Shoebox

If you can't maintian it, you should find a place closer to home. Another alternative would be to contact a geocacher in that area and ask them to maintain it for you or perhaps take it over once you place it. But ask first.

I came across ULEAD Photo Explorer, which has a freeware of its 6.0 version. I was looking mostly for a quick way to flip my photo upright but it also includes a function that allows you to crop the photo down to a more manageable size. Take a look at: http://www.ulead.com/pex/freeware.htm

Leprechaun - I think you need to get back on decaff!

You're right, I just couldn't think of the proper phrasing. Thanks.

This comes up a lot when you first use a GPS. The long/lat comes in 3 different formats. What you are looking at is D.DDDD (degree and fractions of degree). Geocaching uses D M.MMMMM (degree/minutes and fractions of minutes) and what you are used to looking at would be d m s (degree/minutes/seconds). Your GPS should be able to change the format under one of it's settings. If you want to convert it manually here is a site that will help you change it. http://neilm.com/whitejeep/convert.mv

You can tell when the weather is bad - simple messages tend to go off the deep end. All will be better when Spring gets here (and it can't come too soon!). [This message was edited by Shoebox on February 28, 2003 at 07:27 AM.]

My 14 year old daughter and I got off to a good start a year ago but all I get now is "But dad, I made plans to see my friends today!". That's why I'm stuck at 40 finds. I guess I'll have to give up caching only when she is free and cache on my own soon. Bummer.

Thought I'd bump this thread back up to the top so it isn't forgotten. Spring (and maybe another picnic) will get here eventually (I hope!).

Which cache was it? I just wanted to take a peak at it. Thanks.

If you have $10,000 to play with, put $30 in a cache and go feed a hungry neighborhood or small county!

"Wish I'd brought my reading glasses!" Shoebox.

Our outings are never very long but when we do manage to get out, we always manage to stop at a 7-11 type mini store and load up on cokes, grape drinks and a bunch of candy bars for quick energy later on the trip. If we get hungry enough to eat a meal my daughter will be tired and ready to head home anyway. Shoebox.

Also remember that the article you are reading was written by a "reporter", not someone from the city or a geocacher. Reporters quite often don't understand what they are talking about and get the details wrong. My other hobby is astronomy and it kills me to read articles about our club. They are always full of errors and misstated concepts. Shoebox.

Pennsylvania State Parks are working on something like that and so far I find it encouraging. Unlike the National Parks, they are trying to find a way to allow caching and still reducing the impact to the parks. The permit will let them know where you intend to place a cache and allow them to keep you out of sensitive area or some of the more dangerous locations. And they are talking about a two-year limit, which will require you to move or archive the cache so the area can recover. Imagine how terrific it would be if the National Parks were so reasonable. Shoebox. [This message was edited by Shoebox on February 14, 2003 at 01:15 PM.]

I smell a troll - fakacount has no finds, no hides and only that one e-mail to his credit.

I always thought the "no warning" spoiler pictures were the worst. I love looking at the attached pictures and sometimes find myself looking at a cache sitting in its hiding place, showing everything. That drives me crazy! If its a newbie I send them a polite note suggesting they put a "spoiler" note in the description so people can avoid looking at the picture if you haven't found the cache yet. That usually works. Shoebox.

I felt less like a newbie when I found myself answering more questions then asking them. It will come in time and it won't matter how many caches you have found or if you have ever hidden a single cache. You will find yourself helping someone else and will suddenly be viewing them as the newbie. Shoebox.

I checked the Travel Channel schedule and it also lists the Worlds Best Lost Treasures on Feb. 2 at 7:00 PM (ET). I don't know if it's the same exact program but it likely is. Channels like that tends to repeat programs quite a bit. In any case, I missed the program you are talking about so I'm going to check it out on the 2nd just in case it's the one talking about geocaching. Shoebox.

This is a little off topic but if you wanted to see some of the brighter satellites as they pass over your locatoin, take a look at: www.heavens-above.com Pick a location close to you from the data base and you can bring up a schedule of all sorts of satellites, space stations and space junk. The space station in particular is getting quite bright lately as they keep adding parts to it. Shoebox. ps: I just heard that the heavens-above computers have had some trouble over the last few days. If you can't reach the web site, try it another day. [This message was edited by Shoebox on January 29, 2003 at 07:46 PM.]

I saved links to four programs that seemed interesting. Two are logs (one mentioned above I think), one GeoClippings to put the cache information into the visor rather than printing everything (I haven't tried it yet) and a hint decoder program (my favorite - I hate decoding in the field). http://homepage.floodcity.net/users/bumpski/geocachelogbook.htm http://vip.hyperusa.com/~dougs/geocachingdb/geocachingdb.htm http://home.earthlink.net/~rschoolf/geoclipping.htm http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?prodID=29696 Shoebox

If you would like to take a look at the past two Western Pa geocache picnics, take a look at GC4B76 and GC909D. I went to the first one and had a great time meeting a lot of the local cachers. Wish I could have made the second and expect we will be having another soon. Shoebox.

Perhaps you could bring something positive out of this. Post a "did not find" post on this cache and explain that other caches "must" be able to identify the trees to get credit and will be rejected if they can't. You can save other cachers the waste of time that you encountered and perhaps this would make the cache owner reconsider the requirements or clarify the description. Shoebox.

On the other hand, if a cache is under water in the middle of a lake and requires a boat and I don't have a boat, can I claim a find by driving all the way to the lake and standing on the shore? Can I claim a find if I stand in front of a web cam but I don't know someone to take the picture? Would I try a multi cache on a long bike trail if I didn't have a bike? Not every cache if good for everybody. There are several that I know I will be skipping because I am not interested in them or not able to complete. The one with the tree identification sounds like one I might have passed on. Shoebox.

I used to print in advance to use them if I get stuck but found it hard to not peek. So now I put all the hints from the caches I hope to go to soon in my PDA and picked up the decoding program. Now if I get stuck I'll have the PDA decode it for me and I don't have to sit there with pen and paper decoding it while the bugs have me for lunch. Shoebox.

This one is easy for me! My favorite geocache gadget is my 14-year-old daughter of course! She can read the printed cache pages and can decode the hints (so I don't have to find the reading glasses), can set the GPS and mark our starting location so we can find my way back (the GPS confuses me sometimes), she can climb those steeper banks when we are in the final search (my knees are going), can climb under those nasty bushes (the ones where I'd get stuck), can fill out the log (I can't spell) and can carry the back pack when we carry too much stuff. All and all she is the best gadget I have and don't cache without her. Shoebox.