1trueamerican

thank you and thank you to my topo.com...i used topozone for everything from work to play....and found it to be the easiest...looking forward to supporting mytopo now...i agree that mytopo should be linked instead of topozone. my only complaints are there are no cross at the location and when you go to print it does not give you the coords printed on the map... but i really appreciate the free service... mike

is there another free site where one can put in the coords and print out a topo map? topozone now appears to be a pay for site...(trails.com?) topozone was great beacause the map also printed out with a crosshatch and the coords at the bottem. thanks for any help. mike

just looking for some ideas for auto gps units for under $500. posting this while searching the web. anyone have some pro's and cons or thoughts on decent models...i do own a hand held but very basic...(garmin etrex) not looking for a lot of bells and whistles...just the basics plus voice and downloadable maps and such... thanks in advance, mike

aka...jaggers let me just say, find or no find, i hate searching for hides in multiflora rose!!!!!i i don't mind passing past it, around it, near it, or even through it.......but there is something evil about a person that hides a cache in it!!!!! (just kidding...sort of... ) mike

i am new to this sport and found my first yjtb last month...i was nervous at first about taking it but was able to figure the protocol out fairly easily. when i moved the tb to another site...with pictures....it was taken and not logged....i still feel guilty about this, but know that i did everything right. i am now holding a white jeep travel bug that i picked up last week....will be moving along this week when i find a good site to move it to....i am printing out the "this is no ordinary geocaching trading item! " sheet and will place it in a baggie when i place it....hope this will keep things moving but now that i am reading about the dissapearing jeeps, i'm getting bummed out...well, hope to have better luck with this one... mike

sorry all i posted this in the northeast where it belongs and asked the mods to delete this one....my apologies mike

i'm from the sw pa area and wondering if someone can lead me to some more remote hikes and caches...i usually have an hour or 2 to kill during the day and am not looking for all day affairs...mostly in the allegheny, beaver county area but will make it to surrounding counties or anyplace that is interesting...just more remote hikes....thanks for any input... mike ps a couple that i did and found are blue 285, clifftop #1, wildwood critters I & robin hill cache...1 that i didn't find was carpenter house.....all nice, short hikes and didn't run into a lot of people..

i'm from the sw pa area and wondering if someone can lead me to some more remote hikes and caches...i usually have an hour or 2 to kill during the day and am not looking for all day affairs...mostly in the allegheny, beaver county area but will make it to surrounding counties or anyplace that is interesting...just more remote hikes....thanks for any input... mike ps a couple that i did and found are blue 285, clifftop #1, wildwood critters I & robin hill cache...1 that i didn't find was carpenter house.....all nice hikes and didn't run into a lot of people..

Hey there 1trueamerican! I believe you did the Robin Hill Cache just after us, so welcome to Geocaching in SWPA! Although I'm not a prolific poster, I do know the lore behind the hamster references. It seems my friend Tonsil had once non-chalantly mentioned that he had been placing live hamsters in caches in the area. As can be expected, his brand of sarcasm wasn't apparent to some, and thoughts of calling PETA ensued. Lep can perhaps explain it better, as I'm sure he was more witness to the mayhem...but there be your origins of hamsteresque swag. Now clams, I find intriguing. Especially if they are breaking into hydrocaches. Pesky critters. yeah...just learning this geocaching thing...finally found the robin hill cache... ...i just needed to see how somethings were hidden...i have had a gpsr for work for 2 yrs....learned more about the equipment in 1 month than i did the past 2 yrs... will be taking my son, the mattman, with me on some of these...trying to teach him about the outdoors and such... what is that you use for the logbook? a stamp with green ink? mike

newbie here...i just found 2 last night and put a roll of the new buffalo nickles in each...i to am trying hard to think of good, usefull items to place...but thought this would be a good start until i stock up on tools and such. oh yeah...i was waiting for an explanation of the hamster and raw clams... mike

thanks...i seem to be able to navigate to the areas ok....it's seeing how these caches are hidden that is now starting to make things a little easier... keystone approver...i live real close to the montour trail off hassam and was able to run down to it when i had an hour free time...i also found the one in bell acres today...the turkey foot creek cache the montour trail is in pretty good shape from below the old brothers grimm bar to the coraopolis sportsmans club...columbia gas just fixed the access at hassam rd... couple of pics from ivan... thanks again for the help... mike

thanks all for the help...found my first one yesterday..off the forest grove trail...i now see that a good walking stick for poking around logs and rocks would be a good idea...warm day...was watching for snakes!!! thanks for everyones help and will be posting more as i go.. mike

2nd time out...i was looking in trunks...inside fallen trees...will try again next week...can't believe i can't see it...it is fun though...will be better when i find a few... mike

ok..need a little help getting started....last week, i thought i would give this a try. i work in the outdoors, have a gps unit available.. tried a local cache..(robin hill park in moon twp, pa.) twice... 1st time i had the gps set at nad27 conus...(we use it for work) tried to find the cache but no luck.. ...went home, read more on this geocaching thing and realized that i may have to reset my gps to wgs84. went back...still couldn't find it... so now....a couple of questions...remember...i am new to this and haven't completely figured out this navigation thing yet...thats why i am trying parks with well defined trails... i looked in the faq and couldn't find all my answers... 1.both times into the park...i was led to what appeared to be good cache sites...large blowdowns with plenty of branches and such...close to each other but on different sides of the trail... i couldn't find anything...now this very easily could be me and maybe i just didn't find it....but i keep thinking that maybe i put the points in wrong...double checked...ok 2.how do you not look like you are looking for something!!! 3. is it best to use the map page to find the cache or the navigation page....i find myself watching the map page...i guess it's the instant gratification of updates... 4. i am using a green venture...mind you i am still learning about this instrument, and i am sure we will figure it out...but want to learn before starting to take my 8 yr old son with me.... thanks so much in advance...i am kind of busy so i may not be back to check forum until later so keep the advice coming to this newbie...can't wait to find my first. mike