solohiker

quote:Originally posted by Gimpy:Been caching since March of last year, and in that time period: Bought & sold Garmin eTrex Vista. Bought & still have Garmins: Street Pilot, V, III Plus, MAP76 & eMap. Software: Mapsource: Roads & Recreation, Topo, Metroguide, City Select. DeLorme: Street Atlas USA, Street Atlas DeLuxe, Topo 3.0, Topo 4.0. Maptech :Terrain Navigator. And something to get me to the caches. "Gimpy" Why so many different map softwares? Which one do you like best?

quote:Originally posted by The Heavenly Host:My father's day gift was a camelbak I never realized how much water I needed on the hike. Now I am sure to drink the proper amount of fluid on my hikes. Plus the backpack part holds all of my cache trading Hydration packs in the Summer do provide an advantage. Folks will be surprised how much farther they can go and fresher they feel when sipping water from a tube rather than stopping and drinking from a bottle/canteen.

My name says it all. Wilderness is best explored alone.

My name says it all. Wilderness is best explored alone.

The first truth of geocaching states, "No matter how worthless the items placed in a cache are, they will be replaced with items of lesser value." I spend a reasonable amount of time, effort and consideration in maintaining my caches. I don't spend much money, but used books, cds, homemade crafts, and unusual items are inexpensive yet have value as cache items. I restock my caches often. I have started placing custom maps & trail guides for local areas in my caches as well. I try to keep my caches interesting. When seeking caches I almost always leave more than I take, except for that 100 foot of parachute cord I took in exchange for a deck of cards. I never leave food. [This message was edited by solohiker on July 19, 2002 at 04:05 PM.]

The first truth of geocaching states, "No matter how worthless the items placed in a cache are, they will be replaced with items of lesser value." I spend a reasonable amount of time, effort and consideration in maintaining my caches. I don't spend much money, but used books, cds, homemade crafts, and unusual items are inexpensive yet have value as cache items. I restock my caches often. I have started placing custom maps & trail guides for local areas in my caches as well. I try to keep my caches interesting. When seeking caches I almost always leave more than I take, except for that 100 foot of parachute cord I took in exchange for a deck of cards. I never leave food. [This message was edited by solohiker on July 19, 2002 at 04:05 PM.]

quote:Originally posted by The Weasel: It's a proven fact that your more likely to be hurt by another hiker than you will be by any animal in the wilderness. Where is it proven? I suspect most backcountry injures are self inflicted accidents. This situtuation wasn't in the wilderness anyway it was in a suburb. I own weapons, I just don't carry them for self defense.

quote:Originally posted by The Weasel: It's a proven fact that your more likely to be hurt by another hiker than you will be by any animal in the wilderness. Where is it proven? I suspect most backcountry injures are self inflicted accidents. This situtuation wasn't in the wilderness anyway it was in a suburb. I own weapons, I just don't carry them for self defense.

quote:Originally posted by Jumpmaster:While placing our most recent cache, we were accosted by a redneck family. The park rules were clearly posted and the park closed at 1am. We were out at 10:30pm (it's just too hot here to go out much during the day for me...). So, we had the GPS and we were looking for a good spot. We had loaded the detailed maps for the eTrex Legend and the map showed the park boundaries. We were on park property and these idiots' back yard is adjacent to the park. They had several (at least 3-5) loud dogs in their back yard and they started barking. This woman starts yelling out her back yard and we ignore her since we weren't doing anything wrong. We couldn't find a good spot to hide the cache in that part of the park so we went back out that trail and Bubba starts over toward me and asks me "what the f@#k are you doing out here, God da@#it!? Who the h@#l are you???!!!" And I said, "Who are YOU?" And he continued toward us...I thought he was going to get really violent by his tone and posture. This went on for a while...I don't think he liked me shining my 120 lumen flashlight in his face...it probably helped to get him to calm down a bit. People aren't nearly as aggresive when they can't see anything. (I REALLY don't think he would've liked the next thing I was going to pull out if he'd continued to walk toward us, threatening us after I told him to stay put). So...we have a "conversation" with Bubba and his idiot wife and kids come out to join in the fun telling me about how the park closes at 10pm (which it doesn't; it closes at 1am) and how they don't want the cops to come out to give them ANOTHER ticket for their loud dogs and how people go in the park and do nasty, evil things back there...blah, blah, blah. I advised him to be a little more careful and non-threatening next time or he might find himself in a little deeper situation than he would be equipped to handle. THEN, we hid the cache and headed back to the vehicle. And then I called the police and advised them of Bubba's verbal (and almost physical) assault on us. They were very concerned about this and sent an officer out to meet us. We explained everything that happened to the officer, including how they didn't want "another" ticket from "the cops" about their "loud dogs". The policeman said, "Oh, so he probably doesn't like the police then...hmm...where exactly did you go? Which house was it? I think I'll take a walk back there and let him run out and see if he has anything to say to ME." And after reassuring us that we'd done absolutely nothing wrong, off he went into the park to find this moron... I never heard anything back, but I would've loved to have seen Bubba's face when he ran out into the park and said, "What the f@#k are you doing back out here??! I thought I told you to get the f@#k out of -- oh...hi, officer." So, hopefully Bubba won't bother any others going out there...the cache isn't anywhere near his place and I posted a note on that cache page warning others of his belligerent behavior and to call the police promptly if he harasses anyone else...I'm sure they've probably had a few calls on these yo-yos already. By the way, this park is located in a fairly affluent area of our fair town (about $150k houses), which goes to show you that there is not a direct relationship between income level and intelligence and that just because you don't live in a mobile home doesn't mean you're not "trailer trash ala Jerry Springer"...it's apparently a state of mind -- one which Bubba and his family seem to enjoy a great deal. JM-99 [This message was edited by Jumpmaster on July 15, 2002 at 10:40 PM.] I think cachers should have more respect for property owners whose land is adjacent to public land. Common sense and respect seemed abscent from both parties in this incident. Jumpmaster's comments insinuate (to me) that he had a weapon. Why take a weapon on a geocache? I am sure there were a lot of mitigating circumstances to this problem. I could have and should have been avoided.

quote:Originally posted by Jumpmaster:While placing our most recent cache, we were accosted by a redneck family. The park rules were clearly posted and the park closed at 1am. We were out at 10:30pm (it's just too hot here to go out much during the day for me...). So, we had the GPS and we were looking for a good spot. We had loaded the detailed maps for the eTrex Legend and the map showed the park boundaries. We were on park property and these idiots' back yard is adjacent to the park. They had several (at least 3-5) loud dogs in their back yard and they started barking. This woman starts yelling out her back yard and we ignore her since we weren't doing anything wrong. We couldn't find a good spot to hide the cache in that part of the park so we went back out that trail and Bubba starts over toward me and asks me "what the f@#k are you doing out here, God da@#it!? Who the h@#l are you???!!!" And I said, "Who are YOU?" And he continued toward us...I thought he was going to get really violent by his tone and posture. This went on for a while...I don't think he liked me shining my 120 lumen flashlight in his face...it probably helped to get him to calm down a bit. People aren't nearly as aggresive when they can't see anything. (I REALLY don't think he would've liked the next thing I was going to pull out if he'd continued to walk toward us, threatening us after I told him to stay put). So...we have a "conversation" with Bubba and his idiot wife and kids come out to join in the fun telling me about how the park closes at 10pm (which it doesn't; it closes at 1am) and how they don't want the cops to come out to give them ANOTHER ticket for their loud dogs and how people go in the park and do nasty, evil things back there...blah, blah, blah. I advised him to be a little more careful and non-threatening next time or he might find himself in a little deeper situation than he would be equipped to handle. THEN, we hid the cache and headed back to the vehicle. And then I called the police and advised them of Bubba's verbal (and almost physical) assault on us. They were very concerned about this and sent an officer out to meet us. We explained everything that happened to the officer, including how they didn't want "another" ticket from "the cops" about their "loud dogs". The policeman said, "Oh, so he probably doesn't like the police then...hmm...where exactly did you go? Which house was it? I think I'll take a walk back there and let him run out and see if he has anything to say to ME." And after reassuring us that we'd done absolutely nothing wrong, off he went into the park to find this moron... I never heard anything back, but I would've loved to have seen Bubba's face when he ran out into the park and said, "What the f@#k are you doing back out here??! I thought I told you to get the f@#k out of -- oh...hi, officer." So, hopefully Bubba won't bother any others going out there...the cache isn't anywhere near his place and I posted a note on that cache page warning others of his belligerent behavior and to call the police promptly if he harasses anyone else...I'm sure they've probably had a few calls on these yo-yos already. By the way, this park is located in a fairly affluent area of our fair town (about $150k houses), which goes to show you that there is not a direct relationship between income level and intelligence and that just because you don't live in a mobile home doesn't mean you're not "trailer trash ala Jerry Springer"...it's apparently a state of mind -- one which Bubba and his family seem to enjoy a great deal. JM-99 [This message was edited by Jumpmaster on July 15, 2002 at 10:40 PM.] I think cachers should have more respect for property owners whose land is adjacent to public land. Common sense and respect seemed abscent from both parties in this incident. Jumpmaster's comments insinuate (to me) that he had a weapon. Why take a weapon on a geocache? I am sure there were a lot of mitigating circumstances to this problem. I could have and should have been avoided.

I had my gps, compass, backpack, etc. before geocaching was invented. The only thing I have bought that complements geocaching was some mapping software. I am not sure whether I would have bought the software if I weren't geocaching. I had access to free USGS Quad maps, but I wanted something I could customize and and transfer info between my gps. FYI, I got Maptech's Terrain Navigator. I really like it.

I started by removing food left in all my caches. Now I remove food in every cache I find. Food does not belong in a cache.

What is the difference between an FRS radio and a talk-about walkie talkie?

quote:Originally posted by Mommy#1: quote:Originally posted by solohiker: Was there a topic? I gotta tell ya... sometimes I just make up my own. Is that wrong? No, there wasn't a topic that's the whole idea of this room. This is a topicless room where you can talk about anything you please. That's why I made it up. Because people wanted a post where they could talk about things off topic and different. So I thought I would be the first to create one. Mommy#1 http://www.jonesfamilyweb.homestead.com/main Meet STITCH, GEOSTITCH "there's one in every family". Ooo..., I don't want to be ugly, but.... you weren't the first. Baddda Boom

Was there a topic? I gotta tell ya... sometimes I just make up my own. Is that wrong?

Ok, so now that JaimieZ is my new geocaching hero.... It occurs to me... What if maybe he actually works at this park and was 'the' employee who found the cache and then later discovered the world of geocaching.... Blah Blah Blah I seem to have a pathological obsession with killing my heros.

quote:Originally posted by Craven MaCree: Hi folks: I just purchased a GPS and found my first three caches. I got involved because I am on the board of directors of our local United Way and thought I could create some kind of fun fund raising event. We're in Vermont so I thought something out of doors, probably in leaf peeping season, would be great. I have no idea how to organize an event. Any suggestions would be great. Thank you. Craven MaCree How did you get on the board of directors? Don't most United Way peepers get selected based upon their fund raising abilities?

The etrex has many options for position format. Check your owners manual. The format used on geocaching.com is hdddd mm.mmm It sounds to me like your position format is set incorrectly. I use a variety of position formats and map datums with my gps so I have to reset this constantly.

The current theory for snake bite first aid treatment is don't. The 'experts' recommend moving the victim to a hospital as quickly as possible. First aid treatment has been labeled as ineffective and simply extends the time until effective treatment can begin at a hospital. Ice packs, suction, and circulation restriction are outdated remedies. The affected area will likely swell significantly so removing rings, watches, etc is recommended. Get the patient to a hospital quickly is the best first aid.

I use a paint pen. It is like a magic marker, but it has paint in it. Yellow works good on a green Ammo Box.

I say it is a find. Good job! I discovered one of my caches missing yesterday. Could you swing by and help me find it? What a blood hound.

That is an interesting question. It does appear to be a different projection. I wonder if the difference is more significant as one nears the poles.

I would post a warning and leave the cache open. Rapists don't scare me and more traffic through the park would discourage such cretins. I would like to see an article about a geocacher preventing a rape.

I went to one cache in a park that charged $3.00 per car. I parked outside and walked in for free. The cache was missing anyway.

Leave out the fact that no matter how useless the items you include in a geocache are, cashiers will always leave something of lesser value. On second thought, maybe you should include it.