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Jeep_Dog

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Everything posted by Jeep_Dog

  1. I encountered a cache next to a light pole (if I remember correctly) that looked like a small, oval type electrical box. The cover was hinged, and I knew just from how easily is swung on the screw, and the bottom screw was glued on and moved with the cover, that I had found the cache. I also had this cache that consisted of an outdoor outlet box with a hinged lid cover. Open the cover, and instead of outlets was a bright orange H2O proof match container. This one was fairly obvious due to the cache name, and then my note on the page that it was not kid-friendly was a dead-giveaway on the cache for several cachers. Everyone who visited it enjoyed it, and it had great comments. It required an unexpected amount of maintenance, and my caches will be watched (hopefully) by others for the next year, so I archived it after muggling to be respectful of those who may watch my caches. I do not see a problem with this type of container, as long as it is properly marked or very obvious. It doesn't hurt to put a warning and/or disclaimer on the cache page, either. Again, that can give the cache away, but I'd personally rather loose some "sneaky" points in favor of gaining "safety" points.
  2. Or 12543.496004999999 statute miles. Still off by a little under 10,000 miles, even if you use statute miles, though. Ah, back to geocaching. A Nautical Mile is 1/60th of a degree or one minute of latitude, which is why I use nautical measurements in my GPSr. It gives me a bit more understanding of my distance in relation to a cache coordinates. The article was very nice! I wonder if the hotel sponsored the cache and listed it on GC? I'm too lazy to do a search for caches based on the journalist's coordinates listed in the article. At first I was panicked in the thought of a geocache in the NP. Then I read on, and applauded when he mentioned ending up in a grove of Sequioas not in the Park and not known to many folks. Ah, what a wonderful advertisement for geocaching!
  3. Do not feel stupid. Save that feeling for 5 DNFs on a 1/1 micro cache. Do you want your image in the middle part, with the words (if so, miragee has listed the code for that) or a background image? If in the middle part of the page, perhaps you are having a problem with uploading the file, then getting the url? That is simple, you can upload an image on your cache page. Then click on it, copy the url from your address bar in your browser. Now, use miragee's code up there and add paste the url, but don't forget the ' '. If in the background, there's a special place near the top of the edit page where you can put the url. Read Bon's again. It may take a couple of reads to let it all sink in.
  4. Quick, QUICK! Somebody radio the mothership! We have another convert! Enjoy the hunt, and back very slowly away from the forums, and you will be just fine!
  5. You are correct. There are 5 caches in that region that would take right around 223 road miles to complete. That is close for driving safely, but possible.
  6. Hilarious! (I am very glad my daughter met Moosiegirl before seeing that photo. The poor toddler would never have been the same...)
  7. Something you may want to consider is finding benchmarks. Nearly every airport with a runway has at least one benchmark, and for regional airports and larger the benchmarks are where non-flight types of folks can get to. You'd be the envy of the benchmark hounds, since you can get the ones they cannot get to! Benchmarking does not help your geocaching "stats," but I am not one into that type of nonsense, nor do you appear to be. I have yet to get a cache where I thought "gee, I wish I had been able to fly here." Then again, in a couple of weeks I will hit some caches in the Black Hills where that may change this statement considerably. It may also be fun and refreshing to buzz off to a different region for a different flavor of caches. Golly, I am starting to talk myself into cache flying...
  8. There are quite a number of pilots that geocache. In my area alone, there are at least 3 pilots besides me that are geocachers. From the small bit of logs that I have observed from pilot geocachers, they ..generally speaking!... seemed to be a bit anal retentive about proper coordinates. It must be a pilot thing. There's an Aussie pilot who flies to caches. I'm too lazy to dig up his profile and provide a link. However, I have never even remotely considered marrying flying and caching. You see, I cache for relaxation and as a hobby. Why would it want to merge "work" into the hobby?
  9. Probably a record, and congratulations. (I think I would be more impressed if it was 5 U.S. states west of the Mississippi in five hours....)
  10. Hopefully you did not trade out the stamp, for if you did we would be in for another round of angst from our friends over in letterboxing land...
  11. Ah, Cobra GPSr. It has been mentioned several times, but I will state it again. Their reputation is not very good. I introduced some family into geocaching, and went shopping for a GPSr with them. I was trying to coach them toward an Etrex, but would have nodded to a magellan as well. Loh and behold, one of the places we stopped had a Cobra unit, that usually sells for around $200, for less than $100 (that should have been a clue) and about $10 less than an Etrex. It had some features that the Etrex lacked, such as a magnetic compass, and a couple of other features I do not remember. They were really excited about it, and the price, so that was the one they purchased. We went off, and I was teaching them how to use a GPSr. After 45 minutes, the silly unit had only locked in on 2 satellites, with little hope of finding a third for a position in the forseeable future. I commented that perhaps the extra $10 bucks for an Etrex might be worth the investment, since I was not very impressed with Cobra by that point. So, within an hour and thirty minutes, the Cobra was returned, and an Etrex purchased. Within 5 minutes out of the box and powered up, the faithful yellow was pulling in 6 satellites. The only folks I would recommend a Cobra to are the local FTF hounds if they broke or lost their GPSr. Then again, they would probably know better....
  12. For remote caches in the woods, I'll take a peek at topo maps and now also use google earth. For urban caches, I use the geocaching maps (and sometimes mapquest link) to determine best approach via roads. I generally cache with just coordinates in my GPSr, but a fun filled day of 15+ caches, I download the caches in a .loc file and put them in EasyGPS, and put in road directions in the comments column. I started caching using print outs, then went paperless. I found that I spent more time fiddling with the PDA and maps then just knowing where the coordinates are and searching. Unless I remember the cache size from looking at the cache page, I do not even document that... just a personal technique to make each experience more challenging. Then again, I am not into numbers (evident from my find count), since I value each experience and time spent in the cache (an owner saw fit to take me to the area, so I'll take the time to appreciate the area). Sure, there are parking lot micros out there, but that is pretty darn self-evident when I get close to the coordinates, and it is a quick find anyhow.
  13. IMO, "floods", "storm-surges" and archiving/disabling are all moot. I continue to keep all folks who live in the entire area affected by the hurricane in my prayers. The main reason I think the archiving discussion is moot revolves around the fact as to whom the archive is intended. Well, I would guess this would be for any possible cachers wanting to go geocaching in that region. I am thinking that if anyone can manage to get into the region, the last thing they are thinking about is searching out caches. This rules out the necessity of archiving or disabling said caches. Those in the region are either trying to get out or are relief workers. From the photos I have seen, I doubt that either groups are interested in caching. I admit, after the hurricane I peeked at the caches based upon zip code. I was hoping to find a recent disable or archive... but not for caching reasons. I figured that if a cache owner has the presence of mind to disable or archive their cache, then they are probably alive and relatively fine, and one less geocacher that I had to keep in the "immediate need of prayer" list.
  14. Find a spot that matches a discritpion found in literature. The cache finder needs to determine the source, and use the source to discern the actual location of the cache. An example of one of these is here. You can view the other two in the growing series to see variations on this theme. The series has been very well receieved.
  15. (cough cough) That may only imply said people are prolific creators of angst on the forums. Perhaps check the profiles out of those that have "joined" dates of a year or more would be better advice. Then check the number and/or quality/difficulty of finds.
  16. I use the "official" geocaching.com lanyard. I love it, since I can easily detach the GPSr from the lanyard if required. I usually loop the lanyard through a belt loop, from a loop on my outdoor shirt, around my wrist, or hang it around my neck. I use a Garmin that works best parallel to the ground, so the looping part is necessary. Plus, it is the only thing that is on my body (other than the obvious GPSr, of course) that marks me as a geocacher. My Jeep is marked with a GC sticker and a "got GPS?" sticker, but it usually doesn't go all the way to the caches (sniff sniff).
  17. Generally speaking, these types are "hinged" at the top screw. The bottom is just the head of the srew glued on, allowing the face of the box to "hinge" at the top and get access to the match container (usually) therein. Thus, no screwdriver needed.
  18. Like WH and rev, there is nothing I would do differently. It remains one of my best caches and best received. I used an ammo can, made it a multi to ensure the best approach to the cache would be taken and keep cachers within park boundaries (and get them to the parking lot, to boot), and did not spend too much time once I scouted the area (that is scenic and has a purpose for going there) and then just placed the cache. Perhaps there is just as much to be learned from first caches that owners and cachers are pleased with? Check it out.
  19. Welcome! If you are new, checking out the FAQs listed up at the top of the getting started forum here can be really helpful. In the FAQs, you will find a link (also provided here) to gpsinformation.net that has so much more information than we could type in a day that will most likely answer all your questions. So much to offer, one click away!
  20. How about nominating Jeremy? If he makes the cut for the cover, perhaps you can also provide an interview!
  21. Been there, done that, was signing the logbook one time no less. Whew! I'm not the only one. Happened last week, and went something like this... BOSS: "Just where ARE you?" JD: "Uh.... um... I'm out." At least it was during the designated lunch time (when I don't geocache during lunch, which is more the norm than otherwise, I do not take a lunch. Now the fellow EXPECTS me to be there during lunch. Hence, my recent uptake in caching during lunch...)
  22. Welcome to the fun! Keep at it, you will most likely find it sooner or later. First, did you log the excursion as a "Did not find?" It sounds like the cache is there from your description, but there is a possibility that it is missing, and the owner needs to know. Also, if you log the "DNF," then it would give insight to those attempting to provide helpful information/techniques to view the cache you attempted, which leads me to the next point. If you are a brand new geocacher AND new to utilizing GPS technology, probably a cache with a difficulty rating of 1 is what you need to go after. Anything higher, and you may be encountering a cache completely out of sight, so you are coupling floundering in technological devices with not knowing exactly the types of items that are used for cache containers. Going after a 1 would help minimize one of those flounderings. Be sure to view the recommendations for hunting here. Here's an excerpt, for example, that may help you find that first cache: - When you get close to the Geocache (within 300 feet, which is the length of a football field), make sure to check your GPS unit signal. Sometimes the signal will have an error between 25-200 feet. Don’t concentrate as much on the arrow as the distance decreasing, as you get closer to the site. - For the last 30 feet, use a compass or direct your buddy in the direction of the cache. In some cases we’ve had good luck circling the site with the GPS unit to get a good area to search. - The final 30-100 feet is the hardest. It helps to think like the person who hid the cache. If there are stumps around, investigate around the base. Check for a pile of rocks. Some stashes, especially in people-trafficked areas, are pretty ingeniously hidden, so it helps to know the container they used. Good luck!
  23. A "high-traffic" cache, as you most likely know, can change for an area over time. Since you are a premium member, you could set up a pocket query and preview it, and apply some settings: 1) Selected types: Traditional Cache and Multi-cache selected. 2) Selected container: Regular and Large selected. 1 & 2 will give you caches that can hold a TB. Depending on the TB, Small may work as a selection, too. 3) That (and): Is active and Found in the last 7 days selected. 4) And: Terrain is less than or equal to 2 Difficulty equals 1. 3 & 4 will give you hot new caches and/or TB "hotels." 5) Put in the desired zip, coordinates, or cache ID, and you are cooking. Is this perfect? No, it certainly is not, and you may miss a TB "hotel" or cache that folks keep an eye on for TBs arriving, but just haven't had any in the last 7 days. However, it will get you close to the mark for caches that are most likely to help a TB along in its quest. By the way, I use a PQ similar to this just for fun, to keep awareness of the caches that have been getting lots of finds in the nearby area. This is useful for moving TBs, as you desire, and also helpful with other TBs, such as WJTB, to help a very well-done and/or scenic cache to get it some visitors.
  24. I attempted last weekend (as did a couple of others) a cache that DID have information, and still got the same results you listed. I guess my point is that there are many ways to create a challenging cache that requires multiple visits or a lot of physical/intellectual/emotional stamina to complete the first visit. I agree with another poster's opinion- if you apply your suggested technique, a note to the reviewer would probably be helpful in getting the cache approved. Oh, by the way, be sure to include an encrypted hint that says something like "No clues here, that is the point of the cache."
  25. Well, goll-y... 1) So, an event cache got approved when it should not have been according to the site's guidelines. When I aspire to perfection in all that I do, and my farts smell like roses, then perhaps I will then judge the volunteers who let this event cache pass. Until then, I shall merely shrug at such mistakes, and continue caching. 2) "ditched as soon as scott introduced hiself..." I like the attitude of this one who attended, and if I had stumbled into this event, probably would have done the same thing. I'm presuming "scott" is the Magellan representative. Here, this hapless cacher had two choices given the event was actually an hour long advertisment. First, said cacher could recognize the event for what it was, and exercised his geocacher freedom and departed. Is this not what geocaching is about? If you do not like a cache, DO NOT DO IT! Second, said cacher could recognize the event for what it was, and stayed through the "torture" of a sales pitch. After wasting an hour listening to Magellan plugs (said cacher being a dedicated Garmin fanatic), then proceed to blame geocaching.com for ever placing him in such a precarious situation. This appears to me to be much angst about nada. Then again, I did not attend the ordeal, so who am I to have an opinion with which to inflict upon others in the forums?
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