mtndave

For all those who have a love-hate relationship with bushwacking. Each and everyone one of us has a story and some even have a way to make it easier While out and about this weekend I found a way to make obtaining that "difficult" cache a bit easier for me. Gotta love Trimble.........

Welcome to all new cachers in Northeast Pennsylvania. Geographically this area covers a lot of teritory with loads of caches and armies of geocachers. Please come and visit the NEPAG forums and see what's happening in and about your neck of Penns Woods.

Looks similar to an Eastern Hognose I discovered last year. Very cool as it flattens it head. Can't say for sure if yours is the same. ]Eastern Hognose[/url]

So, next weekend I will make an appearence at Ricketts although it may be just a day trip. (I'd rather be there overnite and may still do so). No, no, NEXT weekend. This coming weekend we'll be down in Baltimore. Cher has classes and I have some design work to catch up on. I'm reasonably certain I'll find time for a cache or two though Next weekend at Ricketts Glen for the campout is what I meant. The niece is getting married Friday night at Boordy Winery outside Towson. We are extending our trip to a long weekend so we can make our rounds to some favorite Baltimore, Inner Harbor & Fells Point haunts. Funny and weird, such a small world we live in. (but us NEPA folks are that way). Wonder if there's a "O's" game, my brother has a box.

Whoo Hoo !!! NEPA seems to have new Geocachers sprouting up fast and furious. A Hearty Howdy from Mountaintop. May I also welcome you to the ranks and offer any assistance needed. Don't be shy, give a shout. There are plenty of cachers in NEPA and lots of great caches and events to share. As Manny always says, "Enjoy, Enjoy the great outdoors of Pennsylvania".

I'm usually the quiet lurker but I do have a comment and query on this dialogue. I myself subscribe as a Premium member and enjoy the many benefits as well as the opportunity to contribute. First off, I fully understand and agree with the desire to make ALL Geocaches within Park boundries available to all. This is a sport to be enjoyed by all and PA's Parks offer a great opportunity and playing field. Members only caches, in my opinion, provide an ability to place a "special" cache for a special reason but if the cache is intended as a regular on going cache I feel it should be there to share with everyone. Secondly, there are many PA State Parks that are Geo-Friendly and I am ever so grateful for these Land Managers understanding and generosity...but there are also quite a few Parks that are not at all Geo-friendly. I fully understand the sensetive and protected areas issue for some areas. I have seen over the last 2 years that the PA Parks offer GPS education classes and note they will be searching out geocaches. This is a great idea and I would really like to see it stay and expand. Some of the Parks offering this class are not Geo-friendly (don't allow caches) and have no in-boundry caches listed on Geocaching.com. My assumption is they are placing temporary caches for their class use and they are not listing to the general public. But, here is my query. So, if they have all this great land, offer GPS classes (with Geocaching as the key activity) and do not want Members only caches so everyone can Geocache. Then Why-o-Why do they not allow us to place caches in these parks or at the least place and publish their own caches for public consumption. OK, so either I raised a respectable question for discussion (I hope) or I'm just making trouble (not my intention). MtnDave

Funny, I just e-mailed Avalance just moments ago, as well as several others about the new Forum. Spread the word.

OBG, Always a pleasure to break trail for a fellow woodsman. It WAS a great day and a nice trek down to the Nescopeck and back. Some day you will have to explain to me exactly what IS "the most inappropiate time" to get a charley horse. By the way, I recall I did mention the possibility of little post-shoeing discomfort. MatCat, Great to meet you and kudos on your first time on the big shoes. You did well Grasshopper. Next we'll send you to Stiffler so he can show you how to jump off a cliff (with a rope that is). Thanks for all you efforts setting up the website and we all are pretty excited. I've got a good feeling that the 3rd time around is the charm. MtnDave

MatCat, Just say your IN for tomorrow and the shoes and all the gear you need for the day are yours. If you can walk you can snwoshoe. HONEST !!!!! Way easy and a very cool way to see PA. So are ya in ??? MtnDave

OBG, I figured with I give the boys a chance to clear the way on Saturday and head out about 11:am, give or take. Give me a shout and we'll figure where to meet up. Any other Saturday takers just e-mail me. Maybe Sunday, have to watch the weather We'll probably hit up some local trails to avoid the highways tomorrow. Fox & Hound, Likewise on Sunday. Maybe a bit earlier since I have the Girl Scout Geo-class Sunday evening. Don't want to be too pooped. Any other Sunday takers just e-mail me.

The snow it be delightful and comming down hard. I'm going to take advantage of this last blast to get out on the shoes. Sure would be fun to do a little trompin with some fellow cachers. Currently I have a spare pair of snowshoes on hand and up for grabs for a fellow Geocacher to join in. I'm counting on getting out into Nescopeck SP tomorrow and again on Sunday. So who else is in?

Yup, A trek to "The Mills" would be a journey more enjoyed in fair weather. As for snowshoeing, I already had my sights set on a trek tomorrow morning in Nescopeck State Park. Any interested fellow cachers let me know. I may have a spare pair of shoes available. Or if you slip on over to Sam's they have some for under $60.00. This may be a mushers last chance. MtnDave

WBFD, GREAT IDEA !!!!!! Since the other Cache is Mine I'm a guessin' I best join in too. PS.... Don't tell Tom and Noreen or we'll get foul weather.

MatCat, Did I get the FTS (first to sign)? I'm in and ready to GeO. Seriously, thanks for kick start.

Scratch that, I got a BIG flashlite now.

MatCat, Just sent you an E-mail. MtnDave

Geeezzzz, I go away for a few days and look what happens. So I see some names I lost track of. Howdy. So let me toss a few things at you for food for thought. I have been looking for someplace to do a mid-week, evening meet and greet before mid-April. I was looking at maybe a "wing thing". Fisrt shot was the Chicken Coop but that plan fell in (literrally, the big room is gone) snow cave-in. Bear and I tried out an alternate site last week, Real nice room w/fireplace, folks want us there but wings were anorexic and they did not agree w/Bear's digestive track. Strike two. Several other selections either panned out poor service, poor food or just not right. I was away over the last several days and not had a chance to do any scouting. Someone did suggest the Grotto. I would like to finish what I had in mind but need some centrally located suggestions. I'll get the ball rolling and set up. Co-coordinators welcome. This weekend I am conducting a Geocaching class to 2 Girl Scout groups to assist them in earning their High Tech, Hide and SEEK, IPP patch. Yes, the gals have an actual patch & program for Geocaching but the Boy Scouts don't, go figure. This is a multi stage patch earning program and this is the first part. Down the road after they do their homework they all have to find a cache. There are about 15 ladies and their leaders involved. To get the most bang for the buck I will be recruiting local cachers to assist so they don't have to all crowd around 1 or 2 GPSr's. We are probably 4-5 weeks away on that portion. After that they they have to hide their own cache. THEN , after all this they will have earned their patch. I am also supplying them with a TB tag to use. Volenteers welcome, just e-mail me. NEXT, I have quite a bit of materials (gloves, bags, etc) leftover from the CITO @ the Tubs last year. I want to set up a spring CITO somewhere. Maybe I can get a re-invite from our friends at Moon Lake. We have done so in the past and actually did a camp-in CITO. I would also like to see a warm weather picinic and maybe even a camperoo (Ala, Red Rock & Rolls of long ago). Well, as you can see I been thinking and got a lot on the platter at one time but gotta get it cooking. Oh yea, if that's not enough I have several caches in various stages of develpoment but waiting for better weather to finalize. SO, there is some food for thought for all the newbies and us oldsters too. So "Here's yer Sign". MtnDave

And so it begins. First one little cache.........then another and another. ENJOY !!!! MtnDave

Matcat, Welcome aboard and prepare yourself for a ride you hope never ends. Being new to Geocaching and NEPA is a great combination. You get to learn a new hobby (addiction) and learn the wonders of the land about you. You are going to find a vast array of caches within reach from the utterly simple to the most challenging. Caches from deep in the valley to high in the mountains around. There never has been a real organized group in NEPA but there still exists a great many cachers that stay connected from newbies like you to some of us seasoned folks that can count several years on the hunt. Every so often we do gather for a breakfast, picnic, group hunt, a CITCO or a camperoo. If you have any questions or are looking for a fellow cacher to tag along, feel free to give me a shout. So grab that new GPSr and saddle up pardner. MtnDave

Howdy OBG, Glad it worked for you. I had fun too and I only hit Rice and Wright Twps. so far. I'm tracing the long defunct WB&H electric inter-urban railway from Wilkes Barre to Hazelton. So far have located remains of 5 station platforms, 12 of the 33 over/under passes, the tunnel of course, 2 powerhouses, 2 accident sites, the siding at the ice ponds, 2 of numerous bridges, walked lots of RoW (right of way) and found some other interesting finds. The old aerial photos have helped confirm some of the structure locations as well as filling in now vanished sections and structures. I have reconstructed all the RoW and structures from the Tunnel to Nescopeck Pass. Now to work on the remainder. I also have discovered some very interesting new points of interest for future excursions after this project is completed. .....and YES, I have stored coordinates for EVERYTHING I have found. Stay tuned.

I'm sure that I am not the first to see this but always willing to pass on something that worked for me. I was introduced to this Penn State website and found it helpful in a historical project I am working on. I was searching for some structures that have long been gone and this confirmed their locations even better than the topo's and other resources I had been using. Pennpilot Aerial photos for all of PA quick and neat. As well as mid- / late century photos there are early vintage photos available too. The 1938-1939 aerial photos can be accessed by clicking on "Display Historical Photo", the yellow dot where the old photo is centered and Image Quality High. Have fun MtnDave

I wear my very special, custom, anti-camo, geocaching garb. [/url][/img] Close up HERE.

It is as safe as you make it. I wear my very special, custom, anti-camo, geocaching garb. [/url][/img] ]Don't shoot the Geocacher[/url]

OBG, After setting my personal demons and fears aside and getting a look at the challenge you have to offer objectivly, I can see that there will be some cachers that will be chompin' at the bit for an adventure like this. I shot you an e-mail with some additional thoughts (don't want to give anything away). Mtn(scared of the dark)Dave

OBG, I like you (who can't like a harp player) and I hope you still like me. Just having some fun......I meant no harm. Actually my momma was born and raised in Buckhannon, WV, just a few short clicks from the recent mine disaster that took so many lives. Although it was many years ago the names still sounded familiar. So, I do have an appreciation for the hard work by ALL miners. Grandpap was a railroad man (B&O) and actually in his younger years owned some mine land at one time. He let it go to timber during the depression and never mined there again. Spent my summers there up until I was 6. Recall the rag man with the horse and wagon who sharpened knives. There were many a proud miner who supplemented his income by hunting and bringing it to market where I remember rabbits, squirrels & game birds hanging outside for sale. OK, so back to the challenge. On second thought. You got me interested. Go ahead and shoot me some info. I too can then weigh my daring vs my longetivity. Heck, it ain't like I never did anything crazy before.