yumitori

We're not locals, but we visit regularly. And we really enjoy running around with other geocachers. I'll try to remember to drop you a line if we're going to be in town and looking for company...

It's so nice to know that a few folks are always ready to rip apart those putting in their personal time and energy to ensure the jeeps are widely distributed. I'm sure these volunteers are going to be just as willing next year to put forth similar efforts... Ron/yumitori, who will be logging a white jeep one of these days. I think.

I've found it useful to use the same search parameters that Travis uses. Maybe he could share the specifics of this one with us... By the way, I'm sure things are crazy just now, but is there going to be a final .pdf posted? We're hitting the road in a couple of days and I'll need time to print off the route. Many thanks!

I'm afraid we're not in a position to help, but it would probably be good to let folks know where you want a ride from.

Heh. I really hope you've been able to find your own caches in Billings... ... I think it'll help folks giving advice if those seeking it tell us what sorts of caches you most enjoy. By now Montana has a little bit of everything, so if there's certain types - puzzles, scenic walks, cunning camouflage, quick drive-by grabs, historical locales, whatever - let us know when you're looking for suggestions. Incidentally, the Lone Pine cache is now archived...

Recdiver, or anyone else wanting to carpool - Peggy and I have room in our vehicle for 2 others (3 if you are very friendly), and we're also staying at the Cimarron. I'll bet the desk clerk is going to be overwhelmed by a bunch of people checking out at 4 in the morning...

I'm not sure what you'd actually be adopting. Did you actually find the micro that's supposed to be there? We stopped briefly while on our honeymoon, but like everyone else logged it 'virtually'. While it might possible be a good place for a physical cache there's nothing in the area that really works as a virtual. If I get to vote, I'd say archive the old cache and open up the area to someone active. But that's just me...

Hmmm. I don't know why Blue's Clues is listed as a virtual. The very first log talks about folks trading stuff. Maybe the type was changed at some point.

Funny, I'm a geocacher and I get it. But perhaps you were speaking strictly about your local scene...

I see that there's a webcam on the route. What's the plan for successfully logging it?

Good point; I should have been more detailed. Plucker seemed to do it's usual thing on my computer, just as always. But when I hotsynced the files on my PDA they weren't updated. Before starting this thread, I had already tried deleting the affected channel and beginning again, without success (thanks for the idea, though). I ended up uninstalling Plucker totally and deleting it and all associated files from my Palm and reinstalling it. I didn't bother going in and ensuring every associated file was gone from my computer (I figured I could try that if it still didn't work), and interestingly enough when I hotsynced to load Plucker onto my PDA, the 'missing' files were uploaded, too, before I tried updating the channels. So currently I'm in good shape, but if anyone has any ideas as to what went wrong, it would be useful in case it happens again.

Can anyone either help walk me through troubleshooting my Plucker settings or point me to a website that can? My files no longer appear to be updating, and I can't figure out what I screwed up. I'm running it under Windows 98 and hotsyncing to a Palm Vx. Yeah, yeah, I know. Get an OS and PDA from this century. But this is what I'm working with so let's go with it. And I already know about Cachemate; that's the fall-back position. But I'd like to get this working first...

And yet, they somehow find out anyway. A couple of the local cachers placed quite a few caches in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness last summer. By Fall the Kootenai NF had asked that they all be removed. Folks might be surprised to learn that geocaching isn't as big a mystery to land managers as they might think...

Hmmm. Most games have rules, and most folks expect the rules to be followed. Based on the answers so far, it seems safe to say that the generally accepted rule here is, 'No, it is not.' But I'm more than open to listening to arguments as to why the answer might be different than I think it is.

That's because different national forests have different policies. Here in Montana, two forests, the Lolo and the Kootenai, have requested the removal of physical geocaches within wilderness areas. I expect that others will follow eventually, but they so far have not. Until then the assumption is that what is not forbidden is allowed...

We almost always carry a cache repair kit, including a container, logbook, pencils, some small trade items and the like, and we have often found a use for some or all of the items...

My forum title says it all...

You keep saying this. Perhaps I missed your response when Harrold posted some recently hidden virtuals. They don't seem to be as nearly banned as you say. Virtual caches were added to the website. People began abusing the category. Others complained. The folks running geocaching.com addressed the complaints by setting out guidelines for what does and does not qualify. Now people complain about the enforcement of the guidelines intended to address the abuse. Oh, and we debate the subject endlessly because we're never going to please everyone. Now, in parallel development, people are complaining about microcaches. Perhaps we should warn them to be careful about they wish for?

You probably also saw the guidelines that pertain to what sorts of virtuals are accepted for listing then. Glad we've reached agreement...

Ah, threats. Always a good way to redirect a discussion... But if you think you can best serve a sport you seem to enjoy by approaching land managers over these issues before the owners of the caches or the administrators of geocaching.com, go for it. Regardless, the responsibility for any geo-litter does not rest on those who decline to approve caches placed in violation of the guidelines of the site, but rather solely with those who hide such geocaches then decline to recover them. Even in the case of approved caches that are now archived, the owner agreed to the guidelines at the time of submission. They note "The cache owner will assume all responsibility of their cache listings. " Seems to me that includes picking up the container or its remains at the end of its life.

Not a petting zoo... Baby Talk

Certainly don't want to start anything here, JMBella, because you are a forum regular and have gained a respectful standing in here, and with me, but isn't it up to the HIDER to determine what kind of cache they want? Because some geocachers are idiots. Not all certainly, hopefully not even most, but there will always be a few. As a long-time member of these forums, you no doubt remember some of the discussions concerning poorly considered ideas; there's not really any need to go into them all over again, is there? Isn't it up to the website OWNER to determine what kind of caches they want to list?

Playing a little too much Grand Theft Auto?

I can't post images since they are part of the cache search, but there's these - Woods Park Scrabble caches.

Bisons are great micro containers. Just take a long scroll of paper, roll, and insert. Most folks seem to make the scroll fit into the capsule lid. That allows for a slightly wider strip (every little bit helps) and makes it much easier to remove the log from the container. Some folks glue a toothpick or something similar to one end. This makes the scroll much easier to roll back up, an important concern given the tight confines.