bthomas

Here's a field guide for cemeteries, Stories in Stone. All of the above ground stuff is for the living to see.

I bump into new people all of the time: my fellow cachers by the bucket load, dogwalkers, soccer moms and dads, maintenace workers, police officers, rangers, mushroom hunters. Twice now, I've come across the number one cacher out in the field. If it were just a numbers thing, I'd be caught up in my backlog of logging. Just finished logging a 50 set from 11/26 and a 60 set from 10/22. Just 600 or more to go.

Here's mine in San Francisco, GCGH5J

Virts are a geocache type, with a cache page GUI that supports placing and retrieving a travel bug. When I'm working on bug goals, sometimes I'm forced to use the nearest offsite cache to the goal, including virts. Last weekend I missioned a jet TB in LA at the only remaining example of that jet, and waypointed the bug through the virt across the street on the USC campus. It works, and maps the bug's mileage.

Things are what they are until the paradigm changes. TB's are particularly difficult to control, and for newbies/kids difficult to log properly. TB's are a great promotional tool at Events, but even if you had a person assigned full time to Event log the TB (logbook or Wi-Fi) and handout a TB clinic cuesheet, there'd still be TB attrition. I've physically handed a TB to a reliable TB cacher, and in turn the TB was handed to another cacher that was mission-capable; last I checked before the holiday, the TB was not logged out. Events are also used as the TB Graveyard, and Event organizers cannot defense against that; events are a busy place, and it's difficult to forensically determine who lost the missing TB. Goal tags are the best solution for TB travels, and a line on the card requesting no Events may be the best you can do.

Es Effo GCBCO9 is coming up on it's 3rd anniversary serving the overseas and domestic needs of travel bugs. It's at a runway view park, several hundred feet from Runway 1R. Only recently has it suffered muggling, losing 10 TB to a transient. Having served over 600 TB, the attrition ratio is better than most Event caches. Visiting cachers have been wonderful in assisting TB in achieving goals.

In my state, I have the most cache finds above 14000 feet (4, shared with another cacher). Obscure, eh?

I don't keep up and I'm 600-700 behind. Still have 2 days of GWS3, most of a July cross country trip across the South, 1 day of Portland CM 2004, and several 50-70 days in California. To keep up, I periodically write the above sentence, and recheck my email box for the lists from those caching days. One by one, I'll knock them off with the Boulter Express Logger.

Condolences for your family's loss. I did a few more of his caches this past summer, and I have a few more on my must do list. Energetic caches to say the least. He enjoyed a stunning landscape in the Sierra.

GCHV0X is a camp bulletin board in Yosemite.

Eh?

Yup, that WaldenRun likes bugs. I used to, but have tapered off with the advent of event grinding. About 950 bugs and at least 6000 is 16%.

Through Yosemite 7/28 (Tioga Pass Road). Maybe at 14000 feet in Sequoia on 7/30.

Local forum activity for San Francisco has migrated to www.thegba.net and you can post there (may need to make a log-in name). That said, I tend to waypoint travel bugs at these photogenic locations: Golden Gate Bridge, California Cable Car terminus at California St and Market, and various bayside views. You can walk on the bridge deck for my Gate Promenade or below, and finish the multi 2 miles away. Everybody's favorite Sounds of the Bay is on a jetty with a view of both the Golden Gate and Alcatraz. A nice 20 minute picnic hike is is LTVOSF (or something) west of the GG Bridge, at Kirby Cove in the Marin Headlands. Ferry rides to either Sausalito or Alcatraz are nice too. BuckDef has a favorites list at thegba.net.

The adventure. Every cache is a 5-10 minute story. I often say, a picture is worth a dozen words. This weekend's little Sierra trip netted a 1200 word essay for about 30 caches. Caching at 10,000 feet, closing a 400 mile multi, a short snow storm, hot springs, petting trout at a fish farm, herding horses on a dude ranch round up, down 250 feet into a pitch black mining shaft.

Answer: My favorite micro hide. Magnetic means no harm, no foul. If a muggle finds it, they often put it back.

When I started caching it was Energizer lithiums, since I was caching the shoulder season in the Sierra, but now it's rechargeable NiMH since I cache a 20-50 cache day each weekend. Soon it will be the 12V car battery, when I bring laptop caching on line.

Tech fabric things by North Face, Patagonia, Royal Robbins, Mountain Hardware, Columbia, and REI. Wicking base layer, convertable pants, photo vest, soft shell, rain shell. All weather, all caching. Death Valley or Mount Whitney.

I was going to say YABA Treasure Hunt in the community garden next to the Golden Gate Park HQ, but it seems to be archived after all these years. The atmosphere of a true community garden, and just around the corner is a framed view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Lots of bugs, when I was a bug hunter. The must visit cache in San Francisco is nearby: Sounds of the Bay GC30CB A water level view of the Golden Gate, and an interesting water pipe organ. I realize the cache I visit the most is my own Es Effo Bug Hotel GCBC09 I drop world traveling bugs at least every other week, and take my maintenance responsibilities seriously.

Interesting question for me, because TeamAlamo, dgreno, and I are doing it on a cross country scale in a few weeks. We'll be packing laptops and looking for WiFi. We'll cache density in Florida and New Orleans, but by and large it will be a linear thing, looking maybe 0.25 to 0.5 mile from the interstates. Personally, I think the look of a string of cache finds across a map of the country is a pretty thing in itself. On roadtrips, I think in terms of caches per hour and caches per mile. Locally, we're usually dialed at 4 per hour and maybe 50 caches per 100 miles. Wonder what it will be across 3000 miles? I look forward to seeing the Shuttle at Cape Kennedy, visiting Bourbon Street and the New Orleans cemeteries, and going to the basement of the Alamo. Perhaps across Texas, Snoogans can seed a mix of keyboxes, decons, and ammo cans for us.

Hmm, a 5-digit cacher. Not too many of those around. Congrats Lynn.

Thanks Monty, teri, and the GBES crew. It was way fun. I'm still periodically giggling.

Visitors to San Francisco at GCN4MG.

Just 5 left coast states (and 1 provence) and Tennessee. Mostly one state though. Next week, I'll add Florida.

At the River City picnic, event GCN4E6. ErSamin (Erin) has on a kilt, can ya tell? In the summer I usually wear tech fabrics with poly, cotton/poly, rayon, brushed nylon. Ventilates sweat and dries after a thundershower.