JPlus14

I went out caching today and picked up another 38 Spirit Quest finds. That brings my total to 471. I want to thank SixDogTeam all the people that have hidden the Spirit Quest series. I have really enjoyed finding them. I like to search for all kinds of caches. Sometimes I like to go hiking and find caches in the woods or mountains, other times, I like scenery caches or historical caches, etc. It all depends on my mood, the weather, who I am with or by myself. I found the Spirit Quest series to be relaxing for me. If I have been working hard or under stress for various reasons, I like to get away by myself and find some ISQ caches. I get in my pickup, crank up the music and hit a group of ISQ caches. I can cache at the speed I want, stop to eat when I want, take a break when I want. I usually don't have to worry about muggles with the ISQ caches. Looking for ISQ caches is a great way for me to get away by myself and just enjoy a weekend of caching and forget about the rest of the world. While caching today, I thought back on some of the more memorable moments looking for ISQ caches. I will never forget walking up to one near a bird house in a cemetery. I walked up and touch the bird house and a bird flew out and hit me in the face. It about scared the stuffin's out of me. When you are in a cemetery by yourself, you go expect to get hit in the face. The ISQ caches has taken me to a lot of really nice old cemeteries. Many of them are family cemeteries. I can't help but think about the family history that is there. I wonder if the history is similar to my family's history, can they trace the family history back to their ancestors in Europe? What was their lives like? I also notice names on the stones. I remember visiting one cemetery that the names on the stones took me back a little. I saw a stone with my father-in-laws name on it. OK, he has a common name. It is not surprising to see it. But right next to it was another stone with my wife's cousin's name on it. This is getting a little more strange. Then, right next to it was my father-in-law's brother-in-law. This is getting to be more than coincidence with three stones in a row with family members names on them. I took a picture to show my family. Would you believe the lens on the camera was fogged up and you could not see the names on the stones. Spooky! My sense of humor causes me to laugh at some of the names that I have seen. I remember Bill Dollar. Think about it if you list last name first. I saw a stone today with the first name of Ima. I turned around and saw another stone with the last name of Fluke. What if they had married, she would be Ima Fluke. And then there was Inca Hoots. Don't read it, say it.... In cahoots. Personal Spirit Quest stats Found Spirit Quest caches hidden by 28 different cachers I found 242 Spirit Quest caches hidden by SixDogTeam Most finds in 1 day - 70 There were only 29 Spirit Quest caches hidden the day I found my first ISQ. I found all 29 that weekend. I had no idea that it would grow to the level it has. I am sure SixDog did not expect this either.

I went out caching today and picked up another 38 Spirit Quest finds. That brings my total to 471. I want to thank SixDogTeam all the people that have hidden the Spirit Quest series. I have really enjoyed finding them. I like to search for all kinds of caches. Sometimes I like to go hiking and find caches in the woods or mountains, other times, I like scenery caches or historical caches, etc. It all depends on my mood, the weather, who I am with or by myself. I found the Spirit Quest series to be relaxing for me. If I have been working hard or under stress for various reasons, I like to get away by myself and find some ISQ caches. I get in my pickup, crank up the music and hit a group of ISQ caches. I can cache at the speed I want, stop to eat when I want, take a break when I want. I usually don't have to worry about muggles with the ISQ caches. Looking for ISQ caches is a great way for me to get away by myself and just enjoy a weekend of caching and forget about the rest of the world. While caching today, I thought back on some of the more memorable moments looking for ISQ caches. I will never forget walking up to one near a bird house in a cemetery. I walked up and touch the bird house and a bird flew out and hit me in the face. It about scared the stuffin's out of me. When you are in a cemetery by yourself, you go expect to get hit in the face. The ISQ caches has taken me to a lot of really nice old cemeteries. Many of them are family cemeteries. I can't help but think about the family history that is there. I wonder if the history is similar to my family's history, can they trace the family history back to their ancestors in Europe? What was their lives like? I also notice names on the stones. I remember visiting one cemetery that the names on the stones took me back a little. I saw a stone with my father-in-laws name on it. OK, he has a common name. It is not surprising to see it. But right next to it was another stone with my wife's cousin's name on it. This is getting a little more strange. Then, right next to it was my father-in-law's brother-in-law. This is getting to be more than coincidence with three stones in a row with family members names on them. I took a picture to show my family. Would you believe the lens on the camera was fogged up and you could not see the names on the stones. Spooky! My sense of humor causes me to laugh at some of the names that I have seen. I remember Bill Dollar. Think about it if you list last name first. I saw a stone today with the first name of Ima. I turned around and saw another stone with the last name of Fluke. What if they had married, she would be Ima Fluke. And then there was Inca Hoots. Don't read it, say it.... In cahoots. Personal Spirit Quest stats Found Spirit Quest caches hidden by 28 different cachers I found 242 Spirit Quest caches hidden by SixDogTeam Most finds in 1 day - 70 There were only 29 Spirit Quest caches hidden the day I found my first ISQ. I found all 29 that weekend. I had no idea that it would grow to the level it has. I am sure SixDog did not expect this either.

Oops.. ISQ 427 OSQ 6 Total 433

I just found out about the counts on the Spirit Quest series. I have had a great time finding the ISQ/OSQ caches. My counts.... ISQ - 428 OSQ - 6 Total 433

Thanks for all the comments. I really enjoyed going to where it all started for this milestone. It was great to find this cache with some great geocaching friends.

That's just plain wrong! Maybe Zoe-dog should just get her own account then so she can be FTF on all my caches since she's usually with me when I hide them! Oh yeah, Merry Christmas! The other day I was out with a group of geocaching friends. One of them hid a geocache and gave the rest of us the coordinates. I don't see the problem. What if the cache owner had hidden the cache and went back with us the following day to find the cache? Is that a problem? Is it wrong to find a cache while the cache owner is present? I don't understand the comment about finding a cache that I hid. I did not hide it. I found it. And, yes, I am going to claim a smiley for a cache that I found, not one that I hid. It seems that people that were not there and do not know the story are jumping to conclussions that are not valid. This is supposed to be a fun sport. I enjoy caching with family and friends. I hope it can continue that way without people making assuptions and jumping to conclussions that are not justified.

Hi, I usually do not read the forums. I would rather spend my time out geocaching. I received several calls today about this thread so I decided to read it and reply. Yes, my finds are legit and I go out most weekends. My wife, Twssl, said she can verify that. To answer some of the questions about power caching, I will out line how I approach geocaching. There are three things that I try to follow when power caching. 1. Planning. 2. Navigation. 3. Execution. I will break these down and go into more detail. 1. Planning. I generally plan my trips at least a week in advance. First, I decide what kind of caching do I want to do. I tend to think of caching in two areas, long hikes or quick finds. I enjoy both. Since this thread is about power caching, I will focus on the quick finds/power caching. These guidelines are effective for the hikes too but are more noticeable when power caching. Decide what you are doing and stick to it. Do not change plans in the middle of a trip. I look for areas that have a large number of caches that meets the criteria of what I want to do. The area needs to have enough caches to keep me busy for two or three days. If not, I will skip that area until more caches have been placed in that area. Once I decide on an area, I will load all the caches into Streets and Trips on my laptop. I add the caches I want to do to a route and optimize the routing. Then, I go through all the caches in the route and delete caches that I think I may not want to do, several no finds, does not meet the criteria of what I want to do, long multi's, etc. Then, I will reoptimize the routing. Now, I know exactly what caches I am going to attempt and in what order. All this is planned a week ahead of time. 2. Navigation. I have my laptop mounted in my truck with a GPS connected. S&T will show me exactly where I am at all times on the route. The screen on the laptop is much bigger than the screen of a GPS. It is easy to see what is coming up and where I need to turn. I follow the planned route religiously. Sometimes it looks like it might be easy to jump over there and grab another cache. I don't do it. The only time I vary from the planned route is when something physically, such as a road closed, prevents me from following the planned route. Caches in city parks can be tricky. Many times, the park roads are not on my maps. People tend to hide caches towards the back of parks. If there are not roads or obvious entrance to the park on the map, I will go to the side of the park that is farthest away from the caches. Chances are, I will find the entrance. 3. Execution. Before heading to the next cache, I read the cache page and hint so I know what I am looking for before I get there. Many times, I can spot the cache location before I stop my truck. If all goes well, I am at a location less than 2 minutes. And, yes, I always make sure the cache is put back as good or better than I found it, even if it takes a lot longer to put it back than it did to retrieve and sign it. The most important thing is to know when to quit looking for a cache. I think BruceS said in an interview once that if he does not find a cache with in 10 minutes, chances are he is not going to find it. Ten minutes is about the maximum time I spend looking for one cache when I am out power caching. If the description and hint is good, one where you pretty well can pinpoint the location right off, and I do not see the cache, I will leave within 5 minutes. I do not log no finds on these because I did not give it a full search. It could be there and I overlooked it. Not walking away from a cache can eat up huge chunks of time. If I walk away, I might find 2, 3, or more caches instead of none. If I skip a cache or do not find it, then I delete the cache out of the route on my laptop. When I get home, then I can look at the route and know exactly which caches I found. My logs are brief. Unless there is something that really stands out about a cache, it is difficult to remember a lot of details when you do 40+ caches a day. Not many people will cache at the pace that I do. I am a fast walker. If I am doing a cache that is out a fairly good trail, I try to walk 3.5 - 4 miles an hour. I don't spend time deciding what cache to do next. That is already planned. If a cache does not feel right, I may decide to skip it. I make a quick decision and move on. Also, I don't stop to eat. I have Coke, Gatorade, Snickers, and Twinkies in my truck. I will grab a quick bite and drink between caches. I will cache up to 20 hours a day. I have left home at 5:00 AM on a Friday and returned at midnight Sunday with less than 8 hours sleep. This is not a pace that most people can do. But I enjoy it. It lets me get away from everything else. I don't think about anything else except geocaching. OK, it may not be the healthiest thing to do to go at that pace and live on Gatorade and Twinkies, but I enjoy it. For the record, my best day was in Nashville, TN with 121 finds. About the same time, a group did 238 finds in one day in Nashville. Almost twice the number I found. Outside of Nashville, my best day was 58 finds. This was my first trip to Oxford, OH, a cache rich area and new territory for me. I am averaging just under 3 finds a day. I have been told that a Los Angles geocacher is averaging 7 finds a day, more than twice my rate. My numbers are not out of line with other top geocachers. Actually, there are others doing a lot more than me. As someone in this thread stated, with as many finds as I have, there are few caches left close to home. Therefore I have to travel to find more than a hand full. When I travel, I want to get the most out of my time. Several people have asked about the equipment and software that I use. I have 3 GPS’s. My primary GPS is an eTrex Vista. I like the size of the eTrex GPS’s. They fit my hand. I use the topo maps on the Vista when hiking out trails. I have a yellow eTrex attached to my laptop in my truck. And I have a backup GPS just in case one fails. It is my first GPS, an eTrex Summit. As far as software, I use GSAK to manage my gpx files and Microsoft Streets and Trips for my routing. If I am going to be in some rough terrain, I will use ExpertGPS to view excellent topo maps before heading out and I will load topo maps into my Vista from Garmin Map Send. A PDA is handy if I am doing caches that require some hiking, or if I am doing several caches from one stop. I am fortunate to live in a cache rich area. There are 500 caches within 20 miles of my house. Other cache rich areas such as Nashville are an easy drive. This makes it easy to get a lot of numbers. After all the talk about power caching and the numbers, I will tell you that the most memorable caches that I found was on a weekend trip in northern British Columbia and Alberta. We drove over 900 miles and found 10 caches in 2 days. My friends in Canada are envious of the numbers we have around here. And I miss the quality of the remote caches in the Canadian Rockies. Geocaching is a sport that you do as you see fit. Some people prefer only hikes and rough terrain, others like historical caches, some like micros, others like full size ammo boxes, some like power caching. I like a mix. When someone looks at my logs they see power caching over the other styles just because of the volume. I want to encourage everyone to cache the style that best fits them. Geocaching may be the most adaptable sport to fit your personal desires. I hope this answers some of the questions about power caching. JPlus14 Floyds Knobs, IN

I have used a GPS with and without an electronic compass. After using one with a compass, I would never buy one without a compass. An electronic compass is very nice when you are standing in the middle of briars trying to determine which direction to go. Sure, you could buy another compass but I think it is difficult to juggle a GPS, a compass, maybe a flashlight, and push birars out of the way. Also, it is much easier to use just one device to navigate. Why would you want to look at a GPS that says you need to go 100 feet northwest, then have to pull out another device to know which way is northwest? If you generally geocache in areas where you can keep moving, maybe you don't need an electronic compass. It comes down to what your style of caching is. Personnaly, I would not have a GPS without an electronic compass. I own a Vista and really like it.

Prime Suspects solution only solves part of the problem. I use ExpertGPS. I don't know if EasyGPS behaves differently. His solution lets you download. I used it for a while. However, it opens a new instance of ExpertGPS everytime you download. My solution opens the file with a new tab in the current instance of ExpertGPS

I wonder if Vacman and IMLost tells people that drive a different car than Vacman and IMLost drive that they should drive a different car. There are very valid reasons for using Netscape. I am sorry if Vacman and IMLost do not understand that. Based on the emails that I am receiving, my resolution is helping a lot of people. If you don't like Netscape, then you have no reason to follow this thread. Please leave it for those that like Netscape and want to resolve this problem.

After upgrading to Netscape 7.02, I had problems downloading to ExpertGPS. After much research, I finally found a solution that works. You need to add an entry to the Windows registry. In the registry browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareNetscapeNetscape NavigatorSuffixes Right click on Suffixes and select New, String Value. Change the name to application/xml-loc and hit enter. Right click application/xml-loc and select Modify. In the Value data box, enter loc and hit enter. I hope this helps others that are having this same problem.

I was having problems downloading to EasyGPS/ExpertGPS with Netscape 7.0. It looks like others are having the same problem. I found the solution. Do the following steps in Netscape 7.0 Click Edit/Preferences.../Navigator/Helper Applications/New Type. Enter the following values Description - loc File Extension - loc MIME Type - application/xml-loc Applicaiton to use - enter your EasyGPS or ExpertGPS path and exe Click OK