Albert&Hush

Financially, how much do you contribute to the Minnesota State Park system? Aside from taxes, Hush and I both purchase annual vehicle permits at $20 each, We typically camp at a state park about once a month for $8 - $12/night, usually at least two nights per trip, and we may also participate in one or more classes or special activities each season with additional fees in the $40 - $80 dollar range. We also may rent a cabin or other lodging, anywhere from $28 - $100 per night often for multiple nights, and often purchase ice, firewood and other concessions to the tune of at least $50 per year, we also tend to pick up at least one bag of garbage per state park outing at no charge. For an average grand total of over $500 per year. Let's hear from the rest of you Minnesota Geocachers out there... How much have you been contributing? and how much do you expect to contribute in the future if geocaching remains a banned activity? Out of state geocachers and state park patrons?

Our states decision makers were too busy, investing our states resources evaluating the impact of "rogaining" or off trail orienteering on the state parks. Hmmmm, what were the reasons for banning geocaching, impact on sensitive areas, safety, and what else? Well this is just great, I am glad that some new activities are welcome, I am sure the state park system won't miss the revenue if we geocachers go elsewhere. Attention Minnesota Geocachers!!! I am starting a new thread, Lets figure out, collectively, the monetary contribution that geocachers have made to the state park system.

We have visited some of the caches in Jay Cooke State Park, and well, of the ones that we visited one was less than 1 foot off the trail, the other was in a level area, not far from the trail. So, could you elaborate on which caches in particular were causing damage to sensitive plants and causing erosion? Also, it has always been possible to contact the cache owner through this website, if you had noticed a cache was in a high risk area, you could have posted a message on the cache site or through the email link, explained the damage that was resulting from the cache, and suggested an area to move it to. How much time would that really have taken? I think it is a poor excuse to claim that state park employees are overworked, don't you think any of us has seen you "working" lately? every time I go to a park, I see little work getting done, a lot that needs to be done, and employees sitting down or driving around in state vehicles accomplishing ??? Perhaps the public will need to become more aware of the duties and workloads of park employees. Perhaps there is a general need for more independant journalism and watchdog groups to report to the public and legislature on the state of Minnesota State parks. I think the banning of geocaching in State parks is short sited, and inconsiderate. Some State parks are closed to most visitors for a special deer hunt, are the deer hunters restricted to only the trails? What about fisherman? I have observed many trampled stream banks and lake shores in Minnesota State parks, but your leaders have already stated the are not considering banning fishing. In comparison to all the different activities I have observed in state parks, I believe geocaching has had very little damaging impact.

I have been looking into one of these myself, great fuel economy, it comes in 2 sizes, 2 or 4 wheel drive, good dround clearance, moderately priced, check it out. My family drives mostly toyotas and the are really dependable transportation.

I have a pair (and Hush does too), of trekking poles. They are 3pc telescoping light weight. The main advantage of the telescoping poles is that you get the right fit, I believe this to be where your elbow is bent more than 90 degrees, less than 90 and you are putting alot of extra stress on the elbows. Use of the wrist strap is really imprtant as it bears all the weight and is more comfortable to have a loose grip, while the strap supports the weight. We bought these for backpacking, but with the removeable/add-on snow baskets they work super for snowshoeing as well. They would also be handy on long day hikes or rough terrain. Ski poles may work just as well, only you lose the adjustability, which may or may not be a problem for you. There are some discount outdoor retailers that may offer sale prices on trekking poles at good prices. As far as the ones with shock absorbers in them, I think they are annoying and to noisy compared to the standard poles. If you are mainly doing short hikes a good handcarved walking staff would be my stick of choice.

As we have come across several areas while hiking and geocaching, where unautherized camping (tents or other improvised shelters, clothing hung in trees, adult beverage containers, mattresses, and other weird stuff) or hobo type activity has been occuring. I wonder what others think of this subject. Question: If while geocaching, you discover an unauthorized camp or other hobo type articles, what do you do?

I recieved my first pocket knife at age 6, I have all digits, and both eyes. I always carry a small pocket knife(except on airline flights) and I consider them to be indispencable. Small legal (<3" blades) knives are perfectly acceptable trading items in my opinion. And I think it is way overboard for you to be collecting them all. $0.02

Question for etrex owners: I am currently operating with software version 2.11, I have noticed that on Garmin's website there is a version 2.14 available for download. There is a statement; Software modified to support hardware changes, does not affect user operation. What exactly does this mean? I bought my etrex in 1999, and have not changed any "hardware" would it benefit me at all to install software version 2.14 or is this just for newer models?

Just wondering what the rest of you are using for recharchables and charging unit. What kind of performance do you get vs. alkaline type batteries? I just purchased the Energizer ACCU NiMH battery charger, I paid around $20 and got a free set of AA NiMH. How many recharges can I expect to get from a pair of AA's? Are there some applications that are better for NiMH than others, for instance my headlamp is LED and uses 3 AAAs? What is the cost offset vs alkaline? Thanks in advance for any info.

Marmot PreCip Jacket or Anorak and Pants, not goretex, but waterproof/breathable, rugged yet lightweight nylon construction. Have been using these for over two years now, and never any leakage problems, the fit is great for active sports. Cheaper than goretex. Also the patent on Goretex has expired so many clothing manufacturers use a generic or proprietary membrane material, that is just as good as the original.