geologyrox

I've been working on a route from Florida to Taos, NM for a trip this summer. We definately want to include a hike at Guadalupe National Park in Texas, and then it looks like we'll be heading up 285 (through Roswell) to Taos. We'd like to camp somewhere between Guadalupe and Roswell after the hike. We are sort of partial to BLM land (them being free or at least pretty cheap) but if there is something really pretty to wake up to, or a worthwhile short hike, or something, we'd stay anywhere. We want to be to Taos by 3:00 or so the morning we leave the campground, and we'll likely be dog tired after the hike, so the Pecos River Corridor Recreation Area sounds perfect, and puts us about 400 miles down from Taos along 285. We're heading west, so early mornings are always easy for the first few days =) We are really hoping to be bright eyed for another early sunrise in BLM land this year - but there are no reviews to be found, and the books I'm anxiously waiting for haven't arrived yet. Has anyone stayed here? are there any particularly nice places to camp in these 6000 acres? Would I be able to find an even better sunrise if I traveled a little farther towards Roswell? Valley of Fires sounds cool (we are geologists) but is sort of off the track and an awful long way to go after hiking. Anyways, sorry to turn that into a novel, but I'm seeking help - and it only just occurred to me that geocachers would be the people to ask =)

yeah, their forumcame up quickly when i started searching on streetpilot. to tell you the truth, i never knew anything like this was available. my husband is a garmin dealer (aviation) and i was seriously going to pay $3000 to get the factory nav system. ::is ashamed:: actually, i rather like the screen size of the 2720, the 7500 (with its dead reckoning!) just seems massive, though they say it's really the same size. we shall see what my wallet says in a couple of months. and you are right about the pricing of the 2730,i hadn't realized that the price at amazon is just list until it's actually available - we might well see it for $100ish more,which i probably *could* be convinced to upgrade for. the prius can only display 10 characters of a song name - if this is better integrated, i make out like a bandit =)

oh boy. 1200 dollars, nice display, traffic/weather info, mp3 player, AND a POI loader that will have the system alert me if i'mwithin x distance of a geocache? i'm in trouble =) i think i may end up saving that 1800 towards XM payments =P still looking, though - someone mentioned a quest as a pretty inexpensive, but very useful nav unit EDIT: uhoh - evenworse: the 2720 does traffic for my area, and the XM doesnt. if i give up the mp3 player, i save $400. i give it two weeks before my husband and i have these for our cars. sometimes my wallet hates me being a geek

thanks guys - just what i was looking for. i would not really consider using a laptop, just because i canbuild a small computer with an external LCD screen for so much less. theft isn't really an issue, though - i live in podunk, florida. a lot of your complaints about laptops are valid, though - i don't know what i could work the bootup sequence down to, i'm sure it'd be longer than the startup for a dedicated unit. i rather like the computer idea, though, since then i can keep my extensive music collection at my fingertips. i also know that i can make the nav sound output 'override' the music output, which is something i'll otherwise lose by vetoing the factory nav. that being said, i would *love* to be able to use nav when i'm in another car - and thats just plain not feasible with a mutant. like i said, i'm not terribly worried about theft, but i also don't leave my gps on my seat beside my cell phone and my tungsten - i don't want a unit that really sceams 'i'm portable! take me!' thanks again ::off to look up the streetpilots::

big yay for me, i'm getting a new car (a prius!) in January. i was wondering if there is a cheaper GPS/mapping/etc option than purchasing the NAV with the car ($3k upgrade!) As far as I can tell, I have a lot of options. First, I could buy the Prius nav system. it includes a few other nifties for the car, including voice operation for the nav. I am not certain there is any way to directly import a list of coordinates - and if i had to enter in each pair, i'd regret that $3k every time i did it. Even if i don't get the nav package, the car has a lcd screen that can be tapped into with (i think) s-video. I am decent with computers, and could build a nice underseat unit with expensive mappingsoftware, either being outputted to the car screen, or another LCD screen that I have (intended for Playstation use) Don't know what kind of GPS i would want for hooking up to this computer. i have a geko 201 and a legend. i think i could make use of the TomTom type units, as i assume i could hook up a laptop and inport waypoints. if thats not possible, i run into the same problem as with the stock nav. I could buy one of garmins all in one products - but i know very little about them. i really would love some input from people who might know what software to use if i build my pc, or have great info about an aftermarket nav unit, or even think that the stock unit is just so built into the car that i'd be sad not to have it. i just know i can do this for less than 3k!

thanks! all of the combinations i tried were 'on' a route, instead of 'along' a route. Thanks again =)

i also use rechargables - i have many, many battery operated devices i use in the field - my GPS, my palm pilot, my compass, my flashlight, my digital camera, my cd player, my portable speakers... with the exception of my compass, they all take AA or AAA batteries. I bought a cheap recharger and 12 of each type of battery off of batteryspace, and I love it. it lets me have a few extra of each type, and i can recharge 4 at a time. i've never had enough batteries die in one day that i couldnt just use my extras till i got back to the vans. i really think i saved a small fortune just on my last (7 day) trip, and I'll continue to do so (6 week) trip

I remember in my search for information on buying my GPS, I ran across a post that said one of the mapping programs had the capability to have you key in a route you are taking (Say, Florida to New York) and also allow you to import all the geocache waypoints, and make a list of just those that are within x miles from your route. I may have made this up because I want it so badly! If it exists though, I'd love to know what program I'm looking for. We have a Geko 201 and an eTrex legend - I'd love for the software to be installable to the eTrex, and the list of 'nearby' waypoints needs to be uploadable to both the geko and the legend. I will go back to reading through the posts in the forum in the hopes of finding that message, but if you can help me in the meantime, thanks!

LOL - i'd travel for that =P

I am going on a couple long distance trips this summer - one a geology field camp where we will be driving from Florida out to New Mexico and then touring the national parks out west. Then we drive back home, where i get married and go off to amsterdam, london, and sri lanka, before going back home. i have seen many travelbugs that want to travel, but i'm not sure what the ettiquite is. Should I go on a TB hunting expedition right before I leave, and pick up bunches of them? I'm happy to take pictures with them along the way, and drop them off as I get to a place i think will be useful to their mission. I just don't want to 'monopolize' the bugs. I did read about someone taking 15 bugs in a suitcase and customs not blinking an eye, so it can't be totally taboo, but i just want to make sure it's not frowned upon. Thanks!

lol, i was checking out the site and the designs, and i couldnt remember why the site looked so familiar. LOL - it's the site that NORML uses too =) i bought a shirt from them last week

i am not religious - actually, i'm almost anti-religious because i've had to cross picket lines to get to the geology building. but i would not have any problem whatsoever with seeing a religious item in a cache. it's a trade - you aren't locking anyone else into taking it, not if they don't want it. trade what you like!

dude, that is just plain scary! no more sunbathing in the backyard for me

i was wondering how i would go about finding a caching buddy. I just graduated college, and would really, really like to have a life. as it stands right now, the only person i know in this city is my fiance. he works long hours, and while he'll probably go on the occasional hunt with me, he can't/won't be my regular partner. i am leery of caching alone, as i am less interested in urban caches, and very, very interested in caches that require hiking to the middle of nowhere. sadly, i am a tiny 21 year old female, and don't feel comfortable treking about in the florida woods all by my lonesome. I've tried the NEFlorida geocaching forums, and am thinking about attending one of their upcoming events, but i'd really like to find someone local. prefferably someone new to caching, so i don't feel like i'm slowingthem down how about you guys? do you do hiking caches with a buddy? should i not be worried about ti anyways? how did you find the people you cache with? ::sigh:: bring antisocial to boot is unhelpful too =P

i bought the geko, because it was about $40 cheaper for me, but if i was seriously considering between the two, i'd take the legend hands down - as i understand it, it does everything the geko does, plus has better battery life, the pc cable, and mapping

i bought a geko 201 last week for $90 shipped. It has not arrived yet (monday! =P) but I got nervous about what I had bought and posted over in the GPS forum, and found out that i had gotten a decent deal. it looks like if you need just a very, very basic unit, you should get the geko 101, because it is the simplest of them all. the next step up seems to be the yellow etrex, then the geko 201, then the legend. the legend was outside of my price range, so i was between the geko 101, geko 201, and the yellow etrex. the geko 101 is as basic as it gets. it is not WAAS enabled, and you cannot hook it up to a computer. if you think you will someday in the not so distant future get another GPS, this would make an excellent backup later, and serve your needs now. if you think you will never, ever have a use for a more complex unit, this is your best bet, as it works, and is cheap. 74.99 on amazon, can get it for 55ish+shipping on eBay - occasionally on sale for $50, from what i hear. the yellow has the best battery life of the three (gekos apparently have really crappy battery life) and does allow you to later purchase a cord to hook up to your computer. it is not waas enabled, but lots of people think thats not so important anyway. it's very small and light, and has some nice tracking, speed, and such features. more expensive than the geko 101, it is 89.29 on amazon, regularly goes for 85ish+shipping on eBay the geko 201 is an ugly looking lime green color, unlike the other two yellow units, for all that it matters. it is WAAS enabled, and you can hook it up to the computer, though it doesn't come with the cable. the battery life is notoriously bad. its normal price is just outside your price range, at 112.09 on amazon, but you can get them on ebay regularly for 80 or 85 plus shipping if you watch and/or snipe the auctions. i wouldn't pay regular price for this, but eBay prices (even for new units) are under $100, and i think, well worth it. if you are willing to step up just a little bit, the legend is on Amazon right now for $131.94. it has all of the features of the geko 201, plus the mapping - which is a really nice feature. i've been warned of the tendency to show up on the wrong side of a river for using a non-mapping unit. i hope this helps a little for people looking at the lowest cost units - i really appreciate the help people gave me, and hope this helps some other folks

let me just thank you al for the helpful information - I was scared that I had made a big mistake, and that I would end up disappointed. I will likely end up upgrading at some point, but I've bought so much stuff for field camp this month (new boots, a GPS, a brunton, thermals, and a boatload of other stuff) that I had to stay as low as possible for this. Sounds like it will meet my needs just fine, and be a great backup unit after I 'move up in the world.' Thanks for all the help you guys have given PS- an even bigger thanks to briansnat, who laid out why noone buys them, and still managed to make me feel good about the choice =)

So I set up a bidgroup to snipe out a Geko 201, since it looks like the cheapest WAAS enabled gps unit that can hook up to a computer should you so desire. I got it for $90 including shipping, for a new in box unit, and thought i did pretty well. So i brag to my fiance. Who informs me that, as a Garmin dealer through his work, he can get Garmin stuff at cost. Blast! Now he tells me! I don't really want him to find out how much the legend costs him, because if its less than 90, i might cry. loudly. so anyways, i come to you all: i am a geology student, and while the departmentwill loan us GPSs, it is easier to buy my own, rather than worry about breaking someone elses, or learning a new unit if i get assigned a different one. i also figured that this way, i'd get to do some caching, something i've been wanting to to for a while i don't have any interest in urban caching - i don't think i need mapping abilities. i just want to get a decently accurate set of readings, and have the ability to hook up to the computer should i ever get the urge to do so - i hear i can puck up a connector for much cheaper than garmin asks. i need a unit that takes replaceable batteries, because i am sometimes in the field for several days without access to power. otherwise, i am flexible. i dont hear a lot of talk on here about the Geko units - any reason why? anyways, i'm just wondering - did i do alright, or should i turn around and eBay it back? Thanks so much!