YooperSnowman

Downloading waypoints into a Nuvi is very easy and the unit will route you as you drive close to the cache. I have a Nuvi 1300 and it works great in the car, but have never used it to hunt for the cache, so can't help there. When out of the car I use a handheld Garmin Dakota or iPhone, just depends on where I am and the the cache location.

Perhaps a little off topic. I have placed several caches in wooded areas where I live in the U.P. of Michigan. To help cachers understand what they might be getting into, in the cache description I select the ticks attribute but also state in the cache description to be prepared for ticks, mosquitoes, and changeable weather. Goes with the territory here.

Most excellent post, FolsomNatural. As you learned, preparation is important to a fun and successful hunt. I enjoy researching caches I want to hunt, study maps, and imagine what the area is like that I am going to. BTW: my kids (now grown)thought I was crazy because I would get excited about reading a map! The prep, the anticipation, the adventure, and that brief moment of jubilation when you first spot the cache makes it fun for me. As a near-senior citizen, I appreciate your thoughts on knowing your limits. Still, I consider my caching day successful when I return home dirty, wet, scratched and bleeding, and tired. Then its time for an adult beverage and reflect on the day and enter my logs. Continue to enjoy the sport (obsession).

Agreed. Especially, no PQ from the map, no mouse over info, and no download from pop-up bubble. I just hope Groundspeak hears our pleas for features we find most useful.

I have a Dakota 10 and it has worked well for me. As mentioned, as a premium member you can take advantage of Pocket Queries which can be loaded directly into your Dakota. You will have cache info, description, hints, and logs available to you in the field. I also have a Nuvi 1300 for the geo-mobile. I load the same PQ into it and it will route me via roads close to the selected cache. When I get out of the car, I use the Dakota to find GZ. Good luck.

I have 250 finds and consider myself a newbie, especially when I dnf a 1/1.

I the caches I've placed, I put in a $2 bill and a lottery ticket with a congrats note for FTF. Just a simple reward for being first. I do not state in the cache description that there is a FTF prize. As for my FTFs, I've only found three and just one had a FTF reward--a coupon for hamburger at Micky Ds.

I use the same USB cable on my Nuvi 1300 and my Dakota 10. Convenient.

I live in a rural area and love caches along trails that involve hiking/x-country skiing/shoeshoeing. Most of my urban caching is just so I can satisfy my geocaching addiction when I can't get off-road.

Thanks. I had looked through the on-line manual as well and didn't find anything so I wanted to ask the wise folks here for their infinite wisdom and knowledge Thanks again.

Is it possible to create a route and send it to the 1300? I know that when you select a destination, the unit creates a route and uses shortest time or shortest distance to calculate the route. But, in some cases, I want to take a different route than the Nuvi calculates. Any thoughts are appreciated.

My reasons are similar as many listed. But, every since I was a young boy, I was interested in navigation and the journey getting to a destination. I could read maps better than my dad could when I was 8 years old. My kids still think its weird that I can get excited by just looking at a map. Anyway, geocaching is a natural and good fit for me.

What fun it is to laugh and sing And get a smiley face tonight

Knowschad, Packanack, Yeah, pasties and local beers are traditional winter favorites--perhaps we can share some sometime. In my OP, I said winter "limits" caching, not eliminate it. I will still get out there. We found GC1QA18 last winter--check out the photo gallery and the winter shots I posted. Also, there was a new series placed last summer on the Keweenaw Peninsula along a snowmobile trail designed specifically for winter and snowmobilers. It about 14 caches spread over 20 miles. Should be fun. Thanks for your ideas.

I live in northern Michigan and winter has descended upon us. Over the next few months, we will have up to three feet of snow on ground which limits hunting for caches. There are a few winter friendly caches in the area, but I found them during the snow-free season. With winter coming to the northern hemisphere what geocaching activities are you planning? Here are few things I plan to do during the "off-season": *Work with a local non-profit land preservation organization to develop content for several Earthcaches for next spring. *Research new equipment, i.e. re-chargeable batteries/charger, field packs, new maps, etc. *Re-stock swag inventory. *Prepare cache containers for placement next spring/summer. *Get permission from land owners where I would like to place few caches. *Correspond with fellow geocachers. *Plan several weekend geocaching trips for next summer (perhaps even a winter trip somewhere warm with my bride). *Attend any meet & greet events within a couple hours drive. I'm sure there are many other things as well to help us through cabin fever season. Other ideas?

I have only 3 FTFs. But I don't change my lifestyle to seek them out. I simply enjoy finding caches and signing the log. Geocaching in general is not a competitive sport/hobby. Yes, you can compete with yourself on things like # caches per day, year, etc. but its going after FTF where its head-to-head competition with fellow cachers.

I have a Garmin Dakota and have found that rechargeable NiMH batteries with higher capacity last longer. I now use batteries rated more than 2500 mAh. With lower capacities (2100 mAh) the batteries would run down in about 45 minutes. I now get a full day use from my batteries.

I found that when using rechargeable NiMH batteries on my Dakota 10 with capacities of 2100-2300 mAh, they drained very quickly, i.e. 30-40 minutes. At the suggestion of a very experienced geocacher, I upgraded to 2600 mAh and now I get at least 8 hours before changing out.

Do you know any college students? They usually have some. Quite often people who attend conferences get lanyards for their name tags. You might check with them.

In addition to the useful benefits of premium membership listed by others, I wanted to support Groundspeak and geocaching.com. Its costs money to operate, maintain, and add features to the site, so my membership helps offset those costs. I was a basic member for a couple years and then when I really got serious about geocaching, I wanted to support my sport/hobby/game with premium membership. Membership cost is less than a round of golf--but I know, for some folks, that can be a burden. As for me, premium membership has greatly enhanced my geocaching experience.

Nice idea and I would like to participate. But I live in a rural area and have already found most of the caches nearby. I also live in a northern climate with lots of snow. I would have to drive several hundred miles to find a cache density where I could find 11 1/1s. I guess that just goes with the territory I'll be cheering everyone on while watching college football from my nice warm family room. Best wishes to all who give it a try.

Same here with my Dakota 10. Sounds like there maybe a fundamental problem with the Dakotas. Anyway, Garmin replaced it quickly with great customer service. Its has been working great since.

Geocaches are hidden in many places that require ENTRY fees. State Parks, County Parks, Public Boat Launches, etc. If this is what you're talking about, I don't see where this should be a problem. We have a annual local event at a State Park that requires a fee for each motor vehicle that enters the park. There is no charge for the event itself. The event is always published.

Transferred it from MapSource and it worked great. The file was saved to the Map folder on the Nuvi. Thanks for the help.

I bought Garmin's TOPO U.S. 100K cd and ran it through MapSource to create a map that included several states. I downloaded it successfully to my Dakota 10 and works great. I just got a Nuvi 1300 and the online manual says it accepts maps from MapSource. My question is where on the Nuvi do I download it. What folder? GPX files easily download into the GPX folders. What about maps? I haven't had success yet. Any help would be appreciated.