geospyder

My SteriPEN is a permanent occupant of my pack. Another part of my pack are extra batteries for my flashlight, GPS and SteriPEN. A side suggestion - make a copy of the instructions to keep with your SteriPEN. Nice to have an interpretation of what the various combos of lights mean.

States that Honor Pennsylvania's CCW Permit: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado*, Florida*, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan*, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming * Honors RESIDENTIAL Pennsylvania permits only.

I checked my AZ cache list and see that DEFCON 1 is on it. SAC 570-5 is not because I filtered out all caches on State Trust land. There are so many caches in the area that I'm filtering out caches on State Trust land, terrains greater than 3, caches that have not been found in the last 45 days and caches that the last two logs are DNF. Of those I'm only keeping traditional, virtual, letter box, earthcaches and a few multis and a few puzzles. With all that filtering I'll still have almost a thousand caches to choose from. I'm just blanketing the area so when we do sightseeing we can also snag a few caches. One thing I want to visit is the Titan Missile Museum. My wife wants to see the Biosphere. We both want to see the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and the Kartchner Caverns. Since the caverns are only 30 miles or so from Tombstone we'll also visit there. If you have any pull - try to keep the weather dry. The Jeep loves desert trails but has an aversion to stucky mud

Thanks for the offer but GC1HMFK looks like it may be a bit much for a lazy vacation

"Next to Nothing" is already on our short list.

Just have to drive on the 'other' side of the road

In Hawaii check out Big Trees & The Stump Ones (GCYHRK). It lists a group of seven caches along the Aiea Trail in Kaeiwa Heiau State Recreational Area. Easy hike of about 4 miles or so if I remember right. Be sure to read the descriptions since not all the caches are on the main trail. Another short walk in a beautiful area would be Jungle Ruins (GC15YY6) and Mason Jar (GC357). There is also a nice cluster of walkable urban caches in western Honolulu. Search for Maui Warrior (GC6A60) and check for caches nearby. Since you will be in Waikiki check out 4 guys and a gal (GC5DB9). One last one - don't forget to hike up Diamond Head to get Diamond Quest (GCA4D4).

Hey Wadders - check out the forum link on the Nevada Geocaching Association site. This is where most of the Southern (Las Vegas area) Nevada geocachers hang out. Probably get a faster response and maybe even a private invite for some caching.

GSAK filter is great. Did a search on state trust and ID'd 42 caches in my Arizona trip data base. Checked each one and found two of the 42 it were just informational. The other 40 stated that the cache was on state trust land and a permit was needed. Now my Arizona data base has 40 less caches

Looks like I'll be adding one more thing to the filtering before we leave for Arizona next month

I've been reading the descriptions of random caches in the Tucson area and have run across a number that say they are on "public trust" land and warn you that you need a pass. For the visitor to the area - how does one know they are on public trust land? Are there signs that warn you? How much does a pass cost?

We just found a site this morning called Discover Southern Arizona. The two places you mention are places I want to see. Marga has mentioned the Biosphere 2 Center and we both agree on the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

Minor problem Lynn - the condo is in Oro Valley BTW - we'll be in Vegas the evenings of the 16th and the 24th.

We will be spending a couple days in Oro Valley in mid-February. Any cache and sightseeing recommendations? We'll have a vehicle and like taking short hikes.

Might be old news to some but it was new news to me. Currently you cannot have anything mounted to your windshield in California. As of January 1st, Senate Bill 1567, the GPS Windshield Safety Act, makes it legal to have a GPS mounted on your windshield. BUT, not just anyplace - A portable GPS will only be allowed in a 5-inch square area in the lower corner of the windshield on the driver's side or in a 7-inch square space in the lower windshield corner on the passenger's side.

Sorry to hear the sad news. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Dave's family and friends. I had the privilege of meeting Dave last year when he personally brought back a TB of mine that had been stuck down under for a long time.

Just a quick update - my superglue/duct tape fix worked just great.

I retired my original tracking TB at 130, 496 miles. It was getting way too slow to log. I started another but at just over 2500 miles I changed my mine and deleted all the logs for the second TB and will release it as a regular TB. So much faster to log caches without the extra step of a tracking TB.

Most of the above plus an extra large black garbage bag. Vry light and folds small. Can be used to haul out the empty beer containers that others tend to leave plus it can double as a rain parka if needed

I just repaired one today. It split in half from one end about half way up the pole. This was on the end without the metal. I used super glue, making sure that I didn't glue the cord. After a minute or two checking that it was holding I also wrapped it in three places with good old duct tape. We'll find out how it's going to hold up this weekend.

AZ - you are going to find that the more caches you log your TB into the longer it's going to take to open that TB file. I giving up doing the drop/retrieve thing. I don't have near as many finds as you but around 2500 I could drop the TB and when I went to retrieve it was starting to take up to a minute or more just to open the file. It literally took me almost two full days to log 78 caches from a recent vacation.

I feel like I'm doing a baby walk compared to some of the posted lengths. The most I've done is 8 miles and 7.4 miles. Both were round trips. Hanakapiai Falls May 15 by geospyder (2654 found) Great hike - even if I did slip, slide and land flat on my back. Actually my pack probably saved me. I know my hiking stick stopped me just as my feet reached the water. Now I sport black and blue along with my tan. Sure glad I had a water purifier in my pack. I definitely drank a lot of water on this hike. Coming from the Nevada desert I'm used to heat but not the humidity. Took nothing - left a golden dollar coin. Thanks for the hide. Troop 333 .... Humbug Trail June 24 by geospyder (2654 found) Too hot to try during the day especially with the smoke. Left the tent at 6am this morning. Discovered that I'd left my back pack at home ;-( Threw four water bottles in a plastic bag but again forgot something very essential for this trip as we found out - BUG REPELLENT! Bugs were so thick that our arms were more tired from trying to wave them away than our legs were from the hike. The views would have been beautiful except there was a very heavy haze of smoke from all the fires in the surrounding hills. At the picnic area near the cache the mosquitoes were so thick it was a major chore to dig out the cache and try to sign the log without inhaling a few. To make matters worse - the container is sitting on a huge nest of lady bugs - thousands! Those little buggers bite! While waving our hands like windmills in front of our face to keep the mosquitoes out of eyes, nose, mouth and ears we mis-read the sign and instead of going up hill (note the small twist on the arrow head) we went left. We were too busy trying to keep the mosquitoes off us to notice that the trail was considerably easier. It wasn't until I noticed that the water was one the wrong side and that the poison oak was red instead of green that we discovered that we were on the wrong trail. How far wrong? Exactly one mile! Long story short the 5.4 mile hike became 7.4 miles - BUT WE GOT FTF! Took the Geocaching patch and left a golden dollar coin and probably a pint or more of blood from those winged suckers. Thanks for the great adventure!

Check out the Nevada Geocaching Association. That is where you'll get in contact with the locals down south with a few of us northerners also chiming in.

We just got back from nearly three weeks on the Islands. In Oahu we did a couple of clusters. Check out Big Trees & The Stump Ones (GCYHRK). This is on a great trail that includes seven caches. Beware that the fourth cache, Her Lips Are Sweet Enough To Kiss (GC10QWN), is on a side trail and you'll miss it if you are expecting it on the main trail. The next valley over has two great caches - Jungle Ruins (GC15YY6) and Mason Jar (GC357). If you go for these caches definitely bring the camera! Don't forget to climb Diamond Head. There are a couple caches in that area. In downtown Waikiki check out 4 guys and a gal (GC5DB9). Down by Aloha Tower there is a nice cluster of urban caches - use Two Wars (GCPJRF) as a starting point. On Maui be sure to go up to the Haleakala National Park. Use Haleakala Hubcap (GC76E) as a center point for a small cluster of seven caches along the roads. Many, many more on the island. You will have fun!

Check out this event about 90 miles south of you as the crow flies - GeoWoodstock VI. Maybe not "local" but considering that it is the world's largest Geocaching event you might want to attend.