Mr.BadExample
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Posts
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Posts posted by Mr.BadExample
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Used to be, not anymore. Hiking helped me out.
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Some martial arts dojos and stores have supplies of rattan that makes a good stick. Bamboo tends to dry and crack.
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Closest I've seen is a Rough Rider condom (thankfully still wrapped) in a cache near a "cruising spot" in Branch Brook park. Considering the area I thought it was a cute joke.
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LOL, HarryDolphin... I just posted about an encounter by the Cherry Blossom Cache. Yes, that parking area up there is a cruising spot. When I first parked, guys all got out of their cars to scope me out. I lit a cigar, and walked down the trail, ignoring them. Then when I showed my sister the cache, two druggies followed us, probably thought I was a john or something. Lovely area I live near
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I was showing my sister a local cache in Branch Brook Park, in Belleville NJ on the border of Newark. It's Sammie and Matties Cherry Blossom Cache, on the site. It's in a great spot in a less-travelled section of the park, but be careful finding it.
We went for a walk to it and then took a shortcut back that almost got us in trouble. Two druggies followed us into the woods to the railroad tracks. (I've been around enough of them to know). Now normally I'd think "hey it's just 2 curious people! I'll tell them about geocaching" but when your street sense goes off you know that's not a good idea. They were both bigger than me, and that's kind of scary since I'm not a little guy. They both had that pinned hungry-eyed look. When we got to the tracks I very obviously picked up two railroad spikes and handed one to my sister, and looked back. They turned back after that.
I was very glad I did not have a confrontation with them, and I was cursing myself for taking this shortcut through a "bad" part of the park when I did not need to. Most situations like this can be avoided by common sense, but mine was lacking that day.
Just a reminder to everyone to be careful when you're walking around, distracted by your $200 piece of equipment, that someone might want to bounce a rock off your head and pawn it.
I do not want to spark the "what do you carry..." debate. In NJ CCW is not allowed, however I was carrying a legal length pocketknife that I use at work. Like I said, this is more about being aware when you are caching.
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I took a reflective 9/11 sticker with the flag over the towers.
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There are a few caches on Hilltop Reservation in North Caldwell / Verona NJ, and the Hilltop Preservation Society is sponsoring a cleanup event on April 23rd.
There is currently a battle between a preservation society to stop development:
http://www.hilltopconservancy.org/
It would be a good time to visit and help preserve a great area.
http://www.hilltopconservancy.org/CITOw-05.html
Sorry if this is already posted, I did a few searches for hilltop and Essex, came up blank.
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You're right, I was naming the wrong product- I just want the whole US on a single disc.
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I have a Sportrak Color and the Directroute software. I can't upgrade to an Explorist 600 at this time, and I want the ability to route to street locations and view topographic maps.
I read the reviews over on backpackinggear.org and think Topo USA would be a great product- I've also seen Street Atlas in use on a friend's laptop.
For driving, I think the laptop connection with a GPS works best- you get a bigger view, and voice commands instead of the Hollywood bomb timer beeps.
Directroute works great on my PC, but will not install on my laptop, even with the XP patch. Both use XP Pro SP2. Magellan said they would send me a new CD, and while I'd love a backup copy, I don't think this is going to make it work on the laptop's DVD+RW drive.
So I'm thinking of getting Street Atlas Plus DVD or Topo USA 5 DVD for the laptop.
Downsides to Topo is I can't upload maps to the GPS from it. I guess the real question is, does Topo USA 5 have the street detail that Street Atlas does? Can you get away with just buying Topo USA if you don't care about business phone numbers and other such details?
Or should I just get Street Atlas Plus for the laptop, and Magellan Topo 3D to put Topo maps on my GPS (and sell Directroute).
I'm leaning toward that, but I'd like to hear from long-term users of any of these programs, to know the limitations. The reviews on backpackgear gave a great overview, but it usually takes a month of use or more to find out what a product's strengths and weaknesses really are.
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I have one over on Livejournal.com about geocaching and hiking in NJ.
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Do you know if you'd be able to have maps from both Directroute and Topo 3D loaded on the 500 (one on internal, other on SD?)
I'm trying to talk myself into upgrading from my Sportrak color
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I wear bluejeans, workboots, a short sleeve collared shirt, and a beat-up olive drab Filson coat. Everyone thinks I'm a construction worker. When searching for a micro in a busy park, people asked me when I was going to fix the bridge
Then again at another bridge a guy asked if I was trying to blow it up...
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You could always leave a recipe or a coupon
I think even canned goods don't fool some critters, some will try to chew them open. Same with vacuum sealed bags. Scents get on the outside from their proximity to other foodstuffs. Sometimes you can smell coffee or tea through their sealed bags- you're probably smelling it ON the bag, and if you can smell it, animals can.
It would be cool to leave some business cards of good local restaurants ... especially if it's a long hike to the cache.
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Totally hooked. Did 3 caches (ok... found 2) today in the rainstorm on Pyramid Mountain in NJ. My friend John is a Marine reservist and came along, he's hooked as well. It's a good excuse to go hiking in places I've been already, since there are caches everywhere in this state...
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Hopefully bad eggs/clueless bureaucrats won't make geocaching as unwelcome as metal detecting has become in our parks.
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I love hiking and visiting Revolutionary-Era locations, and geocaching gives me another great excuse to go do this.
thanks Brian, I just downloaded a bunch of waypoints
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If it's peeling off it's probably birch.
The leaves are the best way to identify them. I have a flowchart that helps you ID trees by leaf shape and radiating of leaves on branches, I'll post a link when I find it.
I try to make my sticks out of maple, it's just springy enough. I'm not too picky about looks, but I get compliments on my stick
I just try to pick a sapling or branch that will have a knot at the bottom so it won't splinter, and a knot around chest level for a grip. I let them dry for 1 week, strip the bark, let them dry for another 2 weeks, then whittle it down. Sand it three times with progressively finer blocks- gotten at Home Depot and/or a crafts store- 80, 220, 400 grit, and then it gets a few coats of tung oil, with a 24hour dry time in between. -
For the Canadians, the Kennedy half-dollar is about the size of a twoony.
I'm in the same boat with the charger, my car lighter never worked... I should probably get that fixed. But still, I hike more than I geocache, and for safety purposes you should be able to run this thing longer than 8 hours.
I really like the USB+SD angle, and I love my Sportrak... but extra batteries in your pocket is always reassuring.
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Thanks all!
Brian, I just downloaded your Pyramid Mt area caches, hoping to do them this weekend, even in the crappy weather. I don't mind the rain, and it sure keeps the trails from being crowded!
Been meaning to do Federal Hill for a while- it's part of the reason I bought the GPS- but I'm waiting for a clear day. Bushwhacking in strange territory will be enough fun without a downpour.
I work at Port Newark, it's a pity that it's too dangerous traffic-wise and Port Authority Police chasing you-wise to really put any caches here, though there are some fishing spots that might be safe enough .... we'll see!
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Wow, that is teensy! Thanks for posting the photos.
Dammit, I just bought a Sportrak color (which I like) and now they've got a USB & SD unit. The idea of a 1gb mondo mapload appeals to the completist in me. I wonder with 1 or 2gb if you could load the entire US DirectRoute AND Topo maps...
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Actually I helped on the Bear's Den geocache in Massachusetts, and another near Hadley with a good friend of mine, who gave me the geocaching bug. But yesterday was my first attempt with my own GPS. I hike a lot so I picked up a Sportrak color to manage my backtrack route in case I got offcourse, and figured I ought to see how many caches were in my area (northern NJ). And wow, there's a lot, many in favorite relaxing spots.
First one was the Cemetery Stumper, which had me for a while, because of bad math
Great cache. The next was the Mills Musical Cache at Freak Peak, which was a night hunt. That was fun because with goto on, there's no backtrack, and we had some fun finding the Lenape trail back to the car! Knowing the direction is one thing... bushwhacking at night in the mud is another. And my 6D maglite decided to sputter out. Luckily the 5 year old batteries worked after shuffling them around, or we would have had a real adventure. Thanks to my buddy John and his Marine-trained land nav skills, we made it back quickly.This site is really well designed, I'm going to go premium today. With EasyGPS and this site, geocaching couldn't be easier. I'm hoping to set up a few caches of my own, as hiking in NJ takes you to some remote places- it's always surprising what hideaways this relatively small, rocky state can hold in its peninsular borders.
I just try to pick a sapling or branch that will have a knot at the bottom so it won't splinter, and a knot around chest level for a grip. I let them dry for 1 week, strip the bark, let them dry for another 2 weeks, then whittle it down. Sand it three times with progressively finer blocks- gotten at Home Depot and/or a crafts store- 80, 220, 400 grit, and then it gets a few coats of tung oil, with a 24hour dry time in between.
Pictures - Cool Cache Containers (CCC's)
in General geocaching topics
Posted
I know of one that is disguised as a hornet's nest, with fake hornets and everything.