boda

edited due to slow fingers causing time to pass by

Caching in the city - 1 Margarita Caching in the mountains - 2 Margaritas Caching in the hot dessert - 3 Margaritas Caching - with or without margaritas - priceless

(old guy scratching beard again - yes, I'll take care of that problem later) I respect everyone's opinion here. I really feel that there is a passion for a sport we love. But again, and I say this very respectfully, what is the problem? In this thread and others, I've seen opinions and I've seen likes and dislikes. They are interesting and well stated, but opinions and preferences are often personal problems, not real problems. I guess that the second cache placed (which doubled the total caches in the world) could be considered spew. LOL I'm just having fun caching. Some finds are more fun than others. None have been a problem.

I've read all the posts here and in other similar threaded topics. I just have one question: (picture old guy scratching beard) What is the problem? I'm far from being stupid, and I'm old enough to know better, but I still don't see a problem.

I placed 7 caches up a nearby hill/mountain last January. I smelled smoke yesterday and ran out of my office to look because that area was devastated by the So California fires 2 years ago. All were safe. Then I get pictures my son took of the fires you are referring to, along with news updates. I will be visiting them at the end of this month if our plans work out. I expect this mess to be cleared up and to have an uneventful caching experience. I really do wish you the best and I am looking forward to caching in the area. I hope I get a chance to see that your "curse" has been broken.

All good advice so far and it seems you are getting up and running. I'm not familiar with your model, but mine has a lot of bells and whistles. When I was new, I was also confused. But like anything else, just start with the stuff that is basic and then get into the more complex things (I know it all seems complex). Then you can slowly expand your capabilities. You need to turn it on, you need to enter waypoints, you need to find out how to point to the cache. Then you can work on the rest. Let's face it, if I can do it, I'm sure you can too. Good luck and welcome.

Yes and no. I saw it and said, "Break time." Back in 15 minutes.

Just a couple of thoughts: Place the cache. Some people won't come to it because of the walk/parking etc. It's their loss. Those that will seek it will have a nice reward. I enjoyed the comments and story by Vinny and Sue Team (long quote here); but I have some very respectful comments. I appreciate the efforts you put into the caches you described; but I am an adult. We cachers aren't perfect but most of us try. Sometimes we get tickets when we goof up. That's part of being an adult. If the cache is a long hike, the number of cachers seeking it will be rather small and so will the risk of someone parking illegally. It is the cache owner's responsilbity to carefully explain this, however. Again, I'm not flaming; I do respect your ideas and really like your concern for fellow cachers and the sport. As stated, a multi would also help if the terrain supports it. But, why not a couple of other caches. I own a series of caches up a mountain side nearby and cached a different series this weekend where there originally was only one cache at the top. Now there are nine more on the way up to each. Some challenging, some less so; but all with terrific views and wildlife experiences. Because they are hiking caches, many bypass them; but some are going up the hills because there are ten and not one. Just a thought.

Don't cache blind all that much, but we often (always) take the GPSr with us when we travel on short trips. I have some of the caches along major nearby highways in the GPSr. We just watch the map display and if a cache pops up, and we have the time, we'll take a blind stab at it. (Lately we've had a PDA with the info available, so we often aren't blind now. I guess that's progress.)

I agree with Briansnat. You can spend a lot of effort and not get much more accuracy in return. I use a GPSr with an averaging feature and do that over time as I plan and develop the cache. The coordinates never vary over 12 feet over time, but they do vary some. Cachers have said that the coords were right on. A friend and I set out a series of caches up a long fire road. It is all uphill for 4.5 miles (and downhill all the way back, thank goodness). We didn't want people to get up there and have a difficult time due to bad coords, nor did we want to go up again just to redo them. We used 2 GPSr. We each took readings, compared them, then backed off and came back to check them again. We then went up the mountain to set the next cache. As we came back down, we checked them again for accuracy. We adjusted one cache, and later cachers have had no problems. Good luck.

108. On a long hike, you always remember to waypoint the car as you turn around to return to it. 109. Corollary to 89. When you find that road on the other side of the cache after the long trip up the cliff, your wife will be standing on it with a self-satisfied (and well-earned) smile on her face. 110. If you mention that there are many wonderful things about caching, both large and small; some killjoy will tell you how he or she hates micros and lamp posts and how the ammo can is the only way to go. I may agree, at least in part, but just let it rest for once.

I am planning a trip from So. California to Oregon in a couple of months. I liked Miragee's comments and many of them fit my planning method. I have created bookmark lists for each day of the trip and am using Google Earth to identify caches along the road that I feel we will want to get. It is then easy to add them to the bookmark list for that day. I will run PQs from each bookmark list just before we leave. I, too, will use a laptop to continue updating and refreshing the list. I probably won't have as many total caches listed as Miragee, but trust me, I always list more than I possibly can find. Part of the reason is overconfidence, and the other part is that, the more you have, the more flexible you can be. This way does require a bit less flexibility on route selection, but if you have wi-fi available, you can update as you go along. Have a great trip. Boston can be a fun town.

Welcome, Cache hiders want you to find their caches. It's no fun when no one finds it at all. Some caches are easy to find and you will notice a pattern after awhile and see them as you drive up. Some are designed to be a challenge, however. If you try one and don't find it, log a DNF, move on and come back later when you are more experienced. Like anything in life, the more work you put into it, the better you feel when you succeed. I like to work for my smiley, but the easy ones are fun too. Good luck and follow the advice above; it's all good.

I was FTF on a fence post type of cache. As I replaced it I heard a swissssh-THUNK as the cache slid down the post. Oops. What to do now? I ran home, logged my FTF (of course, I found it and SL) and then warned others to await further developments from the owner. I contacted the owner, went back to the site, took the cap of the post and took it to his house so it could be repaired. To make a long story short, the glue fastening the cache to the cap had failed and I was off the hook (no pun intended). I was very relieved. Stuff happens.

System doesn't need changing. I have DNF'd a cache only to have the next few cachers log a "quick cache and dash.," and vice versa. How can you rate something like that? It is not a competition, nor does it have to be. I don't really care how much anyone else caches and how tough their finds are. I do my own thing. Happy caching to all, have a ball.

Great work. I was wandering around Red Rock Canyon as well and was thinking that it was great to have GPS technology. You brought it to a new level.

First time caching on our own and we went out to find 3 caches. First I entered the wrong coordinates for a micro cache. While searching at the wrong location we found a large cache placed by another cacher. We were really confused because we were new and nothing made sense. Oh well, we signed the log and then went to find a brand new cache. We double checked the coordinates and we searched the area and had no luck. The description in the cache page didn't match the area we were in. Turns out that the cache owner had entered the coordinates incorrectly. We were where the coordinates said, but not where the cache was. BTW the cache owner was the same person who placed the cache we found by mistake. The third cache we went to that day was in a park. My GPSr was set to "Follow road" and so as we walked toward the cache, the compass pointed me back to the road and that really confused us. We have improved our caching skills over time, I hope. Downloading the coordinates and using a PDA help. I don't know how far off we were, but we sure wandered around in the wrong areas a lot that day.

To add to Leprechaun's post. I googled wireless hotspots in LV and came up with several sites. There was duplication, of course; but some sites had free locations not listed elsewhere. I found about 6-7 near the spots I was planning to cache. As it turned out, I didn't need them, but there were plenty available.

To set up waypoints along a route: Simple version: Create a bookmark for your route. Go to Google Earth and select an area along your route. Left click a cache and select "Bookmark It" Add it to your bookmarks. Run a PQ for that bookmark. Go cache and have a safe trip.

Had a similar experience. I found the cache on the ground between two bushes. I picked it up and logged it while my three companions carefully excused themselves as they bumped me during their intense search.

Many good ideas here and it appears we all have different needs. I, too, use the GC website logs to write my thoughts on each cache. Used to write this down on the printouts; but, now that I'm "paperless," that no longer works. I usually cache in one geographic area at a time so I just print out a Mapsource map at a scale that shows all caches or sometimes use a GoogleEarth map. Short note go next to the cache on the map, longer notes on the bottom or back. Works for me, good luck on whatever works for you.

Just wait until you watch a movie where the knight in shining armor saves the damsel in distress by slaying the dragon in a long and bloody battle. The knight and the damsel then begin to enjoy each other under the nearby trees, making up for years of unrequited love...and all you can think about is that that oak tree they are under would be a great place for a cache.