chris-mouse

Hi Jason, What part of the city are you in? I'm over near GCB710 I can be available for geocaching pretty much any weekend. There's also the Keepers of the Order of the BFL, who go out geocaching pretty much every friday evening.

Does this mean there are better burgers on the other side of N44° 48.748' W81° 12.754'?

Of the 22 active cache listings I have, 8 of them are findable even with all this snow. It may require some digging in the snow, but the clues are enough to tell you where to dig. Most of the rest are marginal. It's possible to find them, but you'll need some luck to dig at the right place. At least one of my caches is simply not possible to find without heavy equipment. The last time I checked, it was buried under some three metres of snow and ice, and that was before the last two storms.This cache is currently disabled by winter, and just might have to remain disabled until some time in june!

For those who don't have their own snowshoes, you might want to look into renting a set. I called Mountain Equipment Coop in Toronto today, and they do have snowshoes available for rent. You are advised to book early to to reserve a set if you need them. You can check out the MEC website at http://www.mec.ca/ The fastest way I've found to get to the rentals section is to do a search for "rental" and follow the link that the search finds.

I have a ride up to the start point for the snowshoe trip. All I need now is to know the date. My employer expects my presence at work on friday the 18th, but both the 19th and the 20th are fine. I would suggest saturday Jan 20th. that would leave sunday as a recovery day for those not used to hiking.

Hey, I'd be interested in coming along on that. I'd have to get a lift from the Brampton area to get there, but in exchange, I can bring along a spare set of snowshoes if someone would like to borrow a set for the day.

If I remember right, it's two inches. I'll have to dig up that web site that gave required thicknesses for everything from foot traffic to tractor-trailers.

Oh I have read the entire thread, and I do understand what you are saying. You have a problem with this particular cache placement. Nobody else does. You are unhappy with the cache owner's response. Nobody else is. You are unhappy with Groundspeak's response. Nobody else is. You have decided that your opinion is more important than every one else's You have decided to remove a cache belonging to someone else. Well, I've got news for you. you are not the final authority on geocaching. The only people with the right to remove a cache container are the land owner and the cache owner. Period. As a geocacher, the only decision you get to make about someone else's cache is whether or not you will search for it. Both legally and ethically you have made a mistake, and everyone here is telling you so. I suggest you stop trying to rationalize your mistake and learn from it.

OK, let me get this straight. You don't seem to care enough about caching to do any research at all on your own caches, but you are demanding that someone else provide documented proof of permission to place a cache? There seems to be a bit of a double standard here. which is it, that documentary proof is required, or that verbal assurances are enough? If documentation is required, please provide the documentation for all of your caches. If it's not required, please shut up, and stop threatening to steal caches that you don't happen to like.

Prepare for next season? I'm too busy caching in this season to worry about next season About all I do differently in the wintertime is wear warmer clothing and move the battery powered equipment to an inside pocket. The snow adds an excellent layer of camouflage that makes some caches somewhat harder to find. On the other hand, the cold makes some caches easier to get to as all that swampy mud is frozen solid. The lack of bugs in the winter is a definite bonus. On the really bad days, I clean up all those urban caches I've been neglecting. In the city, there's always a Timmy's within a couple of blocks of the cache

Interesting how Mort25 is complaining about a cache being in an ecologically sensitive area, yet all five of his caches are placed in a provincial nature reserve. A nature reserve is an area designated specifically to protect ecologically sensitive areas. Why is it that a cache in a park is not acceptable, but one in a nature reserve is? There is no excuse for a cacher to just remove a cache belonging to someone else. If you don't agree with the location, post a "should be archived" note with an explanation of why it should be archived. If the area does happen to be sensitive, simply removing the cache will make things worse, not better. With the cache missing, cachers will now spend even more time in the area stepping on vegetation as they search for the missing container.

Glue might work. a couple of things to keep in mind. First of all, it's almost impossible to glue to a smooth plastic surface, there's just nothing there for the glue to grab. I would strongly suggest sanding the area before gluing. secondly, pick the right glue. any given type of glue has a particular application where it is best, and other applications where it is useless. You can find some advice here. Another possibility is to look at how the automotive mount locks on to the GPS, and see if you can put together something that works the same way. It's more work, but doesn't need any changes to the GPS. Whatever method you do decide on, STRESS TEST IT! Do your best to make the lanyard come off the GPS, If you can't break it, it's not likely to break in the field. If you can break it, odds are good that it will break while you're out somewhere after a geocache. If your luck is like mine, that will occur somewhere in the middle of a trackless swamp.

I'm available, if there's someone who can give me and my bike a lift there, and then back to Brampton afterwards.

I'm nowhere near B.C., but I did a bit of searching and found GCNJPZ It appears to be the closest cache to Narameta. From what I can see, there isn't much within walking distance of the beach there, but Penticton isn't far by car, and has quite the number of caches.

My Magellan maps show similar sorts of errors. Hwy 60 through Algonquin Park is shown as much as a kilometer south of where it really is.

Hey, that sounds like a great trail to explore. I'm game to go for it, just pick a time. Even if we don't hit all the caches, the distance shouldn't be a problem. Last year's Hamilton cycling trip involved some 40km of cycling, including climbing the Niagara Escarpment, but nobody was overly tired at the end of it. That does give me an idea though. Last year the first priority after the cycling was to find some place to eat. If we schedule the cycle trip for some time in June, what are the chances of someone in the COG group being willing to point out a good eating spot in Barrie by hosting a pub night there?

I won't be available for cycling on the long weekend, but I can easily be available for any other weekend this month. My only problem is getting a lift to the KW area for both myself and my bicycle.

Russian volunteer system? Is that similar to being voluntold?

It would be handy to have an online calendar for planning stuff like this. I just threw out one idea and picked a date for it to get things started. I have no intention of leaving that as the only cycling date this year, so don't worry too much if you can't make it to one. I like the idea of doing some of the Kitchener/Waterloo area trails. There are a lot of nice cycling trails out that area, with plenty of caches along them. The Elora-Cateract trail is another good one, although sort of lacking in caches as of the last time I looked. Here is a good spot to go to to check out the Grand River trails. I've also got cycling trail maps for Toronto, Hamilton, Mississauga, and Oakville in PDF format if anyone is interested in them. what I'd suggest is that everyone interested in doing a cycling trip pick a route and a date, and post it here. anyone interested in it can then negotiate to work out the best route and date for everyone.

I'm up for any or all of the above ideas., especially the out of Toronto cycling routes. In the meantime though, why don't I toss out a starting suggestion. Meet at Sunnybrook Park (Leslie and Eglinton area) 10am, sunday May 26th (the week before Spring Fling III ) Head south on the Don valley trail to the waterfront. East on the waterfront trail past the Beaches to Victoria Park ave. North on Victoria Park to Taylor Creek park. West down Taylor Creek Park to rejoin the Don trail North on the Don trail back to the parking lot at Sunnybrook. The only problemI know iof is the piece of the Don trail between Queen St. and the waterfront trail. That section of trail was closed in 2006. anyone know if it's been reopened yet? BTW, if we feel up to it, we can add the Leslie St. Spit as a side trip on the Journey.

Looks like I'm going to have to miss the 24 hour marathon this year. I'm already booked that weekend for the MS bike tour.

The last Harvestfest brought some bad memories. It also brought many good memories. Future Harvestfests won't bring any more bad memories than any other event at which 1701eh isn't to be found. Harvestfest has very rapidly become one of the highlights of the year for Geocaching in Ontario, and I'm all for continuing it. Assuming it doesn't conflict with any other events, I'll be looking forward to attending another Harvestfest.

Grumble grumble grumble.... Let's remember back to that night. 10PM... looks like an easy hike to 3 caches... Round trip ~1.3Kms.... Then we hit the trails. You forgot to mention the nice kitty we ran into on the trails. It was kind of memorable. Pure black except for this big white stripe down the middle of its back...

I'm already booked for Jun 2 at the Spring Fling, and the MS bike tour Aug 18/19. Other than that, my weekends are available. I've done the marathon three times, and had a blast every time. of course I'll be going!

Congratulations! Sounds like you're well on your way to being addicted to the thrill of finding a geocache