MikeB3542

It is not a physical entity -- it is a computer program that you download from the website into your computer, then onto your GPSr or PDA. My own 2 cents: Wherigo is a cool idea that was released half-baked. An online video walking you through a Wherigo cache would be nice. An alternate way to play Wherigo with basic equipment would be nice. Not using weird terms like "cartridge" would be good. Lots of templates that help would-be Wherigo developers bootstrap their first few caches would help. Groundspeak needs to be way more hands on if they want this to succeed. Right now, it is NOT SUCCEEDING. There are only two within 50 miles of my location (Milwaukee, WI) and between them they have 20 finds in over a year. There are only a dozen in the states of Illinois and Wisconsin combined. In this economy, I am not dropping $300 or more just to play a handful of buggy Wherigo hides.

Depends on what you mean by "raining." A summer shower is refreshing, no need for rain gear. A cold, windy rainstorm in late November, not so much, even if properly dressed. A severe thunderstorm in late May, you will find me in the basement listening to NOAA radio.

Good point -- unlike South Manitou, North Manitou doesn't seem to have a pronounced bay. Straight up, Traverse City area is very nice. You could do worse than fly in to Traverse City and rent a car.

OK, I've gone back to the OP's link SEVERAL TIMES and CAN"T FIND THE NANO, so I am logging a DNF and think that it may have been muggled. ;-)

"In Alaska, the best athletes eat raw meat, sleep in the snow, and run naked." I assume you are referring to sled dogs! The issue in Wisconsin, is that it is often not cold enough...worst weather for boots is when temps are hovering around freezing. Better at low temps when you can roll in the snow and stay dry.

Can he fly a plane with floats? If he can, you might be in business (there is a GA airport at Traverse City where he can gas up). This event is intriguing, to say the least. (In Wisconsin, there is a similar event on Rock Island which requires TWO ferry rides each way.) Easiest way for me to get to Sleeping Bear Dunes from Milwaukee (where I live) would be to take the ferry from Milwaukee to Muskegon, or from Manitowoc to Ludington. Anything to avoid driving through Chicago and NW Indiana!

Not to mess up your thread too badly, but the first thing that came to mind when I read your post was Kubler-Ross stages of accepting a DNF: 1) Denial. "Must have been muggled! dadgum kids..." 2) Anger. "What kind of moron hides a nano in the middle of the woods?" 3) Bargaining. "Maybe my batteries are running low." 4) Depression. "This is the last stupid geocache I will ever look for!" 5) Acceptance. "Where is the next closest cache?"

A good rainy-day destination is the School of Mines in Rapid City, SD -- awesome museum (fossils).

Camping at Wind Cave NP is $10 per night. This park is a gem...and is much underutilized. We were there a couple summers ago on our way to Yellowstone (mid-July, weekday) and we had the campground nearly to ourselves. Besides the cave, there is lots of wildlife (pronghorn antelope, bison, elk) and nice terrain for walking. I believe the park is at the south end of the Centennial Trail. Take advantage of the naturalist programs...you often will end up on a one-on-one tour of the park with a park service guide. The cave is really different, and worth a tour. Campgrounds at Badlands NP are usually pushing capacity, since it is a natural overnight stop for folks heading west to Yellowstone. If just using as a place to catch some ZZZ's, it is just fine, but the weather is very harsh and there is little to shelter you. Get up early in the morning and do the Door/Window/Notch Trails just east of the visitor center. Do enjoy your trip -- the Black Hills is a great destination.

The classic LL Bean boot works well -- when broken in, it is good for walking.

Nice boots -- those are definitely three-season boots. I have a pair of Vasque's just like those. For a 0.1 mile dash from car to cache and back, probably Ok, but other than that, not so much. The big issue up here (grew in Chicago, living in Milwaukee) is dealing with snow, slush, and ice. If your feet get wet, or snow slops into the top of your boot, you are going to be miserable. While the Gore-Tex itself is waterproof, the overall construction of those boots won't keep your feet dry very long. What you are looking for is something that is water-proof below the ankle and water-resistant above. Definitely consider a boot that goes mid-calf, rather than an ankle boot. Do consider a "pac" boot -- these boots have removeable wool-felt or poly liners. If they get damp, yank the old liners out and pop in fresh dry liners. Here is a really good example from Sorel: http://www.sorel.com/1964-Pac+-T-+Men+-+-0...default,pd.html Buy 'em big -- need room for a pair of thick socks, and it is important for the boot not to be tight -- you need good circulation to keep the toes warm. Anyhow, welcome to my neck of the woods. If you can take advantage of the four seasons, I think you will be pleasantly surprised -- Chicagoans moan and groan more about the weather than anybody (I blame local weatherman Tom Skilling) but it really isn't that bad. Oh yeah, join GONIL (and WGA if you plan on caching in Wisconsin).

I always tell the truth: I'm geocaching. Lying to law enforcement and authorities is patently stupid. Lying to muggles is also dumb, since it just makes them suspiciuos (and then you are back to dealing with law enforcement). Heck, I've come to drop the whole pretense of stealth. Hate to say, but most of you cachers out there, me included, suck at being "stealthy". Most of us just end up looking sneaky and silly. Most muggles have heard enough about geocaching and GPS navigation to be curious -- they are less clueless than you suppose.

Considering the weather you are probably getting, a sled might be the best choice. Otherwise, my suggestion is to encourage him to walk. Just a guess, but winter and early spring are less than ideal times in NY state for hiking. Not that you won't get out, but my guess is that you won't get out as much. So lets fast forward to late April/early May when you will be raring to hit that first CITO event and get into the swing of things. Your guy will be six months older -- at his age, that's HUGE development. He will be a lot bigger and stronger, his motor skills will be light years better (much to your chagrin as he will be RUNNING), and his cognitive and language skills take a big jump, too. There is a pretty good chance that between now and then whatever you get now won't work, and he will in any case be a load you don't really want to haul. So my vote is to let him walk with you -- kids get carried, strollered and driven around too much anyway. This will force you to adjust your routine, at least for a little while. But he will be accustomed to walking and carrying his own load a lot earlier than he would otherwise.

Come to Washington. I'll show you some destinations worth the schlep. On a recent hike, this was less than 500 feet up into the hike and the one below it is at about 4500' accomplished in about 4 hours or so. elevation gain was 2500 feet. The ravine where the water fall was at was lined with 1100' cliffs. Ahh! Now that's what I'm talkin' about. Still, you would be amazed. When the wife and I were in Yosemite 10 yrs ago, I found the hike on the Mist Trail up to Vernal and Nevada Falls bewitching, despite hardly being in shape for it. My wife, not so much.

Referring to this trip as an "overnighter" sounds suspiciously like a "three hour tour." :-) Do-able? Absolutely, especially if in great shape. If just one night, no need for a lot of gear. Enjoyable? Less sure about that. With four times more altitude gain than there is in the entire state of Wisconsin, this sort of trip is way past my ability. I guess I would need one heluva destination to make it worth the schlep.

Check out the attached link: http://www.angelfire.com/wi/scanner/generalaviation.html The ones to check out are the "unicom" and "multicom" frequencies. 122.7 and 123.0 are common Unicom frequencies used by pilots to communicate with airports. Just about every airport has some unicom radio. Usually, the unicom freq is used for getting local weather and runway conditions, but you may hear a pilot make a request for coffee or a meal, or even a courtesy car to a local hotel. Pilots will also use unicom like multicom for communicating their flight intentions. 122.8 is what is referred to as multicom -- it is used by pilots to communicate their intentions while flying in and out of an airport. Since multicom is common, the pilots will id who they are talking to. For instance, you might hear something like, "Tango Traffic, Cessna Five-Six-Sierra entering downwind runway one-eight, Tango Traffic". In this case a Cessna 172 (reg no. N56S) is letting everyone flying in our out of Tango Airport know they are entering the landing pattern on the downwind leg to runway 18 -- they will land going south on the north-south runway. Note that the pilot identifies that he is talking to the traffic at Tango Airport. November Airport, four miles away, may very well use the same multicom freq and have a similar 18-36 runway. 122.9 is the multicom that FS search and rescue will be on. Good to know. 123.45 is an informal multicom that pilots sometimes use to shoot the breeze. If you are flying cross-country, and don't need to be dialed into a specific ATC freq, it is sort of like the old CB channel 19. In flight school, we used it on solo cross-country flights to keep tabs on each other. 121.5 is the emergency channel, of course. The ELT on most aircraft will transmit on this frequency (aircraft ELT's can be switched on manually. A crash will also automatically turn on the ELT. Be aware that the FAA sets aside a day and time each month to check ELT's -- if you want to check to see if your ELT works, that's when to do it. Don't forget to turn the ELT off, or you will have some angry folks to deall with. The long and short is that noneof these freqs will help you if the plane overhead is not on the same channel. Aviation radios don't scan -- they are only tuned to the one station at a time. Another thing -- aircraft radios are notoriously bad. It isn't the radio's fault, a plane just has a lot of vibration and electrical interference. Finally, the pilot is in a very busy and noisy environment. Speak loud and clear, and be patient. Finally, don't screw around on those frequencies. Clicking the send key will frustrate plots making their calls, and might even mess with the runway lights (clicking the multicom freqs will change the runway light intensity at many airports, no joke).

Matches build fires which can signal your location. They are small, lightweight, cheap and the signal fire can help keep you warm while you are waiting for rescue. And a signal fire looks different than a campfire...how? Search and rescue won't be looking for you (or your signal fire) unless they know you are missing, and have some clue where you are. A written plan left with family or friends before you go is essential. Wandering off without telling anyone ahead of time is asking for it. Batteries in cell phones and ELT's poop out.

Wish I could help more -- I grew up in the Clearing/Garfield Ridge community (56th & Austin) but am living in the Milwaukee area. Perhaps our paths will cross if I need a rye bread fix at Pticek's! Anyhow, the SW side is such a black hole geocache-wise. Not sure why there aren't hides in the parks (Wentworth, Hale, Minuteman, Sayre, Normandy). The triangle where Archer meets 55th street seems like a natural. If I wasn't 100 miles away, I would do 'em myself! Your best bet to meet other geocachers is to try the local group (www.gonil.org) and try to attend events. You also can run into folks in cache-rich areas nearby (Palos Forest Preserve, Salt Creek/Chicago Portage Trail). Hitting a new cache the day it is published will attract folks. Heck, you could set up a few geocaches down there -- once you get past the FTF hounds, a lot of the early loggers will be locals. Good luck!

My thinking is that a lot of folks geocache to experiense unaugmented reality (i.e. nature). I haven't done any of the Wherigo games (none local and lack the hardware) but it sounds like it would be suited for AR.

My wife has family that lives in Lebanon. Got as chance to do some geocaching over a Thanksgiving weekend awhile back. My suggestion is to try the Miami Broup of the Sierra Club Ohio Chapter: http://ohio.sierraclub.org/miami/index.html Also check the bulletin boards at the places you buy your gear. Finally, community colleges often have trips that are organized through the recreation department -- you might not be a student, but you are a member of the community, so you may be able to participate. Best of luck at USMA!

I assume you have some sort of anti-virus/anti-spam/anti-spyware/anti-adware program on your system (you are a fool if you don't). You should be able to change your firewall settings to allow mail from certain sites (like gc.com) that you trust.

I assume you have some sort of anti-virus/anti-spam/anti-spyware/anti-adware program on your system (you are a fool if you don't). You should be able to change your firewall settings to allow mail from certain sites (like gc.com) that you trust.

I assume you have some sort of anti-virus/anti-spam/anti-spyware/anti-adware program on your system (you are a fool if you don't). You should be able to change your firewall settings to allow mail from certain sites (like gc.com) that you trust.

I would say ESPECIALLY the adults need to follow all six steps. We had a bit of norovirus tear through my son's troop at summer camp (25% of boys and adults ill, including myself) and having the leaders sick threatened our ability to get the guys home on time. Besides, grown ups like us are such babies when we get sick! Kitchen sanitation probably wasn't the culprit -- we have a pretty strict procedure of wash, rinse, bleach and boil that avoids most food-poisoning grief.

Not to nitpick with briansnat too much, but the Eureka Timberline IS self-supporting. A couple of guy lines are used to pull out the sides, but the tent and fly will function fine without. A nice feature on the better tents is the ability to get the fly set up before the tent. Useful if making camp in rainy weather: since the roof of the tent is usually just a screen, this reduces the amount of water accumulating inside the tent during set up. (This is a feature that made the Timbeline way ahead of its time.)