KG1960

This was just a couple of weeks ago. We were in the Chicago area visiting my mother for the weekend and decided to find some caches in the area. We found about four in the morning. My wife and son were with me and we all had a good time. Later that afternoon my son wanted to go to Best Buy to check on car stereos. So he and I went there but there was a cache in one of the Forest Preserves along the way so we stopped to find that one. This location had a small lake. The cache appeared to be at the far end of the lake from the parking lot. No big deal, maybe a quarter mile. Easy walk along the lake because it was mowed grass. We get nearer to the cache and it looks like it's in the woods, so off in the woods we go. It's fairly dense and slow going blazing one's own trail. We found the cache after about 300 feet and notice that if we stayed in the mowed grassy area, there would have been only less than a hundred feet of woods with a crude trail. Oh well, this is what makes it fun. Anyway, we took the short way out of the woods on the way back. As soon as we stepped out of the woods, about ten feet from us, was a guy stark naked sunning himself! After several seconds of surprise, I said Hi, man. How're you doing? He smiled and said OK and we continued our walk back to the car.

My first job as an engineer after graduating from college was in an army ammunition plant in Baraboo, WI. I can't imagine any problems with whatever residue there might be. However, for peace of mind, etc. wash it off with detergent and water. To remove remnants of the tape, use Goo-Gone as previously suggested, or paint thinner, or acetone, etc. I would suggest that if you use these solvents do the cleaning outdoors.

You didn't really say just where you might be doing most of your caching, and as others have implied, what you need to bring depends on just where you might be going. For instance, this weekend we were visiting my mother in the Chicago area and went to a couple of the Forest Preserves there to look for some caches. From the parking lot the GPSr said just 0.25 mile to the cache (for the farthest one), so one doesn't really need much for that. I always carry extra set of batteries and a pen. I had some packs of the wipe-on insect repellent but didn't need them. Most of the way to this one was bushwhacking, but I just had shorts on. I found a stick on the ground to use to sweep spider webs out of the way. A walking stick might be nice that that but I haven't got around to getting one yet. Back home there is a state park nearby. My son and I went there one Saturday to see how many of the dozen or so of caches we could find. We found six and maybe walked a total of 6 or 7 miles. The only difference there was that we carried water. I usually wear cargo pants that have extra pockets and just put a bottle of water in each extra pocket. My point is, depending just what and where you go, one may not need to carry much of anything. BTW, it might not be a bad idea to carry pepper spray as another person suggested.

With my Garmin (different model than yours) the drivers came on the CD that was packaged with the new unit. This CD also had a basic computer interface software. The map CD's I don't think have the drivers. I'm not sure, but you may be able to download the drivers from Garmin if you don't have the original CD.

This happened just last Friday. I went to a nearby city park that I had never been to and that had a cache. This one involved a short hike through the woods. I'm goiong along and get to where the GPS says 30 feet to go and the arrow points right to a tree stump and two fallen trees, all within 15 feet of each other. I think it's got to be in one of those. I clip the GPS to my belt and hands are free. I get close and step on a small log. It rolls. Next thing I know is I'm on my butt sliding about 4 feet down an incline. My backside has dirt all over it now. I did find the cache! Only problem was that I had to go back to work, this being my lunch break. I left and returned well within my hour lunch, but now am covered in mud. Sometimes you don't even have to be concentrating on a GPS to mess up.

Yesterday I tried to find a micro (but only got a DNF). I got to the coordinates and there was just one place for thirty feet around where it could be. Poking around with a pen was not successful. I thought a piece of stiff wire would have been nice, or a coat hanger.

Whether or not Waymarking is worth it, is a decision you have to make for yourself. Here is my perspective, which may help you. Today I hunted for and found a tradional cache, an ammo box hid the woods. The thrill for me is in the hunt, and I really enjoyed this one. I hiked through a park that I probably would never have visited otherwise. On the way home I stopped at a waymarker. This one was a giant sundial at Illinois Central College, East Peoria, IL. Interestingly I have taken a couple of evening courses over the years but have never seen the sundial. My excuse might be that I have been there only after dark. My son starts as a full time student there this fall and I had to go there to pay the tuition. After doing that I deceided to hunt down the sundial. It was cool (not the weather, though). On the way home from there, I found another waymark. This was a historical marker along a road. I have driven this road several times but never have stopped to read the marker. This marker was about the early settlements in the area. I was already vaguely familiar with the information but I learned more concrete facts from the marker. So, if this sounds like something that may interest you, then perhaps Waymarking is worth it for you, but, as I already said, that's something you have to decide. BTW, I found out about these waymarks simply by searching for ones in my home area.

I don't think so. I don't know how to do minutes and seconds either. But, they have a second choice of decimal degrees. For instance, our typical format might be 40 34.563. To change to decimal degrees, leave the 40 as is and divide 34.563 by 60. 34.563/60=0.576 Now add to 40 = 40.576. This is the decimal degrees. Remeber if you have a west longitude, then put a minus sign in front of the longitude. Latitudes are plus in the northern hemishere. Hope this helps.

I just carry plain water. Usually bottled water - I know its price but it is convenient. When we went on vacation to Rocky Mnt. Nat'l Park in June, we brought bottled water from home. Keep your eyes open for sales at your favorite grocery store. While in Colorado, we would refill the empty bottles with tap water for the next day's adventures. The tap water there was quite good. While we were there, we came across a pamphlet from a medical clinic in Estes Park about altitude sickness and dehydration. It said to drink water before leaving and said that if your urine flow is normal to high and it's clear, then you are properly hydrated. If the flow is low and the color is dark, then it's an early sign of dehydration. On the first day of hiking, we didn't take enough water along, so when we got back to the car, we were quite thirsty. Even though the water in the car was out right hot (having been in the sun all day), it tasted mighty fine!

With some of the caches that I have found, the containers were not all that weather tight, and the insdies were, to say the least, damp. Things deteriorate quickly in those conditions. Even a box of brand new crayons will look ratty in short time (don't take that wrong - I think a box of crayons is a great idea). Personally, the thrill is in the hunt, and I don't realy care what may be in the cache (as long as there is a usable log book). I have only once taken an item and that was a key chain with "Illinois State Univ." on it, where my wife went to school. I'm a rockhound who polishes rocks by tumbling them, so I have a steady supply of tumbled, polished rocks. I usually leave a several in each cache that I find.

This afternoon my son and I went to find a couple of caches in the area, and we used his 1980 Chevy Chevette. If it wasn't that, then it would probably have been my work car, a 1986 Chevy Celebrity. On longer trips where we desire a reasonable chance of getting back home, then its either our Ford Aerostar or my wife's Ford Taurus. But, best of all would be our 1960 VW Karmann Ghia (hence, my online name).

In Mapquest, if you enter a location by lat/lon, then you will see lat/lon in the top left. It won't change the indicated lat/lon if you move the cursor. I might suggest www.topozone.com. To get the full benefit of all of its features, you have to subscribe, but the free stuff works well for me. Basically, by clicking on various points on the map, you get the coordinates. You will probably have to hunt through the various menus to see what you can do. There are other map websites, but topozone works well enough for me on my relatively old and slow computer. Hope this helps!

Yes, could be. It started as one spot, then followed a line from my back around to my chest. As others have said, they hurt!

I had shingles when I was 37. It comes from the chicken pox virus that lies dormant in a nerve until something triggers it. The doctor said that an injury to the spot where the virus is residing may trigger it. I dropped something under the kitchen table and went on my hands and knees to retrieve it. On the way out I misjudged where I was and when I stood up, the corner of the table got me in the back enough to get a sore that bled a little. About a week later, it still hadn't healed (still had a discharge) and sores appeared on my chest. I went to the doctor then, and he said shingles (actually he said herpes zoster) as soon as he saw it. He said the chicken pox virus had infected a nerve which ran from my back to chest. He said I was lucky because sometimes it's in a nerve on your face, causing scarring and possible eye damage. It was painful for about 3 weeks and was completely healed in less than 2 months. The doctor said that I healed unusually fast probably because of my age but depending on age and previous condition, it may last a year or more. I never had poison ivy or oak. I suggest you see the real doctor and complain about the assistant. If it's by his eye, get to a doctor to make sure it won't cause eye damage.

Extra batteries. Water Hat. I get terrible headaches if I'm in the sun without a hat. A walking stick is nice to poke around in the hiding spot to make sure nothing is there that might bite. We were in Colorado on vacation in June and found a few caches. Upon returning, I logged in our finds and noticed a log from someone who was looking for one of the cahes we found. He was there only a few days after us, but he posted a DNF because, he said, there was a rattle snake sitting at the opening to the cache. Actually when I found the cache site I thought that it might be a good place for some critter to hide from the noon day sun, so I found a big stick and poked around the cache before reaching for it.

An interesting thread. I had not thought about the value a DNF might be to the cache owner, so now I'll log a DNF (actually, so far there has been only one DNF out 21 attempts - I'm new). That one is one where I actually got to the coordinates and spent some time looking without success. An example of when I would not post a DNF is like this: There is state park near me that has several caches in it. I programed about 10 of them into my GPSr before leaving home. We looked for and found 5 of them, and then ran out of time and had to get back home. I did not post a DNF for the ones we didn't look for even though we had intentions to do so. Is this correct thinking? Virtual cache question: We went on vacation to Colorado in June and found (I think) three virtual caches. Two of them were fill in the blanks with information from historical marker signs. I'm certain I got these right. The third was just describe what you see at the coordinates. I emailed, as instructed, the owners with my results. I haven't heard a thing from anybody. I posted that I found these, but should I have done so?

I am also a rockhound who likes to find rocks and minerals. I have a couple of rock tumblers where I can end up with nice shiny, polished rocks. I usually leave a few of these polished rocks in the caches I find. Judging from the cache logs other people have posted, my rocks seem to be a popular item to trade. Some rocks are tiny enough to easily fit in a film canister.