Stan&Ruth

I was uploading pictures from a one-time-use cache camera that I had processed on a CDROM. One picture was taken with the camera in a vertical position. On a picture viewer the picture was sideways so I figured when it finished uploading I would have to edit it so that it was rotated 90 degrees so the subject was standing upright. Low and behold when it finished uploading it was upright! How did it know that it had to rotate the picture without being told to do so? Not a problem, but I sure would like to know how it did it!

We discovered a note in one of our cache logs: "10-15-05 Ahoy Mate! Capt. Bob and his dog Teddy came upon a buried treasure!!! What is this stuff all about?" He left his phone number. We called him and we had a nice discussion about Geocaching. He is going to check it out on he internet and maybe purchase a GPS. By the way, he said that when he came upon the cache it was out in clear sight. Why don't Geocachers cover caches back up?

We have been using one time use cameras with ASA800 for about $5.50. Then we order the CD-ROM for processing. About $8.00. The pictures upload very nicely to the cache web page. The one time use camera is a much smaller lost investment if the cache goes MIA.

48183 21 caches

The Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority is sponsoring what they call the Metroparks Geocaching Adventure. They have hidden Geocaches in each of their 13 parks in the Detroit area. The caches start out containing a logbook, a few trinkets and a supply of special game cards. If a Geocacher collects all 13 cards and submitts them along with a score card to one of the park offices they will receive in December a 2005 year's pass to all of the parks. The caches are hidden in clever locations. The coordinates, with one exception, are very accurate. (Much better than the average). The one exception seems to be a typo where a 6 in the tenths place should have been a 5. (Producing a 600 foot error!). That park office provided the first couple of frustrated hunters with the correction which they of course posted in their logs. The error probably has been corrected on the web page as I type this. We think that the program will help introduce the public to Geocaching in a positive way. A nice brochure is available telling about Geocaching in general and their adventure program in specific. The park system wants to encourage Geocachers to see what all of their parks have to offer and to show support to our sport. One Geocacher made it around the first day (14 hours) to all 13 parks traveling about 300 miles! We are excited about the program but will take at a slower pace. It would be nice if all of the park officials around the country would take this type of positive attitude toward Geocaching. By the way, this park system accepts individually placed caches provided they have been approved following some simple guidelines.

Mark Clemens, an Assistant Art Director at Scientific American has written a 2 and a half page article about Geocaching in the February 2004 issue of Scientific American magazine. He very nicely explains what Geocaching is and describes his first hunt. He talks about the GPS system, how it works and about some of the GPS receivers available and compares a few of them on a cache hunt. The author reports that in two month he has found 96 caches in four states and three countries. It sounds like he is hooked! The article is very positive about Geocaching and provides good publicity for our hobby in a highly respected science magazine.

Twice in the last month I have gone to caches that listed Travel Bugs. When I found the cache there was no Travel Bug. In carefully reading the logs I found that someone had reported picking up the bug but they did not properly log the find. In both cases they were first finds of Travel Bugs and their profiles said that they had 0 finds of bugs. I E-mailed them and explained what they had to do to officially log the finds. They both followed through with the process and thanked me for the information. They thought that when they mentioned in the cache log the Travel Bug find that they had done all they needed to do. I think I saved two bugs from going MIA, at least for now. A lot of new Geocachers don't know what to do after they pick up a Travel Bug. Next time, give my approach a try.

The May 19, 2003 Detroit Free Press has a nice article by Brian Dickerson about Geocaching called "Hunts' value not found in the treasures". Dickerson says that since mid April he and his 11 year old son have spent part of most weekends seeking Tupperware treasure chests in parks and public spaces in the Detroit area. The article is very positive and includes references to Geocaching.com. We really like his final paragraph: "Someday, the navigating skills my son is honing on our Sunday afternoon sallies may save his life. For now, they're just making this fleeting pre-adolescent twilight a little sweeter." Stan&Ruth Trento, Michigan

Geocaches found in: Michigan Louisiania Massachusetts North Carolina California

I don't know if we need a shortcut, but I have used that phrase many times. That is really one of the nice things about Geocaching.

What other uses for your GPS receivers other than Geocache hunting have you had? I have had four that were kind of fun so far. 1. I set a waypoint where I parked my car in a large parking lot or on a side street in a strange city. Using the GPS I can return to the car with no worry about where it was. 2. I have used it as a pedometer to see how far we walk for exercise. 3. We took one of those canoe trips where they take you in a van to a starting point and canoe back to their livery location. Since those landings can look different from the water, I set a waypoint prior to boarding the van and then I know exactly where the landing is. 4. When going to visit friends in another city I have gone to Maptech.com and obtained the coordinates of their house. Following the heading on the GPS made it much easier than trying to follow their verbal directions. There are probably some much more unique and inteesting ways that you have used your GPS. What say?

What other uses for your GPS receivers other than Geocache hunting have you had? I have had four that were kind of fun so far. 1. I set a waypoint where I parked my car in a large parking lot or on a side street in a strange city. Using the GPS I can return to the car with no worry about where it was. 2. I have used it as a pedometer to see how far we walk for exercise. 3. We took one of those canoe trips where they take you in a van to a starting point and canoe back to their livery location. Since those landings can look different from the water, I set a waypoint prior to boarding the van and then I know exactly where the landing is. 4. When going to visit friends in another city I have gone to Maptech.com and obtained the coordinates of their house. Following the heading on the GPS made it much easier than trying to follow their verbal directions. There are probably some much more unique and inteesting ways that you have used your GPS. What say?

I think that a virtual cache should have something unique that should be e-mailed to the cache owner to confirm that it was actually found. This can be a description or a date.

Thanks for posting Benchmarks Found on my page. That will help a lot with record keeping and it provides some recognition of the efforts put forth looking for them.

Maybe it would be a good idea to always print out a copy of the Geocache posting and bring it along while hunting for a cache. Showing the page to the person who is asking what you are doing there may help explain what you are up to.

I think that if you for any reason can't move the TB right away you should E-mail the owner and advise them of your plans.

Both of my TBs have been sitting in people's backpacks for months. I have e-mailed them several times with no answers. I can see that they have also been out finding other Geocaches. Perhaps they think they are not in the right direction for the objectives for the TBs, but at least if they placed them in a cache, someone else could move them along. I don't think I will invest in any more Travel Bugs.