Logging Power Trails

[+bratbasset]

Does anyone know an easy way to log your finds when doing a power trail? About a year ago a friend told me about a method to upload your find file off your gps and and edit the comment section. That way you could log all your finds into geocaching.com as a group instead of logging them separately. Does this sound familiar to anyone? If you have a method that works let me know how you go about it. I'll be doing several power trails in AZ next week and would really like a method to log them on geocaching.com that's quick.

[+T.D.M.22]

I believe a program like GSAK will allow you to do it. If you don't want that you could ewrite a decent log for the first and last cache of the power trail and then copy/paste logs for the rest.

[AZcachemeister]

If you don't want to take the time to even post TFTC, don't do the powertrail.

[+NeverSummer]

If you don't want to take the time to even post TFTC, don't do the powertrail.

Power trails can be time consuming to log, sure, but if you can't muster 1 full sentence for each, individually, what's the point other than numbers?

 

I like reading logs on caches for many reasons. One of them is the stories you can read. Powertrails are no exception, as some of the stories you can put together are pretty enjoyable. The trip itself is surely a tough prospect on some of the bigger ones, but when people take the time to say something about the cache, the day, or the fact that someone slipped on the way to the cache and laughed so hard they nearly split their sides makes for some fun narratives when you start reading through the logs.

 

Logging might take days to complete while balancing other obligations, but the value of the longer logs is invaluable when it comes to the oral history of the game.

[+RoadRoach58]

If you don't want to take the time to even post TFTC, don't do the powertrail.

Power trails can be time consuming to log, sure, but if you can't muster 1 full sentence for each, individually, what's the point other than numbers?

 

I like reading logs on caches for many reasons. One of them is the stories you can read. Powertrails are no exception, as some of the stories you can put together are pretty enjoyable. The trip itself is surely a tough prospect on some of the bigger ones, but when people take the time to say something about the cache, the day, or the fact that someone slipped on the way to the cache and laughed so hard they nearly split their sides makes for some fun narratives when you start reading through the logs.

 

Logging might take days to complete while balancing other obligations, but the value of the longer logs is invaluable when it comes to the oral history of the game.

 

What's the point of ANY powertrail other than numbers?

 

GSAK is a great way to do offline logging and can even do a default log for finds if that's what you want to do. I use this capability if I do a power trail, but otherwise, use it solely to document find order and benchmarks. Not that I'm a supercachinexpertfindingfreakofthegps cacher, but more one that likes to keep the data in order. I don't even know why, because they all count 1. You can also edit the sequence the logs are entered in GSAK. I use the calendar feature in my 60CSX to keep track of the finds, then make sure GSAK is going to load them in the correct order. All in all, a LOT faster than logging online.

 

I too find it challenging to keep writing something different on a string of 100 pill bottles laying by a tree with a rock on them. Just remembering any particular experience on a mind numbing trail of 100 caches with a 1/1 D/T rating is a challenge. On the other hand, if I did 8 caches in a day where the average D/T rating was 3.5/3.5, oh yeah, I remember those, and they get logged accordingly. The longer I do this, the harder it is to WOW me. I find it extremely difficult to sit composing an individual log for 5 minutes on a cache that took the better part of 5 seconds to find.

[+NeverSummer]

 

What's the point of ANY powertrail other than numbers?

 

GSAK is a great way to do offline logging and can even do a default log for finds if that's what you want to do. I use this capability if I do a power trail, but otherwise, use it solely to document find order and benchmarks. Not that I'm a supercachinexpertfindingfreakofthegps cacher, but more one that likes to keep the data in order. I don't even know why, because they all count 1. You can also edit the sequence the logs are entered in GSAK. I use the calendar feature in my 60CSX to keep track of the finds, then make sure GSAK is going to load them in the correct order. All in all, a LOT faster than logging online.

 

I too find it challenging to keep writing something different on a string of 100 pill bottles laying by a tree with a rock on them. Just remembering any particular experience on a mind numbing trail of 100 caches with a 1/1 D/T rating is a challenge. On the other hand, if I did 8 caches in a day where the average D/T rating was 3.5/3.5, oh yeah, I remember those, and they get logged accordingly. The longer I do this, the harder it is to WOW me. I find it extremely difficult to sit composing an individual log for 5 minutes on a cache that took the better part of 5 seconds to find.

To each their own.

 

I simply shared my thoughts on the subject. It's worth noting the merits of logging actual individual logs, even in the case of power trails.

 

I remember days before paperless caching was commonplace. A couple of days on a vacation and finding caches could mean a couple of days back home catching up on logs. Perhaps I'm just "old school", but logging each cache is more than a smiley for me. I appreciate logs that go deeper (even my just a little bit) than just "TFTC". It's not nostalgia, it's valuing what we can each give to the game.

Edited January 12, 2013 by NeverSummer

[+Don_J]

If you don't want to take the time to even post TFTC, don't do the powertrail.

Power trails can be time consuming to log, sure, but if you can't muster 1 full sentence for each, individually, what's the point other than numbers?

 

I like reading logs on caches for many reasons. One of them is the stories you can read. Powertrails are no exception, as some of the stories you can put together are pretty enjoyable. The trip itself is surely a tough prospect on some of the bigger ones, but when people take the time to say something about the cache, the day, or the fact that someone slipped on the way to the cache and laughed so hard they nearly split their sides makes for some fun narratives when you start reading through the logs.

 

Logging might take days to complete while balancing other obligations, but the value of the longer logs is invaluable when it comes to the oral history of the game.

 

I'm sure we all appreciate the value a well written log, but expecting someone to write 2000 essays for the ET trail is giving those caches way more attention then they deserve. If I ever did those caches, you'd get one good log on the first and last, and 1998 logs that said "See:[hyperlink]", and with GSAK, it would take less than 30 minutes to do it, 20 of which, I'd be doing something else.

Edited January 12, 2013 by Don_J

[+NeverSummer]

If you don't want to take the time to even post TFTC, don't do the powertrail.

Power trails can be time consuming to log, sure, but if you can't muster 1 full sentence for each, individually, what's the point other than numbers?

 

I like reading logs on caches for many reasons. One of them is the stories you can read. Powertrails are no exception, as some of the stories you can put together are pretty enjoyable. The trip itself is surely a tough prospect on some of the bigger ones, but when people take the time to say something about the cache, the day, or the fact that someone slipped on the way to the cache and laughed so hard they nearly split their sides makes for some fun narratives when you start reading through the logs.

 

Logging might take days to complete while balancing other obligations, but the value of the longer logs is invaluable when it comes to the oral history of the game.

 

I'm sure we all appreciate the value a well written log, but expecting someone to write 2000 essays for the ET trail is giving those caches way more attention then they deserve. If I ever did those caches, you'd get one good log on the first and last, and 1998 logs that said "See:[hyperlink]", and with GSAK, it would take less than 30 minutes to do it, 20 of which, I'd be doing something else.

Again, to each their own. But I like to think of each cache as an individual, not a group. Believe me, I wouldn't log "2000 essays", but would like to think that I would at least log each one. That's just me.

 

To answer the OP, yes, there are ways to do an automatic canned log through GSAK for all caches. But, don't discount the value of individual logs.

 

That's all I'm saying. My opinion on this doesn't really deserve a debate. I'm just 1 guy sharing his thoughts; take it or leave it.

[+Don_J]

If you don't want to take the time to even post TFTC, don't do the powertrail.

Power trails can be time consuming to log, sure, but if you can't muster 1 full sentence for each, individually, what's the point other than numbers?

 

I like reading logs on caches for many reasons. One of them is the stories you can read. Powertrails are no exception, as some of the stories you can put together are pretty enjoyable. The trip itself is surely a tough prospect on some of the bigger ones, but when people take the time to say something about the cache, the day, or the fact that someone slipped on the way to the cache and laughed so hard they nearly split their sides makes for some fun narratives when you start reading through the logs.

 

Logging might take days to complete while balancing other obligations, but the value of the longer logs is invaluable when it comes to the oral history of the game.

 

I'm sure we all appreciate the value a well written log, but expecting someone to write 2000 essays for the ET trail is giving those caches way more attention then they deserve. If I ever did those caches, you'd get one good log on the first and last, and 1998 logs that said "See:[hyperlink]", and with GSAK, it would take less than 30 minutes to do it, 20 of which, I'd be doing something else.

Again, to each their own. But I like to think of each cache as an individual, not a group. Believe me, I wouldn't log "2000 essays", but would like to think that I would at least log each one. That's just me.

 

To answer the OP, yes, there are ways to do an automatic canned log through GSAK for all caches. But, don't discount the value of individual logs.

 

That's all I'm saying. My opinion on this doesn't really deserve a debate. I'm just 1 guy sharing his thoughts; take it or leave it.

 

Oh, I agree with you. In fact, I have had this discussion many times over the years with my geofriends, and at some point in time, all of us have declared that we will always write a unique log and never do a cut n' paste. The reality, caching has changed over time and the cachers have changed as well.

 

Last year I hiked a 9 mile section of trail that I hadn't been on in about 4 years and I found the 38 new caches that have been since placed. 35 of them were pill bottles hanging in a bush. At some point it becomes work to write a unique log for the same container, hidden in the same style, by the same hider. The scenery hasn't changed much in .1 mile, the weather didn't change. We didn't see any animals between caches. There is nothing new to note. It's Deja' vu', all over again and it's getting the same log as the last.

 

When fun starts to become work, I stop doing it. I had fun hiking and finding the caches and I noted that on each log. I just didn't work on finding 35 different ways of saying it.

[+NeverSummer]

 

Oh, I agree with you. In fact, I have had this discussion many times over the years with my geofriends, and at some point in time, all of us have declared that we will always write a unique log and never do a cut n' paste. The reality, caching has changed over time and the cachers have changed as well.

 

Last year I hiked a 9 mile section of trail that I hadn't been on in about 4 years and I found the 38 new caches that have been since placed. 35 of them were pill bottles hanging in a bush. At some point it becomes work to write a unique log for the same container, hidden in the same style, by the same hider. The scenery hasn't changed much in .1 mile, the weather didn't change. We didn't see any animals between caches. There is nothing new to note. It's Deja' vu', all over again and it's getting the same log as the last.

 

When fun starts to become work, I stop doing it. I had fun hiking and finding the caches and I noted that on each log. I just didn't work on finding 35 different ways of saying it.

makes me think of all the fun I might have to give little, silly pokes at the similarities of each in a subtle way for each log...

[+6NoisyHikers]

Just to add our two bits:

 

All of our "power trails" have been hiking trails. When we get home, I open a Word document and start the first paragraph of the story of our day with 1. and keep writing three or four sentences for each number until I complete the whole series. Then I go online and cut and paste what I've written for each part into each log.

 

As an example, here are the first few logs on a 40 cache series.

 

PRED01

PRED02

PRED03

 

All the way to cache #40

 

PRED40

 

If you take the time to read the whole story, you'll see that there are some points specific to the cache logged, but for the most part the information in the logs is not going to be useful to anyone hunting for the cache (especially when most people just cut and paste the same thing). I write for the CO - it's my way of showing how much the effort is appreciated, and I received a very nice email after posting these logs thanking me for the great story and the pictures.

[+fizzymagic]

All of our "power trails" have been hiking trails. When we get home, I open a Word document and start the first paragraph of the story of our day with 1. and keep writing three or four sentences for each number until I complete the whole series. Then I go online and cut and paste what I've written for each part into each log.

 

I've only ever done 2 power trails (and they weren't that big) but I automated the process; I took the field notes file and a story about the whole day and wrote a program to automatically insert the next few sentences of my story into each log, with pointers to the next one. That way my logs were unique, reasonably interesting, and reflected my actual experience.

 

I will probably never do another power trail. Probably.