SmartSapper

I'm looking for GPS tracklogs from people who've been caching in Central Texas, specifically in the parks around Killeen/Temple/Lampasas. Any logs from Bell, Coryell, Lampasas, Hamilton, Mills and San Saba County are appreciated. This is for a website that was recently resurrected. We don't have the budget to send me out all day long with my GPSr, but I figure some of you out there have been or will be heading to the areas I'm interested. Here's the website: Central Texas Trails Network The old design will be going away soon, but I'd like to update my data before I start putting new maps on the web. Send them to jason.deckman@ctcog.org, in .gpx or .shp format. Thanks!

If you're submitting a message, the worst thing you can do is hit refresh if it appears your post didn't go through. Every time you hit refresh, you're telling the server to resubmit your post, resulting in double, triple and more posts. Even if you get that long text error message that comes up every so often when posting, your post has gone through. I've seen that happen a lot and my message has gone through every time. Oh, I don't hit refresh if I've just posted. Only if I'm opening a page and it loads slow. Yeah, refreshing from a 'submit' action is a recipe for disaster. I should have gone into more detail.

I don't wait if it looks hung up like that. Just refresh, or use the back button and click the link again. Usually works right away the second time.

4 miles or so? Don't sound too bad...What's the catch vertical gain?

How long till the first Martian shows up with a filthy rag and charges a fiver to wipe the dust off the solar panels?

Taiwan is one thing...China is another I agree. It is a shame that these coins and other trade items cannot be made economically in the USA.

I thought the lackeys threw chicken bones, dice, and/or read tea leaves to come up the codes. Never really thought that hard about it.

I'm not sure what you mean by "bushwhacking in quite a literal sense", but be careful that you're not damaging the environment by the way that you're using it. There should generally be no need to beat back the vegetation, if that's what you're asking. Buy one? Nooooo.... just keep caching until someday you stumble upon the perfect walking stick. I have several that I culled from beaver damns over the years. I gave them a light sanding, followed by a couple of coats of varnish or linseed oil. If you want, drill a hole through the top to receive a leather bootlace. It will mean so much more to you than some stick that you bought...IMO. You sanded and drilled a beaver!? That's insane!

That is funny. Nobody shoots 9mm anymore!

It's an evolutionary fact, science backs it up, that cachers with guns are more likely to shoot someone throwing a bison tube in the middle of the forest. I'll say it again, slowly this time E-VO-LU-TION.

The time is set to Pip's convenience. As you will soon learn, it's all about Pip!

Stories about an adventure looking for a cache? Okay. There's a cache in Germany called Beam-n-Rock, that took me three tries to find. Once I found it, it seemed easy, but don't they all? Anyway, the first time I went was in broad daylight, my wife was with me, and the GPS signal kept bouncing me around. Looked all over, but no luck. A few months later, I was out caching and driving around, so I figured I'd try to get that one again. I had gone back and read the hint, looked at the pictures and felt I had a good idea where to find the cache. It was almost dark when I got there, but that's okay. "oh, crap, I must have deleted the waypoint for this one. Well, I suppose I'll just leave the GPS in the truck then. I remember how to get there." There's my first mistake. I should probably mention that this cache is on top of a rocky hilltop in the woods out in the middle of nowhere. The region is known as Frankonian Switzerland, for all of the cliffs, towers and rock formations throughout the area. Frankische Schweiz So off I go, tromping through the woods at twilight, it was November and fairly cold, although there wasn't any snow on the ground. I get to the top of the hill where the rocks start sticking out. It reminds of some kind of dwarfish, iron age, LOTR castle fortress gone to ruin. Ramparts is a word that describes the appearance well. The 'wall' kind of follows the curvature of the hilltop/ridgeline, and meanders around. This is where I made my second mistake, by this point I had to use my flashlight, and I'm looking at the rocks trying to remember which one it was I was looking for, and how to get up on it. After about 15 minutes of this, going in circles, I am fairly well disoriented, although I don't realize it yet. I usually have a very good, instinctive sense of direction, but it is very easy to get turned around in the woods in the dark. There just aren't any good reference points. So I give up and start heading back to the truck. I come down the hill, and I can see light where the treeline ends. "That's funny, I crossed a little tractor path on the way in. Haven't hit that yet..." I come out of the trees overlooking a field, no houses in view. "This ain't where I parked...Oh, crap." Now I have to figure out where I went wrong. Which way did I turn and how to get back to the truck. You recall that I left my GPS in the truck, therefore I can't just backtrack. I also didn't have a cellphone at this point - it was in the truck too. That's the third mistake. Well, the first thing to do when you find yourself in a situation like this is STOP: Stop, Think, Observe, Plan. So I've stopped and I'm thinking, when I observe a car go by on a road far off to my right, move away from me, reach an intersection, make a right turn and off it goes. "hmm, let's see if there's any road signs." So I tromp over the mud and leftover, chopped down cornstalks, reaching the intersection. That clues me in to where I am, and all I need to do is follow this road back towards the village near my parking spot - about a mile away! Yep, I came down about 90-135 degrees to the left of the direction I should have taken to get back to the truck, came down the wrong side of the ridgeline, and ended up in this field. By making my way out to the crossroads, I added even more distance. But I made it back to the truck, and a few days later, came back, in the daytime, with the waypoint loaded, with my flashlight and cellphone in my pocket just in case, and finally found the cache! Yay me! Boy did I feel silly walking across that field, though. Lesson one, always bring the GPS, and make sure the waypoint is loaded. Lesson two - if you think you're lost, you probably are. Lesson three, bring the cellphone so you can call for help, it's a good thing I hadn't fallen on the rocks and hurt myself. So there's my story. Have a good laugh, but learn from my mistakes as well.

OOOhhhhh, I'm drooling! Gotta have one!! PM sent.

Never heard of it, what's it do?

email sent, I'll be looking for a package soon, I hope!

Looks like everybody's getting geared up. I was wondering if it's still possible for me to take Arkansas?

I'll take Arkansas. I'm in Texas, but we're headed that way right on your time frame. Address PMed and emailed.

Way to go! Best of luck for the future!

done, 20.39%, not quite the peak of the bell curve.

On a slightly different note, why do people only collect and 'discover' the coins, and not let them travel? I don't see the point, so maybe someone can explain the other side to me. Thanks!

Coins. I like all the little Icons you get, even after you pass it on. That's why I try not to hold on to a coin for very long - Let someone else get their grubby food grabbers on it, too!

Garden Gnome I don't know what all the cache page says, I can speak and read a little German, but this is too much. Anyway, check out the gallery, even though it doesn't show real well, the container is not your standard tupperware or ammo can. It's a hollow plastic garden gnome who is mooning you!

I am forced to admit that I have shopped there in the past and will do so in the future. But it's important to me to do some research on the available choices out there. There's MORE than just WalMart, is my point. If you want to get a bunch of basic stuff without having to run around town, they're great. But we tend to choose convenience over reason too frequently as a culture to satisy this curmudgeon. Permethrin is not intended to be applied directly to the skin. You spray it on your clothes, and let them completely dry before wearing them. This is correct, and done properly, works. I spent 4 straight days in the woods of Missouri in permethrin treated BDUs. In July. Picked up zero ticks. That tells me it works. And my mind sti ll woorrr ks jusapoia;vaoieangaoise.

What? I have a choice? Wally world still has competition? But,, but wait,,, this means I'll to think for myself.....THE HORROR... the horror...

They sneak up behind you when you're not looking, much like the topiaries at the Stanley Hotel. T- AxE L - rEDrUM tRAvEL buG