Garmen (& Women) Group

Congratulations from us too. We appreciate all you have done to enhance the sport, including your thoughtful log comments, friendly advice, Geocaching Picnic and Campout Events, (dis)organizational efforts on behalf of SW PA cachers, “Cache Vandal Travel Bug”, shiny new dime in the “Sand Quarry Cache”; and, your “Liston School Road” and other truly memorable caches. Your “Chinatown” was our third cache. After getting thoroughly “flamed” for a “newbie” comment inadvertently left in a log, we came close to pulling the plug on geocaching. Even though we lived in another state some 200 miles away, your patience and guidance at that time, kept us enjoying the sport. We look at your caches as a “gold standard” and look forward to various ones we have not yet had the opportunity to visit. But we plan to savor them, so it will be a while before we get to 500!

We add our congratulations, and want to echo the various comments already posted. We especially appreciate the time the "CC Cooper" folks take to add thoughtful comments to cache logs, as well as their contributing participation in cache events. They have greatly helped make geocaching a fun family activity. About 18 months ago we started recycling their signature item with a note to the effect it was fast becoming a geocaching "collectable", and are more convinced than ever that is the case! All the best for the next 4000. Our paths will undoubtedly cross again.

We have used the smallest style "Poke Boats" (http://www.pokeboat.com/) to place and find "hydrocaches" since before that term came in to use. If interested, our Cranberry Osprey Geocache in southwestern Pennsylvania (GCAA3 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=2723) has been visited by folks with other types of transportation which they describe in their comments. The boats, at 22 pounds and with a 2-inch draft, are easy to haul and go just about anywhere on flat water. Our fiberglass hulls are not much good in white water though. We tried that once and got a small crack in one of the pokeboats.

This is a neat list and adds to one I've kept as personal bookmarks for a couple of years. By chance, the first two I tried, which were new to me, didn't work. PARC Map Viewer has been deactivated and Titan appears to be subscriber only through ESRI. But thanks for the additions!

Thanks for the "heads up" on this. We have been pretty careful about watching for the required information to verify logs on our virtuals. But we also turn around the high volume of email pretty quickly. So records are gone for any responses "Dr Who" may have made on our two he logged in Washington, D.C. I usually send a thank you note to cachers for the visit, and let them know if they get the right answer. And, I normally delete ones that don't give the correct answer within a week or two. It doesn't seem possible that he could have snuck two "finds" by me, but I've not retained any "proof" that he found them either. With the number of virtuals in the DC metro area now hugely expanded over what it was two years ago, big numbers of "finds" are increasingly possible in a short time here. He apparently dedicated two days to caching here. I hate cheaters too but have basically given up on anything meaningful in the numbers. Keep up the good work. I've enjoyed your interventions in the forums, as well as your "Rods n Rides" website. Gary (of the Garmen & Women Group)

And all this time I thought it stood for Geographical Positioning System!

The current (August 2002) issue of Popular Science has a "What's New" segment (p. 14) on a new Tissot watch that supposedly has a half dozen functions (temp, altitude, electronic compass, chronometer, etc) accessible by touching different locations on the watch face. I've not personally seen one, but it caught my eye and got me thinking along the same direction as this thread. Why couldn't that technology, if it already exists and is already embedded in a commercially available wristwatch, be likewise used in a GPS, with a mode to selectively access key features? I'd like to see that happen. [This message was edited by Garmen (& Women) Group on July 24, 2002 at 08:20 AM.]

The current (August 2002) issue of Popular Science has a "What's New" segment (p. 14) on a new Tissot watch that supposedly has a half dozen functions (temp, altitude, electronic compass, chronometer, etc) accessible by touching different locations on the watch face. I've not personally seen one, but it caught my eye and got me thinking along the same direction as this thread. Why couldn't that technology, if it already exists and is already embedded in a commercially available wristwatch, be likewise used in a GPS, with a mode to selectively access key features? I'd like to see that happen. [This message was edited by Garmen (& Women) Group on July 24, 2002 at 08:20 AM.]

In addition to the above, we keep a rain poncho, digital camera, and "hunter orange" stocking caps. Those tend to be more important and useful in the fall. But they also are useful to use as markers when we are zeroing in on a cache. We likewise make our observation notes on the printout sheets to later add to the log.

quote:Originally posted by Linda: Here's one in Pennsylvania: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=2723 This is the message being referenced.

Glad I scanned to the botttom of this before posting a reply. The Cranberry Osprey Geocache only is accessible by canoe, poke boat, raft, etc., but it is not on an island. It originally was a submerged cache but was plundered and replaced at slightly different coordinates. It has been found only twice during its several months of existence. Thanks for adding it to the list.

I've stored 2-300 waypoints in my gps and still have room for more. And I have some downloaded and saved on a laptop. I wish there were some way to have folders on the gps that would allow quicker access. Examples might include folders on geocaching sites (placed/found), family, office, upcoming trips, etc. Maybe others have solutions I've not considered yet.

Alternative One: You can log on the site and archive it. Alternative Two: We have had a couple of caches plundered. On those, we retained the online cache name and description, replaced the original with a new container and contents, and just tweaked the coordinates on line, after moving the replacement cache to a nearby location much more difficult to spot. One of the stolen caches was submerged in a lake, and the other on the highest point in the State of Pennsylvania. Both remain in action since they were replaced. Other alternatives undoubtedly exist.

Wonder if maybe you didn't accidently reset your gps to a different format?

quote:Originally posted by Heath and Jess: The cleaning people threw away my activation codes for my 2 travelbugs, and I have emailed the address that says "email us if you need your activation code" twice asking for them but have received no response to my emails. Does anyone have any idea how I can get my activation codes? In our rush to re-stash our first found Travel Bug we forgot to record the code number of the tag. We had wanted to edit a comment but couldn't access it. We just emailed a previous "finder" (or maybe the owner)and got the number. Worth a try,unless these are previously unhidden bugs.

Don't know if this is a "bug" or not . . . Not wishing to "roll over" for Bill Gates et al., I've remained with Netscape as my browser and had no problems with registration and access to all areas of geocaching.com and Groundspeak. This is with a Compaq Presario laptop. However, my wife has a newer Compaq Presario desktop on which she uses Internet Explorer as the browser. I have tried several times during the past week to log in (with IE) to our personal Cache Page at geocaching.com, as well as this Groundspeak forum, without success. I keep being informed that our user name/passowrd combination is not recognized. Does anyone have an idea about what might be wrong? It is no "biggie" because access is still readily available via Netscape, but it is an annoyance when using IE. Just wonder if anyone else has had this problem?

For those potentially interested, and following this thread, some of our virtual caches in Washington, DC are wheelchair accessible, including: "Forest Service Information Center" (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=5632) "Awakening" (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=5617) "Not Your Granny's Garden"(http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=11284) These all are in an urban environment. Being "too easy" is a matter of personal taste, personal ability, and/or personal choice. All have received high marks from visitors. None lends itself to placement of a regular cache container. These serve more than one potential cacher audience. I think your point is well made that our "geocaching community" could benefit from a greater range of accessible sites that "gets those wheels in the dirt and grass". Good point.

quote:Originally posted by mwmm15T: A ritual--ALWAYS mark my car before I leave for a cache hunt--it would make one feel really stupid to have a GPS-R and still be lost in the woods. 15T http://www.1800goguard.com Learned THAT the hard way, at least twice (so far!). It is a ritual that must be followed!

I just sprang for the velcro one for my Garmin GPS III+. After spending $20 or so I discovered it doesn't do well at all in a 92 4 Runner. With the antenna extended it does not fit on the driver's side because of the windshield slant. I was really disappointed in that. I'll just go back to the strip of velcro on the gps and another on the dash directly. Unfortunately the sun's heat after a short while messes up the glue on the velcro strip which is left exposed on the dash when the gps comes in the house after a trip.

We sometimes have a couple or more of "finds" during a day of caching. Before logging a find, we open a Word document to draft our responses to each one found. If we want a response to include a link, we just type in (or read a copy in) the url. While we have our intended comments in a separate paragraph for each of the caches found we also can run a quick spell check and do what ever other edits we want. Then we log on to the "found it" section and read in the respective paragraph. The url goes "live" once it is posted.