Byron & Anne

We've spent about 25 years or more putting lots of miles on the hiking boots. The most troublesome wild animal we came across was a ground squirrel and Stellers Jay. They went right through two zip lock bags and into our weeks worth of trail mix. But we survived quite well anyway. There was one other occasion when there were a couple party animals on the other side of a wilderness lake. Just us and them. They must have packed in a lot of booze. They were up whooping and hollering most of the night. We were glad to move on the next after a lot of pot banging in the process of fixing an early breakfast. Now as for predators, poisenous creatures, and large aggressive creatures. I guess you could count the elk. But the most bothersome of the larger creatures was the deer that kept nosing my tent at first light. The most fun encounter was with a spotted owl. I heard him around 1:00am. Spotted with a light in a tree pretty close. At first light he moved in a bit closer and woke me up. I stuck my head out of the tent. The left the branch he was sitting on dropped down to land on a burm about 10' away from me. I talked to him in english and spoke back in spotted owl. Neither one could understand what the other was saying but we both seem to enjoy the conversation. After about 15 minutes and his english never improved so I went back to sleep only find him still hanging around when got up. Sometime while I was cooking breakfast he took off. I guess he wasn't interested in pancakes that day. There's a few more neat stories about animals encountered while backpacking.

As with many things, you can't control actions. This complaint has been around since the beginning. I agree that it's fun to read interesting logs, but reality strikes. Not all people have the ability to write a paragraph all the time. There's also times when it might be best to NOT write that paragraph, remembering what my mother told about saying things nice or not saying things. Enjoy those the write a bit, and ignore those that don't.

The IP of your computer can be found by following sequence; Select Start Select Run Type cmd Type ipconfig If you all the information type ipconfig /all Note the space after ipconfig. Whatsmyip works if you don't have a LAN (Local Area Network).

A few years ago we found a cache that when you opened the amocan errie sounds came out. A small electronic box that looked like it came out of a halloween toy was glued to the underside of the lid. Not very scary, but memorable. In fact I still remember the name "haunted cache".

From my point of view there's been many changes in geocaching. Some are good and some are not, depending on your point of view. When we first started you could depend on a cache taking you to some exciting place you didn't know about, not always, but many times. Most caches were rural then, today urban takes the numbers. In the early days one watched for a new cache to pop up, today you sort through thousands of caches to find the gem. I think the number of "gem" caches (gems to me may not be gems to anybody else) is close to what they were then. There might even be more of them. The sorting out which might be the gem is more difficult, and the sorting process often does not result in finding the gem. I haven't tracked it, but my guess we're finding close the same number of caches we found in 2001 today as we did then. However it's been a couple of years since we've found a WOW cache, one that takes me to a new and wonderful place. All that said there's more people enjoying caching that's probably a good thing. Byron

This is done in both directions all the time. Take something/leave nothing or take nothing/leave something. I wouldn't worry about it. I've seen logs both ways.

Agreed.

Some of us simply think any kind of cache rating system is a bad idea. Here's why I do. 1. When compared to goods or movies, etc. there's a purchase involved. There's competition for your money, rating is probably a good thing in those cases. 2. Caches are placed by volunteers and have nothing to gain or loose except ego by a rating system. 3. Too much damaged ego will result in lose of interest or worse. In many cases anger will take front and center. All of you that keep wanting cache ratings think about this. You place what you consider the best cache in the world. Everythings perfect in you mind. Another cacher comes along and down rates your cache. How do you feel. Stop really think about how you would feel. Remember a cache placer is a volunteer. Volunteering his time and funds for you to enjoy. Now you want to tell him his efforts weren't good enough. I don't think that's very nice. That's what I think a cache rating system would do.

Makes me wonder what would happen if you just plain ignored this whole permit thing. Of course the whole thing makes me think, "mother may I wipe .........."

After seeing many of these conversations (I'm using conversation loosely) I've come to the conclusion that a gun is not carried for protection. A gun, in fact, does not provide any protection at all. It works the other way around it provides a sense of danger that feeds adrenaline junkies. A gun also feeds syndroms, "macho", "James Bond Syndrom", "Wyett Erpp", "John Wayne", etc., take your pick. It becomes a problem when you add paranoia to the mix. I just hope that I or mine don't run across you at the wrong time of the month.

Hey, you said rated, not berated! I don't see that there's a difference, unless you rate every cache excellant.

All you folks that want to rate other peoples caches please stand up. I'll now rate your caches unseen. They're all rotten. There, now they've been rated. Do you like that?

YUP! YUP! YUP!

Public lands that have banned or controlled geocaching do so because they can. As far as I've been able to determine that's the only reason. They have the same access to gc.com as the rest of us and use it against us. As for the National Park System, it appears that the system has evolved into a series of modified Disney Land amusument parks. The public is only allowed in certain areas, and can only do the Park people say. That leaves the rest of the park land for park employee recreation. If you had control over say Yellowstone Park, you'd want to keep everybody out and away from your favorite places too with the park. Force all visitors into as small an area as you can get away with. Make sure nothing happens to get visitors into any place else. OK OK, enough RANT.

I didn't see the movie, but I did read the book. The puzzles were great, the caches well hidden in plane sight. I don't know how the movie ended, but in the book the location of the final cache was found, but the cache wasn't retrieved and therefore could not be logged. Some cachers might have logged it because they got close.

I must say there's one, or maybe 3 posts in this thread that had me rolling on floor laughing. I think it was the hypocrisy that going.

I'm still having log in problems with both IE and Firefox. Now that a log in is required it's even more of a pain. Even with remember me checked. Now that I can't see the coords without logging in it's more of a pain. But, I'm just a customer so I don't count.

Charter memebers having priority sounds good to me.

Ya, aint it great. Also you get 50% off any camping fees in National Forest Camp grounds.

What happens when somebody is watching a cache?? An email is sent when there's been a log entry, that's it. So what's the point of wanting to know who's watching. Anybody that comes to the web page gets exactly the same information. Can you tell that I visited your listing?? Since this has come up several times, I think it's the "watching" word that makes people wonder what's going on. Careful, you're being watched...

"Paranoid idiots" is the correct catagory for those that feel the need to carry. Paranoid in that you think it's necessary to carry. Idiot because you believe it's going to make you safer. Both are wrong assumptions. It'll make you more nervous since you have always worry about something happening to your weapon, therefore increase the fear. It makes actually makes you less safe, that is unless your name is Wyatt Erp. Therefore rather than worrying about how to carrry, why not just leave it at home so don't go shooting somebody. However if do shoot somebody society gets to take your genes out of the gene pool.

WOW, What a bunch of paradiod idiots.....

Now be careful. If do something like this the cache police will come and get you. You'll be caching behind bars.

I don't must be close to 300:1 Eventually it'll be a couple thousand to 1

If you leave them as your sig item, that's fair. It's your sig item after all. Not the finders. OH!!! Does this mean I can change my sig item to an advertisement for the Mustang Ranch and leave those? That's complete with pictures.