HardCache

quote:Originally posted by southdeltan:Any bets on when this thread will get locked? Any bets on how much hate mail I get?

quote:Originally posted by Breaktrack: No debate here, but I would encourage anyone who was thinking about participating in this to think again. Race plays no part, and should play no part, in this or any other activity that a magazine would be writing about. It's a specious arguement to say *this isn't the place for such a discussion* because this is the place the question was asked and the request made, therefore, this is where it should be discussed. I say again, the mention of racial preference as to the participants is a non-starter. Bad form, poor judgement. Our liberal media at work. Ok, let's try again...same tune, different lyrics... ----- Send him a note if you think you can help. See his other thread === Hi, I'm a writer for [pick virtually any major news] magazine seeking some help. I'm writing a story about geocaching -- using a global positioning system to find coordinates where someone has planted a box containing trinkets and a logbook. I want to visit with a family that does geocaching [who also belongs to the group represented by subscribers to the magazine]. Ideally, this family also would be members of the Christian religion. Any help would be welcome. Message me at someone@somewhere.com, Thanks, Someone How do you feel about that? Be honest. Because, as we all know, group membership (whatever the kind of group) shouldn't be an issue as long as it's a group that you don't belong to. If you say you're not Christian, then replace 'Christian' with any word that describes your beliefs or origins and see if you feel any differently. You said "liberal media" so what if it said 'Conservative' instead of Christian or ethnic minority? Would you feel differently then? How about Texan? If you say nothing should matter except being a geocacher, then your own words reveal that you are fibbing just to make a point. Whether the media's liberal or conservative shouldn't matter according to your own argument. Yet, you say "liberal" media as if that must automatically be a bad thing. What if the media was decidedly conservative? Would that be ok?

To exercise I take the most circuitous routes possible to caches, descending and ascending every possible ravine and hill on the way. I do this to confuse muggles and protect the sanctity of caches I seek. That's why I do it. Honestly.

Personally, I'd like to see large predators purposely introduced into areas overpopulated with vermin...say, wealthy suburbs...executive boardrooms...Washington, D.C.

Art with graphite and charcoal. I'm going to start painting in the spring. Right now I'm working on portraits of my entire family.

quote:Originally posted by Renegade Knight:As much as I would like one of those the fact that it's illegal to sell them to a minor makes it an inappropriate cache item. I visited a cache a couple days ago and was surprised to discover that I'd already visited it months ago and had forgotten to log it. Doh! At any rate, I read my original log in the book and noticed someone had written a snooty little reply. I had put a VERY small pocket knife in the cache...the blades were barely an inch long...and mentioned this in the log. Someone drew an arrow to this entry and wrote: "Within a half mile of two schools? NOT SMART!" I found this very surprising. If a kid wanted to do in a classmate, wouldn't it be easier to grab a steak knife at home than to use the micro-knife in the cache? I can see the headlines, "DANGEROUS WEAPONS LEFT IN WOODS FOR CHILDREN TO FIND" What's next? All students are kept in straight-jackets 24/7 and have small brain implants to keep them from having dangerous or impure thoughts? On the other hand, I can understand the PR and perception thing. So I took the knife back out. Oddly, the person who complained didn't take the knife. So they wanted to complain but didn't want to be responsible for solving what they obviously viewed as a problem. In eithr case... Was I wrong to leave the knife? Right? Depends on the situation? No right or wrong answer? Personal judgement? Was I right to take it back out?

quote:Originally posted by Hawk-eye:Geesh ... you guys are a big bundle of cheer! What next ... first person to slit their wrists because a cache stumped them? It's Friday ... the weekend is here .. almost ... how about some positive vibes In all seriousness, people die doing all kinds of things. Mowing the lawn. Taking a bath. Getting drunk and swinging a running chainsaw around to show their friends how tough and dextrous they are and then cutting off their own heads. You can visit Rotten.com to see some of the ignominious ways people die...and lovely photos of them after they're found three weeks later. The point is, being safe in the woods is a matter of balancing confidence and caution. Too much or too little of either leads you into trouble. IMHO, you're probably in more danger driving to the parking lot than you are after you get out and start hiking to the cache.

quote:Originally posted by welch:Are they going to place new BMs? or just 'find' the old ones?? Quote from the article: "Because of the GPS equipment, Polk County will also be able to tie into the State Plane Coordinate system as well." They used the word "establish" which certainly implies a new system. But tying into a state system implies using something that already exists. Any surveyor types on the board who can tell us more about this?

An article in the Press Citizen (distributed to various communities in Central Iowa): "Polk County to purchase new GPS for survey work" Relevant quotes: "The Polk County Public Works Department will purchase a GPS from A&D Technical Supply Company of Omaha at a cost of $45,190.44." Whoa! I want one of those. All my cache hides will have millimeter accuracy! =-) "With the new GPS equipment, Polk County will be able to establish a system of permanent monument markers throughout the County that all land surveyors will be able to use as points of reference." Are you thinking what I'm thinking? If we can get the list of coords, then we can have us some fun finding them! Maybe Great Plains Geocachers would want to give an honor of some sort to anyone who finds and photographs them all?

Back on topic, I have a new twist to this thread. Last night I was picking up a cache in a county park near my home. I got out of the truck and noticed a car in the parking lot. I saw some movement at window level and thought someone had left a dog in the car with the windows rolled up. So I kind of steered closer to the car as I walked through the lot and saw something I didn't expect. We'll just say that 'Something' was being done but there was only ONE person in the car. (Cue montage of rockets launching, pistons going up and down, etc.)

quote:Originally posted by The AuBuchons:Erm, hasnt this thread been posted a plethora of times? Anybody wanna direct him to the link? cuz I'm too lazy. The topic has been discussed certainly but I did a search and nobody's ever posted a link to the Fortean Times site with their thread, extensive and fun, on the topic. Just trying to help.

Yumitori, I agree with and respect your sentiment of fairness and equality. If I found a gay couple or a straight couple my reactions would be identical. I wouldn't laugh at them. I wouldn't roust them out. I'd just quietly apologize and walk quickly away. To do otherwise is somewhat juvenile IMHO. HOWEVER, this thread and (probably) this discussion board probably aren't the most effective venue for discussing gay rights. Gay rights certainly are an issue worthy of discussion but probably not here. Whatever you or I or anyone else think of them, a Geocaching board is no more an effective venue than the local ham radio repeaters. You end up verbally thrashing about with those who disagree with you and nothing really gets accomplished. If you want to combine gay rights and geocaching, maybe a more effective thing to do is to put together a Gay Geocachers group, have that group put out good caches for everyone and give people cool rewards for finding your caches. The caches shouldn't be social/political but the group certainly can be. Then everyone wins because you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Just my opinion. quote:Originally posted by yumitori:

I've had some strange things happen in the woods. So, when I found this thread on another message board, I thought it might be of interest (or at least amusing) to Geocachers. http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10709&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

It's fascinating to me that, when we talk about those most likely to commit terrorist acts, the subject always comes up of "those people running convenience stores, taxi cabs" etc. We've had terrorists operating more or less openly in this country for decades and I don't see anyone targeting them. They bomb and fire bullets into women's health clinics, they take down federal buildings murdering innocent children and send anthrax in the mail. But, when we're ready to fight the "terrorists," they never seem to get included in the roundup. Now I wonder, why is that? I guess they just don't fit the politically correct profile.

I think you go to the class and then, having taken it, you can check out kits including a gps. In either case, I was just forwarding the notice for those who want a little training before spending their hard-earned cash on a gpsr. A call to the number listed would probably answer any questions.

This seemed appropriate for new geocachers in Iowa who haven't yet purchased a gps or would like to get some training before making a financial committment. This is from the Iowa Nature Mapping mailing list. "Hello NatureMappers, ISU Extension has developed a GPS training workshop, and is making kits available to check out for those who attend the training. Several trainings are coming up yet this year. Check out the following website for information on the next training, Monday, November 11 in the Story County Extension Office, Nevada, IA. http://dbs.extension.iastate.edu/calendar/ShowEventDetail.asp?programID=50980&sessionID=71969 Another training will be held later in November. For more information on this and other workshops, please contact the 4-H Youth Development Office at 515/294-1018 and ask for Steve Truby. This training is a great way to extend your mapping skills, which can be applied to many things, such as NatureMapping [and geocaching!]." HardCache

I don't want to come off as sounding like a flake but I've had enough confirmed experiences with friends and family (seeing and accurately describing things that happened to them as children that they never told anyone about) to know I'm reasonably intuit ive. While seeking This Cache yesterday I got some very weird feelings. There are some Native American mounds at this site and I found myself becoming very lethargic and disoriented w hen I got near them. It was not a physical thing like hunger or thirst or fatigue. I know my body well enough to know the difference. It was a sort of relaxed, dreamy feeling I get when I'm about to 'see' something. But, because I was unprepared for it, it frightened me a bit which caused me to block it. As I left, which I did quickly, the feeling diminished. Not flashy but there it is. HardCache?

I wanted to share my experience today. After reading about it in the Des Moines Register, I signed up for a Nature Mapping workshop at the Chichaqua Greenbelt in Polk County, Iowa. For those who don't know what Nature Mapping is, it's motto is "Putting together the pieces to keep common species common." Basically, they are using the web to coordinate a cooperate effort to record the whereabouts of mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles in the state of Iowa. (Similar programs exist in many other states.) The program consisted of two parts. Nature and Mapping. =-) Nature is, of course, the correct identification of creatures and their habitats. Mapping is the ability to accurate record where they have been seen by mapping them to an area no larger than a hectare (100 meters by 100 meters). Of course, GPSrs are perfect for this as long as the correct (NAD83) datum is used. (Many gps units default to WGS84, which is the datum used by geocaching.com.) In addition, locations are recorded using the UTM system instead of longitude and latitude. What's unique about the program is that they encourage the reporting of even the most common creatures including Fox Squirrels, Eastern Cottontail Rabbits and even Starlings and Robins. They're looking for statistical distributions. Of course, they welcome reports of unusual creatures as well but what they really want is for people to record everything they see in a hectare. You do have to take one of the workshops to get involved but it's very simple if you're already familiar with mapping (as most geocachers are) and they require reporting by common animal names that most geocachers will probably already know. I had a great time and got to impress the bird watching folks, who seemed to have some difficulty with map concepts, with my knowledge of coordinate systems and fancy electronics. =-) Plus, it was fun to start to learn to identify the creatures I see when I'm out caching. In either case, I joined up because it seemed an obvious supplement to geocaching. You can visit their web site, which is run by the ISU extension, at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/naturemapping/. I highly recommend it. Also, they have a pretty nice mapping system online that may be useful to Iowa geocachers. HardCache

quote:Originally posted by Black Dog Trackers:Ham radio is much better than a cell phone for wilderness hiking. Until satellite phones become cheap/common, ham radio will have much more coverage in remote/rural areas. Yes and no. I carry a 2m ht when I hike, of course, and am licensed to use it. (Though I should point out that in a real life or death emergency, any communicatons medium possible is legal whether you're licensed or not.) The problem with 2m hts, however, is that you are at the mercy of the local ham community in the area you hike. If you can't find a repeater or the ones that are available are closed, then you're stuck. These days areas without cell coverage are becoming fewer and farther between. Last summer I went to the Quetico and, purely on a lark, carried a same-price-everywhere cell phone. I wanted to prove that cell phones can't be used everywhere and shouldn't be counted on to my neices. However, I discovered that they've built really BIG cell towers along highway 11 so you can actually get useful cell service at a reasonable rate in the Quetico wilderness for a surprising distance. At one point I was about 15-20 miles from highway 11 in an area called the Flood Waters and had nominal cell service. It was creepy and a bit disillusioning to be unable to escape the modern world. Now, if you're hiking in actual mountains, then both cell phones AND 2m hts will be a problem. If you're in a valley with no repeaters on any of the peaks, then the ht won't do you alot of good. Of course, if you can climb TO one of the peaks then you can do some "mountain-topping." However, if you need to call for help, it's unlikely you'll be able to climb to the peak...unless that's where you're already stuck. In either case, we can pursue the emergency communications issue ad absurdum, which I'm inclined to do purely out of some smart-aleck need to do weird things, and carry not only a cell phone and a 2m ht but also a handheld CB radio (which I picked up free with the cell phones) and a qrp shortwave rig with a small solar panel. Then you'll be prepared to seek rescue not only from hams and friends and family but also from truckers, houses of ill repute in Nevada and people in Zimbabwe. =-D But, you know, this whole "what if I get hurt in the woods" thing really misses a point. Tonight I was working late at my company's new building, installing all the wiring for the phones and network. I was completely alone, in a brand new strip mall without any other tenants. There is only one phone hooked up clear in the back room. I was hunching at each outlet, installing the jacks, which was just killing my back so I laid down on the floor to straighten my spine for a couple minutes. As I was lying there, it suddenly occurred to me that, if I had had a heart attack, I would probably just die and, by the time anyone realized something was wrong, it'd be too late to resuscitate me...Voodoo Zombification excepted. Outside the building were thousands of homes all within a 60 second walking distance and dozens of businesses. But, despite all those people and a telephone in the back room, there are things that could happen where I'd be just as out of luck as I would be in some wilderness. That's why I think geocachers who hike in lonely areas should have first aid training and be familiar with the hazards inherent to their area. They should also be physically fit, aware of their surroundings and they should make sure to tell someone reliable where they'll be and when to expect them to return. w

I visited a local hamfest this morning looking for a disconnected cell phone to carry as a last resort if I needed to dial 911 or call my wife for help. Instead, I found a table with about 20 or 30 cell phones and a sign, "Free if you take them all." So I did. I'm going to sort through them, test them, find all the good ones, keep two or three for myself and put the rest on the garage sale forum for the cost of shipping plus any "donation" folks would like to make to my ammo box fund. =-) (There will, of course, be no warranties or guarantees. :-)@

So I sit down to watch a movie with my wife tonight and we select Cliffhanger because she thinks Sly is hot and I think Janine Turner is hot. About 30 minutes into the film, it suddenly occurs to me that I'm watching Ridiculously Extreme Geocaching...sort of: People are wandering around in the mountains looking for hidden containers with a tracking device that is kind of like a combination ham radio fox-hunt receiver and a gps. Sly performs amazing physical feats to get to these hidden containers before the bad guys and, as usual, kills them all. Of course, after mentioning this, my wife asks me if I would strip down to a tank top and climb a frozen waterfall to get to a cache to which I replied, "If someone puts 30 million dollars in a cache I'll give it a try." Cache report: Took 30 million dollars, left Burger King keyring, Rogaine pen and the keys to my beat up truck which I'll no longer need because now I can afford a Hummer. At any rate, after regaling you with my rambling, can you suggest other films, television shows or literature that feature geocaching or something at least vaguely like it? Stretching, grasping at straws and blatant manipulation of plot, theme and character arc are acceptable.A

I'm from Des Moines, Iowa. Actually, I got interested in caching in a round-about fashion. Because I'm about 20 pounds overweight, my doctor suggested that I start walking. However, I find it difficult to be motivated to go walk in a circle for "no reason." When I got my GPS and found out about caching from Wil Wheaton's web site (www.wilwheaton.net, yes he played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek TNG), it seemed like a good way to "motivate" myself to go out and exercise regularly. I just found my first cache on Sunday and, since I'm very goal oriented, I found myself walking farther, faster than ever before. I loved it! Thrashing about in the woods, finding the cache was great. Lying in the grass and watching the birds at Easter Lake afterwards was incredibly relaxing. I think I'm in it for the long haul now. I'm hooked.