whatson II

I have had similar experiences with my GPS 60csx. Several months ago I was on a hike with my son, a hike I had done many times, my GPS gave me a total travel distance that was 3.8 miles longer for a 6.5 mile hike. My conclusion at the time was that due to the accuracy issue and the fact that the GPS was tracking ALL motion (forward and back) not just A to B. In fact, while we sat and ate lunch we managed to go almost a quarter mile sitting on our butts. This past weekend though I was on a hike with two other people with GPS's. For a 5.5 mi hike (based on park maps and trail markers) I had over 8 miles of travel. The other fellas has numbers closer to the stated length of the trail but the spread between the three was really surprising. I would have thought that if sats were the cause of the inaccuracy that it would have been more consistent across the machines. My GPS was the most expensive of the three but it certainly wasn't the most accurate or, maybe it was... Is it possible that it is so accurate, that it is measuring travel from arm swing and other "ambient" motions? Finally, I though that GPS (at least the 60csx) did account for vertical travel, I suppose I could test this by taking readings at the bottom of a building then ridding the elevator to the top and getting a reading. the area we were hiking is very hilly (cliffs actually - Smith Rock State Park) if only horizontal distance is measured then we were all really off, we did over 1400 ft of elevation change in less than a mile!

Thanks for the link. I could have done without the sarcasm though. It just pisses people off, and makes you look like a jerk. I didn't know there was an "announcement forum" and I did a search and found nothing (though I suspect the search tool wasn't working) I also poked around for 1/2 an hour prior to making the post looking for similar topics. I’m learning. But for now, I can only hope that when I have years of experience and I too have made thousands of post (far from the few I have now) that I haven't forgotten what it is like to be relatively new to, and unfamiliar with, the systems, tools, and people of this wonderful sport.

What is the process or mechinism one should use to change their user name, a relative of mine has recently started geocaching, signed up as a premium member and then realized that she didn't really like the user name she chose. Thanks.

I'm surprised someone hasn't said this yet, but you don't need any of the map software to find caches. I don't know if I am taking your initial question to literally or not. I think the map packages will certainly make caching easier but they are not needed. I just recently (a week ago) got a garmin 76CSx which is a substantial upgrade from my garmin 12 and I have been able to find plenty of caches without any kind of mapping software what-so-ever. I have found about 10 caches with the new GPS, all of them in very remote Central Oregon and thought it would be neat to have an 'on-board' map, but didn't find it necessary. Having said that, I found this topic because I too am looking at mapping software just cuz I think the technology is cool!

Thanks BlueDeuce, perhaps a bit of further explanation is due. When I get a travel bug from one location and then plan to deposit it in another location, I occasionally like to log it and retrieve it "in between" at a location near my home. I have used the same local cache (one I have already logged a find for) for this location and consequently have several "notes" posted simply to have a destination for the travel bug log. My concern is for the owner of the cache, who, presumably is reading logs for his or her cache and finding these “for miles only” logs. Having explained this and thought things through, I have come up with several ideas of my own to make sure I don’t annoy anyone. All of them have one thing in common, and that is to communicate.

I tried to search so as to not rehash an old topic but found nothing (I think the search tool is busted). Anyhow, I have logged a few notes at at a local cache (in fact a micro) to drop of a travel bug so I could better reflect the bugs travel. I was wondering if this is an "acceptable" if not established practice or am I breaking some etiquette rules. I could see that some cache owners may get annoyed that "their" logs are full of notes "dropped TB for miles". I thought of making a mirco cache and locating it in my yard and using that one for "travel log". Any input? Discussion? Alternate ideas?

Well, I have not encounted any "bad" clues yet (I've been caching for only a month now) I did have problems with this clue. (the"G-spot" in the clue below is a reference to a very large plywood "G" on a steep hillside in a small Oregon coastal town of Garibaldi). BTW I recomend this cache to anyone who can do a 4-star terrain cache. the view is spectacular! My problem was, twofold, there wasn't a birch tree in sight, just alders, lots of them. That was easy to figure out, the mistake (birches for alders) is an easy one to make. The other part was entirly my fault, I didn't want to decode more than I "had to". Between trying to decode as little of the clue as necessary and the way the clue is worded, I initially searched the wrong location <first large birch...left side> why not just say "third birch on right"? I was looking on the left for 10 minutes before I gave up and decoded the whole clue. A personal preference of mine is for the clues to be just clues. I don't want to be told where it is, just narrow my choices a little" I know, it is a difficult distinction to make, what may be competely obvious for one is not apparent at all to another. It is interesting to read logs sometimes where one cacher says "easy find" and another says "searched for 2 hours, need help!" I guess sometimes you're in the "zone" and sometimes your not.

Perhaps I didn't include enough info in the first go-round... JamieZ commented; Like I said, I was going to solve "the mystery" a little bizarre I admit. Regardless, a discarded cremated body (or at least the bag and box) is at best, litter and should have been picked up. I was thinking that these ashes were not put here, they were discarded, and I have no problem giving whoever’s ashes they are a more respectful return to the earth. I'll grant you that it is a bit of a stretch to think that a crime was committed at this location but let me toss out a hypothetical scenario...grieving mother has son's ashes (he died in the war) sitting in the front seat of her car while on her way to buy an urn. She was coming from the post office where she just picked up her delivery (parcel from Ft. Collins). Crack-head steals the car while mom is buying a pack of cigs at the local am/pm and unloads the car on his way out of town. This is not an implausible scenario. Do you think she'd want the ashes back? I would if I were her. Would she be happy someone thought this was odd enough to talk to the police? Think about it, how odd was it, just five years ago, to observe someone getting on a transcontinental flight with a box-knife? Is talking to the police such a bad thing? I've had a wallet stolen and all I wanted back was the pictures in it! (I got it back BTW, and I'm glad someone thought to turn in an "empty" wallet to the police). Ironman114 commented; Who said anything about murder?! Is that the only crime that could have possibly been committed? (See above). There was nothing loving about the way this stuff was left, the bag was upside-down, half buried in ivy with the cracked box found a little farther down the hill. It was a reasonable assumption on my part to think it was, to use your word, "dumped". This location is little more than a wooded roadside overgrown with briar and ivy. Now I'm certainly not going to assume that this location isn't "special" to someone, but if someone is going to go to the trouble to bring the ashes to this "favorite spot" why leave the discarded box and the ashes in such a fashion that a passerby (or geocacher) could stumble across them and assume that it was nothing more than litter?! I can just see the last will and testament now..."please toss my ashes from the car as you drive past our favorite spot..." What possible crime could I have committed?! Would you put me away for reporting a suspicious set of circumstances to the police?! If it comes to pass that the ashes were put there and left in the manner they were, do you think the police are going to come knocking on my door or, suggest to the "grieving loved ones" that this time they should take the bag and box with them? If the box you refer to is anything like the one I found, how utterly uncouth (of whomever did the discarding) to leave what is now garbage at the site of what was presumably an important location to dearly departed Roger J. When the time comes (and not a second before) I want to be cremated, and cast into the Pacific Ocean off the end of Cape Lookout. But if I knew that my survivors would do so buy chucking my ashes, box, bag, and all over the edge, I'd rather have them flush me down the toilet and put the rest in the trash where it belongs. I'd like to think that my ashes would be carried away on the winds rather than washing up on the beach with the foam cups, plastic bags and other flotsam. Jacquee comments; Sarcasm is such a difficult task to pull off via the written word... Well done! Of course, if you were not being sarcastic, I'm not nearly as impressed with your hypothesis. Though, maybe I'll change my name and travel incognito for awhile just incase.

Found a "body" It's got a tag but it's no Travel bug

I have copied the log entry for a cache I found last night... Ok, I have had a very weird caching experience that I must share, it’s a bit wordy for a log entry though. First, I wanted to mention that there are NO TB's IN THE CACHE. A little frustrating, I have been to several caches with TB's listed and found that they are "bug-less". Now, to the story; I was looking for this cache in the late afternoon hours. Poking around in the failing light, I spot, some distance off, what appears to be an open ammo box. I get to the box to discover that it is a small black plastic box about the size of a small car battery, very empty and not very "cache-like". Looking down I notice a clear plastic bag half-buried in the ivy filled with what appears to be a light colored clay or gritty sand. The bag is held closed with a wire tie and also has a chrome engraved tag. It's gotten too dark to read so I pull out my handy geocaching pen-light and read the tag... REAGER CREMATORIUM Ft. Collins, Colorado (The tag also included a number that appeared to be for some tracking or cataloging purpose) At that moment, I realize I am holding right there in my hands, a cremated body! Now, if I were normal, I probably would have been "creeped out”, dropped the bag and headed straight for the car and the local police dept. But, I'm not, so I put the bag in the box, set it down up the hill a bit and continue to look for the cache, thinking all the while about how can I find out about who this is (was), wondering if I can find something on the internet that might give me some further clue. I find the cache, head up the hill, pick up the ashes and put them in the trunk of my car (I know, I'm just a little weird sometimes). So, I call my wife and tell her the story and she emphatically yells through the phone, "It's in your trunk?!! YOU'VE GOT TO GO TO THE POLICE!" Ok, so now I realize that I may have perhaps disturbed a 'crime scene' and that this is not my mystery to solve but the damage is done so I head over to the police dept., tell my story and leave "things" with them. The police said they'd let me know if they find anything out, I keep you posted....

Though I am new to Caching, I have had a fair amount of experience with orienteering and rogaine. When using the "compass" mode on my GPS the distance is given in hundredths of a mile which is 52.8 feet, and not a very accurate distance. Using the lat./ Lon. coordinate readout will generally get you a more accurate number. Of course, your EPE is always a factor. If I am using the compass mode on my GPS, I also use a method similar to the "90 degree method" mentioned a few posts earlier. I will pick a landmark that is along my initial approach without too much concern for how close I am. I pick a landmark that I am sure is past the cache location. While on this approach, I also identify a land mark directly behind me, or will walk the azimuth until the GPS compass tells me I have gone past, I will turn around and pick another landmark). Then, I approach the cache area from an entirely different direction. I pick a landmark and walk to it ignoring my GPS and looking for the “intersection” with the line created by my initial two landmarks. It is kind of a triangulation method in reverse. I have also learned that just looking and trying to think like a person hiding a cache helps a lot.

I think it would be pretty cool to have a feature on ones profile that identified the farthest distance from your home coord.'s you've traveled (with the name and details (or at least a link) of the logged cache. Also, perhaps the range of your travels (the distance of the two farthest logged caches or home whichever is longer). If I missed the "correct" forum for this posting, just let me know. Thx.