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Florafloraflora

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Posts posted by Florafloraflora

  1. Odd question: I print the cache page when I'm going out hunting, but I throw it away right after that. Actually I print a cache page with a Mapquest map on the back. That's because I don't have any extra street data loaded on my GPSr, just the default set of major roads and placenames that came with it. The only records I keep are in my GPSr and in the photos we take.

  2. quote:
    Originally posted by Zoraima:

     

    Meanwhile, I'm in itching agony from failed products. Anyone have any suggestions for what to do once you have the bites? I've tried Caladryl and rubbing alcohol, but I think with the sheer volume of bites, I might need something a tad stronger.

     


     

    Zoraima, They say rubbing chlorine bleach on yourself with a cotton ball stops mosquito bites from itching. I haven't tried it but I'd love to hear your results if you do.

  3. When DEET corroded the plastic frames on my husband's glasses six years ago, we decided it wasn't for us. We have found a couple of alternatives:

     

    We first used Green Ban, an Australian product. It works very well but it does have a strong piney/tea-tree oil scent that you may or may not want to wear. A couple of years ago at the beach we found an awesome product called Cactus Juice that works as both a sunscreen and bug repellent. It's a little pricey, but it's all-natural and I have never been bitten while wearing it. It's not greasy and it has the added benefit of being a good skin conditioner. It doesn't have the heavy smell of Skin-so-soft, just a light citrusy scent. The only drawback I can think of is that the citrus smell might attract bees, but I have never been stung while wearing it even when I discovered a major bee colony. I love this stuff so much that I bought a case of travel sizes and give them to my friends and leave them in caches all the time.

     

    Note: I have no connection with the merchants I'm linking to, I just used both of these products and found them very good.

     

    Another, even more natural solution is to take lots of vitamin B. A friend's grandfather was a biologist who traveled to the Amazon a lot for research. He was the only one in his group who didn't get malaria and he chalks it up to the massive doses of vitamin B he would take before and during each trip. The vitamin B makes you smell and taste bad to the bugs (personally I think it makes you smell bad, period, but it's a subtle smell). I've also heard that white vinegar is a good non-smelly bug repellent, but you'd have to reapply it pretty often.

  4. Thanks for that rundown. The Pine Grove Furnace caches that were removed are probably two that I did, Steeple Chase and Bass Ackwards. They belonged to CCCooper Agency. Halfway AT Heaven is still there as far as I know. I appreciate the heads-up on Rocky Knob. I may still look for it but I won't leave TBs there.

     

    I got email back from two of the cache hiders I had contacted. I'm not sure that I was clear enough in my email, because they seem to be in denial about the DCNR policy and the chance that their caches will be removed. One of them could be the cacher that sent the nastygram to the forestry office. Not really sure how much further I can press the issue.

     

    Thanks for letting me know about your two caches. They're not that far from where I'll be camping and they look like good places for TBs.

  5. quote:
    Originally posted by Mopar:

    If you want to be safe, look for cache pages that display this logo on them:

     


     

    Hmmm, that's what I was afraid of. None of the caches on my list have that logo. I've written to the cache owners. Surely if they have at least applied for permission, DCNR will not confiscate the caches during the waiting period.

     

    [This message was edited by Sugar Kane on July 02, 2003 at 04:58 AM.]

  6. I am going to the Michaux Forest area of PA this weekend and I have several travel bugs to drop off. I notice that PA DNCR has been removing unapproved caches on state land, including one of my favorites icon_frown.gif

     

    I'd hate to drop the bugs in caches that will be removed. Does anybody know which caches in the area have DNCR approval or are otherwise safe? I was especially interested in Rocky Knob, the Big Flat Ridge cache, Sunset Rocks at Michaux, and Halfway AT Heaven. I'd be grateful for anything you can tell me.

  7. I think Huntnlady meant that two versions of each photo should be taken and submitted, one with GPSr and one without. And yes, you're right, it wouldn't be hard to fake that - although IDENTICAL shots with and without GPSr would be a little fishy.

     

    As far as wallpaper goes -- I doubt the server will have the capacity to handle wallpaper-size image files?

  8. As others have said, there are two ways to give your cache a difficulty of 5: clever hiding/camouflage or a tough puzzle. You can also mix and match: a puzzle that leads to a well-hidden cache. Multiple stages also add to the difficulty.

     

    Note though that hiding a cache extremely well in an easily accessible area makes it more likely that any cache seekers will be observed by others. They will be sticking around for a while, possibly cursing and fuming, in a place that's easy to reach, so... you would have to worry more about plundering.

  9. quote:
    Originally posted by umc:

    I can see great opportunity for abuse on this one. As a matter of fact what is to keep someone from having an event just to place temp caches .01 miles appart so that finders can boost their numbers in a rapid fashion?

     


     

    If someone is insane enough to do that, I feel a little sorry for them, but I'm not going to track them down and throw them in jail for caching statistics fraud. It just doesn't matter that much to me.

  10. Thanks. I've never found an Altoids cache myself so I don't know how they hold up. Re: weatherproofing, since it will be the first leg of a multicache I won't have a log sheet. I was planning on just a laminated card with the coordinates on it.

     

    Now that I think of it, animals probably don't have much of a taste for mints. Or do they? Because the minty aroma - curiously strong and all that - could be pretty hard to get out of the tin.

  11. I tend to like caches that have a terrain rating of at least 2 (although when I say that, I'm envisioning a nice steep hill, not a thicket of briars or a nasty bug-infested swamp).

     

    I wouldn't say 1/1 cachers are lazy though. We have a lot of new cachers joining all the time (right?) and 1/1's are probably the least intimidating way for them to start. It may be that as they find more caches and become more confident they will move on to tougher terrain and higher difficulty ratings.

  12. I have the Garmin holster and it's great for protecting the screen from scratches. I can dangle it from my wrist if I need my hands free without having to worry.

     

    A few caveats, though: the screen area tends to get grubby after a while. It collects more dirt in the corners than the uncovered unit would. It can also get fogged up in some conditions.

     

    My biggest peeve is that the belt clip (which I never use) makes it hard to keep the GPSr lying flat on the dashboard of the car. It tends to roll around and lose satellite reception. I end up taking it out of the holster while in the car and putting it back in when I get out on the trail.

  13. My brother and I were just wondering about that during yesterday's cache hunt: maybe there's a whole alternative network out there of "geostashers", who hide caches with extra-special (and extralegal) prizes for the first finder. Kind of the dark mirror-image of our own sport. Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised.

  14. I just hunted a multicache where the hider used camouflage in a very cool way.

     

    *SPOILER ALERT: if you live in my area, to avoid (a slight) spoiler effect don't look at my recent cache finds*

     

    One stage was hidden in the root of a fallen tree. Classic. But right on top of the cache on the outside of the tree, the hider put a small stone. There are rocks around, there are lots of trees and sticks around, so this stone blends into the background. But the cacher will notice that and think, "Ha! How would that little stone get perfectly balanced on the end of that fallen tree? Let's investigate!"

     

    At another stage, a cache is hidden in a big pile of rocks surrounded by trees. In one hole in the rocks, there are some (discreet) sticks and bark. Again, it blends into the surroundings, but again, the cacher will think, "How did that get there?"

     

    What an amazing cache that was. It's like a good book: I wish I hadn't done it yet so I could experience finding it for the first time again.

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