whistler & co.

I found it very convenient to be able to click on the map on the cache page to zoom in and out. It was very handy for knowing exactly in which town that cache "50 miles SE" from my home coordinates was. I wish that feature would work again!

Oh the irony! I received my email issue of the DCNR newsletter (called "Resource") today, and it contained the following item: Sites needed for new South Mountain GeoTrail A regional nonprofit is asking residents of South Central PA to nominate their favorite places in the South Mountain region for a new adventure sport trail with a high-tech twist. The Capital Resource Conservation and Development (Capital RC&D) Area Council, in collaboration with the South Mountain Partnership, will inventory and connect these sites by creating the South Mountain GeoTrail: a collection of geocache sites that help both residents and visitors to explore the area and learn more about its unique attractions. Sites for consideration along the South Mountain GeoTrail should have a good spot to hide a cache, and should represent the South Mountain region. They can be easy or difficult to access, since the chosen sites will represent a range of difficulty levels. Geocaching is an outdoor adventure sport in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) to locate hidden containers, called “caches.” A typical cache is a small waterproof container that holds a logbook and trinkets for participants to trade. To nominate a site or to find more information on geocaching in the South Mountain region, go here or call (717) 241-4361. Funding for this project is provided by the South Mountain Partnership through a grant from DCNR. They are charging a fee for hiding a cache on their property, but they are actively promoting caching? Doesn't make sense!

Nice job, Kevin! Thanks for posting the link.

Someone pointed this out to me a few days ago. It must be a new thing because this past week was the first I heard of it. I guess we all know what is going to happen to caching on state lands now, eh? Here's the link: DCNR Cache Placement Guidelines

Actually, folks, the aforementioned "someone" CHANGED THE PASSWORDS for the domain name without letting any of the other admins in on it, so the domain name was not ABLE to be renewed. However, we now have a new domain name, and are having some tech guys check over the site for problems and we will be online soon with all of our old content preserved. We'll be sending out a mass emailing to all registered users as well as posting here when the site is available for use again. We're glad our 10th Anniversary Lost and Found event was so successful despite the problems with the site, and on behalf of all the NEPAG admins, I'd like to thank all of our members for expressing their eagerness to help in any way to get our site online again. Hopefully, it will be only a short wait until things are back to normal.

Vehicles with gas engines are much more detrimental to the environment than any cache could ever be. This doesn't give me, Paul Repak, or anyone else the right to trash or steal your car under the guise of "doing something noble and crucial for the environment." There are character flaws (i.e. gossiping, procrastination, fear of commitment....) and there are Character Flaws (theft of property, destruction of property, depriving others of their freedom to drive a car...or hide a cache....). The man doesn't need to be crucified, but what he did was wrong no matter how you look at it (thank goodness he didn't have a gripe with something like stop signs or railroad crossing signals...that could have been quite a bigger problem!).

This thread has contained numerous mentions of depriving a person of his/her property, with some people basically saying any theft is a theft and should be prosecuted, while some others are saying that theft of an inexpensive item is not worth the cost or effort of prosecution, or that it is unlikely a judge will find Mr. Repak criminally liable. Personally, I feel that (to misquote the estimable Dr. Suess) "a theft is a theft, no matter how small," but I realize that in reality there is a big difference (in regard to the actual, financial effect on the victim) between stealing a Hide-a-Key and stealing a car. What has only been mentioned in passing, though, and what is actually of greater importance in my opinion, is the emotional toll that actions such as those perpetrated by Mr. Repak take on the well-being and quality of life of the victims (both cache owners and cache seekers in this case). I liken Mr. Repak's actions to those of a teenage bully who sits in the middle of the seesaw and won't let the little kids play, or those of a skateboearder who rides through and scatters the flock of pigeons an old lady is feeding in the park, or to those of an ignoramous who smashes people's pumpkins and jack o' lanterns on Halloween. There is little or no financial loss, but the emotional toll that results is real and lasting, especially when it's your five year old who couldn't go on the seesaw, or your three year old whose pumpkin was "killed," or your ten year old whose cache was stolen numerous times. Why shouldn't people hide and seek caches as they wish (provided proper permission of landowners is sought)? What gives Mr. Repak or any other individual (save a property owner) the right to limit or interfere with caching? Or to keep little kids from using the seesaw, or to chase the pigeons an old granny is feeding, or to smash someone's pumpkin? There is something seriously and fundamentally wrong with an individual who gets a thrill from depriving others of their harmless, legitimate peace and pleasure, and that, rather than the actual loss of property, is what the legal system should address in cases like this. Perhaps there needs to be court-ordered counseling in this case!

I doubt it will help, but I sent them an email through their website about the erroneous information. Here is a link if anyone wants to do the same: Dick's Complaints Department . Perhaps if enough people gripe about it, they will take notice.

Nice one, CM!

You can definitely get one for under $100!

Why not contact (via their geocaching profile page) an active and prolific cacher from the area in which you plan to hide your cache(s) and see if he/she can lend a hand (and a GPS!)? Good luck with your project!

How were you able to introduce geocaching to the kids when you don't actually have a GPS? Just curious...

Good luck with your move!

We like them because then we do not have to jam a trade item into one of our pockets to carry along so that Little Whistler can trade. Also because then he does not bring home yet another thing he doesn't really need. And because we don't have to sift through the contents of the container to see if there is a coin or TB inside. And because there's less stuff to rattle around inside the conatiner and draw attention to us. And because they are easier to hide, and easier to replace, and it's easier to conceal them when muggles walk by. And because so many people hate them, and I like to root for the underdog!

Which is incredibly inconsiderate and rude! If a person can't log the FTF right away due to being on the road, heading straight to work after making the find, or another legitimate reason, fine. But a person who deliberately waits on logging in order to "trick" people sounds like the type of person who thinks it's fun to put on a hideous mask and jump out of the shrubbery to make 2 year olds dressed as Winnie-the-Pooh scream and cry on Halloween! If you are STF and are in the position to log online first, simply start your log out with "Not FTF, but first to log." or "Logging first, but not FTF." Or even "Not FTF, that honor goes to (insert name of cacher)."

Is it better for a child's first introduction to the concept of death and dying to be in the abstract ("We are visiting a cemtery, a place where the bodies of people who have died are buried."), or for him to be slammed with the death of a favorite pet, a classmate, a grandparent, a sibling, or a parent? Death is inescapable and unavoidable. Fearing it, avoiding it, or pretending it doesn't exist will not keep it from touching your children's lives at some point. Caching (or jogging or picnicking or birdwatching or taking photos, etc.) in a cemtery is not disrespectful to the dead, nor to to the living, unless you are interfering with someone's desire to mourn or pray in solitude. I think a cemetery is a sadder place when it's NOT being used by the living, because as long as there are people visiting, the dead are not yet forgotten.

We use a FTF coin for that. Just drop it into the cache as you would with any other trackable when you submit your Found-it log, then go back to the cache description page, click on the name of the trackable, and Retrieve it. As soon as you submit your Retrieve log, delete it so the trackable page only shows the drops (thus only shows the name of each cache ONE time). If you do it that way (deleting the Retrieve logs), the "total records" will be your number of FTF's and you'll know how many there are without having to count them. That is, provided you don't let geo-buddies discover your coin, which will add extra logs! Here's ours: http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=748455

A good urban cache is one where I can search without attracting the attention of The Law, and also one that does not smell like poo. If the site is actually interesting or relevent in some way, then double bonus points for the hider....

Well, that loooks downright painful! It's amazing that you were able to get yourself off the pain meds so quickly. You certainly have a strong will to recover. You are going to do just fine, I can tell. Congratulations on getting a great start on the road back to being 100% well! P.S. That fire tornado video is scary!

I always joke that I am the only person I know who falls UP stairs! But I also regularly fall down them too, including falling from the very top of an entire flight of uncarpeted stairs when I was only a few weeks pregnant with our second child (luckily, nothing happened to the baby). But I think this is partly a matter of being naturally uncoordinated and partly a matter of depth perception. I am sure a person who is even moderately athletic and coordinated to begin with will find that their physical abilities are great at compensating for visual irregularities.

Hi Jeff, I just saw this thread and wanted to reply. I hope the surgery went well and you're comfortably starting your recovery now. You will probably be surprised how quickly you will be able to resume your normal activities with only minor modifications. I have only "looked" out of one eye since birth, so I know a few tricks for coping with the lack of depth perception you will probably experience. First off, in regard to driving: Daytime driving will not pose a problem, but at night, you will want to watch your speed and try to stick to route you are familiar with. The darkness will somewhat (not completely by any means) limit your depth perception when you're in the car, but not enough to make it impossible to drive. Just be aware that you need to be extra vigilant and careful (probably not a bad idea for anyone who is driving at night, actually). In regard to hiking: rough, rocky trails will appear to be a bit "flattened out" and you might stumble over rocks that are embedded in the ground and just sticking up a little. Things that stick up just an inch or two will pose the main problem, whereas rocks or objects just lying on the surface of the trail will be just as obvious as when you had unimpaired vision. Getting down steep banks or inclines is my biggest problem. I'm not referring to a regular hill that you would walk down in a normal way, but a steep inlcine where you would generally need to use your hands a bit on the way down. You might find that it's easier to go down backwards (more like climbing down a ladder than descending stairs) in some cases, especially when it's very steep, almost a cliff. Or if that seems too awkward to you, get LONG hiking pole and use it to test the drop in front of you, each step of the way. My husband often has to rescue me when I'm "stuck" and he'll say "It's only 18" down", but if you can't really SEE the depth, your body won't be able to ANTICIPATE it and you'll come down too hard and risk twisting an ankle or tripping. As far as reaching for or spotting things (caches or otherwise), don't be afraid that you won't be able to casually and normally take hold of objects or to see them. You WON'T be making a spectacle of yourself groping around for a jar of jelly on the shelf at the grocery store, nor will you have to start sideways to look at things that are in front of you. You won't have trouble pouring coffee, shooting baskets, catching a ball, hunting, threading a needle, or placing objects on a shelf either. Overall, I think you'll find that you will be able to do everything you ever did, and do it just as well, with maybe just a little extra caution on the trail in rough conditions, or when driving at night. Good luck with your recovery, and God bless, Barbara (Mrs. Whistler)

On the other hand, we have also had someone email about NON PMO caches, just basically saying "When the heck are you planning to find my caches?" Poeple worry too much about other people's business!

I once had a local cacher email me and wonder "why do you bother to look at my cache pages when you never visit my caches?" Guess whose cache pages I will never, ever look at again no matter how interesting the title? On the other hand, it might be fun to start looking at those pages every single time I go online!

That's odd and interesting!

Which is exactly why there are many caches I find interesting but that I do not look at! I generally look at them when the cache is first published, then never again until such time as we plan on hunting for that cache. Then I log it, and never look at it again. For a non-MOC cache, I might look at the page 20 or more times (if it's an interesting cache) while the cache remains active. I think audit logs are fine, but creeps me out to think that the cache owner will find out when and how often I view the page.