Jenischmeni

IU's 2010 Spring Break was the date of my last caching adventure in Bloomington. Let's pencil something in and I'll start calling it my "tradition"! LOL

Very good point! For some reason, I just assumed it was the eXplorist GC because I .... well... I don't know why! You know what happens when you assume! LOL @hukilaulau - I'm not inside Magellan's head, but here were my own thoughts on it: The unit can hold 10,000 caches. Why need a card? The unit already has excellent maps so maps don't need to be loaded. Why have a card? I figured it was one less thing for me to either buy, lose, or screw up! LOLOL (Believe it or not, I actually bought this unit to replace a 60CSX that couldn't hold the cache page info!)

fwagschal - If you're okay with driving up to NE Ohio, they have a lot of events during the week. If you drive over here to the Indy area, we have monthly GIG dinners which almost always fall on weeknights. (Despite the name GIG - Girls in Geocaching - the events are open to both genders!)

Hello again Casting Crowns! I just finished a cache similar to what it sounds like you're trying to do. What I did was enter the coordinates for the next stage (in your case, it'd be the OH stage) as a search. That brought up the closest caches to those posted coordinates. Then, I sent messages to about 5 owners of those caches closest to the coordinates. I figured that if someone owned a cache near there, they might live reasonably close to it. Out of the 5 emails I sent, two of them responded and one was able to help me out. Also, you can try emailing the owner of the cache. He/she might have people who are wanting to do the cache but need help too. Good luck!!

I'm sorry that I'm not in the Cinci area and didn't want you to feel like nobody has seen your thread. I do know that the Cinci area has a very active caching community and I'm sure one of them will see your thread soon. Have you tried attending an event in the area? The event calendar is about 2/3rds of the way down on the main screen at www.geocaching.com. If you attend an event, you'll have the opportunity to meet area cachers and I'm sure one of them would be happy to go out with you and show you the ropes. I just looked briefly through the events and it does seem that many events are not in the Cinci area. I'm not sure how far you're willing to travel but it looks like northeast Ohio has a lot going on! You're welcome to come over to the Indy area and attend any of our events. We almost always have some thing going on. There's a flash mob this Saturday, Saturday the 18th is an "I love the 80's event", Sunday the 19th is our Geocaching Secret Santa party. At any rate, I'm giving your thread a little bump and hope that someone in your area will post!

I've been sitting around and wondering this: Did we have a Fall season? I don't remember a Fall. I was excited about it but it seems like we went from 90 degrees to 10 degrees in a week.

That's a terrific work-around hukilaulau, but the eXplorist GC doesn't have a memory card

It was great to meet you, BaylorGrad at the Pi Event! Yes, Thanksgiving weather was not too favorable for caching. I, myself, canceled a Thanksgiving caching adventure due to the crummy weather. Terre Haute to Bloomington isn't so far though, and now you have some great ideas to plan a return a trip. I just recommend hitting those campus caches whenever school isn't in session. Luckily, Christmas break is fast approaching! In fact, if you plan a trip there over Christmas break, let me know. I'd be interested in meeting you there and doing some more caching in B'ton!

I have the eXplorist GC also and love it to bits. It replaced my 60CSX and I haven't really regretted it. I usually only have problems with it being very jumpy when I'm driving. But, it's very easy to "out drive" any GPSr. I'm only guessing (because I can't see your GPSr from where I am sitting! LOL) that you are using the compass on top of the map screen. I had to switch mine off and not have the compass on top because it was just too much junk on the screen and I couldn't really see what I needed to see. I walk and follow the green line to the cache. I know that I'm on track when that green line is straight up. When I am about 50' from the cache, I look ahead 50' and decide about where I think the cache is. Once at GZ, I use the lower numbers as a guide to about how far to expand my search. (Meaning, once I'm where I think I need to be if my GPSr is reading 15', I look around 15' and get an idea of my search circle.) The red zigzagging lines that you see are your bread crumb trails. The GPSr is tracking your movements. (This is actually a great thing.) If you were hiking through the woods and got lost, you can use those red zigzaggy lines to get back the way you came. (By walking/following that red line.) Every so often, once you're back home, it's a good idea to clear out that track log. Otherwise, you will have a lot of red zigzaggy lines junking up your screen! (I try to do it whenever I'm back home, but truthfully I probably only get them cleared out every 5th trip or so!) As far as the additional info, you may not be getting all the details and hints loaded into the GPSr because you are probably only loading up .loc files. .loc files don't contain as much info as the .gpx files. If you're only a regular member, your only option is to load .loc files. I understand not wanting to buy a premium membership until you're sure you'll enjoy the hobby (I did the same thing). What some people do is to write down a few details like size, hint, location on a little note pad and take that with you when you go to look. My last suggestion would be to attend an event. If you go to the www.geocaching.com home screen, about 2/3rds of the way down is the event calendar. If you view the calendar, you can see if there is an event in your state. Then, click on the event to see if it is near you. If you go to an event, be sure to introduce yourself to the cachers and let them know that you are new. Every cacher that I know is always eager to help out a newer cacher and show them how to use the GPSr and give tidbits of help. Also, most all cachers that I know are always eager to go caching with a new cacher. That's a terrific way to learn the trade. I know how overwhelming it can be to try and learn a new fangled piece of electronics AND learn how to find hidden things out in the world. It's like trying to conquer two mountains at the same time. If it makes you feel better, I couldn't find the first 27 (yes TWENTY SEVEN) caches that I looked for. I had *no* idea what I was doing! Fortunately, I managed to find myself at an event pretty early into my caching career and the "oldtimers" took me under their wings and showed me a lot of helpful things.

Most have already posted what I would offer as a friendly suggestion: *Make sure ALL your neighbors know so that they won't call the police when they see strangers wandering around in your yard. *Make sure ALL your neighbors are okay with it because occasionally a cacher will wander through the neighbors yard when their phone leads them 100' away from the cache. *Understand that you will get some negative feedback from the cachers who don't like to wander through someone's yard looking for a cache. *I ignore residential caches for a very good reason. I am female and frequently cache alone. If a cache leads me close to a house, I'll drive on past. Too often, residential caches are close to a house and I worry that someone could grab me, drag me inside, and nobody would miss me until I didn't show up at home 8 hours later. (I do realize that this could happen anywhere, but I *try* to exercise safe caching when I can!) *You *will* have cachers hunting this cache at all hours of the day and night. Are you prepared to have someone wandering around your bedroom window at 3:00 a.m.? Even if you say "No night caching", some people will ignore that. *Use a VERY specific hint and include your house number in the hint. The better the hint, the less wandering required on the seekers part. *Post that it is hidden on private property with permission on your cache page. *Do you really want people to know exactly where you live? Someone with less than reputable habits will know these things about you: #1 - you own expensive handheld electronics. #2 - you have a computer set up. Again, they're just friendly suggestions and food for thought. It's *your* yard and you can do whatever you want. I just wanted to offer you things to mull over before deciding to do it

Hello madedalton! I have an eXplorist GC too (and love it!). Here's a link to the owner's manual: http://support.magellangps.com/support/a**...serHandbook.pdf Directions for connecting it to a computer start on page 30. When you get to page 30, it kind of feels like it's skipping ahead, but keep reading and details on how to get it connected follow a little later. They give the link to get the Magellan Communicator if you're not using any other program. (Many of us use a program called GSAK. Myself included.) I can't offer you specific instructions for connecting using the Magellan software since I had already owned (and already had used) GSAK for years and just continued to keep using it to load my eXplorist GC. But, I know of many people who do the Magellan software successfully. (So I know it can be done!) If you need further help, post the specific questions - there are lots and lots of people who can help you out!

I'm going to guess that Howies Hunting got it to work because he/she shows up as a Premium Member. Just as a side note: The premium membership included with the eXplorist GC only works if you've never been a premium member before. I wasn't able to use it, but I did pass it along to someone who had never had a premium membership before. (It wasn't a big deal - I didn't buy the unit because it came with the free month.)

I'd have to disagree with the statement "most people don't realize that grass usually means problems for wheelchairs." (Sorry too lazy to quote and edit.) I think *most* people *do* realize this. I think *many* people are just too lazy to take the time to rate the terrain accordingly. Before you get defensive, I certainly do not mean you. (Obviously an appropriate terrain rating is important to you.) I just mean "many" other than you.

Did you post that in the User Voice, t4e? I would certainly cast 3 votes your way!!!

Personally speaking here, I am thrilled that the reviewers are finally cracking down on 1-star terrain ratings. My husband has mobility issues and it's quite frustrating to pick out a great cache for us to do only to find out that he cannot manage the terrain once we drive there. I know "back in the old days" they didn't rate them and there's still a lot of old junk out there with 1-star terrains. I also know that for whatever reasons, a cache owner will change their terrain back to a 1-star even when they were warned. I get really tired of posting on many of my logs "this cache is not wheelchair accessible." Seriously? I honestly don't understand why so many owners keep insisting that their cache needs a 1-star terrain. It's not like 1.5 stars is some kiss of death or something. Most cachers are very mobile people and can handle 3, 4 or even 5 star terrains. (Myself included.) But to someone with mobility issues who is looking for caches that they can manage, it REALLY REALLY REALLY matters. It's hard for me to not get angry when I read something like this. It's like someone is saying to me "Your husbands mobility issues are not important to me. I am more concerned that my cache have a 1-star terrain rating than I am worried about whether or not someone can navigate to my cache." One of my caching buddies has a true 1-star terrain cache. She copied and pasted a cacher's log into her Facebook status. It was really neat to see how flattering he was that she had rated it appropriately (and used the attribute so he could filter it in his PQ). You could read the excitement in his voice that he was able to get this cache without his family assisting him. It's words like that that make you realize how important it really is. I would think that if the OP's profession truly is in determining what meets ADA standards, it would be an easy peasy decision. Make it 1.5 stars if it's not wheelchair accessible.

I cached in Bloomington over spring break. (On purpose because the campus was empty!) Some of the memorable ones were: Hide in Plain Sight series by Monstercatambush and Winners and Losers by D J Hobby. If you're into hiking, Monstercatambush has been hiding a whole slew of caches in preparation for a group hike in January. Honestly, I can't remember how far from Bloomington it is, but I don't think it's all that far away. Don't forget the virtual cache at Monroe County Courthouse. (There aren't too many of the virtuals left!)

I'm going to the Pi event too on the 27th. Now that's really an incentive to go!!! Even though I don't live in the Wabash Valley area (I'm in the Indy area), I do get over to Terre Haute for various events and caching. The highlights of my caching forays over there have been the caches in Highland Lawn Cemetery. HLC is a very cool cemetery - much like Crown Hill if you've ever been over to Indy. Gigger and Clay C have some very, very neat caches there. Be sure to read the cache pages as you do the caches or you'll miss out on all the great stories. GCJ6ZV is one of Gigger's caches that gives coordinates to al the interesting spots. Also, Clay C has a haunted Wabash Valley series that is pretty cool too. Again, you'll want to read the cache pages so that you get a great story to go along with the cache. Near Highland Lawn Cemetery is another cemetery. I believe it's Calvary. That's a pretty place too. Also located nearby is Demming Park. A lot of nice caching there. In fact, the day that I hit all those spots mentioned above still remains as one of the best days of Geocaching ever! So...visit the spots and then join us for some pie! (GC2J298 is the GC for the Pi Event)

I'd have to ask this... "Why THIS particular site?" Sometimes you do find a spot, but it's just not going to work with placing a geocache. Would I want to have small children with me that close to a railroad track? Probably not. Cool spot or not. Would I want to have my dog with me that close to the tracks? Probably not. If I train came rumbling by (slow or not), I think it would scare us both! I think the guidelines are there for a reason. Maybe we know why they exist and maybe we don't (because of issues with past caches). IMHO, it's a poor place for a city park to begin with! Of course, you as a cache owner have no control over that. I have had similar issues with my own caches. Two of them have been moved repeatedly because I love the spot, but the cache either keeps getting muggled or gets washed away by flood. On one of those, I just finally gave up and figured it wasn't worth the fight. (None of these had issues with publication, it was all due to the lay of the land.) Sometimes you just have to say to yourself, it's not worth it! (And yes, I know how hard that can be!)

I've been seeing a few of those for a while on my caches. They were showing up before the update so I doubt it's related. I've also seen them for caches that are on my watchlist. It's very sad as a cache owner when you receive a log like that. Really? I went to a lot of work and you have nothing to say? But, I figure it's like the ALRs. I can't force you to say anything at all.

I have an eXplorist GC and am using GSAK to load it. :::knocking on wood::: I've not had any issues doing it that way. Honestly, I've never even tried it any other way. (GSAK was what I used for my Garmin.)

Fire027 - everyone has offered you excellent advice. Please don't get discouraged. I think I DNF'd the first 17 that I looked for. (Yes SEVENTEEN!) This was all due to the fact that I didn't have anyone who could show me what to do or what to look for. I tried looking at your profile, but you didn't have a location listed. So..I would offer this advice: Find an event near you and go. Once you're there, you can find people who will happily go with you to a cache site or two and show you the ins & outs of cache finding. On the front page of www.geocaching.com is the event section. It's kind of hard to find, but it's in the center towards the bottom. You'll have to click the link that says "show all events" and then look at the calendar. Check out dates that have your state listed and find an event close to your home. Besides being frustrated, you're missing out on one of the most amazing parts of Geocaching - meeting new friends P.S. If you need help, feel free to contact me. But don't give up!

I would join Lakedawgs and help you too. If I wasn't stuck in Indiana also. Good luck! P.S. You might try finding out if the Ohio geocachers have their own local forum. If they do, you might have some luck by posting there too.

I booted up my eXplorist GC just to see what I could figure out. If you choose "Reset Geocache History", it will reset everything. (I did - but it wasn't a big deal to me.) Some of the awards will disappear. I kept the mileage awards, but the find awards disappeared. (Again, not a big deal to me.) But, your average time to find will reset I've tried searching Magellan's site and couldn't find an answer. If the awards are important to you, I'd send an email to Magellan and ask. Here's a link to their support section: http://support.magellangps.com/support/

Have you tried contacting Magellan? I've called them in the past when I was doing some research (on a different model) and they were very helpful. I have the eXplorist GC too, but since I live in the US, I can't comment on the quality of the Australian maps. The maps for my area (and areas that I have visited) have been excellent. If if were me, I'd give them a call

I have an eXplorist GC. Prior to the GC, I was using a 60CSX. I thought that I would never replace my 60, I figured that I would die with it clenched in my fist. But....I found myself longing for the ability to load full cache pages with pictures. I wanted to jot some field notes. I needed to be able to load more than 1,000 caches. (I know it sounds hard to believe, but yeah..more than 1000!) I decided to buy a phone with the Android operating system and the eXplorist GC. The two of those items together (including the data plan on my phone) were cheaper than upgrading to Garmin's new 62. I have not regretted my decision at all. I am not fond of using my phone for caching. (You've already stated some of the obvious reasons.) I use my eXplorist GC for almost all of my caching. The only time that I use my phone is if I get caught without my GPSr, or I encounter a cache that isn't loaded in my receiver. I've had some problems with using the phone to cache and when it's let me down, it was a HUGE inconvenience. (Several times, my phone says that I'm miles away from a cache, when I'm holding the container in my hand.) When it's good, the phone is very good. But when it's bad, it's very very very very bad. The maps on the eXplorist are comparable to, if not better, than the maps that I shelled out $125 for on Garmin's 60CSX. As the above poster stated, the GC does not have routing capabilities. But, you can see the streets and use it to figure out which side of the street you need. Or, in a pinch, you can use the maps to figure out where to go. Routing capabilities weren't such a big deal to me - I have a Nuvi. I'd bet that routing capabilities aren't such a big deal to you either since you have a phone that is probably quite capable of routing you to a cache. If you need further help, or have questions, please feel free to message me.