BuckeyeClan

I will second this book. I only read about 2/3's of it before I move but I am going to get it and re-read it. As noted elsewhere, I've hiked over a half of the AT. And I find that book to be the stupidest excuse for writing a book. "Oh. We had no idea what we were getting into, so we gave up. But let's write a book about it'???? As to the ATC requiring archival of caches: It does not own the land. PA State Huntng lands. NJ State Parks. Over-reaching of power. And stupidly done! Give some groups a little power, and they'll prove how stupid they can be. I really enjoyed reading the book. It is entertaining, and I like the way Bill Bryson talks about some of the history of the land along various parts of the trail. That said, the author didn't actually through-hike the trail, so it isn't really a good account of hiking the whole trail. Actually, a pretty good guide of "what NOT to do" when through-hiking the AT. For a better account of actually hiking the trail, try "A Walk for Sunshine" by Jeff Alt. (FULL DISCLOSURE: I'm related by marriage to the author.) He through-hiked the AT about 12 years ago, and self-published a book about his experience. He actually talks a bit about the planning and logistics of doing the whole thing, as well as his day-to-day experiences along the trail.

You do realize, don't you, that hiding game alerts in facebook is a very simple process? Similarly, hiding the facebook app that posts geocaching finds should also be easy. In fact, (if it works the same as the game apps), your friends can hide everything from the geocaching app, or just posts from you from the geocaching app, and still get geocaching posts from others. Facebook controls are your friend! Learn them, use them, love them.

The "somewhere" I was referring to is actually on the geocaching.com website. Okay, I found it again: From the main screen, from the "Your Profile" menu, select "Quick View". Scroll to the bottom of the page, and along the right-hand side of the screen is the heading "Share Your Geocaching Experience." Click on the "Send Updates to Facebook and Twitter" link, and then check (or un-check) the box as you wish. Like I said, this setting existed before the recent update, and linking your accounts does not appear to change that setting. Mine was unchecked before I linked my accounts, and it is still unchecked. IMHO, facebook has actually improved greatly in the past year with the privacy settings and controls that they offer. The bigger problem I see is that most people don't bother to take the time to learn how to properly use the controls. The help files are actually quite helpful, if you take the time to read them.

Is this new integretion actually doing that? No, it doesn't. There is a setting somewhere in your geocaching account that you can check if you want to share your logs via facebook or twitter. That existed before this update, and linking your geocaching account and facebook account does not appear to change that setting automatically. All I'm seeing is what Markwell said--it's an alternative way to login to the site. That may change in the future, but for now, that's all it is.

Okey dokey, just for kicks, I went ahead and linked my geocaching account with my facebook account. And the big difference I see when I log in with facebook is...absolutely nothing! All the pages on geocaching.com look exactly the same; it still shows "Hello, BuckeyeClan" in the little banner, and everywhere else. It also DOES NOT change your sharing preferences from what they were. Just because the accounts are linked, doesn't mean it will automatically update your facebook status when you log a cache. I had that set NOT to share before I linked my accounts, and it did not change that setting. Near as I can tell, it is simply an alternate way to log into geocaching.com, so you don't have to remember a separate login and password. I usually only access geocaching.com and facebook from my home computer, so I usually stay logged into both accounts. I guess if I were logging in and logging out every time, this might be a handy option, but for most people I'm guessing it doesn't make a big difference. That's all it is, nothing to get all worked up over!

It's a good idea to change the date of the new log to match the date of the original find.

I always forget to reset the trip values on the gpsr at the trailhead. I like to do this so I can see how far we hiked for the day, but I'm almost always at least a half-mile down the trail before I remember to do that.

I don't have the Venture HC, so I can't give you specific advice on that, but here's some general "getting to know your gpsr" advice. The best way to learn what all your gpsr can do, and what all the different settings are, is to just get out and wander around with it. Find someplace that you know well, and won't get lost, so if/when you accidentally erase your track, or screw up the coordinates where you parked the car, you aren't dependent on the gpsr to get back. A nearby park would be a great place to start, or your neighborhood would be okay, if there isn't generally much traffic. You will probably be spending a lot of time staring at the screen and pushing buttons--"hmmm...what does this setting do?"--so it's best to minimize the number of objects that you might run into and/or might run into you. Learn how to mark a spot (waypoint), walk away from it, and then practice navigating back to it. Try using the different screens, see if you prefer the compass screen or the map screen. Just page through all the menus, and figure out what they all do by trial and error. Just don't change the language setting, unless of course you are fluent in French or German or whatever. (Not that I did that with my first gpsr, really, uhmmm... that's just something I heard about somebody doing one time, somewhere...really!)

Essentially you are marking your current coordinates, and then editing the numbers. Press the "mark" button, which is the little push-pin button at the bottom. That will bring up your current coordinates. Use the arrow button to highlight the coordinate field, and then press "enter". This will highlight the individual digits in the coordinate field. Use the right and left arrows to move to each digit, and then use the up and down arrows to change the value of the digit. Keep pressing the right arrow to move to the second line. When you are done changing the numbers to the desired coordinates, press "enter" again. That highlights the entire field, and then you can use the arrow buttons to move down to the other fields. You can then select the "Route" button to have it navigate to the waypoint you just created.

Just be aware that the Venture and the Legend don't support paperless caching--you can't download the description and hints to the unit. I personally wouldn't want to be without it, but if your husband's gpsr already has that, maybe it's not important to you.

Hey, one thing to consider about Pixos--if they get wet, they get sticky! If you are making shapes with them and leaving them in caches, and the inside of the cache gets wet, those shapes will likely fall apart and/or the little beads will stick to other stuff in the cache. Be sure to put whatever you leave made of Pixos in individual baggies to protect the item, and the rest of the cache contents.

I have seen some. Actually, I've seen a few listed that were done for the Groundspeak Block Party, and the challenge specified that they could *only* be completed during the Block Party. I'll admit that this leaves me scratching my head--should those challenges be flagged as "unplayable" now that they can no longer be done? So it seems to me that it's technically okay to have a time limited one, but how long the community will allow it to stand is anybody's guess.

The only other point of it that I see is that by accepting a challenge, it gets listed in a special place in your profile. That makes it easier to see what challenges you are interested in. Right now we don't have any management tools for challenges, this is kinda like bookmarking a challenge you might want to do. But yeah, I don't really see the point of the "accepting" step.

They are separating out the count. If you go to the main page, and look in the upper right, it should show how many caches you've found beside the smiley face, and how many challenges you've completed beside the super-dude icon. These also now show in your online logs. If you haven't done any challenges, the super-dude icon doesn't show up at all.

You can flag the post, and if enough people flag it, it will be removed. I don't know if that will actually remove the picture though. If the poster wants to undo his completion, he can choose to "leave this challenge". Again, though, I'm not actually sure if that removes the picture.

Groundspeak is aware of this, and are working on a fix. There's a feedback topic that states this, but I can't bear to go wade through the feedback site right now to link to it!

Sorry, that's an "Only Groundspeak Can Do That" thing.

Okay, I created one. http://www.geocaching.com/challenges/view.aspx?cx=CX1BC8 It's a really great area, and one where a traditional cache can't be placed.

Even as it is now, you can sort by the rating. When you search for challenges in an area, click on the "rating" heading above the list.

Personally I have made that a requirement. I leave a explanatory note when I vote either way. That's nice, but not needed for "Thumbs up/down" voting. However, I think it would definitely make sense to ask for a mandatory comment when "flagging" a Challenge. At first I was leaving a comment when I would flag a challenge for being locationless, but then I noticed that these were disappearing very very quickly--sometimes I think my vote is "the last straw", so to speak. Once it's archived, nobody, even the creator, can see what was written. So I decided that there was no point in leaving a comment that nobody would likely see.

My profession is marketing. I don't see that happening at all, simply because geocachers are not a large enough audience for marketers to bother with. I don't mean the marketers doing it. The marketers didn't list all of those commercial locations on WM.com, the users did. There is a challenge near me that requires a person to enter an establishment, purchase pie and eat it with no hands. If it wasn't for the fact that people are down voting it, this person would likely issue a challenge for every GTPC he/she knows of and start issuing challenges for all the eating establishments and bars they enjoy. Then the next person see this and decides that they should issue a challenge requiring you to go to BLAH BLAH Church and make a donation. Now a person wants you get a picture of yourself with a big mac in each hand in front of the play place, making others think it is OK to add McNasties and the other fast food joints. Now a pothead wants his favorite dispensary to thrive so he makes a challenge regardless of whether it will work or not. and on and on. But that's the beauty of this system. Users can flag challenges that are inappropriate, or vote down ones they don't like. I think if I saw a bunch of challenges springing up for every fast-food joint in town, I would flag them as spam. And the pothead challenge can be flagged because it does not fit with the family-friendly nature of the site.

You might try posting in the GPS and Technology forum.

This one's a little cheesy, but I love it! The Bronz Fonz

It looks like a program sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation for parks and land managers to put out caches that appeal to kids. Here's more info.

Yes, go ahead and log your "did not find" (DNF). It means just what it says--you did not find it. Including the full story is good, because it gives future searchers a warning about the conditions, and lets the CO know that it probably isn't a cache problem, just that it wasn't a good idea for you to continue due to the poison ivy. Alternatively, you can log the experience using the "write note" option. Some people prefer to do that if they never really reached "ground zero" (GZ) to search. Either way, it gives you a written record of what you did that day, and also gives pertinent info to the CO and other cachers.