B+L

It's quite remarkable how, whenever someone mentions obtaining permission from a landowner or land manager, the forum denizens turn into a bunch of fainting goats. And when they get back up, they are apparently all suffering from short-term amnesia. Anybody know which geocacher placed over 1,000 caches without permission and caused this mess? I need their mailing address.

Apparently it was not beaten hard enough, because you keep going on about the BLM as if it has any relevance. The NDOT does not want people acting out their Mad Max fantasies in the right of way. The BLM has nothing to do with it. I think the BLM reference was in regard to the route 66 megatrail. It is my understanding that the old highway route is maintained by CALTRANS (State Historic Route 66) and passes through BLM land. I believe the reference is to the earlier locked thread discussing the E.T. Highway series. The BLM or some other entity might own the land, but the NDOT (or CALTRANS) has jurisdiction over the right of way.

Apparently it was not beaten hard enough, because you keep going on about the BLM as if it has any relevance. The NDOT does not want people acting out their Mad Max fantasies in the right of way. The BLM has nothing to do with it.

Here is one way to do it: The Wayback Machine

According to Groundpeak, it is to allow you search for caches near locations in your contacts. See here.

It looks like Landrover got away with a hit and run on 4000. There were apparently no witnesses willing to step forward. Congrats Jeff!

Hey, we just noticed that that AndrewRJ hit 5,000 yesterday at Full of Hot Air! Way to go Andrew!

There are several elephants in this room. One of them is that the controlling authority of the E.T Highway right of way is the NDOT. Who owns the land is irrelevant in this context. As far as I know, no state DOT has ever given permission for geocaches to be placed in road rights of way. Someone above posted something above to he effect that the NDOT is fine with caches being placed along the highway as long as they are 100' from the road. That moves the caches out of the right of way and into the realm of someone else's problem. An entirely predicable response. No matter what one thinks of power trails, power trail aficionados, deserts, cows, fragile ecosystems, logging practices, throw downs, etc, this whole thread is all sound and fury signifying nothing. We all like to pretend we don't see any elephants.

In case anyone wants to create this challenge, Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington has a list of all the towns in cities in Washington. They list 281 (Wikipedia agrees, so it must be true) According to this list, there are no cities or towns in Washington whose name begins with the letters J or X. The X seems pretty obvious, but the J is a surprise. Aberdeen Airway Heights Albion Algona Almira Anacortes Arlington Asotin Auburn Bainbridge Island Battle Ground Beaux Arts Village Bellevue Bellingham Benton City Bingen Black Diamond Blaine Bonney Lake Bothell Bremerton Brewster Bridgeport Brier Buckley Bucoda Burien Burlington Camas Carbonado Carnation Cashmere Castle Rock Cathlamet Centralia Chehalis Chelan Cheney Chewelah Clarkston Cle Elum Clyde Hill Colfax College Place Colton Colville Conconully Concrete Connell Cosmopolis Coulee City Coulee Dam Coupeville Covington Creston Cusick Darrington Davenport Dayton Deer Park Des Moines DuPont Duvall East Wenatchee Eatonville Edgewood Edmonds Electric City Ellensburg Elma Elmer City Endicott Entiat Enumclaw Ephrata Everett Everson Fairfield Farmington Federal Way Ferndale Fife Fircrest Forks Friday Harbor Garfield George Gig Harbor Gold Bar Goldendale Grand Coulee Grandview Granger Granite Falls Hamilton Harrah Harrington Hartline Hatton Hoquiam Hunts Point Ilwaco Index Ione Issaquah Kahlotus Kalama Kelso Kenmore Kennewick Kent Kettle Falls Kirkland Kittitas Krupp La Center La Conner Lacey LaCrosse Lake Forest Park Lake Stevens Lakewood Lamont Langley Latah Leavenworth Liberty Lake Lind Long Beach Longview Lyman Lynden Lynnwood Mabton Malden Mansfield Maple Valley Marcus Marysville Mattawa McCleary Medical Lake Medina Mercer Island Mesa Metaline Metaline Falls Mill Creek Millwood Milton Monroe Montesano Morton Moses Lake Mossyrock Mount Vernon Mountlake Terrace Moxee Mukilteo Naches Napavine Nespelem Newcastle Newport Nooksack Normandy Park North Bend North Bonneville Northport Oak Harbor Oakesdale Oakville Ocean Shores Odessa Okanogan Olympia Omak Oroville Orting Othello Pacific Palouse Pasco Pateros Pe Ell Pomeroy Port Angeles Port Orchard Port Townsend Poulsbo Prescott Prosser Pullman Puyallup Quincy Rainier Raymond Reardan Redmond Renton Republic Richland Ridgefield Ritzville Riverside Rock Island Rockford Rosalia Roslyn Roy Royal City Ruston Sammamish SeaTac Seattle Sedro-Woolley Selah Sequim Shelton Shoreline Skykomish Snohomish Snoqualmie Soap Lake South Bend South Cle Elum South Prairie Spangle Spokane Spokane Valley Sprague Springdale St. John Stanwood Starbuck Steilacoom Stevenson Sultan Sumas Sumner Sunnyside Tacoma Tekoa Tenino Tieton Toledo Tonasket Toppenish Tukwila Tumwater Twisp Union Gap Uniontown University Place Vader Vancouver Waitsburg Walla Walla Wapato Warden Washougal Washtucna Waterville Waverly Wenatchee West Richland Westport White Salmon Wilbur Wilkeson Wilson Creek Winlock Winthrop Woodinville Woodland Woodway Yacolt Yakima Yarrow Point Yelm Zillah

We'd really like to go, but we're not going to be able to go this time.

This is one of our favorite log entries of all time. It's for a cache that may or may not have been replaced by the owners after the fact. What actually happened later is open to interpretation. What really happened earlier is that this cache was definitely missing. Who says there are no more virtuals? New ones are being created all the time.

We have to be downgraded to maybe status. We have a funeral to attend and right now it is uncertain whether it will be on Friday or Saturday.

This will help: Number Conversion Table

The magic 8-ball says, "signs point to yes". Where are we going? Gold Creek? I hear it's just about impossible to get lost there.

We're out as well. So much to do and so little time. L's double rainbow ear infection would probably keep us home anyway. Maybe next time.

The magic 8-ball says "concentrate and ask again". We're still shaking it.

We hear rumors that Monique has an adverse reaction to being called Mo, so we edited our post above to use her correct name. In order to make sure it does not happen again, everyone please repeat after me: We promise we will not call Monique Mo ever again. We promise we will not call Monique Mo ever again. We promise we will not call Monique Mo ever again. We promise we will not call Monique Mo ever again. We promise we will not call Monique Mo ever again. We promise we will not call Monique Mo ever again. We promise we will not call Monique Mo ever again. We promise we will not call Monique Mo ever again. We promise we will not call Monique Mo ever again. We promise we will not call Monique Mo ever again.

Congrats!

Yes, way to go Monique!

The magic 8-ball says, "definitely".

We're planning on being there. We'll bring SudsyMaggie with us on the 7:10 ferry. NWCREW is having labor issues with his pit crew, so he is a maybe at this point. Last we heard, he was threatening to flog them until their morale improved, so he might still get things sorted out. We are not aware of your warm lunch traditions, so let us know if we should bring something other than our usual fare of small kibble with gravy. We haven't seen LandRover since August. We love hiking with him a long as he leaves his cow at home.

MtnMutt, Criminal and Boonie-Medic have all touched on the importance of keeping the rules simple. We love simple. Boonie's suggestion to count a single high point is a good one because it makes keeping track easy for the participants and more importantly, for the cache owner.

Oh, go change your diapers. Crybaby.

Further faster, sure, but I'd be very surprised if anyone goes higher, faster on a bike. Head-to head and apples-to-apples is right out the door already unless everyone meets up at the same trailhead at a designated date and time. If someone intends to "win" an elevation challenge, they need to accumulate more elevation quicker than anyone else and that means seeking out the "huff and puff" trails. Bikes and skis are probably not going to be much use in those circumstances. Now consider Monte Cristo: not very much climbing and a much nicer ride than a hike. A perfect trail for someone who is isn't ready to jog up Mailbox yet. What about a situation like the one __Shaddow__ mentioned -- ride a bike part way and hike the rest? It seems like it would be easier to count the whole trip, not just the hiking portion. It also opens up some hikes that may not get done otherwise. I am fairly certain that horses are not human powered, so yeah, they don't get invited.

Whether or not skiing or riding a bike is easier or more advantageous than hiking seems irrelevant when the proposed challenge is to accumulate elevation. What difference does it really make if someone skis, slides, rolls or whatever? By far the easiest way to descend would be by flying. And if someone actually manages to accumulate significant elevation gains in a human-powered aircraft, it should probably count at least triple. Let's say there is a cache at Camp Muir (I have no idea if there actually is). If we were to climb all the way up there and then ski back down, our elevation gain would not count, but for someone who climbed up and glissaded down it would qualify? Or let's say we put the skins on and walk up on our skis. Would it really be easier than hiking up? One thing I know for certain is that carrying skis and boots up to Camp Muir is not really any advantage over hiking up and I speak from personal experience. Realistically, if we were to participate in an elevation challenge, we would hike more than anything else, but it would be fun to do a mix of different things, kind of like we sometimes do in real life. We are still wondering how to gain elevation in our kayaks, so far unsuccessfully, or we'd be lobbying for using them too. Who knows? you might get more participants if you open things up to more than just hiking. Finally, we look at a challenge like this as a personal challenge, not a competition or a race. Others might feel differently. Some people have more free time than others. Some people are relentless mighty stallions or half goat (or goat and-a-half). All we can do is marvel at their accomplishments. Speaking of which, it would be interesting to find a way to make this challenge have different levels so we can all watch in awe as ruck, BrewerMD, that Gal from the Harbor, or one of your cohorts blows right by 50,000 feet on their way to 100,000 feet and beyond. Maybe you could have a bonus for most elevation in a year, or something like that.