MarcusArelius
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Posts posted by MarcusArelius
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Don't you guys see? You got DARPA's attention as an advanced social network that was able to locate 8 red balloons scattered across the CONUS in less that a day with advanced warning and knowledge.
So they atempt to see how long it takes to identify a a global pattern without any advanced warning and mobilize. Less than 3 days. Not bad... Not bad...
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There's a tropical storm on the way that may melt most of the 12-16" of accumulation we'll gain today and tomorrow. Icy conditions may prevail though. Yak traks maybe?
I'll have my Micro Spikes, the ones I left in the back of the Land Rover while I slipped and slid on the walkway and rocks at Washington Pass last weekend. As I was sliding down the icy rocks I thought of the Big Hump affair.
I'm interested to hear how those work out.
Microspikes are great! They're tougher than Yak-Traks.
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Kudos to Hydnsek for keeping geocaching in a positive light with the parks deparment!
Let me know if you need me to contact them myself or if you want backup at the meeting. There are only a few caches in the park and I know of none that are off trail.
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I got the email Sunday and as chair of the advocacy committee I asked Hydnsek to intervene.
I thought a cooler third party might serve geocaching better than if I contacted them directly.
But we were only given a few work hours before all the caches were archived which seemed a bit draconian to me.
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A local radio station did a story on a missing girl in my area and was asking for volunteers to come out and joining the search. The Police have ended there organized searches and now its being left up to the family to coordinate them. I spent this past weekend out there with about 12 others searching the woods and ATV trails. I had brought my GPS which was very useful when trying to describe the where we had gone and items we had marked. I was thinking to myself how sad it was only 12 people showed up and those who had could barley read a map, and were not very comfortable in the woods.
So the question I'm putting out there is how do I get GeoCachers involved in these searches and has anyone else done something like this in the past. We have a great community of people with a special skill set looking for things out of place.
A friend mentioned your WSGA post but it's easier for me to post here.
I am a very active Search And Rescue volunteer in Washington State. I got involved after being turned away at an “official” multi-day coordinated search a few years ago. Like many others I did not understand why we couldn’t just “Flash Mob” an area with tons of locals. I do understand now, they don’t need any more victims, nor do they want a possible crime scene, or scent trail, contaminated by untrained searchers as others have already noted
... So many people have great hearts but they just don't think before they leave their house. An example is showing up for a missing person search wearing short shorts and sandals. … an extra flash light, warm sweatshirt, water, some snacks can go a long ways to help others who show up unprepared.
I am a bloodhound handler for our local volunteer Search & Rescue team.
... Until proven otherwise everything is considered a crime scene. You don't want to destroy evidence etc.
Most police forces prefer not to use untrained volunteers during a search. However, if the police have wound down the search, then anyone can organize a search. However, I recommend you contact a volunteer search group for assistance. Searches need to be well organized and managed to ensure areas are properly cleared.
Now I know that many geocachers have more outdoor experience than some SAR volunteers. The problem is telling people apart. The Sheriff knows the capabilities of the teams that they regularly work with.
Rest assured that all the searches that I have been involved with were very thorough. The vast majority ended with a find but there are a few cases where we run down all the leads and canvas large areas for several days but have to stop at some point. This is not an easy decision for the Sheriff to make. I think that any family would find that decision hard to accept. That is when the type of search you are describing comes into play.
GPS skills come in handy in either type of search. So do other skills such as map and compass, outdoor survival, hazardous terrain navigation, and others. I know our SAR organization has extensive training in these areas. But then we have over 100 missions per year in our county and are blessed with a very supportive community. There is some variation between counties and states but I would hope that SilentWolf’s experience was an isolated case.
...I hate to say that I've seen many a search & rescue member that can bairly tell north from south, let alone read a gps
In King County we have several individual units that offer different skill sets. There are a wide variety of positions that people can help with.
Why not check out your local Pierce County SAR group?
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I didn't see a topic for this so I thought I'd start one
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Also if you are going to buy any maps from Garmin they will come with MapSource included.
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Here's another (not mine, just posting the e-mail):
This is K2D2 from Mount Rainier National Park. I'm working on organizing a Cache In, Trash Out event at Mount Rainier on May 16, similar to the one last year on June 7 at Cougar Rock Campground and the one you attended on September 15 of 2007. I'm writing to thank you for helping out with our flood recovery efforts in '07, and to invite you to come back and do it again if your schedule permits!
Most of the flood recovery work has been resolved by now, but there are still many projects to accomplish with the help of volunteers. This spring, we'll be opening a historic campground. Our agenda includes building platform tents for use by volunteers during the summer (starting with geocaching volunteers!), and painting the brand new shower building in preparation for making it available to volunteers this summer as well.
After the work day, we'll be having a barbecue, raffle, and social event organized by several of the attendees.
All the details are on the cache page for "CITO The Mountain" at GC1NYGH, http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...65-dabbdf2614f2.
If you can't make it up to this year's event, no worries, just pass the word to your geocaching friends, and we'll look forward to maybe seeing you up here some other time during the summer, GPSr in hand!
Thanks,
Kevin Bacher ("K2D2")
Volunteer Program Manager
Mount Rainier National Park
Kevin_Bacher@nps.gov
User's Profile:http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=ae82f14c-6c08-4938-a358-eef9c0144e9d
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Now who would hollow out a bolt in a guard rail?
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Hmmm... Interesting.....
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.. but I believe some scenes were shot around Forks? ...
Most of it was filmed in Oregon (better tax breaks)
You definitely should download NW trails
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I know that most parks use counters on the road. But Beacon Rocks is a little different than most.
Hwy 14 runs through the middle of it and anyone using the roadside bathroom and taking the trail up the rock won't go over a counter. If they did put up a road counter it would track EVERY car that went down the highway The camping area and other trails are on the other side of the road and have access roads leading to them. those two roads would count cars, but not those that park to climb the rock.
Even on a cold January day with snow blowing 40-60 mph there were a dozen cars there in just the half hour I was there. I am going back down next weekend, hopefully it won't snow on me for the third time.
Maybe we should give this park to Oregon. It was offered to Washington first and they refused it but changed their minds in 1935 when it was offered to Oregon. Oregon has found a way to keep their parks open.
I have seen those infrared animal counting devices placed fairly high along the iron horse. I wonder if they were using those to count "users".
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You know you will need someone to act as an interpreter. Even after exposure to Ozzie on TV there will still be some communication difficulties. I'm originally from the south coast (near Worthing) so I can speak proper English. I go into a Starbucks and ask for a tall white chocolate mocha and the Barista always tries to charge me for two drinks.
Ha! After teasing a friend about the "brilliant" phrase "and Bob is your uncle" he replied "Hey it's our language and we'll do whatever we want with it"
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One more thing. I think the Asahel Curtis parking lot requires a Northwest Forest pass. A single day pass is $5 if you can't borrow a yearly one from one of us locals.
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Don't forget you can go **UP** the Iron Horse almost as easily as down. It's just a longer trip than starting at Hyak.
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For the newer units like the Colorado you can actually just update the map file without having to upload the basemap file.
I didn't know you could upload a basemap. For the Extrex, and 60 series, I think they are permanently stored in ROM.
What I was saying is when a new NW Trails comes out I have to reload City Navigator and Topo at the same time. Otherwise you only have the single mapset loaded.
So the Colorado lets you reload a single mapset without losing any others that you already have loaded into the GPSr?
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You know last year I bought US Topo and was disappointed with the lack of granularity of the contour lines. I kind of was kicking myself for not going with the new 24K regional map.
It doesn't seem like there would be a lot of differance between having conour lines spaced 60 feet apart as compared to 40 feet apart. But zoomed into the same typical mountain area with MapSource there were 5 sixty foot contour lines as compared to 22 lines at forty foot intervals
I hope you follow through with the project!! This is Perfect!!
I would have detailed topo maps for the areas that I hike and coverage for the rest of the US in the off chance I get a chance to visit somewhere else.
THANK YOU!!!
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a question did come to mind - are the trails going to be included with the topo map? I can see possibly wanting just the topo without the trails. Would loading both topo's with trails and the trail maps (overlaping regions) cause any problems?
I'm not sure why one would want topo without trails.
So that you could use the topo sort of like a basemap and use an alternate source for trails which could be updated much more frequently. Sounds like that's the plan here.
Well since, for Garmin anyway, you have to reload all the different mapsets to update any one of them you can't really use the topo like a base map.
And how can any trail map get updated more frequently than NWTrails. Sheesh!
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FYI
> Jan. 8, 2009
> USDA Forest Service
> Pacific Northwest Region
>
> *Winter Storms create hazardous conditions on Washington’s National
> Forests *
>
> EVERETT, WA – As floods, avalanches and landslides threaten roads
> throughout the state, visitors to National Forests are advised to use
> caution. Some forest roads that were not closed because of snowpack now
> may be impassable because of downed trees and road and bridge washouts.
> Winter sports enthusiasts should check conditions in advance of their
> visits to ski, snowshoe and snowmobile. Many state highways and county
> roads accessing the National Forests are closed. For statewide road
> information visit _http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/trafficalerts/ _or
> call _511_ for updates. The extent of the damage on the national forests
> may not become evident until the snow thaws. Following is a summary of
> known impacts:
>
> /Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest/
> · Skykomish Ranger District Station is closed due to flooding.
> · I-90, State Route 410 and state highways are closed blocking access to
> the south end of Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
> · Roads to all ski areas are closed.
> · Scenic Route 542 (Mt. Baker Highway) is closed at Doug Fir Camp
> Ground, about two miles east of the town of Glacier and snow blocks FS
> roads at and above Glacier.
> · Scenic Route 20 leading to Baker Lake is closed east of Sedro-Woolley
> and/ /Baker Lake County Road is closed. State and county roads leading
> to Baker Lake area have been closed due to landslides, water and debris.
> Forest Service roads around the lake remain under snow./ /
> · Scenic Route 542 leading to the Mt Baker ski area is closed two miles
> east of Glacier due to avalanches.
> · Scenic Route 9 is closed from Wickersham to the intersection of Scenic
> Route 542 and 9. SR 530 is closed east of Arlington and north of
> Darrington and all of the surrounding forest service roads remain under
> snow and inaccessible.
>
> /Olympic National Forest/
> · Forest Service Road 30 in the Soleduck Valley and Forest Service Road
> 2160, mile post 1.9, in the Matheny Creek area are washed out.
> · The bridge at 2160 milepost 1.9 north of Quinault is washed out.
>
> /Okanogan-Wenatchee// National Forest/
> · Salmon La Sac Road is closed at the town of Ronald. This road accesses
> a heavily used segment of the forest.
> · Deer Creek Road in the Liberty area is closed.
> · Icicle Creek Road is closed at the Snow Lakes Trailhead due to
> avalanche danger and flooding.
> · Butcher Creek Road #6910 on State Highway 2 just north of Coles Corner
> is closed.
> · State Highway 2 through Tumwater Canyon is closed from Coles Corner
> junction to Leavenworth due to avalanches and slides across the road.
>
> /Gifford Pinchot National Forest/
> · Crews currently are repairing Forest Road 90 on the south side of
> Mount St Helens at mile post 0.8 which was closed by a debris slide. The
> road provides access to the community of Northwoods and rural residences.
> · Cowlitz Valley Ranger Station at Randle along US Highway 12 is closed
> due to rising waters from the Cowlitz River, and highway closures.
>
> *Forest** Road Information*
> Gifford Pinchot National Forest: call 360-891-5000 or go to:
> Okanogan and Wenatchee: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/oka/
> Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/
> Olympic: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/olympic/
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Why are there so few scuba caches in the PNW?
Because it is bleeping freezing cold at the surface let alone 50 feet down!
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I will be coming down to Phoenix in December and was wondering what caches I should do while I'm there. I know in my area caching can take you to some really neat areas, that's what I'm after.
The caches should be within two hours drive of downtown and not long hike since my wife can't walk far.
Please help me out.
Allanon
in Northwest
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