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Saturday, March 19, from 9am-12noon is our annual Adopt-A-Trail training... at the Archery Range Parking Lot at Santa Teresa Park.

Looks like I can make it out to Santa Teresa tomorrow (in the rain :blink:). I emailed Greg to confirm. He said he thinks there are 6-7 people total going. Anyone else here going?

 

(I've also emailed the parks folks asking them about kids at the 4/23 Quicksilver event. Sandi is out of town that day so it's either bring the kids or not go; they'd enjoy it of course.)

 

--Scott of TeamSimo

My take on this was that there was something for everyone to do regardless of ability.

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My take on this was that there was something for everyone to do regardless of ability.

Cool. Then we'll have to make it out for that one too. No geocaching shirt 'till next week (thanks ups), but it would probably be hidden under the rain parka anyway :blink:

Edited by TeamSimo
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TeamSimo and I attended an "adopt-a-trail" training session in Santa Teresa Park this morning.

 

I was surprised by how much the park service has to rely on volunteers to maintain the trails. They would be very grateful to see our group take on a trail, and I think this would be a great opportunity for us to show we are responsible users.

 

They provide a trailer with everything we could use, including tools, tecnu, refreshments and some cool swag (I picked up a few things to drop in caches this week, watch for some nice park service logo gear). Adopting a trail would involve a commitment of time that seems pretty easy, maybe no more than a weekday afternoon or weekend morning a month. Work would include clearing encroaching grasses (and PO... clear 100' back if we are inclined!!), to fixing drainage issues on the trails. I have a training manual with their specs, and it doesn't look hard.

 

Quicksilver and Santa Teresa are pretty well covered, but they need help in Calero, Uvas, and in Levin and Grant on the eastside. If anyone is interested in commiting to a few hours of this, let me know offline. I'm thinking of picking a single track trail in Calero since it's reasonably close. They suggest a group of about 10-15 as a good size, any age or skill level.

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I could probably help out with that, but I'd prefer to work in a park like Uvas which I really like, as opposed to Calero which is not one of my favorites. Trail work on a hot summer day would also be more comfortable in the shade of Uvas rather than the bare hills of Calero. Calero is also tick capital of the local parks as far as I can tell!

 

To be fair, trail maintenance is probably a lot easier in Calero.

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I'm glad you gents made it to the training! Sorry again that I couldn't come this time.

 

The "trailer-o-tools" is also the centerpiece of the Trail Days, like the one at Quicksilver next month. The activities you described are pretty much what we'll do then as well.

 

Sign me up - either Calero or Uvas sound good - though, to be honest, I don't recall ever going to Uvas! Hmm....

 

How often do we need to maintain the chosen trail? Once a season, once a month, once a quarter? Never mind ... WoW says monthly above...

 

In other SC County Park related news ... I've been researching the ordinances that govern the Parks. Recently some folks have posted online and said things in meetings along the lines of, "if you go off trail you can be cited". I wanted to see if there was any legal basis for claims like that.

 

Bear in mind that I'm not a lawyer, and that if you're doing something truly destructive or dangerous I'm sure LE can find something to charge you with if they want. But, for what it's worth....

 

There is NOTHING that I can find in the ordinances governing the Parks that says hikers have to stay on trail.

 

There IS specific language in the law saying that BIKERS have to stay on trail.

 

There IS specific language in the law saying that HORSES have to stay on trail.

 

But hikers, going off trail, isn't specifically described as either an "infraction" or a "misdemeanor".

 

The County Parks website does ask hikers, as a matter of "etiquette", to stay on trail. And there are certainly good reasons for that. But as for hiking off trail being illegal...I, for one, can't find it.

 

(Edited to add: There is plenty of authority in the ordinances allowing various areas to be closed. If you see a sign or a note on a map or on the county park website indicating that an area is closed - they mean it.)

 

Wonder what the similar laws/rules are for the various open-space districts?

 

Naturally, we want to engage with the powers-that-be on a constructive and friendly basis, not a "nyah nyah you can't stop me" basis. But I think it's useful to know what the existing laws are - and what they are not.

 

....Sam

Edited by sammydee
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I've not seen anything posted online about that, but I have seen signs in some of the parks that warn that you can be cited (or whatever) for going off trail.

 

In the email I received from the county parks last year regarding geocaching, their only request was to not place caches far off trail to prevent people from disturbing the wildlife. I've tried to follow that guidance in placing my caches there, but I've seen some park caches placed pretty far off-trail.

 

Looks like I'll probably be hiking Uvas tomorrow with my muggle friends.

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Although we didn't actually do any trail work, I was glad we were there today. WoW did a superb PR job describing the rest of us in a positive light (e.g., CITO, volunteering, minimizing impact, etc.).

 

It was quite clear that off-trail paths (I think they were calling these "volunteer" trails) are a significant concern for the trails team. They mostly related stories we've all heard about shortcuts through gullies and cutting switchbacks but did also mention challenges due to side paths from people wanting to see what the view looked like from "over there". Their description matched some geotrails pretty well.

 

They did say that trail maintenance is mostly a two or three season activity, with little happening in the summer months (due to the heat and ground conditions). The thing they really want monthly are updates describing what was accomplished, with pictures where possible (noting that some months nothing would be done). From a relationship perspective, these monthly updates are really valuable since they often get sent all the way up to the director of the parks department.

 

It sounded like the typical adopt-a-trail workday would be about 3 hours of light pruning, clearing grass or brush encroaching on the trail, and identifying more serious problems that need to be addressed. Those more serious problems included

improving the drainage on trails or rerouting them. This work is done by either more experienced adopt-a-trail teams or, more commonly, by formally supervised groups.

As an alternative to the Saturday-morning approach for doing trail work, I can probably do a weekday morning now and then if that worked better for others.

 

--Scott

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Congratulations to stbk on his one-year anniversary AND find # 600!  :ph34r:

 

He picked a great cache for those milestones!  :ph34r:

Glancing through the logs at "Day on the Gravel", I noticed that WeBeDnD hit 600 at the same spot. Anyone else nearing 600 should take a long hard look at that cache. :rolleyes:

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I think on April 1st, I'm going to submit a moon cache just for grins. Take some internet pictures of one of the moon's craters and add some description of something about crater formation and photoshop myself into one of the pictures.

 

Of course, I'm probably too lazy to follow through.

 

--Marky

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Sounds like my Mars Cache...

 

www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=a2132198308-012-adada-098312377

 

 

I think on April 1st, I'm going to submit a moon cache just for grins.  Take some internet pictures of one of the moon's craters and add some description of something about crater formation and photoshop myself into one of the pictures.

 

Of course, I'm probably too lazy to follow through.

 

--Marky

Edited by cachecrashers
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Sounds like my Mars Cache...

 

www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=a2132198308-012-adada-098312377

 

 

I think on April 1st, I'm going to submit a moon cache just for grins.  Take some internet pictures of one of the moon's craters and add some description of something about crater formation and photoshop myself into one of the pictures.

 

Of course, I'm probably too lazy to follow through.

 

--Marky

I tried to log a TB into it (sent via space probe), but it wouldn't take it ;)

Nice cache though! Probably ought to get its own icon...

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I'm visiting Cork Ireland this week on business and hoped to do a little caching while on the island. Believe it or not there are no caches within approx. 30 miles so it won't happen this trip. Geeesh .... and Cork is the second largest city in the Republic. I knew I'd miss the Bay Area.

 

On the other hand, the Murphy's and Beamish taste pretty good. /Lefty

30+ miles is too far to go to log a cache in Ireland? I drove 250 to log one in Utah! What's with the sanity? ;)

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Do you know how MANY pubs you'd have to drive past in order to go 30 miles in Ireland?

 

I can see a man making it past one...or two...or three...but have a heart, man!

 

;);):D

See, that's where the insanity comes in handy! Besides, it will help build up a proper thirst.

 

I wonder if someone in Ireland has placed a cache shaped like a pot of gold in a clover patch.

 

As to Mars, it would just figure that you go all that way and it turns out that someone has just tossed a 35mm film can into a random crater. Or even more likely, the only life on Mars will be large patches of ivy! :tired:

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Well, space was sorta limited on the rover and an ammo can might have attracted a littl e too much attention. :tired:

 

I can see it now... "US claims the Planet Mars as a military outpost" as evidenced by the placement of a US Army Ammunition Box. Insiders speculate that the US military is secretly planning a military base on the Planet Mars. Every leading media company agrees that "it is our duty to American and Worldwide investors to sensationalize unsubstantiated rumors factless claims". ;)

 

 

As to Mars, it would just figure that you go all that way and it turns out that someone has just tossed a 35mm film can into a random crater. Or even more likely, the only life on Mars will be large patches of ivy!  ;)
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Re: Caching in Ireland

 

Well, I've seen the inside of a few pubs and didn't have to go 30 miles to find them. In lieu of caching I'm expanding my Irish stout experience beyond Guiness to Beamish and Murphy's!

 

No car on this visit although I'm well used to driving on the "wrong side" of the road. I'm already working on a creative rationale for why I'll need to get a car on my next trip to Ireland but it WILL need to be creative. I'm not sure that my need to do early morning caching runs will make it by the travel auditors.

 

For this trip, Nazgul's micro dragon TB will just have to stay in the case and get a bunch of unlogged miles. /Lefty

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Oops... had to fix the decrypt.

 

Gosh it was simple to write a Solaris tool to decrypt hints.

 

this is a parody site for April 1 I decided to set free early.

Geez! I tried placing a cache on the Moon using precise lunar coords and got the shaft from the reviewer and Jeremy. I got flamed on the boards for "not taking it seriously" when I posted the subject for feedback. Beware!

 

What a dope! I only now saw the April 1st tag.....D'OH! Guess I am a dope! B)

Edited by Blue Blaze Irregulars
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Bear Gulch Cave in Pinnacles National Monument will be open through the end of March. The cave, which is home to a colony of Townsend's bats, is closed for the majority of the year. Portions of the cave open during other times but it is best to visit when you can walk the length of the cave.

 

If you have never been to Pinnacles head down now and experience the caves. I wasn't aware that they had shut them down since we haven't visited in about 8 years.

 

This spot, which is the site of an ancient volcano, is crying out for an Earthcache. Well worth a visit for a great day of hiking even if access to the caves is limited, as a bonus the wildflowers are at their peak now.

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I've been looking around at other groups websites since BADGES is working on getting one set up. I also sent a question around to the BADGES team basically along the lines of "who are we", and I thought I would open that question up to everyone else.

 

There are several organized caching groups in the state. The Bay Area has BADGES, planning dinners right now, but nothing else. We at BADGES ARE contacted by outsiders as the representatives for the area though. We have a yahoo group or two, but my local Yahoo group gets very little use (seems we get all our conversational needs filled here maybe).

 

Do we NEED something more?

 

I think a place with a comprehensive calendar would be good, and I'm sure the BADGES site can do that.

 

What about other resources? Should newbies have a central spot to get info/FAQs/downloads?

 

What about our PR efforts to the parks? Do we need an organization to be taken more seriously? Is BADGES it? If yes, do we need to change its structure? I have already been asked how big our membership is, and truth is- we have no membership.

 

I'm pretty sure we DON'T need complexity or politics...

 

Thoughts?

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you look at organizations like MIGO and wonder why a cacher dense area like this doesn't have something like that.

Because the cachers here are actually out caching as opposed to sitting at their computers building web sites :(

You know, I think there is a lot of truth to that! Must be those cold winters....

Edited by workerofwood
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you look at organizations like MIGO and wonder why a cacher dense area like this doesn't have something like that.

Because the cachers here are actually out caching as opposed to sitting at their computers building web sites :ph34r:

I disagree. these forums are hard to navigate. There is a lot of digging to find this thread. And this is just a thread. Not a forum for Bay Area Folks.

 

This thread is intimidating to post in. It is clear there are existing relationships. There is not much chatter on general caching. Plus most folks here don't need much general caching chatter. Look back a page or three. All these thousands of cache miles stones. Folks like me with 100 feel a bit insignificant. :ph34r:

 

Yahoo groups are not any better. Folks don't seem to use 'em too much. I also see a similar problem there. They are basically single threaded posts. Not organized into subject groups.

 

I was thinking of using one of my domains to start up a dedicated forum but if there is an already established site, that is better.

 

We need a way for local folks to find the forums. Unless we start putting stuff in cache notes or something, it makes it hard to find the forum. The only common site for the Geocachers is Geocaching.com and it is not in their best interest for folks to go to other web sites.

 

BTW I am very computer savy if folks have any questions/needs.

 

Joe

CacheCrashers

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One of Nazgul's photos made it to the banner pic rotation.

Hey, cool! Thanks for pointing it out or I never would have known... That place smells as nice as it looks right now too.

 

Some of my photos were recenty used in the magazine for the local chapter of the BMW club magazine too, and they pay just as well. :ph34r:

 

As to a local group and such, I'm still pondering the matter as I have mixed feelings about it.

 

Cachecrashers, please don't be intimidated, I'm still a noob too!

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On the subject of a local organization, I posed the question because I have mixed feelings as well. I am not fond of bureaucracy for bureaucracy's sake... I'd rather be out caching! But I do see a couple of needs here that an organization might help fill.

 

We need to continue PR work with local parks and such. They respect organizations with large memberships.

 

We need to help newbies find their way around. We have lots of resources scattered about, a website and local organization can do a lot to help centralize info and get it to the right people.

 

A local website is a good place for out-of-town cachers to go to get the oriented.

 

We need a local calendar.

 

I DON'T think we need to do what a lot of the regional organizations do and duplicate much of this website. A local forum might be good, but no-one uses the one that is there now (yahoo) so I'm not sure if it would work.

 

I don't want to see something evolve with endless meetings and commitees, and no budgets and dues, but maybe there is something in between.

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