6NoisyHikers

We just did this one today: Couch Potato Nightmare So much fun! So much pain! Earned a favourite point from us. There is something for everyone - please know that whatever type of cache you place, someone will enjoy it.

I go back and read logs quite often. We post a lot of pictures so it is fun to review them. I also check on the trackables we move. Again, we take lots of pictures and try to give the trackable a fun adventure while it is with us, so I sort of become attached to them. I check in to see where they have moved, to make sure they are still moving. It makes me sad when they go missing - especially if it's right after we've dropped them in a cache. Like this Canadian Geocoin - a miraculous rescue, only to have it pocketed

We have a family account. I am the geo-instigator, so it's always me and whomever else I can drag out wants to eagerly come along. We are looking into each of us getting our own geocoin though, that visits only the caches we do. That will track who was where, for which cache, and how far each member of the family has traveled.

In our area, there are a few night caches that don't include the night cache attribute. It might be easier to find someone's bookmark list. I just typed night cache into the "By Name" search box and it returned 800 hits. Now if only there were a way to sort them by those nearest to me. Off to do some more site experimentation...

I had an issue with a crazy property owner when I was away from home at a park in Oregon. When I got back home to BC, my husband called the police in that city and filed a report even though we didn't really have much information to give them. I made sure I posted a log with the details so other cachers are fairly warned. There were private property signs posted which I noticed afterward (old wooden signs nailed to a tree about eight feet up), but no fence or any difference in the landscaping that would say: this is a nicely manicured park, this is someone's private backyard. The trail I was on in the park became a trail on the property. Yes, I missed the sign, but whatever the property laws are, for this guy to throw a rock at me while I was carrying a BABY in my arms is just stupid. HOOVER DISK PARK CACHE NoisyHiker#2 and Mini-Cacher who is five months old, trekked across the park for this cache when we took a pit stop on our way back to BC Canada. Future finders please be aware that this cache is located very close to private property and the man that owns that property is NOT FRIENDLY. While I was watching the GPS screen, and not looking up for the "Private Property" signs, I took a short side trail where I shouldn't have. A man whistled and shouted "HEY!", then THREW A ROCK that splashed into the water next to us. Talk about stupid and dangerous. After that, I just checked the hint and found the cache. Please be careful out there friends!

I found a website where they sell these: Inspiration Coins *This isn't an endorsement, I just googled it...

I agree about putting swag in small baggies to preserve them. Love the owl token, I would definitely trade for it. Is it fimo? I don't make them (I'm not that talented!) They are made of metal and I buy them at my local "spiritual" book store - three for five dollars. They are about the size of a quarter. The next time I am over there, I will ask where they get them from. There are lots of different designs.

We are swag fairies We regularly get rid of wet/broken/slimy swag and completely refill containers with assorted goodies for all ages. A few compass carabiners, a few toys, spare batteries, jewelry pendants, etc... For film cannisters I always carry a handful of these coins in a variety of styles: We just decided to always pay it forward. If the next finder opens the box and says "Wow!", then maybe they will do the same. *One thing we've learned is that swag stays in better shape if it is in a baggie when it's placed. Part of the reason junk piles up in a cache is because stuff gets wrecked and then no one wants it.

The "rule" we go by is: 1. Standard Tupperware Container - take a pic if you move it away from the hidey-hole first. 2. Special Camo Container - pic of logbook being signed, no container 3. Unique Fun Container (birdhouse, fire hydrant in the forest or something else otherwise obvious) - pics of the container are usually ok, check other logs first. And COs always appreciate pics of the scenery or seekers enjoying the area.

Paypal doesn't like credit unions Is there a way to arrange for a person-to-person purchase?

We attended our first event today and had a wonderful time. Just wondered if anyone thinks it might be a nice idea to be able to award a favourite point for an event - to thank the host, and maybe to have a way to decide if their next event will be one to mark on your calendar? I realize that events get archived so finding out how many points last year's event had would require some detective work - unless the host wanted to include a line mentioning the number on the new event page. "Come join us! 38 Favourite Points in 2009!"

Thank you in advance for the Leap Day souvenir. It's a simple thing, probably easy to do given the existing coding of other souvenirs, but several cachers were asking about it in the last few weeks and it shows that TPTB are listening and doing the best they can. THANK YOU!

I didn't like the feel of the standard scooter either so I got one of these, which rides more like a bike (complete with pedals). Then the company immediately went out of business Too bad. I've had it for almost three years and it still runs great.

I have the same problem (just noticed today - see log) with our Magellan Explorist GC. I thought I read somewhere that manually changed coordinates were automatically updated with a new PQ but I guess not! Good thing I had a few puzzle answers written down before I knew the edit function existed. I guess I'm not totally paperless then!

We have a Magellan Explorist GC - my 8 year old can use it. (And don't forget that most 9-year-olds can out-tech us anyway!)

Do you mean mobility scooters or "bike" scooters? I have an electric bike (scooter) but I have yet to use it for caching because I rarely go alone and I'm not really comfortable with leaving it at a trailhead while I disappear for two or three hours.

If we mark a traveller as visiting a cache, we try to make sure there is a good reason to do so - either having something to do with its goal, or to add a chunk of mileage, or to highlight a really great area. We upload pictures and make sure we write a log that explains what was happening. Here's an example: George's Journey We got a very nice note from the TB owner for our efforts. Much appreciated!

As good as any GPS does. We find it is finicky in the midst of tall buildings. The way around both of these issues is to get a good lock when you are out in the open - after that it seems to be more congenial in adverse conditions. And you just never know if you are going to have a good satellite day or a not-so-good one. We've been out on beautiful clear days and had a heck of a time connecting.

That is the unit we use and it works really well for us. We are suburban/provincial park cachers if that makes any difference. We bought ours directly from Magellan for $150 a year ago.

We have ten PQs that cover most of the area that we might decide to traverse on an average day. We don't update them regularly - only if we know we're heading out that way. And every once in a while (3 months or so) we'll be bored and just update everything.

But who was the instigator? Meaning: When it comes to couples, whose idea was it to start geocaching? I, the female half, started our geocaching adventure. In fact, most of our outings are organized by me. But I can see that it would be more likely that men would be the ones to say "Hey honey, let's go out in the bush and get muddy and covered in bugs so we can find a plastic bucket with McToys in it." The majority of females (bless their lipsticked little faces and painted little toenails) wouldn't even consider that.

With all the talk about new vs old vs no maps, I thought it would interesting to find out some of the different ways that people cache, or more specifically prepare to go caching. There seems to be a huge variation to how people obtain and sort out the information they need. We're pretty simple: 1. Log in to gc.com, click our username, then scroll down and click the "map it" icon. 2. Zoom and steer around the map until we a) find the place we are headed to, or find a place that looks interesting. 3. Click on some of the caches in that area and read the information. Check the map for likely parking spots. 4. Download an updated PQ for that area if we feel it's necessary (we update our area about once a month). 5. If we are going on a road trip, we will create a route PQ and download that the night before we leave. 6. We use Vantage Point software to send our PQ info to our Magellan Explorist GC. After it syncs, I open the Explorist folder and delete all the pictures because they take up file space and you can't view them properly anyway. That's it. Pretty simple. No extra software, no serious mapping, no notifications or apps. Website, GPS, go. And we do it this way not really because it works best for us, but just that it works. We haven't really felt the need to do anything else. I suppose our process will change over time, as our caching experience changes, but so far this gives us what we need.

How would everyone feel if in lieu of Google maps we got ten PQs a day instead of five? So far, the maps seem to be moving along reasonably for us. Definitely slower, but not obscenely slow like they originally were. But we aren't die-hard cachers. We might go after two or three caches per week. Before we go out somewhere, I check the map in the area of my destination and pick a few candidates. We read each cache page to make sure the cache is likely to be there, and see where a good place to park might be. Thus far, the new maps are still covering what we need.

For us, the hint is a last resort*. When we finally give up the initial hunt and check the hint, we say: "Darn. Well, okay..." Hopefully the hint is something useful. If it isn't, or the meaning is cryptic, there is usually more answers to be found in the logs than anywhere else. When we DNF, we go home and check the cache page again and read all the logs. More often than not we find something written there that makes everything click. *The only exception to this "rule" is if it is monsooning and we are running for a park and grab.

I would like to see this feature too - it's very helpful in deciding which NoisyHikers will be able to manage a wilderness cache. (Some of us like longer hikes than others! )