hikerT

If you signed the logbook, then you have found it. Log it online. Are you going to go back by yourself later to find it AGAIN and then log a find? It's a game. Have fun and give yourself credit for being part of a group that found it, even if you were drinking from your water bottle at the same moment someone else found the cache. At the very least, log the find and say that you were with "so and so"and stopped to take a drink when they spotted the cache.

I saw an cache owner log a find on his own cache when it was assumed to missing by other cachers. He said he went to check on it, searched for it for about fifteen minutes, found it hidden farther away than he had placed it, and logged it as a find. Well if he had to search for it, and he found it, then he can log it, right?

I would also like to be able to download an entire search page in .gpx file instead of.loc file. As a newbie i actually did this, then was very disappointed to see that I was missing a lot of cache info when I went to use my GPS. It's very simple to download a few cache pages, check all, then uncheck the one or two you don't want, put them all in one file, upload to GPS and voila... a day or 2 of caching in the area you are visiting. I find PQ's give me too many results, even with editing the heck out of it 5 times.

My bible has arrived....thanks very much!

I have switched back to using the Magellan Cache Manager which came with the GPS. I was able to upload .loc files, but a lot of info is left off when viewed on the GPS. I am now using the MCM again, not EasyGPS, but am finding I cannot convert .loc files to .gpx files with this program. I like to download entire search pages on gc.com, and put them into MCM, then group into one big file to put on the GPS, but they are .loc files. If I want it to be a .gpx file I have to download each cache page separately, then open each one into MCM, then put into one folder, THEN upload to GPS. Any shorter way to do this?? I have also tried to do a pocket query, but seem to get either no results, or an error when I open it. One more thing, I have read that there is an in depth manual for the eXplorist 400 on the magellan website, but I cannot find it anywhere. Can anyone tell me where i can find it, or post a link to it? Thanks

I am downloading the caches from the site a page at a time, but they are ending up as .loc files. How can I convert them in Magellan cache manager to .gpx files? Also, I have tried to do a pocket query, after about 2 hours I finally got it in a file I can find in the magellan manager, but when I go to upload to GPS, I am asked to SAVE, and the file line allows only .upt files. WHat is going on? Can anyone give me a step by step guide to how to get cache waypoints into gpx files to load onto my GPS please?

I bought a Magellan eXplorist 400. I am trying to upload gpx files to GPS. I finally have them in EasyGPS program, but can't send them to my GPS. I open the file, click send to GPS, then a new box opens... it wants me to SAVE, and the file line shows only UPT file, ??????? what the heck is going on???

Thanks very much for the replies, they really helped. I was loading .loc files, so that answers the second question. I will take a look at the manual to get info for all my other questions... I haven't even looked at the map aspect yet. I scrolled a few pages of topics and did not see any that helped me in what I was looking for, and did not have the time to go through all the topic threads. Thanks again for the info... a nice community we have here.

I just bought the explorist 400 and really like what it will be able to do. However, I have to use my old garmin etrex at the same time, because the 400 is 20m off. I DNF'd the first 3 caches I tried to find with it, then resorted to the etrex, and found them quickly. Is there a way to calibrate it or something? It sometimes points me in the OPPOSITE direction for the last 50m to where the cache is. How do you edit in hints and diff/terr. to see them on the GPS? I tried to do this in the Magellan cache manager, but when I saved it then sent waypoints to my GPS, only the initial info was transferred, not what I had added. How do I delete caches I have found or don't want any more(and lists of groups of caches when I have found them all)?- and can I edit the hints etc. on the GPS AFTER i have sent them to the GPS? Lastly, how can I see the cache files from my GPS on my computer? And can I do editing/deleting that way? It's frustrating that a lot of this info is not written in a 300 page manual or something. How do newbie users figure out how to do all this stuff on their own? Thanks for any feedback.

I just used my brand new X400 today, I really like the GC program in it. My problem was that my coords were about 25m off(I had to use my Garmin Etrex to find my caches today) but accuracy was 3m which is great. Don't know what's going on here, or how to fix that. Also, there are so many features but the manual does not explain everything. I also could not upload waypoints to GPS until I read here that my cable was attached upside down. Now I can't upload from mapsend... again it says GPS not detected. Im sure this will be a great GPS, they should really have a 200 page manual to cover everything we need to know.

I did a really stupid thing to try and find a cache and am lucky not to be more seriously hurt...or dead. It was the final of a cache series, and after already hiking for about 4 hours that day I decided this would be my last for the day(it sure was). I had 2 possible sets of coords, and it was around a gorge with waterfalls. I headed to the first set of coords, and it put me about 80m across the gorge. OK, other side, so walk around to the other side of the gorge. I'm running out of room here, almost to the edge, with about 10m to go, DOWN. There is a large rock formation jutting out of the side of the cliff, and having remembered that one of the caches in the series was on a hill, under a rock formation on the side, I think this is it. One problem, it's pretty well straight down. But I see what looks like some tracks down the side, maybe 10 feet down to the rocks. Looks like others have been here, so I will just slide down, beside the 2 trees, and take a look. I take my first step of the edge, the dirt gives way, and I'm sliding, then tumbling straight down the side. I landed about 20 feet down, at the base of the only tree around. Below the tree, NOTHING-straight down to the gorge below, maybe another 100 feet or more. I lay there and feel what's broken. Feel my face and teeth first. OK, legs move, arms move, I stand up. I look up, my GPS and fresh batteries are halfway back up, luckily my keys are still in my pocket. NOw I have to get back up to the top... VERY SLOWLY-one bad move and I'm at the bottom. I climb back up, go straight to the car trying not to think where I would be if I missed that tree. I get in the car, then back out cuz my leg hurts now. I tore the back of my pants on a large rock and have 2 huge gouges, but bleeding is minimal. I ended up with a slightly sprained thumb, a black and blue hand to go with it, 2 cuts which are still healing, and so many bruised I can't count them. I don't think I will finish that series any time soon, I am scared to go back there. I didn' t even think I could go caching again on the trails. (Looking back, I should have known I had those coords wrong) Well, I got over it, and was caching again the next weekend... and one of the caches was in a tree. You bet I climbed up to get it!

Any idea how many years we Canadians will have to wait for this program? Or will I have to move to the U.S. soon?? I'm very jealous... sounds fabulous.

I'm off internet poker, off my lazy butt and down 25 lbs without even trying. I started in August and have been out caching every weekend, and cache my way home from work (and sometimes TO work) almost every day. Then I started hiding my own caches and it's almost as addicting as finding them.

I started caching in August. I have purchased 8 AA duracells, and a 24 pack of cheap dollar store batteries. I have 8 cheapos left. So that's an average of 2 batteries per week. I grab 2-4 caches after work almost every day, and cache all weekend. The cheapos do just fine so I'm sticking with them. 24 pack at dollar store is around $5.

I suffered a back injury at work in Jan. 2004, and it keeps acting up, and have bone spurs in my foot. Two really painful reasons to keep me on the couch. I have been caching (almost daily)for 2 months now and have lost at least 10lbs, and have had absolutely NO back or foot pain. Have not taken pain pills since I started, and I was taking 3 a day. The water I am guzzling is replacing the Diet Pepsi. So yep, I notice a big difference.

I just started caching last month, and have just reached 130 caches found. I was really excited to start hiding my own caches early on but wanted to see a variety of other caches/locations to give me some guidance and inspiration. I took note of which caches I enjoyed finding, and which ones others enjoyed finding, and sort of based mine that way. My first cache was published yesterday, and has 2 finds, the first one about 25 min. after publication. (and this is quite a rural area) I even started with a multicache/puzzle, just with simple math. The FTF log said they enjoyed it, and that co ords were right on. That was my biggest worry, so I made sure (and hoped) I had accurate waypoints. I am already planning a few more caches for the same area, as there are not many around here. Now as I place more, I will get better at hiding them and making them more interesting. Practice makes perfect, right?

At the first cache I ever found I traded for a homemade magnet that said "I use multi-billion dollar military satellites to find tupperware hidden in the woods. What do YOU do?" I think that sums it up.