if I list it, it'll be with a new name, so the archived records will still show her as the original and final owner of the old listing. Perhaps I am shooting in the dark, since I have no idea what happens when an archived cache gets unarchived and placed under new ownership, then that cache is linked to the new owner, not to the original. One could easily not edit the name to indicate the first owner, or include something like "Originally placed by XXXX, now maintained by jimmyreno." My guess would be that the placed cache stat would drop off her account if the cache was re-rolled to yours. In this case, the listing has been "removed" from her. Again, I am guessing, so I suppose it would be nice for one of our resident reviewers or admins to highlight who the cache is linked to when it changes ownership. Also, thanks Lep. Making the distinction between the web listing and the actual remains of the cache is exactly what I was doing in my first post. In my opinion, she has given up "ownership" of the trash she left behind in the formal cache (unless the original cache is located on her private property), but ownership of the listing is a different matter. Hence, my suggestion, which is a quick and easy work-around of the situation. Even on the new listing I suggested, the owner could reflect the "date placed" as the original's, so the only discernable difference between the original and the second would be the "II" included in the name, and the owner. Edit: Added "unless the original cache is located on her private property."

I agree with Mopar in that the original hider "owns" the listing, and if she has not agreed to give it up, then, well, do not take it. However, she has left the cache as geotrash. I see no harm in re-rolling the cache container and contents into a new listing with an owner who maintains the cache. Assuming the cache is still within the guidelines, re-list it with the same name as before and tack on a II (e.g. "Carpe Cache" becomes "Carpe Cache II"). You could even link to the old listing from the new, providing continuity and history to the cache. At the same time, you have not "stolen" the cache listing from the previous owner. Problems solved.

It would take me a while to figure out the math, since at first I would be on a head hunt for whoever the heck unsafely dropped a wrench out of my helicopter!!! Then, perhaps, I would get to the math. Like someone else stated, it would not be on my immediate short list to grab a FTF, but as the other caches in my area got completed, I would get to it eventually. Sheesh, and to think some folks think my puzzle caches are "hard."

My numbers look like the last two folks on this thread, and the scary thing is I have only been doing this geocaching thing for little over a year! 4 of first 10 archived. 4 of second 10 archived. 2 of third 10 archived. Ack! 4 of my 6 "milestones" archived. So much for memorable revists.

"Cool" is a tough one. I have top 10 favorites, and a list of the unique caches I have encountered. Both lists could be in the "cool" category... Bookmarks are a PM's friend. Here is my list of unique caches that I have encountered. Here is my top 10 list. I wonder if this nice topic would not be better in the Geocaching Topics forum...

I think the crushing and dismayed response to your situation would indicate to land managers/owners the community's desire to tread lightly and properly utilize the land. If I was a land manager, I would be quite impressed reading this thread. I would be impressed with: 1) The overall community's assessment that obeying by guidelines, signs, and even laws is necessary in utilizing the land; 2) The geocaching community knowledge of rules, regulations, and where to find them on the web demonstrated through the numerous links in this thread; 3) The quick recognition of the OP (Mule) in owning up to actions, and a statement along the lines of "gee, I will not be doing THAT again." 4) The overall respect for land the geocaching community generally embodies.

Well, I think the definitive answer to that question is "no, that will not be held against you." Here is an example. Member joined on 06 Nov 05, placed cache 07 Nov 05, cache approved 08 Nov 05. Number of caches found by cache owner: 0.

Greedy, Spartacus. Very greedy. Sparta-who?