Borst68

I have a small collection of beaver-chewed walking sticks myself. I love the chewed end, although it could be dangerous in case of a fall. I have only decorated mine by woodburning the river and the date I found it on, and drilling a hole for a lanyard. Curious why you seem concerned about taking sticks from an active beaver dam. What is wrong with taking them from an active dam? The beavers are too busy to replace a missing stick? In NY state is illegal to disturb a beaver dam.

I thought the ET power trail got archived earlier this year?

FWIW, Mine are accurate.

I like cheeseballs! Certainly PTs are not for everyone. I have never done one. There is a micro power trail near me on a bike trail that I may try some day. Even at 30 caches, it would almost double my most prolific day. PTs don't really appeal to me but I probably should try one before I totally write the genre off. Maybe a bicycle PT would be more fun for me. IMO, much of it depends on your view of "numbers". If numbers are very important to you, PTs become much more palatable. If you enjoy long hikes, scenic journeys, puzzles or multis, numbers are probably less important to you. Thus, a PT is probably not how you wish to spend your time. The best thing about geocaching is that there a multitude of ways to play the game. The worst thing about geocaching is that there a multitude of ways to play the game.

I usually tell them I am geocaching. That has worked well for me. I did get busted once by a muggle at one of those free local newspaper boxes. The muggle thought I was the guy that stocked the box so I just rolled with it. I didn't lie, I just let him believe what he wanted to believe.

seems that this app at least has the blessing of the Frog. I just Dl'd the trial version for my BB Storm. Sorry I can't answer your question.

Absolutely!

Many people do this. There is nothing wrong. Wear you tag to an event and you will be surprised at the number of people eager to discover you.

Nothing. That is often the point. Some puzzles require to get information in the field often from signs or by counting items at the posted coords. Many puzzles require you to research, solve puzzles or complete tasks before going out. While I could solve a Sudoku puzzle anywhere, there is no need to do so at the posted coords. Many puzzles will even say that the posted coords are bogus. Take for instance GC18ZN0. The posted coords put you in the middle of Lake Hollingsworth. The cache isn't there but if you solve the puzzle, you will find it is within a mile or so.

Seriously? Figured this one out in under 5 minutes. Its not that hard. If you really can't get it, do as others have suggested and contact the CO. Good luck!

I am not exactly sure of the genus but there are some types of bees/wasps that build nests in the ground. Stepping on their "home" can often trigger a defensive/violent reaction from them. My dad once got stung by 10-15 when he disturbed their nest while mowing the lawn. No real good prevention method for this other than be aware of your surroundings. ETA: Yellowjackets.. They often build nests underground.

Do some of each and decide what YOU like. I don't know you so I don't know what type of hide you would enjoy the most. There is a great diversity of hides in any given area. Part of the fun of geocaching is finding out what you want to seek. Just because I think a certain type of cache or a certain area is awesome doesn't mean you will or should like it. Enjoy!

Looks like you had a great time and visited some scenic places in Europe!

I have found 5 letter boxes this year. Four of which I stumbled upon while caching. It happens all the time. What's comical is when people sign the LB log and think that they found the geocache. Absence of a stamp is a dead give away.

Congrats!

But those were all on different days. I saw someone who posted found logs in the Congo, Trinidad, Fiji, Afghanistan, several countries in Europe and Georgia, USA all on the same day! Needless to say the Frog deleted their logs for this epic caching day.

Yes, I have crossed the US/Can border many times for various reasons, with and without children. Birth certificate will work for kids. Adults need Passport or Enhanced Drivers License. (Enhanced Drivers License is available usually to people who live in border areas.) One note of caution, If you cross the border with your kids but without your spouse, be prepared for a hassle. Bring a letter from your spouse (or the kids biological parent if you have remarried) stating it is ok for you to cross the border with the kids. My wife once crossed the border with our two girls but without me. The border agent threatened to detain the children! Fortunately he let her go. At the border, just tell them you are sightseeing. You can tell them you plan on hiking some of the gorge trails (although it would be good to have a map of the trails you are planning on using).

Accuracy of any GPSr is based on many things. If you are in a dense forest with lots of tree cover, your accuracy will suffer due to the leaves. Visit that same area in the fall when the leaves are down and your accuracy should be much better. If you are at the bottom of a steep, narrow canyon or ravine, the GPS signal can be blocked by the terrain. Less satellites means worse accuracy. Certainly there are other factors (clouds, as mentioned above) that effect accuracy.

It depends. If you want people to find it, go with the traditional. Many "numbers" cachers and noobs will avoid multis. If you want to keep traffic down or appeal to cachers who appreciate the journey more than the smiley, multi is the way to go. Truly there is no right answer here. I feel you should hide what you like to find. If you hate multis, don't place one. If you enjoy a well thought out multi that takes a cacher on an interesting trip, by all means place one.

I know some very good, experienced cachers that don't log most of their finds online. Oh, wait... I don't agree with you. guess I can't join the discussion.

Only if the CO fails to mention these in the description or attributes. If such obstacles are listed, then game on. I prefer the ones in mud, swamp and mosquito infested areas. I enjoy the challenge, the hike and often the scenery. Where I live, poison ivy is common everywhere there is an absence of asphalt. I really dislike the LPCs. I only grab those if I happen to be at that strip mall to patronize one of the businesses. What makes a bad cache? Bad location and no maintenance are the two biggies in my book.

I found one like that in California that just used a PVC pipe attached to a metal pole. Of course, it didn't tell you which direction you had to look through, and there was a decoy cache if you picked the wrong end. It was placed as a traditional cache. Apparently this type of hide is quite common. GC2CG44 is the similar. Most of the instructions are in the hint.

I have two daughters, ages 13 and 10. The teenager will have nothing to do with caching but is more about the age. She loves the outdoors and forests so someday she will come around. The 10 year old never wants to cache but she has a blast when we make her go. The last time we all went caching we had a great time. We were doing a 4-part multi in some small caves/crevices that I knew I wouldn't fit. That's why the girls HAD to go. They got totally covered in dirt and had the best time.

Caching is what you make of it. Are you bothered by people who are passionate about their hobbies? Are you annoyed by those with strong opinions? If the answer is yes to these questions, caching may not be for you. You can also count out most other hobbies too. Every hobby has its people who have been doing it forever, know it all and aren't afraid to share that. The nice thing about caching is that it doesn't have to be that way. If you are bothered by people like that, you can ignore them. You don't HAVE to go to events and mingle with others. You can grab the LPCs or the ammo cans deep in the forest by yourself, with your best friend, with your spouse/SO or with your dog. The social aspect is not a mandatory aspect of the game.

I have done one where the QR code is optional. It was a multi with a QR at stage 1. If you can read the QR, you get the coords to the final. If you can't, there are written coords for a stage 2. Coords for the final can be found at stage 2. Thus, if you can read the QR code, you get to skip stage 2 and go right to the final.