Hotlanta

The few times I’ve had a chance to cache somewhere other than home has been very enjoyable. I mean let’s face it, even at home you run across less than perfect geocaches. I started geocaching at home in Georgia, but was introduced to the sport in Texas. My folks live in Texas, so when I go to visit I take time to hit some local caches. The first couple times I just hit whatever was close to the house and it was kind of pot luck as to what kind of cache I found. Now that I’ve been geocaching awhile I tend to do my homework first and load a PQ of the area with what I think will be the most interesting type caches to me. Personally I like the Virtual caches. They seem to take you to the most interesting places and local sights of whatever area you are visiting. (GCE041) But then again, I was driving along outside Charleston, SC returning to my hotel after a morning of geocaching when a geocache icon popped up on my GPSr that I did not have the information for…left my PDA in my room. So I took a chance and trekked on over to the cache and it proved to be a really great traditional hidden along a old hiking trail winding through what use to be a rice plantation from the mid 1700’s that had reverted to a nature area. I got about a ½ mile along the trail before coming across my first warning sign for alligators. And about another couple hundred feet before I came across an ol’ 12 footer resting about 20 feet off the trail! I stopped and thought to myself, “I’m glad I’ve got my hiking stick with me. At least I can get in a couple good whacks before he chews my leg off!” But he must not have been hungry, he just laid there and hissed a bit but didn’t really seem too interested in my passing. (GCJ4VK) My latest out of town geocaching was in Nice, France. I had an emergency business trip there and only had about 5 hours to rush home from work, pack and get back to the airport to catch my flight. I did a quick search, downloaded a PQ, loaded my PDA and GPSr and rushed off to catch my flight. One thing I neglected to notice when I did my quick search was noticing that almost all the geocaches info pages are in French….DUHHH! I don’t read or speak French, so it made hunting and finding the caches very interesting. NO HINTS! And only once did I get stopped by the local French police wondering what I was looking for. I only wish I had it on video, the officer speaking little English and me speaking no French and trying to explain Geocaching to him. But we both parted with a smile and I was able to continue my search.(GC175XK) Needless to say, I don’t go anywhere anymore without my GPSr loaded and ready to go. Sorry about this being so long winded, too many cups of coffee this morning!

Thanks so far for your support here. I don't know what happened. Yes, I made the mistake of upgrading to the newest free version of Google Earth not long ago. This was not a problem with the older version. I've been using the download from Geocaching.com for viewing the icons on google earth. I'll check out the other forum listed above and see if there is some good news there.

Over the last couple days when I try to use Google Earth to view geocaches in the area I'm heading out to, I'm getting this message that I've exceeded my daily allowable viewing of geocaches. Has this happen to anyone else? And does anyone know who is limiting the DAILY usage? I know there is a limit to the number of geocaches that show on the screen at one time.... something like 150. But I've been using Google Earth for over a year now with Geocaching.com KLM downloaded and never had this problem before. Any suggestions? Upgrade Google Earth? Thanks for any suggestions.

I’ve had the pleasure of running into other geocachers while out hunting a cache. It’s especially common if you’re looking to be the FTF on a newly published cache. Around here you had better be quick if you want that FTF prize. The last time I was involved in a impromptu geocaching meeting hunting for a FTF I got there first, followed up by a family affair of a dad and his two daughters. So we joined together for the hunt and located the cache, had fun watching the little gal’s trading swag and had just replaced the cache when another geocacher showed up. So then we had fun watching him look for the cache and after a little friendly cackling from us he soon turned up with a smiley. Another time I was driving home at night and passed this spot where there was a very evil micro hidden. I could see some folks moving around with flashlights, so I pulled over and introduced myself and asked if they were having fun. They were even though this was their third attempt to find this devil of a cache. I just wished them luck and chuckled as I drove off. Noticed later that night that they would have to make a fourth trip back for that smiley. About the only folks I’ve run across while looking for a cache that had any problems with my being there were the local men in blue. They carried a badge and sidearm not a GPSr, but even they were friendly and usually wished me luck once I identified myself and explained what I was up to.

I wouldn’t call it unfair at all. My GPSr has mapping abilities and when I go caching with a my buddy whose GPSr does not map we tend to use my map to get us close to the area. But as stated by others above you still have to use common sense and good judgment to get you to the cache itself. And when I’ve downloaded all the caches in the area we are heading to ahead of time via pocket queries from Geocaching.com on to my GPSr it makes it much easier to pick and choose the caches we want to attempt as they scroll by on the map as we travel. Easier; yes. Unfair; no.

When I’m out in the deep woods with my caching buddy and he is trying my patience, I just remind him of how good I am at hiding things in the woods that I don’t want to be found easily by others. That tends to make ‘em think twice about what they are doing.

Man, I just went out to look at the stickers on my Jeep, in the rain and they too are fading. But there are cold frosty beverages are in the garage refrigerator that I passed on the way out there, so with a cold one in hand I feel better now. Any way, it looks like most all the stickers are fading some. And they are not all from Groundspeak, but many different places. But over the years all the stickers, either stuck on glass, metal or anything else tended to fade. So I just buy a new one every couple years or different ones and replace the worst looking stickers. That 303 Protectorant looks interesting though, but more for my boat’s red gel coat than my stickers.

The swag is not why I geocache, but the few times I do trade I all ways try to trade up or even. But sometime you do come across a cache that has some really nice items and it seems those times are when you don’t have an even trade item with you. So I just trade the best I can and as others have said, I’ll leave something nice in an appropriate cache at a later date. Don’t sweat the small stuff, just go out there and have fun!

I would recommend something small, light weight and not too expensive. Last fall I dropped my $200+ Kodak while trekkin’ down a trail. When I got home and downloaded the pix’s the sky was all pink and fuzzy on the shots after the fall. So, my wife used this as a good reason to go out and by a new higher dollar and heaver Kodak. It has all the bells and whistles and super zoom, but she won’t let me take it out geocaching. So I just picked up a new digital Sanyo at Wal-Mart. It was less than $100, small, light weight, 6 mega pixel, 4X zoom and the works. It’s more powerful and cheaper than the one I broke. So far I like it. P.S. Use the wrist strap while hiking and taking pix’s!

Bilbo is our geo-dog. He is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi and just loves hittin’ the trails. His only limitation is his short legs, but they don’t slow him down much. He’s still young, 4 years old so he still gets pretty excited when he see any wildlife in the woods. We were hikin’ to one cache last fall and came across a flock of wild turkeys, wow was it funny! It started out with him running into the group of turkeys but quickly turned into him being chased by the bigger toms back down the trial. I was laughing so hard I didn’t have time to get out my camera before the turkeys saw me and beat a hasty retreat back into the woods to rejoin the group. Not sure if Bilbo learned his lesson but he stayed at my feet for the next mile or so down the trail. Now if I can just find a doggy vest with pockets so he can carry some of my geo-stuff….. Bilbo gettin' a drink Bilbo soakin' his feet Bilbo and Big Nose TB

I get Pocket Queries sent to my e-mail and use GSAK and Cachmate software to transfer these files to my palm PDA and GPSr. Using these programs allow me to have all the information from a geocache’s page downloaded and shown on my palm PDA. This software is pretty advanced but easy to use and seems to be very popular among the paperless crowd of geocachers I’ve met and read about in these forums. I’d assume most of the other programs will allow you to download the same information too. I like having all the information right there in my PDA, I might not read all the descriptions, but I do most of the time. And in some places or parks which have several geocaches located in them, it is nice to have all of their info handy with out worrying about if I left the paper description back in the car. Plus if the caches are multi-caches I often work on two or three at the same time to keep from walking back and forth over the same trails to each cache stage. Yea, I just made this statement in another thread, but it makes my response to this question easy!

To answer your question about paperless caching and all the info being downloaded including the descriptions and hints and such; I get Pocket Queries sent to my e-mail and use GSAK and Cachmate software to transfer these files to my palm PDA and GPSr. Using these programs allow me to have all the information from a geocache’s page downloaded and shown on my palm PDA. This software is pretty advanced but easy to use and seems to be very popular among the paperless crowd of geocachers I’ve met and read about in these forums. I’d assume most of the other programs will allow you to download the same information too. I like having all the information right there in my PDA, I might not read all the descriptions, but I do most of the time. And in some places or parks which have several geocaches located in them, it is nice to have all of their info handy with out worrying about if I left the paper description back in the car. Plus if the caches are multi-caches I often work on two or three at the same time to keep from walking back and forth over the same trails to each cache stage. Anyway, it works well for me. But even having all that high tech stuff at my finger tips has not kept me from taking the wrong step and ending up in the hospital! Folks should know that once they step foot out there to find any cache, anything can happen….. and usually does when least expected.

I think stolen Geocoins are the reason you see so many copies of coins traveling from cache to cache. I can’t say I blame the owners of wanting to keep the real coins in their possession. The cost of a geocoin usually is much more than a TB dog tag which makes the sting of a missing coin felt even more. I certainly do enjoy finding and passing along a cool geocoin, but I will also move along a copy as if it were the real thing.

I have a Lowrance I Finder Hunt and just love it. A buddy at work bought a H2O color screen and it is just too cool. I bought my first GPSr at REI…. yea, paid way too much, but just had to have one now…didn’t want to wait. Anyway, it was a Garmin Vista. I used it about a week, then returned it and traded up to the Lowrance Hunt. What a difference. Better reception, better screen, larger screen, more memory, water resistant and expandable SD card. Yes, it does not plug directly into my computer, have to use the card reader but after using it a bit that makes little difference. It has a port to plug in a external antenna which I only really need when in deep woods. I also got the Map Create USA Topo mapping system on CD’s. Using the map window is when the larger screen pays off. And my buddy’s H2O color screen with the Topo is even better. My Hunt is about 3 years old now but is way accurate and easy to use. It’s a bit larger and heavier, but I wouldn’t trade it in on any thing else…..except a color screen version.

How about when you have a theme cache about the Dukes of Hazzard? Hazzard Cache

My Momma always told me not to look at the Sun. Maybe that’s why I have such a hard time finding those darn micros!

Perhaps you could hide a couple of caches that are ‘hidden’ by the nature park itself. Kind of like this State Park cache. With in these caches you could include information about geocaching and where to go to find other caches hidden in the park….. Geocaching.com. Or maybe I’m just too paranoid about muggled caches since I had three ammo can caches disappear all in one week last month.

I use GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) and CacheMate. GSAK will auto download all you need as well as the hints via pocket query’s from Geocaching.com. GSAK then allows me to generate a file to download the info into my GPSr and another file to export to CacheMate which I can then HotSync to my Palm PDA. There is a minimal cost for each program and a bit of a learning curve (at least for me) to figure them out, but well worth the cost and time. Both can be found at Geocaching.com I believe. If not just Google them.

Never seen any crimes while caching, but read a log at a cache I had been to a couple days before and thought it might fit the bill. War Eagle

I’ve pretty much quit buying golf balls since I’ve started Geocaching. Tho I still tend to lose a few while playing Golf. So maybe I’m just recycling bad swag!

Clan Riffster, you are the man! All that mishap and you still got your smiley! My only mishap kind of like that had my buddies almost carrying me to my truck and on to the hospital….. but that’s for another topic line.

I too am guilty of going to my own caches to discover a cool Geocoin or TB. I don’t take any (have not found any un-registered ones yet, those I might be tempted to take) but I also have been known to go to my own caches to drop off TB’s and coins that I’ve brought in to the area from somewhere else. I’ve hit most of the local caches so I might as well drop ‘em off in my own if I don’t have plans to go geocaching with in the next few days. Got to keep those trackables moving.

I did this cache once that used a bucket as the container. It was a short ways into the woods up a dirt road, it’s a TB cache. To make a true challenge out of it the owner placed about 10 more buckets scattered about the general area. Some full size with the bottoms cut out, some cut in half or more to look like they had been buried. The true cache turned out to be set into a large hollowed stump covered up with bark and leaves. It was not all that hard to find, but I got a chuckle having to go around looking at all the other ‘decoys’.

Montana Swamp Thing! The Cove X-Files Southside Gang Challenge Event Hotlanta and GeoRock'n.

My son and I geocached in the great county park last March where one of the caches had the container strung up in a tree on one side of a creek but the rope went over the creek to a tree on the other side. We had just crossed the creek about a half mile earlier by walking a large fallen tree. I didn’t want to hike all the way back to that tree, so I went a bit further down stream and found a small tree about half under water and tried to cross there. The key word there was “tried”! Yep, I slipped in and ended up knee deep with soaked pants, wet socks and boots. Not a happy camper! I went on across and back tracked up the other side of the creek to the tree where the rope was tied off. Just to find the rope un-tied and my son holding the cache and laughing on the far side of the creek. He had done the logical, boy scout thinking way of solving the creek crossing. He took off his boots and socks, rolled up his pants and walked across the shallow creek. What’s ya going to do, out done by my own 13 year old….. again!