WindChill

Take a couple of 'atta-boys out of petty cash! Sounds like an oppertunity for a local paper to do a little article about caching and the positive affect cachers have on an area.

This is great. Thanks for letting us know.

I havnt been following the other Earth Day Event threads completely, but I dont recall seeing an event in this area. So...Im considering setting up an event at the Indian Creek Nature Center in CR. Before I contact them, I want to see if there will be a reasonable amount of interest. Anyone up for it?

I love the logos and am thrilled that you got Magellan on-board. My two-bits on the layout would be to have the CITO design big on the back and the gc.com on the front on the chest. Maybe to do the right thing for Magellan, put their name on the back above the CITO design. Just my humble thougts.

I love the logos and am thrilled that you got Magellan on-board. My two-bits on the layout would be to have the CITO design big on the back and the gc.com on the front on the chest. Maybe to do the right thing for Magellan, put their name on the back above the CITO design. Just my humble thougts.

Ive emailed with the folks at the Indian Creek Nature Center about their "class". Here is what they said: The Geocache Treasure Hunt Program will teach beginners how to use a GPS. They will search for specific locations (the treasure) that will be marked trees in the woods at the Nature Center. The object of the exercise to learn how to use GPS and experience in locating specific coordinates that will be confirmed by identifying tags on specific trees at those coordinates. Program starts at 1 PM. Cost is $3 for members of the Nature Center and $5 for non-members. You can register by calling the Nature Center at 319-362-0664 or emailing JANATURE@aol.com with your full name, address, and phone #. We are limiting the the number of participants so please let me know by April 1 if you can join us. ###

We were at the ICNC today to enjoy the weather and saw a posting on the bulletin board about an upcoming cache hunt. Here is a link to their calendar page.

Sounds fun Scott, Ive got it on my calendar.

Shirts are always good. I also like the idea of CITO logo trash bags that DustyJacket suggested in this thread.

Shirts are always good. I also like the idea of CITO logo trash bags that DustyJacket suggested in this thread.

Hmmm, sounds like a volunteer.... Seriously, is there a reason to start a local organization? In addition to the "newbie treks", a local group might add legitimacy to discussions with parks people. This may help situations like the one Welch has with the district person that wants event insurance.

A month or so ago in the (midwest forum's) thread about conversations with the Iowa Parks Dept, Spinwebby made this comment: "There is a group forming in Central Iowa now and its not me. GPGeocaching never intended to be "local". I have not seen any info or mention of the group since. Does anyone have any info on the group that Spinwebby was referring to?

quote:Originally posted by sbukosky: I think some people should look at what they have enjoyed from the hobby and consider giving back. I think you hit it right on the head, and I suspect this is really what Buckrun was getting at. There are many ways of giving back, hiding caches is just one.

Sounds like fun. Ill try to keep those dates open.

Come on over, there are plenty for everyone A rough check shows about 125 in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids/Waterloo area.

Instead of making the cool place the virtual, maybe there is a way you could make the official tour the "cache". Maybe like an event cache since the date is likely to change each year. Of course there would need to be a way to verify that the person went on the tour. Just a thought...

I just discovered caching in November, so technically all of my caching has been in the winter. But the way the weather has been so far, it hasn't seemed like winter, so... My favorite experience was Abbys Treasure Island. This cache was logged once in 2002, and not till September. I knew there was very little chance of me logging this cache in the summer, since I don't have access to a boat. I was waiting for the river to freeze so I could get across the ice. I was hoping to be the first to log it this year. I kept an eye on the river and finally decided to give it a try. I made the 3/4 mile hike down to the island but chickened out when the ice groaned on about my third step. Two weeks go by, the temperatures went up then back down, so I checked the river again. This time there were lots of snowmobile tracks so I figured that was a good sign. I made the hike again and eased onto the ice, stopping to listen every few steps. I made it across and found the cache after a short hunt. HEY! someone had already been there this year, and just a couple of hours after my first attempt. Oh well....It was a good challenge.

...There is a new cache posted nearby and you dash out the door so fast (to be the first finder) that you forget to print the description or load the waypoint into the GPS. (of course you dont realize this until you get to the park

quote:Originally posted by mattb5: And guess where those coords are? Kinda freaked me out a bit . . . Am I the only one who just got a chill up my spine....

quote: Originally posted by DBleess: you do) If she fears something will be damaged, a more appropriate action would be to educate us, so that we may help pass on that education to others. This is a good point. If the parks people are concerned about our treatment of the parks, we need to convince them that our goals are in-line with theirs. All the discussions Ive seen so far have talked about "controlling" placement of caches. Seems to me that if the rangers knew that a particular cacher (hider or hunter) was "qualified" they would have less concern about the environmental impact. I hesitate to use the word license, but some kind of card/certificate that shows an individual is "Parks Dept Approved" might help. I think I remember that the Leave No Trace folks have some classes. Or, maybe you just have a ranger go on a hunt with you to see how you behave. Thoughts?

quote:Originally posted by DBleess:you do) If she fears something will be damaged, a more appropriate action would be to educate us, so that we may help pass on that education to others. This is a good point. If the parks people are concerned about our treatment of the parks, we need to convince them that our goals are in-line with theirs. All the discussions Ive seen so far have talked about "controlling" placement of caches. Seems to me that if the rangers knew that a particular cacher (hider or hunter) was "qualified" they would have less concern about the environmental impact. I hesitate to use the word license, but some kind of card/certificate that shows an individual is "Parks Dept Approved" might help. I think I remember that the Leave No Trace folks have some classes. Or, maybe you just have a ranger go on a hunt with you to see how you behave. Thoughts?

quote:Originally posted by The Weasel: I personally lean towars number 2, but in order to do that, we have to be a group, not just 1 or 2 cachers. We have to get a group of us to go that know what we are talking about and can prove facts and not look retarded. I am more than happy to do this, but I don't think I can do it alone. Any volunteers? Aye! [raising hand]

There was another thread recently (that I didnt bother to go find) that had instructions for getting to the eTrex diagnostics screen. Among other info on the screen is the internal temperature of the unit. This info is used to compensate for crystal drift as the unit warms up. I have no idea how much heat the unit generates to know how far the reading is above the outside temp. To get the diagnostic screen, hold the click-stick in while turning the unit on.

USAPhotoMaps, from here, shows both aerial and topos from online sources. It will also do a bunch of stuff with waypoints and routes. I dont know how its topos compare to other sources.

quote:Originally posted by Mr. Snazz:Do you have cookies enabled? quote:Originally posted by Mr. Snazz:Do you have cookies enabled? Ouch! I had cookies enabled, but had it set to not accept third party cookies. Even after reading past threads about how InfoPop is a different company and a different server, it didnt register that this would be a third party cookie. Thanks for the DOH! Mr Snazz