chris-mouse

I started out caching with a Magellan GPS2000XL, almost identical to the unit you have. It's just fine as an intro to geocaching. Once I was sure I liked geocaching, then it was worthwhile spending the money on a better unit. I found that my geocaching experience with the older unit was just perfect for teaching me what features I wanted in the new unit.

The first thing that comes to mind regarding placing a cache in Algonquin is probably maintenance. How often would you be able to get to the park to check on your cache? There's at least one cache already in the park that appears to have been dropped off on a whim during a vacation trip. The cache hasn't been found, or checked on since it was placed, almost two years ago. If you really do want to place a cache there, the person to contact would probably be the park superintendant. Contact information can be found at: http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/geninfo/contact.html Just be aware that any park manager will tend to want to say 'no' to any request for something new, especially if that something involves leaving things in the park. Be prepared to explain why permitting a geocache would be good for the park, and not form a safety, environmental or visual problem for the park, the wildlife in the park, and the park visitors. If the superintendant is aware of the fact that a geocaching policy is being worked on right now, you may also be told to wait until the policy is complete, then ask again. You might also want to do a search to make sure there aren't any caches close to where you're thinking of placing a cache. I did a search around N45°43' W78°33' (somewhere deep in the park) and found at least a dozen caches that appear to be inside the park boundaries. The scouts might also find placing a cache in the city to be more interesting since it would be visited more often. I have a watch on a couple of those algonquin caches, and they seem to get a visit once every couple of months or so. The caches I've placed in interesting parks here in the city seem to get a visit every couple of weeks by comparison. It's also usually a lot easier to get permission from the manager of a city park. They're a lot less concerned with overuse and wildlife impact :-) <o_o>

I've used both my current Sportrack Pro and an ancient GPS2000xl under heavy tree cover without much of a problem. Neither one was perfect, they both had accuracy problems under the trees, but they were usable. A couple of things help though. First, keep conducting objects like hands etc away from the antenna, no matter what type it is. Second, watch the orientation. A patch type antenna works best when horizontal, the helical types work best when vertical. Note that this is the antenna orientation that matters, not the orientation of the GPS unit itself. Check the GPS manual for the manufacturer's recommendations and follow them. Third, slow down. I find that when I'm moving, even at a walk, the GPS can be indicating a spot well behind where I am now. I've found that stopping about 100 feet short of the cache and letting the GPS catch up to me makes a big difference. Next time you're walking with the GPS, stop for a minute or so, and watch what happens. I've seen my position continue to change for 50-60 feet after I've stopped. <o_o>

I've got a Sprotrak pro here. The reason I went with it was mainly the memory space. I downloaded one 16 megabyte map to it, and now I have street level detail of all of Canada within about a day's drive of here, including two of the three largest cities. The Legend base map appears to be a bit better, judging by the map sizes, but the Sportrak basemap can be upgraded later while the Legend's basemap cannot. The current firmware upgrade for the Sprotrak series doesn't add much, if anything, to the detail level of the base map though. If you can, I'd suggest you find a place that has them both in stock, and play with them a bit. Decide which one has the better map capability, and if the extra memory is worth the higher price.

I took a look at my map here, and the the parks that look best to me are Bronte Creek near Burlington, Forks of the Credit north of Brampton, and Earl Rowe near Alliston. As far as I can tell, Bronte Creek doesn't have any caches in it at the moment, although it would be a good place to put one. Forks of the Credit already has two caches in it, and a third that's either inside, or just outside the park boundary. Earle Rowe park also does not appear to have any caches in it.

I've left AA batteries in a geocache. I've also had to use a set left in a cache. Never had any problems with either. Things to keep in mind about battery types though: 1) ALL battery type lose power when cold, and regain it when they warm up. rechargable types are particularly prone to problems like this, to the point where I won't use rechargables in my GPS if the temperature is below freezing. 2)Batteries will leak if allowed to discharge to the point where they're completely dead. Dampness will speed this up, so sealing them in a ziplock baggie is a good idea. 3) Rechargable batteries work well right up until they are almost dead, then die with little or no warning. I've had NiCd batteries go from working perfectly to nothing at all in under 30 seconds. For that reason, I don't use rechargables for lights while caving. 4) For a given size, the non rechargable alkaline batteries hold far more power than rechargables. In any given piece of equipment, I find alkaline batteries last 2-3 times longer than rechargables. 5) Alkaline batteries have a much longer shelf life than rechargables. NiMH rechargables can self discharge in as little as a couple of weeks, so I always make sure to charge them just before use. Alkaline batteries will last a couple of years at least without any problems. 6) By the time any battery is ready to leak because of overheating, they're also hot enough to leave burns when you touch them. Unless you're leaving a cache in direct sunlight in the desert, this isn't very likely to happen. The bottom line is that batteries need to be chosen for the use they're going to be put. For some uses, Alkalines are best, and for others, rechargables of one sort or another. <o_o>

For what it's worth, I sent e-mail to both Garmin and Magellan asking a question about software for downloading maps. I got an answer from both companies within a couple of days. Chris-Mouse

I think it's a great idea. I'd be glad to help clean up, assuming I get this cast off my leg and I'm able to be up and about in time. Suggestions for locations might be: Don Valley and associated ravine areas. Humber Valley Anywhere along the Lake Ontario shoreline. Conservation areas in and around the city.

I only started caching last fall, so most of my caching has been done in the winter months. The snow has made things harder in some ways, but easier in others. The tracks in the snow can be helpful, although they can also mislead. Usually the snow isn't deep enough to make finding the cache impossible, although it does add quite a bit to the camoflage.The snow has only beaten me once, that time there was enough snow to not only cover the cache, but to also cover the landmarks mentioned in the clue. In the city areas, snow hasn't been a problem at all.

Congratulations, and welcome to the fun of geocaching. Sounds like you had a bit more excitement than most people have when they find a cache. I guess this comes under the disclaimer about the user accepting all the risks of geocaching. I'm lucky, sort of. I don't have to worry about dangerous animals of any sort. All I have to worry about are the usual hazards of taking a walk in the park.

rechargable batteries are very, very touchy in cold weather. I've had a NiCD battery pack for a videocamera that was supposed to last two hours die in only 20 minutes at -10c. I've also had NiMH batteries in my GPS die in a fraction of the time they were supposed to last. My GPS would simply shut down without warning until I put the batteries inside my coat for a while to warm up. As a general rule, I've gone to alcaline batteries for everything that will be exposed to the cold, and keep a spare set of batteries in an inside pocket so I can do a quick swap.

I was doing some geocaching in the city parks here, and I slipped on some ice. Six days later I finally got out of the hospital. Thank gawd for medical insurance! I was also very, very lucky. I slipped at 4:30pm, maybe an hour before sunset. The air temp at the time was around -10C (26F) and there were no houses around at all. The entire area surrounding the park is industrial. I was lucky in that the park was surprisingly busy, and I was able to get help almost instantly. As a result I was in the hospital ER less than half an hour after I fell. I'm not sure I would have survived a night lying on the ice there. What could I do to keep it from happening again? Not much. I might consder getting a cellphone, but that wouldn't have made all that much difference here. Also I landed on my side, right on the pocket I normally carry electronics stuff in. The battery cover for the GPS ended up several feet away from me. Would a cellphone have survived? I really don't know, they don't seem to be particularly designed to be that rugged. About all I think will happen is that in future I will consder it as a warning, and be a bit more careful about even the easy things, like walking in the park.

if you really want to find a cache where the topo maps would be useful, try searching for waypoint GC1B97 I'd love to have a GPS with topo maps that cover that area. The map that shows on the web page is absolutely correct, and totally useless. I'm half thinking of trying for this one on the way by during my next canoe trip. I doubt it will be intact though, given the contents and the location.

It's marked on my calendar as well. No guarantees that I'll be able to make it, but I'll try.

There is an IRC channel for geocaching already. The server is irc.freenode.net port 6667 and the channel is #geocache. There's a scheduled chat monday nights at 8:30CST (That's tuesday at 02:30UTC) you can generally find a few people hanging around there any time you care to drop by. There's also a java chat client reachable at http://gcchat.clayjar.com/ a dedicated IRC client is probably a better way to go though.

From my reading of the letter, it appears to me a that you would be permitted to leave an object in the park, if, and only if, it's authorised. That would seem to imply that a geocache would be acceptable if permission was obtained from the park management before the cache was placed. There are a couple of caches in one park that have been logged by the park wardens, so presumably they don't have any objection to them. Perhaps it would be an idea to set a precedent by contacting the park supervisors in a couple of parks and getting permission to place geocaches. If we could work with the staff to place a cache in a safe area where they can see the effects geocaching would have on the location, they might be willing to permit others as well.

I'm not planning on letting winter stop my geocaching, but since this will be my first winter, I'll have to see how it goes. I didn't go caching last weekend because of the snowstorm. I really didn't feel like being out and about while the drivers here learned how to cope with a few flakes. I am planning on being out next weekend, and the weekend after that. I really won't know what winter caching is like though until we get some winter. Here in the Toronto area, that won't occur for at least another couple of months.

I only started geocaching a couple of weeks ago, and I'm considering hiding a cache, but I've got some problems to solve first. Is the trip to the spot worth the time it takes to get there? Is the cache in a location I can get to it regularly to check on it? Is the cache in a location where others can find it without revealing it to everyone? Is the cache in a location that's accessable year round? Can I get permission to put a cache in that spot? Is the location well away from existing caches? so far, I've thought of, and eliminated several possible locations due to 'no' answers to one or more of the above questions.

I just recently picked up a GPS unit so I could go geocaching without having to drag my friend along :-) While I was shopping, I found GPS units for sale in the following places in and near Brampton, Ontario: Canadian Tire Radio Shack Mountain Equipment Coop (They offer mail order service) RadioWorld (www.radioworld.ca) Also keep an eye on used equipment places like Cash Converters. I ended up getting a used Magellan GPS 2000 XL for about half what I would have paid for a newer unit.