Jump to content

SF Bay Area geocachers


Recommended Posts

For those of you that haven't noticed yet, you can now track digitalfish! Lynn did a great job of taking the code I wrote for tracking our smashed pennies and adding it to their site (which looks a heck of a lot better than our site). Now I need to go back and catch the fish I currently have in my sig binder.

 

--Marky

Link to comment
For those of you that haven't noticed yet, you can now track digitalfish! Lynn did a great job of taking the code I wrote for tracking our smashed pennies and adding it to their site (which looks a heck of a lot better than our site). Now I need to go back and catch the fish I currently have in my sig binder.

Darn it, Andrew has like 8 of these on a string in his room. :lostsignal: He probably won't give them up but he'll be intrigued by the idea of entering them on a website. He was collecting the fish for a while til ND and I put a stop to it, reasoning that other people should have a chance to pick them up too!

 

I have #s 326 and 327, my dad's lucky numbers, and I know ND has one in his binder too...

Link to comment
He was collecting the fish for a while til ND and I put a stop to it, reasoning that other people should have a chance to pick them up too!

Uh oh, I have something like 75 of ProTech's aliens, heh heh... :lostsignal:

 

I didn't mean to collect them, it just sorta happened. Fortunately there's no shortage of them and it's probably only about 10% of what's out there, so there's several hundred of them for others to find. Otherwise I never would have kept piling them up.

Link to comment
For those of you that haven't noticed yet, you can now track digitalfish!  Lynn did a great job of taking the code I wrote for tracking our smashed pennies and adding it to their site (which looks a heck of a lot better than our site).  Now I need to go back and catch the fish I currently have in my sig binder.

Darn it, Andrew has like 8 of these on a string in his room. :lostsignal: He probably won't give them up but he'll be intrigued by the idea of entering them on a website. He was collecting the fish for a while til ND and I put a stop to it, reasoning that other people should have a chance to pick them up too!

 

I have #s 326 and 327, my dad's lucky numbers, and I know ND has one in his binder too...

With our smashed pennies, we don't really expect them all to move, but we do like to see where they end up. I'm sure that goes for digitalfish as well. I just think it's a neat "history" of what happened to them.

 

--Marky

Link to comment

Darn it, Andrew has like 8 of these on a string in his room.  :unsure:  He probably won't give them up but he'll be intrigued by the idea of entering them on a website.  He was collecting the fish for a while til ND and I put a stop to it, reasoning that other people should have a chance to pick them up too!

 

I have #s 326 and 327, my dad's lucky numbers, and I know ND has one in his binder too...

With our smashed pennies, we don't really expect them all to move, but we do like to see where they end up. I'm sure that goes for digitalfish as well. I just think it's a neat "history" of what happened to them.

Okay, Andrew and I just logged some of his and the two that I have. He entered them himself, even the typing of my geocaching name! :lostsignal:

Link to comment

Just got home from a wonderful morning hike around Lexington/Sierra Azul this morning. Didn't think I was going to go last night since I was BEAT from a long work week, but I woke up this morning early and refereshed so....

 

Nazgul, I would have posted that I was going so we could meet, but it was a last minute-thing. Per your request I did drop a few shot glasses up there though.

 

Have to go do some yardwork now to prepare for Halloween - will post finds later.

 

3 hours of hiking/caching: 7.1 miles, 1150 feet elevation gain (went Limekiln up to Above the Gorge then back down Priest Rock).

 

Lots of fun.

 

And how could I forget.....congratulations to Worker of Wood and MotorBug for a joint FTF on the elusive "Hawaii Cache Mobile" moving cache! :D

 

You "note" made me laugh :(:rolleyes::anicute:

Link to comment
Nazgul, I would have posted that I was going so we could meet, but it was a last minute-thing. Per your request I did drop a few shot glasses up there though.

That's quite alright, I wouldn't have been able to go anyhow since today became "household chores day"... :rolleyes: But the upside is that tomorrow I'll be heading up to Castle Rock SP to hike with a couple of friends and do some caching in the area.

 

I'll have to figure out when I'll be able to get up after those shot glasses...

Link to comment
To get park trail maps into Expert GPS, you start with a JPG of the map. This is opened in ExpertGPS, then calibrated (an easy task using the existing Topo maps as a reference). Pre-calibrated maps are what you download from Boulters site.

 

When you open up a GPX file in ExpertGPS, the waypoints will all be shown on the park map, ready for you to plot a route.

 

Well worth the price, it's something I use everyday.

The ones I've contributed to Jeff's collection were "virtual scans" generated from the PDF maps on the County Parks web site. Adobe PhotoShop Elements can rasterize a PDF and save it as a JPEG. If the virtual scan is a moderate resoultion, say 300 dpi, the resulting scanned map zooms pretty well in ExpertGPS.

 

Calibration is moderately tricky. I usually use waypoints that I can identify on the trail map, sometimes with the help of the ExpertGPS topo map. The quality varies, the best calibrations come from widely separated points that you can readily identify on the trail map. For some strange reason, sometime ExpertGPS gets really confused and won't accept the calibration points, so you gotta start over.

 

Once I found out how to do this, I always get a trail map showing the caches, even if I have to do the calibration myself first. If the calibration (and the underlying trail map) is accurate, you can upload the track and it will be on the trails!

 

Thanks to Jeff Boulter for this service and others he had done!

 

jay (aka TeamSpider3)

Link to comment
Loved the Geocaching tag hung from your rearview mirror. Looked very official! Care to share where you found it (or is that a Kealia creation?)

:rolleyes:

I actually got that from Marcus Arelius in Bellevue, WA on a recent caching trip up there. I met a group of guys up there who took me out and we traded gifts - this is one of the things I got.

 

I think I'm going to make a few up and laminate them for trade items - I'll hook you up.

 

Speaking of official: guess you didn't notice that he mis-spelled "Official" either, huh? :anicute:

Link to comment

Hello greetings for Geocachers Bay Area.

 

We have FTF Travel Bug. Is our hostage. Activities will restore bug to proper rightful owner. You will make group for performing activities and we them give you.

 

Please contact we for activities when ready group.

 

Thank you very kindly.

 

Venona.

Link to comment
The ones I've contributed to Jeff's collection were "virtual scans" generated from the PDF maps on the County Parks web site. Adobe PhotoShop Elements can rasterize a PDF and save it as a JPEG.

 

JPEG images can also be extracted from PDF files using Adobe Acrobat. From the File menu, choose Export->Extract Images As->JPEG Files.

Edited by bytemobile
Link to comment

Tevas? Hmm, when I started having trouble with foot pain I had to give UP sandals, including my Tevas. I was in increasing agony for a year, then finally went to a podiatrist who made some custom-fitted heel inserts for my shoes. After 3 months my pain was pretty much gone.

 

Unfortunately I haven't worn sandals since...but it seems like a reasonable tradeoff.

 

YMMV.

 

...Sam

Link to comment
Guess I'll just have to wait my turn.

No waiting needed, I'll put you at the front of the line <_< .

 

Dropped a few on Saturday around Lexington/Sierra Azul.

 

I need to go back and hit the other side now (where Bigger, But Not Closer) is located to clear out that area......

 

May have to wait until I get some good boots/Tevas though, my dogs were barking when I was done.

Link to comment

Wow, I'm getting flashbacks to Pulp Fiction now with the whole foot rub thing, LOL. <_<

 

I have a pair of Tevas but it turns out that I only wear them around the yard... I bought them at REI which surely isn't the cheapest place to buy them but it's worth checking to see if they happen to have them on sale.

 

Consider getting some comfy shoe insoles. I find that makes a big difference. Most shoes/boots come with cheap inserts. Just be sure to try out and break in the insoles *before* you go on a long hike. Socks help a little too, and I pretty much live in Ultimax hiking socks, they're comfortable in a wide temperature range and they last for several years.

Link to comment
Time for some Teva's. Anybody know a good place either online or offline to get a good deal?

May I recommend Keen Newport H2s? These are my caching footwear of choice. Or Chaco Z2s. I like these two pairs of sandals for hiking much better than any Tevas I've owned. In fact, I own three pairs of Chacos with another on order and am looking at some of the other Keen designs as well.

 

I'm the biggest gear geek on earth. <_<

Link to comment
It's shaping up into a big week for milestones:

And I am one away from 1600.

 

However, though counts are not of much interest to me, I still like to track distance. This week I will hit 175,000 cache-miles.

 

Oh -- BTW, if you don't know about Venona, look at the earlier posts in this thread. From a couple years ago.

Link to comment
Back to ExpertGPS for a moment -

 

Does anybody have a calibrated map for UCSC?

 

I'v avoided most of the caches there for a while now but would like to go get them off my closest unfound list.

 

Thanks.

I've found that just wandering around campus will get you to most of the caches without too much trouble. When in doubt, park near the fire station. :huh:

 

--Marky

Link to comment
Is there a condensed version of the "Venona" storyline for those of us who missed last years episode?  The log history wasn't very helpful or maybe I'm just lazy!  /Lefty

Don't forget Lamneth's excellent version of the story:

 

http://lamneth.thequest.com/venona/

 

--Marky

This Venona story seems quite interesting. If something comes up for a part 2, I would be interested in searching for clues. :huh:

Link to comment
Venona-

I know you are reading this. It looks like the new generation is interested, and there are still some among us who deciphered your puzzles in 2002... let's hear what you would have us do.

:D Venona -

The Counterintelligence Squad does not reward extortion. Your threats do not intimidate us. If necessary, we can call up the Word Police for auxiliary assistance. Uncle Sam wants You! :huh:

Link to comment
For those of you that haven't noticed yet, you can now track digitalfish!  Lynn did a great job of taking the code I wrote for tracking our smashed pennies and adding it to their site (which looks a heck of a lot better than our site).  Now I need to go back and catch the fish I currently have in my sig binder.

 

--Marky

 

Track digitalfish? I thought you were just supposed to collect them.

Edited by Blanston12
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...