Windrose

Two ideas, topographical maps & satelite images. I always print out the area I'll be looking in, at different scales. So I can see what the terrain is like close to the cache and the possible routes in. The GPS only gives you direction and distance (sometimes -- mine is usually 40 ft or more off). It won't show you that the cache is on the other side of a creek or swamp or gully. Or that there's a path/road 100 ft in the other direction. I've had the creek and gully thing happen (and the road too). If I hadn't had the maps I wouldn't have seen that the path the GPS was pointing to would put me on the wrong side. Windrose "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

I have found 4 letterboxes (and 15 geocaches). There are no letterboxes nearby (the closest ones are over 100 miles away) which is why I've only found 4. I have to plan an all day excursion to search for them. I agree that the letterboxes were harder, or at least more time consuming--walking all over, following the trails & figuring out the clues. But I really enjoyed them, even the one that had me walk three-quarters of the way around the lake (about 2.5 miles), following the trail & the clues, just to end up almost where I started (which was where the letterbox was). I hope to place a few letterboxes in my area after I have had alittle more experience. Windrose "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

I have found 4 letterboxes (and 15 geocaches). There are no letterboxes nearby (the closest ones are over 100 miles away) which is why I've only found 4. I have to plan an all day excursion to search for them. I agree that the letterboxes were harder, or at least more time consuming--walking all over, following the trails & figuring out the clues. But I really enjoyed them, even the one that had me walk three-quarters of the way around the lake (about 2.5 miles), following the trail & the clues, just to end up almost where I started (which was where the letterbox was). I hope to place a few letterboxes in my area after I have had alittle more experience. Windrose "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

I have found 4 letterboxes (and 15 geocaches). There are no letterboxes nearby (the closest ones are over 100 miles away) which is why I've only found 4. I have to plan an all day excursion to search for them. I agree that the letterboxes were harder, or at least more time consuming--walking all over, following the trails & figuring out the clues. But I really enjoyed them, even the one that had me walk three-quarters of the way around the lake (about 2.5 miles), following the trail & the clues, just to end up almost where I started (which was where the letterbox was). I hope to place a few letterboxes in my area after I have had alittle more experience. Windrose "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

quote:Originally posted by Faderaven:...He seemed a pleasant enough fellow - I would guess close to retirement age .... Hey he brought his dad geocaching with him...how bad could he be? If he's close to retiring... How old is his dad? Windrose "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

Couldn't stand it any longer. Just bought a Garmin Etrex-basic (on ebay $83 + Shipping), even though I shouldn't be spending the money. It should arrive Thursday AM. I think I feel a touch of the (GPS) flu coming. I think I'll definately have to call in sick Thursday & Friday . Sorry, I just had to do a little happy dance. Windrose "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

Couldn't stand it any longer. Just bought a Garmin Etrex-basic (on ebay $83 + Shipping), even though I shouldn't be spending the money. It should arrive Thursday AM. I think I feel a touch of the (GPS) flu coming. I think I'll definately have to call in sick Thursday & Friday . Sorry, I just had to do a little happy dance. Windrose "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

I'm fairly new at this myself. I don't have a GPS yet so I use a satelite photo to get me to the approximate spot. Once there it's like Markwell said, you look around for what looks like a good hiding spot. I have found caches under a pile of rocks, under a bush, INSIDE a bush (stuck in the branches), at the base of a tree under a pile of leaves, inside a hollow log, buried in woodchips by a water spout, etc. But I have had a couple of no-finds (that the other cachers have logged as "easy" finds). I'm at least 90% sure I was in the right place just couldn't ferret out the spot. Don't give up, use the clue provided (if any) and sometimes if you email the owner he/she might give you alittle extra help (like another clue). "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

I'm fairly new at this myself. I don't have a GPS yet so I use a satelite photo to get me to the approximate spot. Once there it's like Markwell said, you look around for what looks like a good hiding spot. I have found caches under a pile of rocks, under a bush, INSIDE a bush (stuck in the branches), at the base of a tree under a pile of leaves, inside a hollow log, buried in woodchips by a water spout, etc. But I have had a couple of no-finds (that the other cachers have logged as "easy" finds). I'm at least 90% sure I was in the right place just couldn't ferret out the spot. Don't give up, use the clue provided (if any) and sometimes if you email the owner he/she might give you alittle extra help (like another clue). "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

396 for me, with 87 within 60 miles. and at least 10 new ones this week. "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

396 for me, with 87 within 60 miles. and at least 10 new ones this week. "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

quote:Originally posted by jdege: The next step in the chain is to imprison people in advance, because they're the sort who you think are likely to commit crimes. Did you see "Minority Report?" "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

-------------------- posted by Shadowraven - Have you ever found a cache just by mapping it on MapQuest? Is this impossible or generally do-able? --------------------- I'm still new at this too, and I don't have a GPS yet. I have found 8 caches so far, only one skunk (no-find). I look for 1/1 caches, mostly in urban parks, where's there not too much ground cover (trees, etc) so I can get good reference points from the statelite image. I print the map from Mapquest (to get me to the right area) and the satelite image from www.lostoutdoors.com (to pinpoint the cache location). I use a compass & the maps/images. (And of course I use the clues.) Since most geocachers say the GPS only gets you within 10-20 feet, I figure if I can get that close with the sat. image I have a good shot of finding the cache. (Of course I'm just killing time until I get a GPS and can go after the ones waaayy out in the woods .) "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way." [This message was edited by Windrose on September 10, 2002 at 04:05 PM.]

-------------------- posted by Shadowraven - Have you ever found a cache just by mapping it on MapQuest? Is this impossible or generally do-able? --------------------- I'm still new at this too, and I don't have a GPS yet. I have found 8 caches so far, only one skunk (no-find). I look for 1/1 caches, mostly in urban parks, where's there not too much ground cover (trees, etc) so I can get good reference points from the statelite image. I print the map from Mapquest (to get me to the right area) and the satelite image from www.lostoutdoors.com (to pinpoint the cache location). I use a compass & the maps/images. (And of course I use the clues.) Since most geocachers say the GPS only gets you within 10-20 feet, I figure if I can get that close with the sat. image I have a good shot of finding the cache. (Of course I'm just killing time until I get a GPS and can go after the ones waaayy out in the woods .) "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way." [This message was edited by Windrose on September 10, 2002 at 04:05 PM.]

Someone said the park personnel were "just doing their Job", but were they? If they (the park people) saw someone "tromping" around where they weren't suppose to, isn't it their job to tell the person, "Hey, you're not suppose to be walking through here!" Did they just stand there and watch the person (or many, many people according to them) destroy the habitat? Shouldn't they have done something to correct the person's unacceptable action while it was occuring? If the offending person was a hiker, is hiking now banned? Or is it O.K. to "tromp" through the park and destroy the habitat as long as I don't have a GPS on me? How do they know it was a geocacher unless they stood there watching them? And if they did, I ask again, why didn't they stop the person and correct their actions? I suppose if someone breaks into a car in the parking lot, they're just going to stand there and watch the person and then afterwards claim it was a geocacher & say the coordinates for the parking lot must be removed. Everyone is discussing whether or not the park can ban virtual caches. Shouldn't the real question be why these park employees are NOT doing their job of protecting the park from abuse by whoever is doing it, whether that person is a geocacher or a hiker? "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

Someone said the park personnel were "just doing their Job", but were they? If they (the park people) saw someone "tromping" around where they weren't suppose to, isn't it their job to tell the person, "Hey, you're not suppose to be walking through here!" Did they just stand there and watch the person (or many, many people according to them) destroy the habitat? Shouldn't they have done something to correct the person's unacceptable action while it was occuring? If the offending person was a hiker, is hiking now banned? Or is it O.K. to "tromp" through the park and destroy the habitat as long as I don't have a GPS on me? How do they know it was a geocacher unless they stood there watching them? And if they did, I ask again, why didn't they stop the person and correct their actions? I suppose if someone breaks into a car in the parking lot, they're just going to stand there and watch the person and then afterwards claim it was a geocacher & say the coordinates for the parking lot must be removed. Everyone is discussing whether or not the park can ban virtual caches. Shouldn't the real question be why these park employees are NOT doing their job of protecting the park from abuse by whoever is doing it, whether that person is a geocacher or a hiker? "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

I keep getting sent to www.netster.com ????? "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

Thanks for the answers, I'll email the owners and see if they have an opinion. If I don't hear from them, I guess I'll leave my sig. items and a theme item (or two). That's assuming I find the caches. I don't have a GPS yet so I'm working off topo maps, statelite images & my compass. I've found both caches I've searched for so far, but then I'm only going after the real easy, beginner ones (nearby landmarks, not much tree cover--so the satelite image is good, etc.) at least so far. "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way." [This message was edited by Windrose on August 19, 2002 at 12:47 PM.]

Thanks for the answers, I'll email the owners and see if they have an opinion. If I don't hear from them, I guess I'll leave my sig. items and a theme item (or two). That's assuming I find the caches. I don't have a GPS yet so I'm working off topo maps, statelite images & my compass. I've found both caches I've searched for so far, but then I'm only going after the real easy, beginner ones (nearby landmarks, not much tree cover--so the satelite image is good, etc.) at least so far. "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way." [This message was edited by Windrose on August 19, 2002 at 12:47 PM.]

If it's a theme cache (ex: foreign money or wetland creatures) is it "proper" to still leave your signature item(s) (that don't fit the theme) in addition to an item that fits the theme? Or do you just leave the theme item? "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

If it's a theme cache (ex: foreign money or wetland creatures) is it "proper" to still leave your signature item(s) (that don't fit the theme) in addition to an item that fits the theme? Or do you just leave the theme item? "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."

Maybe he was just using Infosponge's advice on what to do if you're caught by someone while trying to find/hide a cache. quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by infosponge: I usually just take off all my clothes and run around in a circle. This distracts them from the cache and they usually run away. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The way of the Wind is a strange, wild way."