MikeB3542

Hmmm...thought so. I've noticed that the forums light up with lots of antsy PM's when the "PQ machine" slows down. Never understood the anxiety, especially since most were running the same PQ over and over and over and...

I think the second part of the OP's question is not really clear (not to me, at least). That is, what's it used for? Full disclosure: I've been a basic member for years, and never saw enough appeal or advantage to upgrade for this feature.

My first (and only, so far) is a Garmin eTrex Legend that I picked up in spring of '06. A co-worker suggested geocaching (she knew I liked outdoor-type activities -- hiking, camping, fishing, canoeing) so figured I would give it a whirl. It was on sale at Target, which was good since I wanted to keep expenses down.

From Wisconsin, this has to take the cake! http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...d0-9c90065237e6

This maybe true, but do you live on planet earth? OK, look, here's the issue. I went to the petition page, and, wow, if you are looking for help from strangers, you have to spoon feed us: 1. Who is the CRD? Who are they accountable to? Shouldn't the petition go to THEM (since the CRD is out to lunch)? 2. Where is Sea to Sea Regional Park (Harbourview Rd.)? Where is this Sooke place? Should we trust this Janet Evans person? is she trustworthy? Maybe she owns a business that would be hurt by ATV access. 3. Why is ATV access bad? 4. Why do you think anybody at the CRD Parks Board cares about petitions from who knows where? 5. What is the time line as far as the decision-making process? I'm playing devils' advocate -- just saying you gotta be more compelling. If you are going to solicit signatures for a petitions try targeting people in the area. Maybe explain why this area is so cool, and why letting doofusses do endless donuts in fragile eco-systems is a bad idea. Pictures are good. And you gotta explain why action is needed today (as opposed to next week or next year). Come back when you're ready (or better yet, start your post in the State/Region/Province/Country forum below -- yeah, your info is SO bad that I have no idea where you are from!)

Oh yeah, and join WGA -- it's a freebie and a good way to keep up with the local comings and goings: www.wi-geocaching.com If you venture down to the Chicago area, check out GONIL: www.gonil.org

First of all, WELCOME TO MILWAUKEE! Obviously, the weather up here is a bit different that Ft Lauderdale. You learn to love the changing seasons. Give it a chance, and it grows on you. Second of all, WELCOME to the SE WI geocaching community. My suggestion is to go to a WGA event and meet us -- there is a GeoPizza Social coming on April 10 in Greenfield, and a Intro to Geocaching/CITO event in Waukesha on April 17. They will also be having a camp event at Richard Bong SRA near Burlington in mid-May. Hard to imagine a friendlier bunch. Sorry to hear about the pilfered coins. There unfortunately are people who insist on taking the fun out of stuff. They're everywhere. I say don't let 'em get you down. BTW, seems that most of the serious GC owners don't let their coins circulate freely -- they do bring them to events where they will be happy to let you have a look and log a "Discover".

"Secret Journey" by the Police

Geez, there you go, trying to apply some common sense! Actually, you can squeeze a little bit more than 100 in, but you have to be pretty clever. Figure you have a row of ten caches 528' apart, oriented east-to-west "kissing" the south side of the "box". You could just stack up nine more rows of ten to get your 100. Or you could set a row of nine caches 457' north, then a row of ten another 457', and so on. You would then have 105 caches in your mile-square box. (You can find ways of getting maybe 18 more caches in the mile square box, but those additional caches would exclude area outside the box, so I'm not counting those.) Of course this is sort of a dumb exercise. I'm sure SOMEONE will find a place out in the middle of the desert and do a "power grid" of sorts. I have a hard time getting exorcised about "power trails". The one in CZ/NV is a little gratuitous, but I think you are all neglecting the terrain and remoteness of that bad boy. My only worry is that it will kill someone before anyone comes close to hitting them all in a day.

The key is to focus on a few spots -- GSM is a very big park and there is limited access to the interior of the park. No realistic way to "see it all". To get anywhere most often involves driving around the park rather than through. And you won't be alone -- expect lots of traffic in the summer months. The Cades Cove area has lots of trails and gives you an idea what the area looked like before the park was created. http://www.cadescove.net/hiking_cades_cove.html The Deep Creek Loop Trail is very nice (but the trailhead is a bit of a trek from Gatlinburg). While in the area, check out Fontana Dam if you are into that sort of thing. The Chimney Tops Trail is practically obligatory. It's a short trail but fairly steep. Great view, and a climbing challenge if you want to actually go to the tops (a tricky scramble across walls of slate, with nasty drop-offs either side). Give yourself lots of time. Just the views from the roads are spectacular, and you might spend more time than you planned pulling off at the numerous waysides. You won't have quite as good of a view from most of the walking trails due to heavy vegetation (trees and what is referred to as "heath" -- thick patches of flowering rhododendrum).

Word to the wise: the cops have a pretty good idea how many $$ ought to be there, and so will some other folks. Either way, life will probably suck if you try to pocket the money.

What MAY be banned by certain property managers (inc. state local and Fed govt.) is using the ammo cans as a cache container. Ammo cans are in lots of ways ideal containers: nice size, water resistant, durable and not too expensive. The problem: they are metal, so no way to know what is inside. What's worse, they usually have some garbled stenciled lettering that says something like "EXPLOSIVE, 50 CAL., DO NOT DROP, PROPERTY OF US ARMY" and the like. It probably doesn't (but should) have a sticker or writing that says "This is a geocache, don't move me, don't blow me up". This is isn't a problem for you and I, since we know what's in their (notebook, golf balls, McToys, maybe a travel bug) but for the unaware jogger who calls the bomb squad, not so much.

I assume this is sort of a spiral. (Which is the path most folks take to GZ!) Does the CO owner use evince or some sort of other way prospective seekers can check the coordinates? CO's don't HAVE to provide that service but it beats having people wander off where they shouldn't. By the way, me thinks that this could be done with even a fairly modest GPS unit, if you have a grip on the pattern that the CO has in mind. Another thought: the CO does not have to give you hints, but if you were polite about your request, no reason (s)he should get surly.

If this is a new unit, return it. If it is a older unit or a used unit that you bought as-is, I'll just say that is a pretty common issue. Basically the connections to the LCD display are flaky. Mine started doing that maybe a 18 months after purchasing. It has continued to work another two years, so not a fatal error but a nuisance. Cold weather seems to make the problem worse. Fresh batteries help.

BTW, "regular" sized caches are about the size of a shoebox. The most common of this size are 30 cal ammo cans, but keep an open mind.

A few of suggestions: 1. Pick "regular" sized caches that are in local parks and places that you are familiar with. No issues with getting lost, and no looking for micros. 2. Check out to see if there are local geocaching groups. Many have regular "meet 'n greets". Newbies are welcome, and my guess is that there will be plenty of friendly faces to get you pointed in the right direction. 3. Get comfortable with your GPS unit before heading for the woods. Mark the location of your house, and see if you can "find it" using the GPS alone. Or check out local USGS benchmarks -- most are survey disks that can be concealed or gone, but quite a few are prominent landmarks (water towers, church steeples) that can be found readily.

"Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas

Check with your local geocaching organization -- our local organization will regularly have workshops to discuss basic stuff (basic intro for beginners) to more advanced stuff (using GSAK and puzzle-solving strategies). Usually they plan these at a park with a place to go for beers and pizza not too far away.

Well, I'm jealous! The 60Csx is top of the line and will serve you well. OK, I have to fess up a bit. I have something like 1500 finds and have never understood the fuss about paperless caching. I don't think I have ever carried a wad of papers around for each hide. I just load a bunch of coordinates with EasyGPS into my Legend and away I go.

"Run Through the Jungle" by CCR and "Can't Get Their From Here" by REM came to mind right off.

A Geocacher's Story (GC162Z3) is a good example in our area. Yes, you need a GPSr to find the waypoints, but, no you don't ask at the desk where it is. Remember, there are other ways of "navigating" a library that don't involve a GPSr. (Tip of the hat to AuntieNae, who put the hide together, and has done great things for geocaching in SE WI).

$70 gets you a Geomate Jr with geocache coordinates already loaded. It is VERY BASIC. No doubt, many will jump on me for suggesting a unit with such limited features. BAH! It will get you in the game for little out of pocket.

eTrex Legend: $100 Ball point pen: $2 Sensible walking shoes: $75 Having cover blown by google Earth: priceless

This post is nonsensical, on several counts. 1. The iPad is fairly inexpensive, as far as portable computers, and in particular Apple computers go. 2. It has a rechargeable battery built into it that lasts 10 hours. 3. Groundspeak has offered a Geocaching.com app for the iPhone and iPod Touch for some time. I'm not sure if you're trying to be funny or inflammatory here, but either way this post is a massive fail. Aah a Jobsian, I see. BATTERY...LASTS....TEN.....HOURS...??? Yeah, were all going to carry that big GLASS screen around the woods...good luck with that!

Y'all are assuming we will still have birds in the air -- some of them are expected to start failing THIS YEAR, and the USAF has bungled the program set up to maintain and replace the current constellation which was put in place 20 years ago. That and lack of cheap gas might doom the hobby in 10 years, much less 100 or 1000 years.