mahgnillig

Hi all I recently moved to Carson City from Las Vegas and have been enjoying getting out into the wilderness whatever way I can. The thought occurred to me that with several feet of snow on top, I'd have a tough job finding a lot of the caches up in the mountains until the thaw. I tried doing a cache search for caches that were marked as "winter", "snowshoe" or "xc ski", but came up with none in a 50 mile radius! I'm sure there must be winter caches out there... caches that are maybe perched a few feet up in a tree so that showshoers don't have to shovel snow to get at them. Does anyone know how I'd be able to search for these? Thanks!

I cache with my 2 dogs - one is a lab mix and the other is a coonhound. In fact they're almost always with me when I cache because I like the company and it gives them a lot of exercise as well as me. I rarely use a leash when I'm out in the wilds... I find it annoying to have my hands restricted and it makes it hard if I have to use trekking poles. When I'm looking for a cache and I know I'm close to it I make the dogs heel, then when I get within a few feet I make them sit and wait. They don't like it much, but I have their safety in mind as I'd rather have them bored than lost/injured/eaten. Dogs don't understand complex consequences, which is why they have to be trained to listen to their owner and do what they are told, regardless of what they'd rather be doing. If you train them to know that there are positives when they do as they are told (praise, treat etc.) and negatives when they don't (electric collars are a great training tool), they will soon learn that it is in their best interest to do what you tell them. While my dogs may not understand why I am making them sit and wait (maybe I saw the cliff and they didn't), they do it because they know they have to do what I tell them. I make the decisions about what is safe and what is not safe for them... all they have to do is listen

SOLD.

I bought this on clearance for my hubby thinking he would like to get into geocaching, but he wasn't really interested. Since it was on clearance, I can't return it, so it's up for sale. The unit itself has one slight flaw... one of the tabs that acts as a hinge on the SD card slot has broken, so the card holder pops off its hinges. This doesn't affect the operation of the unit... I've tested it with the SD card from my PN-40 and it loads caches from the card perfectly well. You just have to be a bit more careful when installing/removing the SD card. Otherwise, it's in perfectly good working order, no scratches on the screen, and everything in the box is brand new (I opened the package of batteries to test out the unit, but they're barely used). I'm also including a screen protector as I had a spare one. Asking price $200, and I will ship for free by USPS Priority to anywhere in the US. Please contact me by email at churchjen@yahoo.com if you have any questions or would like more pictures.

Some of the most inappropriate things I have found in caches are the uh... 'adult entertainment' advertising cards that are often handed out on the Las Vegas Strip. I remove these if I see them :\

Sounds like that officer was a bit of a drama queen There are some not-so-nice areas in Vegas, and a lot of them are near the Strip/Downtown area because that's where the old, decrepit housing areas are. I'd also hazard a guess and say that a lot of criminals gravitate towards the off-Strip areas in the hope of taking advantage of unwitting tourists wandering around. The rest of the city isn't really any more or less safe than your average large US metropolis (nearly 2 million people live in the Vegas valley). Anyway, North Las Vegas is a long way from the Strip. As long as you're not trying to cache at (for example) MLK & Carey area after dark you should be fine And if you are... take a beer in a paper bag & a pit bull with you, and you'll blend right in

Hi all I've been out of the geocaching loop for a while because my GPS stopped working and I haven't got around to buying a new one. I'm now looking to get back into it, and wondering what I should do. I used to have a Garmin eTrex Legend and used a PDA along with it for paperless caching. I used GSAK to download .gpx queries to both devices and Cachemate on the PDA. Now I don't have either device. What I do have is a Samsung Behold 2 phone running Android on the T-Mobile network. I've been reading up a little bit about caching with a phone and just downloaded Geobeagle. However, when I go geocaching it's usually out in the wilderness away from things like roads and cell phone reception. So my question really is: is the phone going to cut it out of town, or do I really need to get myself a dedicated GPS for the purpose? My next question is (assuming I need a new GPS): given a budget of around $300 at REI (got some gift cards to use), which GPS would you choose? I don't have any particular need for turn by turn navigation (car has this built in); topo maps would be handy as it's mountain/desert country where I live; and I would like to also be able to use the GPS for caching in Europe. Any help would really be appreciated

Thanks all I'll be sending the the US model then... nice way to save myself $100! Nice to know the EU basemaps are just as cr@ppy as the US ones. - Jen.

Hi all I'm a Brit living in the US. Last time my parents came over to visit, I showed them my GPS and told them all about geocaching (unfortunately we didn't actually get to go caching together). My dad has an old marine GPS, but it's huge and eats batteries like there's no tomorrow. I really think they'd get a kick out of geocaching (I already bought them the "Dummies" book, hoping they could use my dad's old GPS). Anyway, I'd like to get them a GPS like mine (Garmin eTrex Legend) for Christmas. Since the pound is so strong against the dollar, it would cost me about $250US to buy them the Garmin from amazon.co.uk (where we do most of our international shopping). However, on amazon.com, I can get the same GPS for $120US, and then probably $20 extra for shipping to the UK. So what I'd like to know is, are there any compatability issues? I realise that they would have the US base maps and not the European ones, but does that really matter? Are there any other reasons why I should get them the Euro model instead of the US model? Thanks - Jen.

Hmm, it still won't work I have the latest version of USA PhotoMaps too. When I select GPS/Comm Port/No Serial GPS, and GPS/Protocol/Garmin USB, it tells me "Your USB Garmin doesn't seem to be attached". When I try GPS/Comm Port/Comm 12, and GPS/Protocol/Garmin, it tells me "Couldn't open comm port" and "The comm port doesn't seem to be valid". When I go to Device Manager, the GPS doesn't show up as a GPS, it shows as a "Serial to USB Bridge". Might that be the problem? Thanks - Jen.

I was just tinkering around with USA photomaps, trying to download a route from my GPS on to the map. This used to work with the standard Garmin serial cable. However, I have since upgraded my computer, and it now only has USB ports. I have a serial to USB cable, and it works fine with GSAK. I closed GSAK and tried to load a route from the GPS into USA Photomaps using the exact same port (didn't unplug anything), and USA Photoamps won't recognise that Com 12 (where the connector is plugged in) even exists! Has anyone else had this issue? The only thing I can think of is that USA Photomaps doesn't like the use of the serial to USB connector cable - Jen.

I have the same model Palm m150. My hubby bought it for me a couple of years ago, but I had no use for it... I hate reading electronic books (paper is much nicer), never used the address book or scheduler and it's been gathering dust all this time. I started using it for caching and it works perfectly adequetely. Since it's such an old model I was able to pick up a protective case and screen protectors for it at the dollar store. At some point I might replace it with a model that has a bit more memory (unfortunately you can't remove the programs you don't use like the address book because they are built in), but until then it does a job and I won't cry if I drop if off a cliff or drown it. - Jen.

One is okay, even two maybe. If it's someone's signature item then that's okay too. It sounds like the OP is complaining because one particular group of people has been stuffing caches full of numerous religious pamphlets. I feel the same way about that as if they were numerous takeaway menus, political messages or advertisements for porn. Caches are not the place for advertisements, no matter what you're advertising, and no matter how noble your intentions. Personally I'd remove all but a couple and recycle them. - Jen.

Whether I take the trash home and sort it depends on how nasty it is. If it's fairly clean then I don't mind putting it in the car, but anything really dirty goes in the nearest bin. I don't take beer cans home either... I don't want my car smelling like stale beer... yuck! - Jen.

This person needs to train his dog properly... putting poop in a cache because his dog barks is ridiculous. I wish more people would accept responsibility for the behaviour of their pets. As for park closing hours... isn't it all a bit petty? It's hardly going to net you a criminal record if you're caught wandering in a park at midnight. The rule is there to stop drug dealers congregating or vagrants sleeping in the park... if it weren't for the real criminals then there would be no need for such silly rules. Question for people who don't go into parks after dark: do you always drive under the speed limit? - Jen.

The same goes for the UK - Jen.

I'm very new to geocaching, and I must admit I find it a little disappointing when I hike my way to a cache only to open it and find a couple of random mud-covered pieces of plastic. Personally I try to put something useful in each cache I find, even if there's nothing there that I want to take. I picked up a few nice items from the dollar store (keychain LED lights, bungees, mini radios etc.), and I have a couple of really nice trading card game starter packs that I'm just waiting to put in a cache somewhere. Also the city of Boulder City collects items that are not allowed on planes from the airports in the Las Vegas valley and auctions them on eBay to help provide amenties for the city. Not only can you pick up some really good deals on useful items, but the money is helping people too. I also usually put a CITO bag or two in each cache I visit. Things I would like to find in a cache include: bungees, compass, multi-tool or pocket knife, tools, carabiners, first aid kit, space blanket etc. Any useful objects, really. Being an adult with no children, I'm not keen on finding cheap plastic toys from Burger King or whatever. Nice items like beanies or neopets are cool though... I probably wouldn't take them myself, but they're nice for kids and collectors. - Jen.

I saw a guy out hiking with a parrot last week. He said that it really enjoyed going on hikes... though I guess it didn't really get any exercise, just sat on the guy's shoulder. I took my cat out hiking once... she enjoyed exploring, but hates being in the car so she's not a very good geocaching partner.