BadSquirrel

Caches for Adoption! The BadSquirrel family is relocating to the Boise area the first week of August. We will miss our friends here and the *amazing* caching experiences. If anyone would like to adopt our caches, please e-mail us; otherwise we'll archive them in late July. (Of course the puzzles may reappear in Idaho.) Check my profile page...there aren't a heck of a lot of them, but we think they are pretty good quality. Specifically the Sleeping Beauty series. Cheers, -BadSquirrel

We found a horned toad last weekend while out in Sycamore Canyon. The pic isn't so hot, with the shadows, but it's still pretty neat. The monkeys really liked it!

I have one. I really like it. It displaced my 60cx as the main GPSr. What's good: -2000 waypoint memory (most of north and central SD fits) -Direct input of pocket queries for paperless caching. No need for a PDA; cache descriptions, etc, are right there. That's awesome. -Similar buttons as the 60, so nothing new to learn. -As rugged and accurate as the 60. Not so good: -I worry the buttons will wear out, as they get a lot of use when caching paperless. We'll see. -Garish yellow. Gen'l info: -Battery life seems as good as the 60. -Some glitches when recording finds; very minor and easy to fix (e.g. the internal log carries the finds, but the day's calendar data doesn't show you have any finds). -Working the internal file system takes a little bit of savvy...you plug it in like a thumb drive, it's an extra drive on your computer, and you just copy pertinent .gpx files to the "GPX" folder. Also the geocache_visits.txt log is self-explanatory, but you need to look for it. -It doesn't handle Wherigo caches. I say buy it. I got a good deal on Amazon for mine; bought it after losing my PDA on a business trip and having nothing to do paperless caching with.

Nice article, Ron...thanks for posting the link. I share the same feelings as the author...a great, inexpensive (relatively...the new 62 cost a little $$) family-friendly and educational hobby.

Not a particularly good photo, but we all found this guy in GC2D9VH (Your Next Procedure...) A bit of a wakeup call...we weren't looking for this kind of fauna.

Honk if you know where this is... (hint: Cypress Creek...)

Honk if you know where this is...

double post...

Nobody mentioned that "Powder Can" involved 7 m each way on 4WD/AWD roads. Allie said "this is like a monster truck!". Yowsa! Thanks for the tips...monkeys made "Powder Can" on their own power (a little bit of shoulders for Nick) but opted out of "Mickey" (Dad soloed...) lots of fun in AZ-B...caching sure takes you places you wouldn't normally go...

We're pounding away at GC15D0N- SD County "Historic" Cache Adventure which we're enjoying because it's taking us to places we've been to, and wouldn't think of going to. The next one on our list is GC161- Powder Can Cache (as a virtual) out in Anza Borrego. We're unfamiliar with the desert area, and I'm a little apprehensive about being so far out in the middle of no where walking around with the monkeys. So if anyone has answers to my questions, or has any other thoughts, I'd really appreciate it! The cache page says to park at N 32° 45.698, W 116° 09.709 and cross the RR tracks. But it looks like there's a better spot further south at 32° 45.477'N 116° 9.542'W, where you'd be able to pick up a trail more easily. Which do you recommend? The page also says it's a 1.5 mile hike based on the parking spot. But on Google Earth it almost looks like there's somewhat of a road so you could drive a lot closer to the cache. Is that doable, or does crossing the RR tracks make it a non-starter? Because of the ABDSP no-caching policy, I was also surprised to see a couple other caches in the area ("Mickey Mints" GC15V9J). Is caching in the state park back on, or have the rangers just been ignoring them? Is it bad caching karma to get them since the rangers don't want them there? Should the Power Can Cache be replaced as an actual cache, vice a virtual? We could do it, but don't want to maintain it. Thanks for the help! Mrs Bad Squirrel

Yep.

Go to "Monopolizing Your Time" or "Greta Garbo's Phone" and check out the bookmark lists on them; that sshould lead to to other good ones here. There certainly are quite a few caches here! Something for everyone.

I just found a magnetic nano today affixed to the fence of a military base. There's another one a little closer to me I'll likely check out tomorrow...I believe it's on the MCAS Miramar fence. Could we not do this, please? A lampskirt lifter on Wal-mart's "private property" is one thing, but the bases are patrolled by armed folks who take their jobs seriously. Will a cacher be shot full of holes? Heck no. But it doesn't help the hobby when there are people skulking around base perimeters closely examining the fences. I think it gives cachers a bad name. I ask cache placers in the SD community to think twice before going right up to the fence...there's often a sign or guardrail close enough to place the cache that's not actually on the fence. If you can sign the log from inside the base, it's too close. Cheers, -BadSquirrel

I believe if the GPSr is registered with the Garmin website, they can track the owner.

Had a blast getting "IHO Eric & Hill" yesterday w/ John...hopefully the cache gets more action soon. Tiek00n, you might try PMing FisnJack.

Mrs. BS and the monkeys are out of town this long weekend, so I am tidying up the non-family-friendly caches. Anyone wanna tackle "IHO Eric & Hill" with me? http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...cb-519748a1d089 It's a 5x5 that involves, apparently, some sewer crawling, climbing, and pain. It starts near Miramar Road. I heard FisnJack's game...anyone else? rjbloom? I can go any time this weekend...really, any time...no other commitments.

Is El Cap less stroller-friendly than North or South Fortuna? We're giving blood, and won't make it, but were planning to do this later on...hoping to take the monkeys. They've been *all* over MTRP, so our definition of stroller-friendly is at variance with the norms.

3.10 firmware did not resolve the problem for me. On one hand, it's an excuse to buy a 60Csx; on the other, I don't want to reward Garmin for not supporting their product.

Must....Resist.....Snarky.....Response..... Be good James..... I thought about this all day, but couldn't figure out what you were going to say. Were you going to paraphrase Mae West? -BadSquirrel

Sure, I have a 60CS you can borrow any time... It worked for me in finding said cache... You don't want a 60Cs..it stinks under any kind of cover. If you give me the coords I'll come help you with John's 60CSX Sorry Jodi, you already found this one....before he moved it. We hear you've managed to find a good squirrel. Treasure him, he's rare. -Mrs. BS

Looking for some help here...I have final #'s on an old TT puzzle cache, but my eTrex has trouble under tree cove, and is currently introducing a 45' offset randomly. I've visited the site 4 times, and brought Mrs. BS and her eagle eyes. No dice. I'd like to borrow someone's GPSMap60 that has the super-cool antenna, so I can be sure of my final posit. Can someone in the Scripps/Mira Mesa area help? If you want to tag along, cool...it's in the vicinity of the Costco on Morena Blvd. (and I use the term "in the vicinity" very loosely).

I love that area! It is so cool to be able to walk on a path and have trees provide shade the whole way. And you can't figure out your path ahead of time using Google Earth. There just aren't that many places like that around here. I haven't grabbed all the new ones out there, so I will now make an effort to do so before they close it. Thanks for the warning, James. I'd previously heard that at least the NE part was to be turned into a housing development, but it doesn't seem like the best economic climate to make new housing tracks. 'I've never been to that area. Is is still open? If so, maybe we could do one last SDCET there.... I was just up there this morning and it is still open. Due to the impending closure of the area, I plan to remove all my caches there on Monday Nov 3rd and to temporarily disable them. It is a very unique area. So if you are interested, come out. Obviously this is late, but this item in the Reader (yeah, 5 months ago) goes into a bit more detail on the backstory. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2008/dec/10/city-light-2/

I believe "Recent Finds" is better described as "Places You Recently Looked For". So yes, if you "go to" a cache, don't find it, and go somewhere else, it'll still show up in the "Recent Finds" menu. Kinda like your phone...it remembers who you dialed last, whether or not you actually talked to anyone.

So does the Legend, as of 5/12/09. http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=1417 I'm installing; fingers crossed hoping this solves the prob. I'm not optimistic...we'll see. Tx for the pointer!

Yep, did one. I checked the forums and didn't see anything...guess I'll look harder. Sounds like there was not a fix, though, unless it was a firmware rollback.