Cache'n'Carey

Hi Keystone, thanks for your fast response. I've been trying to help a.k.a. Diana via telephone with this. She is getting the error message when she clicks the link from her My Account page. We've tried everything I can think of, but she's still just getting the error message. Any ideas?

My 2007 Mall Crawlin' JK - 3" Full Traction Ultimate lift. 35" Toyo's, lots of other stuff! Posing in the driveway Stopped to set up camp in Sheep Canyon, Anza-Borrego DSP. I have to let my better half wheel it sometimes, too...spotting him through a narrow spot

Might depend on which firewall you are using, but I resolved my problem by upgrading to the latest version of NIS. It actually worked out well for me - while troubleshooting via Norton/Symantec site, they informed me that because I had an active a/v subscription, I could upgrade to NIS 2008 FOR FREE! The only reason I was still using NIS 2006 is because I refuse to pay to upgrade to the latest version every year when they send out the teaser e-mails...I usually do it every 3 years or so. Wonder how many people actually purchase the upgrade every year. IDK, something strange about the whole thing. Anyway, after upgrading to the current version I no longer had a problem. Makes me wonder if they had some kind of glitch in that last download/update to the 2006 version. FWIW Michael - geocaching.com has always been on my white list. It was a freak problem that just popped up one morning.

There is a cache or two on Highpoint, but they are towards the end, near 79S. Highpoint connects with Palomar Divide and can be taken all the way from the top, back to 79 if you want a change of pace. It is a bit narrow in places if you meet someone coming the other way, but it is certainly doable with a high clearance vehicle. We've driven it two or three times. Easiest route is the one TG mentioned, starting at White Matters and going up. Everything is well marked and graded. Part of it is even paved. Chuy drove a Corolla up at least once. Don't forget to sign the summit log at the tower. It makes some interesting reading. As to Oak Grove Rd, I suggest starying off it. Sometimes when I've been up there, the gate was locked where it runs into High Point Rd. It'd suck to come up Oak Grove from 79 only to find the upper gate locked. Have fun. I guess we got lucky with the gate. You can probably call the ranger station to find out if it's locked. I can never get them to answer the phone weekends up this way (Trabuco District). Do they answer on the weekends down there?

Perfect! Thanks Snake&Rooster and TG. I'm in a lifted jeep, but abide by "never wheel alone." If it's more than a fire road, I save it until I have another vehicle along for the ride. And I'm the kind that if there's trouble out there...it'll find me! You've both given me exactly the information I was looking for. I was going to just jump in the jeep and see what I could find, then thought better of it. Knew I could count on you guys! Thanks so much!

Such a fast response! Thanks Trailgators. I believe the cache you referred to is GCQ1AF White Matters. So then I would I stay on 9S07 the whole way until it dumps me somewhere that looks very close to S6? When I tried for directions via GoogleEarth (I know, I do silly things like that sometimes), it sent me on Oak Grove and High Point Trails to get to Palomar Divide (probaby because they were closer to my home), and not being familiar with them I wasn't sure. I thought I had remembered hearing that High Point was a little tricky sometimes. But it looks like there aren't any caches on those trails any how (yet!)! Thanks!

I heard this was a beautiful drive on easy trails and was thinking of heading out there tomorrow, but it's a little out of my area so I'm not 100% sure of my routing through the trails. I have the CNF topo, but trying to match that up with GoogleEarth is giving me a headache and my searches here aren't yielding good info. Can anyone familiar with recommend the best way to do it? I'll be coming from O.C., but I don't care where I start and where I end up, just don't want to run into anything too challenging because I'll be solo (with passenger) and am not familiar with the area. Thanks!

Yup, works fine when the firewall is disabled. And I've never had a problem accessing any of the older cache pages before...thousands. So it's either something new with gc.com, or maybe something that changed in NIS when it downloaded the new definitions. The only thing I can think of that changed right before this happened is the windows auto updater ran the night before, but I'm not using the windows firewall; it is disabled so I can use the NIS firewall, so I wouldn't "think" that would cause the problem, and I am getting the error message from NIS.

For the past two days I have been unable to access specific cache pages because my firewall says that gc.com is attempting an attack on my computer, and it blocks all access for four hours. I am using NIS2006, and have attempted with both IE7 and Firefox2.0.0.7, and the problem occurs no matter which cache page I attempt to access (after waiting another four hours between attempts). I can access the main page, the problem only occurs when I attempt to view a specific cache page. I finally had to temporarily turn off my firewall so I could access some information today. I was really hoping to see that others were having the same problem, but a search of the forum didn't show anything. Is anyone using NIS firewall and NOT having a problem? I'm trying to narrow down where my problem is.

Okay, nothing scares me more than someone who is not comfortable and/or knowledgeable out in the backcountry carrying a gun, especially a brand new gun! Seriously, bear spray would probably give you at least some level of comfort level, if nothing else. In NY you need to purchase it from a licensed firearm dealer or pharmacist (?!). Make sure you get the kind that shoots a cone/cloud, not a stream. I recommend Counter Assault. But the best thing you can do for yourself, the animals, and everyone else out there is to learn about the different types of animals you might encounter. You should learn the behavioral traits, how to recognize sign (scat, tracks, scrapes), how to handle an encounter, and how to handle an attack. Encounters are much more common than attacks, and familiarizing yourself with how to handle an encounter should help prevent the need the need to use the bearspray in the first place. And possibly prevent provoking an animal that never had any intention of attacking in the first place. I only carry pepper spray to ward off the two-legged animals!

...the way to help it is to strengthen the calf muscles but I'm not quite sure what's the best exercise to do that. Calf raises - the easiest/cheapest way to do them around the house is to stand with the balls of your feet on a 2x4 or thick book (make sure it is close enough for you to hold on to something with your hands to steady yourself), then slowly raise up on to your toes. Lower your heels without allowing them to touch the floor, then raise up on your toes again. Repeat until it burns. If you want to build more muscle, hold weights in your hands if you don't have any balance issues. As your calves become stronger and the exercise becomes easier, raise the height so you get a better stretch when you lower your heels. You can do them on a step, too, but I wouldn't go that high unless you could use your hands to balance yourself. We don't need any twisted ankles!

We were caching along a truck trail in Cleveland NF a few days ago when I practically drove right smack into the middle of a huge marijuana bust. There was a long line of various LEO vehicles, two suspects in handcuffs sitting right at the entry point for the next cache, a burly SWAT-type guy guarding them, and a helicopter airlifting huge bales of marijuana from the canyon floor up to the road we were on. It was kind of cool to watch the helicopter working, but a LEO told us that the road would be closed "for quite some time" and that we'd have to backtrack about 20 miles to get back out. [] Time for Plan B! Of course, I had to post a photo with a note for the cache that we were attempting to get to!

backpacker.com has a fairly extensive database of hikes you can download and preview, complete with writeups and photos. They have partnered with Trimble Outdoors, and you can access many of the hikes from the Trimble site as well. If you use Google Earth, you may have noticed that you can view the hikes from Trimble automatically in Google Earth now. It used to be a little more work. I did check out a few sites where you could upload your own hikes, but I can't find them right now. I didn't find any worth using so I lost track of them. I'll keep looking and post if I find where I put the url's.

Leki Super Makalu's for me. I love my Leki's! The shock absorbing feature is the best, the grips are comfortable even in 100+ degree weather, and you can't beat the life time warranty.

"I'm not a coffee drinker but my wife is. I generally make it though because I'm usually first to rise. We use a 10 oz lexan French press if its just the two of us." That's the one I have, although mine is black and I assume the one at backcountrygear.com also comes with the neoprene sleeve although it doesn't mention it on the webpage? Should since they're both GSI. That press makes a serious cup of java!

Don't even think about Criminal's routine! That's too hard core for you. If 200 yards wears you out, the first thing you should do is visit your doctor and talk to him/her about starting an exercise routine, especially with the asthma. Probably you'll hear that the best thing for you to start doing is walking - walk around the block or around the neighborhood every night after dinner, walk around the building (inside or out) on your lunch break at work, park the car farther away in the parking lot, and keep building on your distance. Eventually you should be able to add in stairs without getting tired, then depending on your local terrain you can take it to the hills. You might like to look into trekking poles with the tip for walking on sidewalks. I know that Leki calls them Nordic Walking poles. They would take some of the stress off of your body while providing a whole body workout. Walking is the best for someone who is out of shape and just starting an exercise program.

I'll second the recommendation for the Leki's. I have the Super Makalus and love them. The anti-shock system is fantastic. I wasn't sure how often I'd use them initially, but now I wouldn't think of doing any type of elevation gain without them, especially for a tricky descent. They are great for stream crossings too. Best thing is their life time warranty. And their customer service is top notch. My husband borrowed one of my poles and didn't take the tip cover off before using it. I asked Leki where I could purchase replacement covers because I couldn't find them locally, and they sent me a dozen for free. Good thing since a few weeks later one of my friends borrowed one of my poles when we were doing some serious up and down, and she did the same thing with the tip cover. Anyway, it's a small thing, but it was still really cool of them to do that. And needless to say, my husband now has his own pair of Leki's, and my friend will be purchasing her own pair.

I have the lexan french press from REI and I swear by it. I'm a junkie and instant just doesn't cut it, so I'll carry the extra weight to have fresh coffee. Yes, the press is a pain to clean, but coffee grounds are all natural biodegradable. Just scrape the used grounds into a ziploc and pack it back out. If water is available and you want the pot cleaner, just give it a little swish and dump it on the ground away from the water source. Maybe your concern about the fit was for the single-cup model? I have the larger model since there's two of us and we split the gear. The neoprene cozy keeps the coffee nice and hot on a chilly morning (I guess that's assuming you can get the water hot enough in the first place!)

Hi everyone! I had the pleasure of tagging along with Paul and Ken Sunday because they are friends of my caching buddy's brother. Ken had me puzzle solving like a fool for weeks to prepare for their visit (but there's no way I can keep up with him, he's a master), and we had a fantastic time. You have some really great puzzles and hides down there, so sweet to find so ammo cans with real swag, and we especially enjoyed the morning hike. I just love what you guys have done down there with all of the puzzles, and I'll be back soon to work on picking up more of the ones I have solved that we didn't get to on Sunday! I just wanted to respond to Flagman's comment - yes, there will be some surprises left behind, and a.k.a. Diana and I have agreed to be responsible for the maintenance. I believe Paul has let gs know that so there should be no question about the maintenance factor. We're only an hour away in south south Orange County (although I made it in 40 minutes at 4:30a Sunday morning!), so it's no problem for us. Now the trick is that I have to solve them before they need maintenance! Thanks for providing such a fun caching environment.

But the icon for the February coin "was" there, at least for one day that I know of. Then it disappeared again.

Has anyone else noticed this, or is it just me? Ever since the November issue it seems that the icons have been whacky. First it took months for some of the icons to be uploaded, then some were assigned to the incorrect coins. That got straightened out and I thought the problem was resolved. The icon for the March coin showed up correctly the day I activated the coin. So I released one of the February coins a few days ago, and it was picked up by someone last night. I looked at the coin page this morning, and now it's back to a generic icon! I think it's just the coins from geocoinclub. At least those are the only ones of mine that have been affected. Wonder if the problem lies with geocoinclub, or gc.com. But no one else has mentioned this, so maybe the problem is just me!

And if you do Tacky X10 (which you should!), you might want to swing by GCHJWW Remember the Fonz for a look at the Cunningham's house, and GCYBGS Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore for some outstanding camo that has stumped many. Another fun one, if you don't mind a short hike, is GC8413 - Batman's Bat Cave.

I have never had a problem carrying mine on domestically, but overseas "it depends." When I travelled to Germany in December I had no problem with security in Berlin, but Frankfurt security had a big group discussion about it and finally decided I could carry it on as long as I removed the batteries. Of course, they did not take the batteries away from me, so I don't know what was to prevent me from replacing them in unit as soon as I was through the line!

cromscout, since it doesn't appear that there are cachers from California or Quebec on Aushiker's list, I would be willing to help with this. I'm in southern California - about 385 miles south of Carmel. You may want to see if someone responds who is more north and closer to the direction Ozzy was headed. Send me an e-mail if you are interested.

Thanks 3doxies! I looked all over for that adoption link and couldn't find it anywhere, and I was afraid that maybe it was just for caches anyway. I see from the page that it does work for travellers also, so yippee! I just sent out the adoption request. Thank you for helping me "save face!"