Inmountains

Almost all land has had someone buried on it, at some point in history. If you found out that your house was a Native American Burial Ground 5,000 years ago, would you move? Probably not. For centuries, families buried their passed away loved ones on the family property and cemetaries were for folks who did not own land, were drifters or died far from home. I have to agree with many posters here in that some geocaches have brought me to cemetaries that I would have never known even existed. With died dates in the 1800s, I felt like I was reaching back in history. Cemetaries should not be a place of solemn morbidity, but instead, a place of remembrance and celebration. Although we miss our loved ones, we celebrate that we had them in our life at all. Western Culture has really done a disservice to death. We fear it. We loathe it. We try to avoid it. It is my belief that once we accept it and enjoy life EVERYDAY, then we will be a happier culture.

Clan Rifster, I never considered paying $60.00 for something was considered "ELITIST". The monthly fee is paid for by my company so I have no added cost above the original sixty bucks. Just read the other posts, "...oh no, my cache will be muggled...", or "...my Travel Bug will be stolen..." or "my cache will not be properly hidden after some kid finds it...". Doesn't this all happen already? How about, "More caches will be hidden", "More geocachers to move along Travel Bugs" and "More kids will get outside and off their computers" Losing a few caches and/or Travel Bugs is a small price to pay to introduce kids to the outdoors again. Or is going outside considered "elitist" to you Clan Rifster?

I sense a touch of "elitism" from some of the posters on here! It is the same feeling I get when I get together with a group of folks with 1,000 plus finds. SHAME ON YOU! Geocaching is NOT about how many finds you have! Geocaching is not about who has the most expensive GPSr unit. Geocaching is about getting out with family and friends, and having a good time! Caches get muggled, TBs get stolen and people whine about it. I live in a county where the average income per couple is less than $40,000 a year, IF both are working. There is no way they could fork out a couple of hundred bucks for a used GPS unit. But if they can get a unit for $70.00, which they would have to save up for, and it allows them to get out and have some inexpensive fun, GREAT. They can't buy a boat, or an ATV or even mountain bikes. My first computer was an IBM PC XT, 640K RAM, 20 MB Hard drive, monochrome screen and I paid $5,000.00 for it. Today, my Blackberry which cost me $60.00, does more, holds more and processes faster. GPSr units will come down in price and become easier and easier to use. This is an example of hitting the children's market. I WELCOME ALL NEW GEOCACHERS!

If I understand the "Vinny" post, it can be reduced to "Who cares, get me a beer". Do I interpret that correctly?

Isn't there a "menu" key? Then chose "data field?"

When I ask my Garmin to "Find Nearest" Geocache, it says 'none found', but when I say 'search by name', it shows me 500 caches. The nearest is over 100 miles away. I can't find anything in the manual, but to 'find nearest', is there a limit on how far away it can be?

I didn't read all the posts, so if someone already posted this, I apologize for the repeat. I have been doing this for quite a while but not really obsessed. Some days, I can't miss and some days, I couldn't find a cow sitting in an outhouse. Here are some more common type hides that may help: 1. Light Pole skirt, the little metal box that covers the bolts holding the pole to the concrete. Most of them lift straight up and are very common for hiding caches. 2. Fake electrical covers. I have a couple that look like a metal cover for an electrical outlet. It just has a couple of magnets holding it to a metal object. 3. Fake reflectors. People will drill a hole in a wooden pole, put a micro container on the back of a reflector (or other fake item) and slide the micro into the hole, with the reflector showing. My mother found one with a fake snail on it. 4. Camoflauge! Geocachers are probably the most creative folks I have seen. Everything from a container with some surrounding dirt/rocks glued to it, to a bird house, to a fake chain link, to a fake sprinkler head, to a fake light fixture and so much more. Try coming into Ground Zero from more than one direction. If I can't find it coming to it from the east, I will go 100 feet north and come into it again. If still can't find it, try from the west. Think 3 dimensional. Could it be up? Could it be down? Could it be eye level? The DNFs can be just as much fun as a find, with the right attitude. I actually get more satisfaction on one that takes a little time than a "cache and dash". My record is 4 times going back to a cache, and it ended up being a fake bolt in a large pile of very old telephone poles with hundreds of bolts in them. The proverbial needle in a haystack, except this was a straw stick in a hay stack. I have found caches that folks with >10,000 finds couldn't find and I couldn't find one that had a post, "my 2 year old found this before I got out of the car"! It's just the nature of geocaching.

Instead of complaining, maybe we can see who can make the smallest micro. I am going to put out a micro cache which will be a straight pin with a "hole punch" piece of paper for the log. I will toss it into a haystack.

Speaking of Movie Caches, we have one here near Durango, Colorado where the Train Robbery scene was filmed from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". Any other movie themed caches? http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...15-ce03c9cc1ae4

I just don't understand everyone saying "NO". I have read nearly all the reasons and NONE of them make logical or sensible arguments. How many of us go online to read reviews of products BEFORE we purchase them? How many of us go to more than one store before we buy a particular product, checking on price, service and availability? Amazon, Ebay, Overstock, Angie's List, Consumer Reports, PC Magazine, and the list goes on and on, all use Reviews as a foundation for their prosperity. Geocaching let's the OWNER select a TERRAIN and a DIFFICULTY, so why not let finders select QUALITY? Owner's get a 5 level rating, let finders have the choice to select one out of five or leave blank. Excellent Above Average Average Below Average Needs Improvement Geocaching has ratings for FINDERS but no ratings for HIDERS. On each cache page, the finders logs show how many finds they have. So why not have how many HIDES the owner has without us having to go in and look at their profile? Have it show up right after the name, at the top of the cache page. Letting finders rate the caches would do two things. First, it would make hiders try to do a better job. Second, with the competitive nature of most folks, there would be more caches hidden.

This is one of my caches: GCWRJB I didn't mean for it to be a drive by cache until I actually saw a cacher pull up to it in his truck, roll down his window, grab it, sign it, and then put it back. If I had not walked over to chat with him, he would have had it done in less than 60 seconds.

The real question is, can you SPELL in English? "Dude, you unnerstand English?" I will remember a LOT of the answers here. For the under privileged in the IQ department, these types of questions are called "Conversational Creating" questions. Since Geocaching.com posts how many finds, how many hides, when you joined, it would be rather redundant to ask "How many finds do you have?" or "How many caches have you hidden?" or "How long have you been caching?" Now these questions are fine IN THE FIELD but on here, it would be like calling someone on the phone and asking what their phone number is. If you do not want to answer the questions, that is fine but feeling the need to dis someone for asking a question shows you need more excitement in your life. Why not just IGNORE the thread and move one? Another question which I know has been covered before is "What is the most unusual thing that happened to you while geocaching? For me, I went to place a cache and there was already a cache there, UNPUBLISHED. This may be common in the big city, but out here in the boonies where we average less than one cache per square mile, this is highly unusual. Come to find out, the cache was placed by someone on vacation and they could not get it approved as they lived to far away from the cache. So I adopted it. What a great hobby/sport!

We have all seen on here the many common questions such as who has the most finds, most hides, most in a day, how far a TB has traveled, etc.. But I would like to ask some questions that I have not seen on here. They may have been asked, so I apologize in advance if they have already been asked. 1. What is the furthest distance between two finds that you have made in ONE day (walking only)? 2. What is the furthest distance between two finds that you have made in ONE day (driving)? 3. What is the furthest distance between two finds that you have made in ONE day (flying)? 4. How many caches have you found while NOT geocaching, meaning no GPS, no notes? 5. What is the most states that you have found a geocache in one day? I suspect the NE area. 6. What is the MOST times you have gone back to try and find a cache the owner said was there? 4 for me. 7. What is the LONGEST you have ever stayed at one cache trying to find it? 3 hours for me. I may think of more but these seem like fun!

Although I am not there, my parents still geocache. Dad is 74 and mom is 71. Dad has advanced Alzheimer's so mom cannot get out as much as she would like, but before dad became ill, they would go out together a lot. Now mom goes when she can. They do have over 1,000 finds. They also have a couple of caches with over 200 finds.

I have a question that I haven't seen before, but maybe it has been addressed. I have a cache that seems to be quite popular, but it was a really cheap, dollar store container. If a cache has a lot of activity and resides in a rather extreme location (this one is at 12,000 feet elevation), should the container be changed out to a better, more durable container? This one is still under 10 feet of snow, so I will have to wait till probably June to exchange it if I should! My fear is that a better container has a stronger chance of being muggled.

Thank you Rick. Some people just don't get humor at all. It's just a joke, who says it has to be true, either the founder of Geocaching, or if there is even a Jackie at Garmin. It's just a DUMB JOKE and it is SUPPOSE to be a DUMB JOKE! What makes me sad in the pants is that moderators feel they have to close/lock/delete a humorous thread. Just let it go. If there are way too many, then fine, it is getting out of hand. But have a few April Fools Day jokes is fun. Mopar reminds me of this fellow. Four recently retired moguls were enjoying Brandy's one evening around the fireplace at the country club. They got to talking about their business experience and how they made their fortunes. They were all in retail. The first guy said that he marked his products up an average of 25% and had lots of business. The second gentleman said that he marked his product up an average of 50% and did really well. The third gentleman, who owned a little higher end store chain said he marked his products up 100%, paid his employee's a commission and did pretty well. The fourth gentleman, who reminds me of Mopar, sat their quietly with a sad look on his face. The others asked him why was he so sad. He said, "I can't believe you guys gouged the public like that. 25%, 50% and even 100% mark ups. You should be ashamed of yourselves. The other's knew that he owned a chain of really deep discount stores. Well, how much did you mark up your products? He puffed out his chest and said 4%. They were astonished. How in the world did you make any profit marking your stock up only 4%? He puffed out his chest, put his thumbs in his suspenders, and said, "I bought an item for $1.00 and sold it for $4.00, only a 4% mark up." GO MOPAR!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching As I have said before, my experience with other forums, Board Moderators have absolutely NO SENSE OF HUMOR! They will probably either lock or delete this one too! Go go GMAIL.COM, they are having a April Fools joke all day long, saying a person can back date an email. My wife called me this morning and said she was in a car accident. APRIL FOOLS. I gave my boss my two week notice today, APRIL FOOLS. Get a sense of humor!!!!

Can I at least sign it using a key?

OK, here is a very simple question. How many caches has your propeller actually been placed in? Items that travel from Geocacher to Geocacher are great. People sign them, put stickers on them, take pictures of them and more. There is nothing wrong with that, and I enjoy being part of that as well. But is that really a Travel Bug? Can you LEAVE it in a cache for another cacher to pick up days later? It would seem that Travel Bugs should have categories: Cache Travel Bugs (TBs that fit inside a cache) Event Travel Bugs (TBs that can ONLY be exchanged at events) Living Travel Bugs (TBs to me met only) Geocacher Travel Bugs (TBs that can only change hands, and not change caches) Another thing I would like to see would be on the Travel Bug Page, an icon showing if the TB has been to multiple countries. Much like we have icons on a Cache page for different attributes, why not have a handful of icons on the Travel Bug Page?

A little silliness? Last time I checked, not only could I not carry a VW, I have never found a cache it would fit in. To each their own is absolutely correct. Maybe to you, making an empty Railroad Box Car a "Geocache" is just a 'little silliness', because it just might move from time to time. Each one has their own idea of what is a 'little silliness' and was is 'absolutely absurd'. If we are going to continue down the road of absurdity, let's make your entire Little League Baseball Team a Travel Bug. Then we can make a Boeing 747 a Travel Bug. Heck, let's just get the largest moving thing on earth as a Travel Bug, An Aircraft Carrier. Where do you draw the line? For me, and this is ONLY me, a Travel Bug should be easily carried and be placed in a cache without damage. Starving a dog to death in a cache is rather cruel. Having a potato sprout in a cache is rather gross. Having a Tattoo of a Travel Bug tag, someone needs some serious help, taking this way too seriously. Snoogans, you absolutely have the right to do as you wish, I will not take away from your fun. We were asked to post OUR OPINION on lousy Travel Bugs, and from YOUR post count, you express your opinion quite often and freely. So don't take it personally when someone else posts their opinion. This is not a "right or wrong" thread, is is a chance to post your opinion. You want some real fun? Come to the Rocky Mountains, and we can do some caches at 13,000 and 14,000 feet, using ropes, belays and this time of year, some fun ice climbing. We can also do a little caching via Snowshoes or Cross Country Skiis when the mercury hits 20 below zero and the wind is blowing at 30 mph. Everyone has their own idea of fun.

Bad examples of Travel Bugs: 1. Anything LIVING. Human, pet, plant, mold, etc... 2. Anything eatable, period. 3. Any explosive including live ammunition. 4. Pictures, especially of your ex-spouse. 5. And MOST IMPORTANTLY, anything that DOES NOT fit into a Five Gallon Bucket. Cars, boats, planes, propellers, houses, etc... I am just waiting for someone to drill a hole in a rock and say the entire EARTH is a Travel Bug, moving at 25,000 MPH thru space. The true spirit of a Travel Bug is to be placed from cache to cache. I like the interactive ones, like a disposable camera, that asks for pictures of each cache it visits, or a Travel Bug that you can add an item to, like a charm bracelet. Travel Bugs are a fun part of Geocaching and I hate to see it "made silly" by people who think it is cute.

Did Team Paubon say MASTER'S DEGREE in Nursing? I also see that she has over 1,000 finds and is 70 years old. How awesome is it that we have a Geocacher who nursed with Florence Nightengale! Also, my wife is an RN, currently working in the Cath Lab at Mercy Regional Medical Center here in Durango, Colorado! So add another nurse to the list!! Inmountains PS: Just kidding mom. We are so proud of you. Plus, you got us into Geocaching.

I currently use a Palm Pilot M515 and it works fine for me. But my mother, who will be 70 this month, has a hard time reading the screen. Is there a good PDA for $100.00 or less (ebay?) that would be easy to read for those that have a hard time seeing black and white screens? I got mom a new Garmin 60CSx to replace her Garmin Etrex, so now it's time to go totally paperless with a nice PDA and Cachemate. Any help would be appreciated.

This reminds me of the "Anti Hunters" who think stopping hunting will save the animals, when the real FACT is that it is HUNTER'S MONEY that has saved the animals. There are more deer in Colorado today then there was 100 years ago because of the Fee's hunters pay for a license. Over 90 percent of all funds from State Departments of Wildlife come from hunters. But like someone else posted, there are a small handful of hunters who are NOT hunters but shooters/killers. They shoot anything that moves and leave a trail of death behind them. Personally, they should get jail time and fees, IMHO. Some Geocachers do damage the land and leave a path of destruction, and the best we can do is police that, mainly by cache owners checking on their caches often to make sure no damage is being done to the environment. If damage is being done, remove that cache, and let the land heal. I bet 90 percent of cachers, or more, are courteous and careful. So let's keep our sports reputation as being Environmentally Friendly. That depends on each one of us and each encounter we have with a non-cacher.