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SF Bay Area geocachers

Team Dralasites

By Team Dralasites
in West and Southwest

Followers 38

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stbk

+stbk

Posted
Posted

Recap:


  •  
  • Stick to what you like.
     
  • Lead by example.
     
  • Don't assume everyone dislikes the same thing as you.
     

Get outside, have fun, and enjoy life.

--Marky

Sorry to keep beating on the horse as it goes through its death throes, but I have to weigh in. I couldn't agree more with what Marky said.

 

I for one enjoy all the micros hidden around here. Some are more interesting than others, some are more challenging than others, and sometimes I encounter one that turns me off a bit. Such is life. I enjoy hikes to more remote caches as well, but for many reasons I'm not able to get out into the hills as much as I'd like.

 

One of the unexpected pleasures of caching my way through the valley this past year has been discovering all sorts of parks and out of the way spots that I never would have known of. I also find that I can navigate with confidence across most of the valley, and that's without the GPSr. :unsure: The fact that I had to poke under a few picnic tables and light poles certainly doesn't bug me. (FWIW, BB, I really enjoyed the library series, micro or not.)

 

I have encountered caches which I felt no inclination to visit, and my response has always been to quitely ignore them. The new ignore feature certainly makes that easier, and the fact that it's private is perfect.

 

A few posts back, someone mentioned the folks who found 20 and then vanished, and wondered why. I happen to know one such person, and I think the reason that he stopped is that he met some cachers (at an event, I believe) that really turned him off. He can't really articulate what it was, but I think it might best be summed up as folks taking the game (it is a game, folks) far more seriously than he liked. He stopped caching right then and there.

 

Food for thought.

 

Steve

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sammydee

+sammydee

Posted
Posted

OK - new topic. TICKS!!!

 

I've been enjoying the winter - no ticks, snakes or other ooky stuff to deal with.

 

We went caching both Saturday and Sunday, and went a bit off trail in grass up to the waist both times.

 

Each time we pulled ticks off our clothes - 4 or 5 in total. No bites - but they are positively back!

 

Is there a recommended repellent to use? Do "Off" and others do anything to dissuade 'em?

 

I'm lucky enough to have never been bitten - might as well try to keep it that way!

 

...Sam

 

p.s. But I'm SURE there won't be any ticks in AQS this SATURDAY! :-)

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bullit

+bullit

Posted
Posted (edited)
OK - new topic.  TICKS!!!

 

...Sam

 

Thanks Sam! That change of topic was sorely needed, this forum was deteriorating rapidly.

 

Fortunately whatever attracts mosquitos and causes the massive allergic reaction to PO seems to repel ticks for me. I've only ever found one on me after many years of walking, hiking and riding the local trails and parks.

 

I'll have to head out to call before digging and perform an acid test, what did Marky and Joani count out there, over 100 on them or something?

 

Link to Lyme Disease page for fun reading.

Edited by bullit
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calipidder

+calipidder

Posted
Posted

I could use some suggestions for parks to visit during our day trips. The areas I am unfamiliar with are Santa Rosa, Berkeley and SF. Parks should be scenic or otherwise interesting, have some cool caches, and not require a deathmarch.

 

Los Trancos? There are some caches of varying types there, at least there were a while ago, including a micro at the parking area, some regular ones in the park, and even an Earthcache. Of course that's not Santa Rosa, Berkeley or SF but it is my neighborhood so I know it well. :)

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calipidder

+calipidder

Posted
Posted

By the way, I wanted to post something here about the Travel Bug

Letter to Australia. This bug was moved around the Bay Area by several familiar names a while back and finally made it to Australia. The owner wasn't able to pick it up in Australia as planned. A friend of mine who is an Australian geocacher picked it up and mailed it to me a while ago and I've dropped it out here so it can make its way back to his owner (east bay, I think?). I enjoyed reading the logs in the little notebook. :)

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Wacka

+Wacka

Posted
Posted

I have been caching for a year and a half and have never been bitten by a tick. I don't know what it is, but I also haven't been bitten by a mosquito since I moved to CA 10 years ago! They used to eat me alive in Western New York where I grew up.

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bykenut

+bykenut

Posted
Posted

I've been spraying permethrin on my clothing before heading out to the trails. The stuff bonds to your clothing (you need to apply it at least the day before using so it can dry) and is suppose to repel ticks and mosquitoes. It comes in a pump spray bottle and can be found at REI. Also, one company now makes clothing with permethrin already bonded into the material.

 

I've used my permethrin sprayed clothing on a couple of hikes and haven't gotten any ticks on me, but I also had my tick magnet dog with me, who did pick up some ticks.

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CC

+CC

Posted
Posted (edited)

We did some caches on the way to Mount Hamilton a couple weekends ago. It is not too hot yet and the everything is picture perfect. Take some time and enjoy the area!

 

Speaking of picture perfect... This is a great picture if you ask me. Front page quality!

 

Moons over Mount Hammy

 

CC ;)

Edited by cachecrashers
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geodarts

+geodarts

Posted
Posted

The posts about ticks made me think about how I got my first actual bite after geocaching. My wife said something about divorce if I ever brought home another one. I also got my first case of poison oak while geocaching, so I have to be more careful with that one as well. And then yesterday, my dog came within three feet of a coiled rattler when we were hiking a trail in Marin that leads to a number of caches. I was glad I had the leash relatively short since I was not expecting that one -- but the dog still regrets not being able to go after it.

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Marky

+Marky

Posted
Posted (edited)
Geocaching?  Who has time for that?  :D

 

(Okay, we *have* picked up a few here and there this week...)

There has got to be some more webcams you haven't done. I hear those are good spots for kissing... ;)

 

--Marky

Edited by Marky
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sammydee

+sammydee

Posted
Posted

Tomorrow's "Trail Days: Almaden Quicksilver". Thanks to all of you who have volunteered to attend!!!

 

As you know, the event is scheduled for 9am to 1pm tomorrow. We're meeting at Castillero Middle School (the event coords), where vans will take us up the hill to the worksite.

 

I got late news from the County Parks folks today that there will be ONE run of vans up the hill in the morning, and ONE run down the hill at the end of the event. It's a short, downhill hike from the work site to Castillero if you need to leave early.

 

To make sure that you are there for the morning run up the hill, the Parks folks recommend that you arrive around 8:30 - NOT at 9.

 

Sorry for the late notice - I just heard myself. ;)

 

For anyone who comes a bit late, please head up the Senador Trail to the junction with the New Almaden Trail. It's about 0.4 miles in from the trailhead at the end of McAbee. We'll be working on the New Almaden Trail between the Senador and the Mine Hill. Later today I'll post a map on the cache page.

 

Thanks again, and I'll see you tomorrow! ...Sam

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CC

+CC

Posted
Posted
A map of the worksite area, showing parking, work site and caches is here:

 

Trail Days Map

 

...Sam

How did the trail mantenance day go? We had plans to go look for a puzzle cache near San Luis Res. so we did not do the trail maintence today. Our weather was actually really nice, sun, not too hot, no rain...

 

CC :rolleyes:

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Kealia

+Kealia

Posted
Posted

Hey a BIG time congrats and thanks for everybody who worked the trail at Almaden today (I didn't make it but just read the page and looked at the pics).

 

A GREAT weay to give back to the parks and build positive relationships - exactly what we need.

 

On another note - how was the trip to Henry Coe guys??

 

Sorry I missed both today.... :rolleyes: .

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sammydee

+sammydee

Posted
Posted

I can only say what I said on the cache page ...

 

THANK YOU for coming! Wow, this was better than I had ever imagined! There were 22 geocachers in attendance - nearly half of the total volunteers who came. I'm 100% convinced that we made a great positive impression on the parks folks, and we exposed a lot of people to our positive sport of Geocaching!

 

I hope each of you is proud of the work that you did today. That trail has been closed for years - and opening it was a big accomplishment.

 

I certainly had a super time, and I hope you did too!

 

The County runs similar Trail Days events EVERY month. We'll have to do this again sometime soon!

 

The event cache is no longer at the event coords. It's been moved up onto "our" trail, and should reappear soon as "Hey We Did It!"

 

Thanks again - it was great to see / meet / work with each of you!

 

....Sam

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Nazgul

+Nazgul

Posted
Posted

I'm glad to hear that the trail day was a HUGE success and the pics and logs were fun to see. Big applause for Sammydee and workerofwood! I'll keep an eye out for the next one.

 

Five of us (me, Marky, Bullit, Foghead, and Fizzymagic) took advantage of having won day passes in the annual Henry Coe backcountry weekend and mountain-biked 20 miles to reach 4 caches. The eastern section of the park is beautiful and we had a great time even though we were really, really beat by the time the day was done. It was a fun, memorable experience and we're already looking forward to next year.

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Marky

+Marky

Posted
Posted

By Fizzy's tracklog, we climbed about 3000 feet, even though it was mostly up and down rolling hills. No wonder we were all tired at the end. We also had about 50 creek crossings going up and back only Orestimba Creek Road. It's much easier to cross creeks on bikes, but it's really tiring towards the end of the day. Kind of like riding across ball bearings. Check out the photos posted to the logs on the four caches we did.

 

--Marky

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JohnnyVegas

+JohnnyVegas

Posted
Posted

Maybe I can get this right this time, from another thread

 

upcoming episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent that will revolve around geocaching.

 

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

NBC May 08 09:00pm EST

Series/Drama, 60 Mins.

 

"The Unblinking Eye"

A young actor is wounded and his fiancee killed, leading detectives to look into a high-tech treasure-hunting game called geocaching.

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WalruZ

+WalruZ

Posted
Posted

Yep.

 

THE UNBLINKING EYE

05/08/05 at 9:00PM on NBC

 

STREET SHOOTINGS RAISE PUBLIC OUTCRY AS POLICE PROBE FEMALE STALKER -- AND HIGH-TECH TREASURE HUNT GAME -- After a young actor Mike, (guest star Jeffrey Hephner) is wounded and his fiancee is shot dead on the street, Detectives Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe) are pointed towards the surviving victim's former girlfriend, who is known to have stalked him The key, however, might turn on their probe of "geocaching," a high-tech treasure-hunt game that could yield vital clues As the media and public mourn the man's tragic loss, the police want to take another look at some of his acting buddies, especially one who never lets go of his Palm Pilot Jamey Sheridan and Courtney B Vance also star.

 

I usually pass these shows by, but this one is in the calendar of my Palm - (which I never let go of....)

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sammydee

+sammydee

Posted
Posted

Dear Coyote Creek Parkway Master Plan Interested Parties,

 

At their upcoming May workshop meeting, the County's Parks and Recreation

Commission will hear a report back from staff on the status of the

development of a Draft Program Document for the Coyote Creek Parkway County

Park Integrated Master Plan. The Parks Commissioners will hear a

presentation by the project consultant, take public comment on the project

to date, and offer their comments to staff as they proceed with the project.

Those interested in the progress of this project are invited to attend this

meeting.

 

Report to Parks and Recreation Commission on the development of the Coyote

Creek Parkway County Park Integrated Master Plan Program Document

May 4, 2005

6:30 pm

Issac Newton Senter Auditorium

70 West Hedding Street

San Jose, California

 

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, those requiring

accommodations in this meeting should notify the Clerk of the Board's Office

24 hours prior to the meeting at (408) 299-5001 or TDD (408) 993-8272.

 

An approved agenda for this meeting will be posted on the Parks Department's

website www.parkhere.org

72 hours prior to the meeting.

 

A program document is the critical first step in the development of an

integrated Master Plan for Coyote Creek Parkway County Park. It sets the

stage for development of the subsequent steps in the process. A program

document may include an inventory and analysis of existing site conditions,

current recreational trends, proposed vision and guidelines for the master

plan in compliance with the Department's Strategic Plan, community input,

potential uses and facilities to be explored further in the plan's design

alternatives, and goals and objectives for the management and protection of

the Parkway's natural resources.

 

Please share this meeting announcement with your

friends, neighbors, community groups, organizations, agencies, or with any

one who may have an interest in this project.

 

Santa Clara County Parks only forwards project information directly to those

individuals

who have requested to be on our project mailing list.

 

For more information on this project, please visit the County Parks' website

at www.parkhere.org. To add your name directly to our mailing list, please

contact Elish Ryan, Park Planner, at this website or (408) 355-2236.

 

<<...OLE_Obj...>>

Coyote Creek at the Metcalf Pedestrian Bridge

_______________________________________________

from the desk of:

Elish Ryan

Park Planner

Santa Clara County Parks Department

298 Garden Hill Drive

Los Gatos, CA 95032 main line: (408)355-2200

direct line: (408)355-2236 fax: (408)355-2290

email: elish.ryan@prk.sccgov.org

www.parkhere.org

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Marky

+Marky

Posted
Posted
I have one of my PQs set to search an area of over 100 miles, why not set one up with a larger radius?

The Radius setting isn't the limiting factor here, it's the 500 max caches per PQ that is. If we want caches in that area, we'd have to center the PQ on the BADGES cache. ;)

 

I'm not sure if we will be able to make it. Will post to the cache when we know for sure.

 

--Marky

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JohnnyVegas

+JohnnyVegas

Posted
Posted (edited)

I run PQs for differant areas between marin and sac, but there is the option to run a PQ just for events, that would get someone around the 500 cache limit. or run a PQ for new caches hidden on the past few days, kind of like looking for new caches.

 

Gee Marky, I hope you are not staying home that day waiting for a certian delevery of a new GPS, I a not sure UPS delivers on Sat.

I couldn't resist :D

 

i hope to know in a few days if I can go, ;) With luck the house hunting will be done by tuesday, then I can get baci into geocaching :D

Edited by JohnnyVegas
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workerofwood

+workerofwood

Posted
Posted

I run a query as my home page that includes all unfound caches within 100 miles (FTF fever only extends to 10 miles, but you never know).

The upside is that I see events from here to Monterey and the valley. What we need is a local calender for everyone to post to that would cover all this, don't you think? Wonder if we could whip up something like that...

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Marky

+Marky

Posted
Posted
Gee Marky, I hope you are not staying home that day waiting for a certian delevery of a new GPS, I a not sure UPS delivers on Sat.

I couldn't resist ;)

*Beta Test Command Menu*

 

1) Ignore forum poster <click>

 

Enter forum user to ignore: JohnnyVegas

 

Are you sure you wish to ignore all posts of JohnnyVegas, click here. <click>

 

You are now ignoring all posts made by JohnnyVegas.

 

:smile:;):unsure:

 

--Marky

 

P.S. I have a 600 at home, so there. :D

 

P.S.S. It's Joani's. :anibad:

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