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My cache Explorer Falls has good potential for getting your dogs "et by trolls" or worse. Spouses and children usually return alive.

I once logged "TFTC, almost POC",but the funniest related experience I've had was on a glacier. My favorite bibs have a zipper that runs from the chest to the area of your tailbone, so one can relieve oneself while exposing the minimum amount of skin to the cold air. One evening, low on Mt Olympus in Washington, I was enjoying the view, squating on the ice and making full use of this feature, when the only other climbers we'd seen in two days walked right up to me and asked how it was going. I don't think it ever dawned on them what I was doing squatting alone while my climbing partner waited 100 feet away, stuffing the rope into his pack.

Mothers' day ski! Mothers' day ski! Mothers' day ski! Mothers' day ski! Mothers' day ski! Mothers' day ski! Mothers' day ski! (OK it is weird to find a stranger's photo on the web that includes your party There were a carpload of people there.) Edit to add linky: http://www.gladam.com/photos-mtsthelensmay04.htm

Someone I know followed a car that was slowly weaving to both sides of the road at 4:30 am. After some time he pulled the car over to discover the driver was....... delivering newspapers!

Really? Were they lost? I'm not saying one can't get injured out there, mostly I was focusing on the getting lost aspect... I did have one case back when I was begining my caching that I ran out (or rather was running out) of batteries. I was only in a local park, so no big deal, but I can imagine if I'd been middle of no where, it might have been an issue. This is a big part of the reason that now when I'm going out I make sure I have *lots* of extra batteries (some might turn out to have been going dead before I started). Actually if I'm feeling overly paranoid I've been known to carry the backup GPS too. Somebody can markwell me, but there was a big thread on a person getting lost less than 1 mile from a highway and he had a working GPS. He had to be rescued out. Granted, I believe the person was a newbie and didn't know how to fully use the GPS functions, but to answer your incredulity, yes it happens. I have personally been involved twice with persons who were lost with their functioning GPS, and countless times with SAR teams that couldn't navigate to their goal dispite using their GPS. Incidentally, my experiences in SAR with GPS and GPS users is what prompted me to choose this screen name, not any feelings about Geocaching with or without a GPS. If you're hurt or lost, or would you perfer that I was faster because my pack is 1-4% lighter, or would you rather I have a little electronic toy to dither over and waste time? I just returned from a very busy 24 hour shift at work, so I'm probably forgetting some really funny lost person story. Peace. OK, Here's a quick story about GPS users, SAR, and communication skills. An injured hiker's coordinates(from his GPS) and description of his location are given to SAR. Prior to boarding the helicopter, the pilot asks me if I'm familiar with the area. I should have said "YES!", because he really meant "do you know where to go?" We head toward the given coordinates, and I say "Our destination is due east of us, and we are flying nearly south" They fly to the given coordinates twenty miles out of the way, I enjoy the alpine lakes, and the patient waits an extra 35 minutes or so for pain medication. I'm slowly improving my ability to answer the real question, not the literal one.

Sweet! ibycus, a healthy portion of the folks I've met who required rescue (or whose body we recovered) had a GPS unit.

Gotta love it. We had several rounds hit the ground 25-50 feet from us on the Taylor River road last summer. Bothered me more than last month's tripple homicide less than a block from me in T-town.

"I know better, but I often walk alone with noone even knowing I parked the car- much less where. The best they could assume is "Indiana". Most times I figure the cellphone or police radio will get me help, but there are possibilities that both will be out of service." This can really make it difficult to find you! Do consider letting someone, even your own answering machine, know what REGION you are in. A member of the Washington climbing community went missing recently and hundreds of hours were invested in finding his CAR, without finding it.

East of Seattle, a favorite terrain trap for lost hikers is the Pratt River drainage. Most years one or two of the folks that misplace their trail in the alpine lakes area wind up in the Pratt. They spend One and a half to Two and a half days, depending on their speed, walking down the drainage. I wouldn't call off-trail hikers who carry enough to be comfortable overnight "overpacked."

Great Idea! I'll shoot for six a year. I haven't been East o' the mountains in more than a month and I'm really tired of the rain and studying.... I might come over tomorrow morning.

PVC or neoprene coated bibs like fishermen wear do great with blackberry bushes if you buy the heavy ones. GI Joes or Costco will have them for about $40. Here in the NorthWet I often just go with nylon pants and count on getting wet to the waist. Depending on what you wear, water comes in from the rain and shrubbery, or sweat can't escape. On the Gortex side, My last set of bibs was from MEC, about $200, and I just got a new pair from Cloudveil. I'll report back in two years how they did. Ditch the jeans.

We use multiple choice for testing wilderness navigation for Search and Rescue. The trainees find a tag on a tree/stump/log with a number. There are usually three tags per station, 100-200 feet apart. When they report the tag number they found, we know if they found the right spot.

There have probably been recent crashes in your area. Outside of Geocaching, I've been to two crash sites and recovered the pilot's remains from a third crash. All were in the mountains of King County, 1989-2000.

I guess from looking at all the cool photos and cache descriptions that my mind has been twisted by too much time in the city. Thanks all for the reality check! I'm going for a hike!

I wouldn't publish a crash site, because I don't want more people there. I tend to place caches in areas that can handle the traffic, that I think are worth sharing.

I just take the whole shebang with me. On the I-90 corridor of western Washington, the two-legged rats are so common at trailheads that I own a trailhead beater car so I don't have to unpack my wagon to go hiking, then repair the locks or windows afterwards. The gang that goes after credit cards will re-lock your doors if you left cards for them to scan, but will leave your trailhead mobile unlocked if it was empty. One nice Thursday they left my buddy's truck unlocked with my laptop on the back seat. If it's not a credit card, they're not interested. At least they don't break anything.

I carry a multi-tool and duct tape....... I'll add a kit with blood pressure cuff, stethescope, bandaging and splinting materials and a wheeled litter if someone's sick or injured.

Is it too late to correct spelling when you've been quoted twice? Thanks JC Geo for the info.

"I always wondered why they walked into a dark room with a small flashlight and didn't turn on the lights." Bad television, I'd guess. In these parts it is really difficult to see a cache under the sallal at night. The texture of each leaf is doubled by its shadow. I've missed some awfully easy caches at night. Maybe you were lucky, but I suspect that you are very, very good.

B.L.E.V.E.!

5% Caching, 95% Other outdoor activities, resulting in a .10 Finds/Day ratio. I cache to find entertaining or beautiful spots, and hide caches to show those to other people. (Except that one micro. I'm not sure of my motivation that day.) edited for spelling -sheesh-

Trogdor the Burninator, I feel your pain. I had a similar experience that left me frustrated and ready to pull the cache because a finder did some damage to the area (and wrote about it in the log). I emailed the cacher, fixed some of the damage, read a bunch of happy "found it, love this place" logs, and I feel much better. If your cache doesn't have many visits, the cumulative damage might not be all that great, right? I think that most cachers are pretty responsible. Good luck and thanks for hiding! Edited to add- Go with what you like on deleting the log. I stumbled on a puzzle cache while doing trail maintenance, and the whole crew signed the paper log.

I've seen a falure rate of about 5 percent in Brunton sighting compasses this year and last. One had a loose declination, another a loose bezel (sp?), a third was off by 4 degrees and we couldn't determine why. I'd examine it closely and return it if it seems hinky.

I second Criminal's reccomendation of the Silva Ranger. With a little practice and care you can find or follow a bearing with sub-two degree accuracy. Mine has been in my pack or on my wrist for nine hard years and still works well. "Good enough" can be a little cheaper than a Ranger, depending on your use. Adjustable declination is really handy, but as I recall most orienteering event maps are magnetic, so many competitors use a small, very simple compass that straps to their thumb so they can hold the map and compass in one hand as they run.

This could cause a couple seconds' delay when the firefighter looks to see why the fitting FELL OFF when they tried to tighten or remove it. In the dark, your firefighter might think for a moment that they'd need a different hydrant. I would stick to the fake nuts and bolts, magnets under the flange, etc. Caps, fittings, valves and the five-sided nuts that operate them are best left alone. One cache I'd love to see would commemorate the challenges associated with hydrants and their use. I've personally seen two cars run over fire hoses, and I've run attack lines (lines from the engine to the fire, as opposed to the supply lines from the hydrant to the engine) over parked cars when there simply wasn't a gap between all the cars parked in front of the house.