Orienteering too

[RobertLG]

I have decided that when I make GPS caches, I will make an orienteering version of the same game. I don't post the orienteering version to this web site, but mention the fact that there is a version available for those without GPS receivers. I post the instructions for the orienteering version on my web site.

 

I would like to encourage others to do the same. Or at the least I would invite some discussion of the recommendation.

 

RobertLG

Waypoint: GC63D4

[+Web-ling]

I have three caches specifically designed to be done as "O-Caches"

 

Miss Pumpkin's O-Cache III

"Legacy of the Geo-Gathering" O-Cache

Driving Miss Tandy O-Cache

 

The only coordinates given are to the parking area The cacher uses a map or aerial photo downloaded from the cache page.

 

I also hunt most traditional caches GPSr-less, using only maps and aerial photos. It adds a little bit of challenge to those 1/1 and 2/2 caches in city parks!

 

[+Web-ling]

I have three caches specifically designed to be done as "O-Caches"

 

Miss Pumpkin's O-Cache III

"Legacy of the Geo-Gathering" O-Cache

Driving Miss Tandy O-Cache

 

The only coordinates given are to the parking area The cacher uses a map or aerial photo downloaded from the cache page.

 

I also hunt most traditional caches GPSr-less, using only maps and aerial photos. It adds a little bit of challenge to those 1/1 and 2/2 caches in city parks!

 

[+WaldenRun]

'nuff said

 

-WR

 

"Why worry when you can obsess?"

[+Jamie Z]

quote:

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Originally posted by Web-ling:I also hunt most traditional caches GPSr-less, using only maps and aerial photos.

---

WL, I've been aware of this for a while, but I never gave it much thought... until just now, for some reason.

 

But here's what I envision: you get the coords and go to lostoutdoors.com and print out a map of the area, then go there to find the cache. Is that about what you do?

 

Jamie

[+Web-ling]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jamie Z:

Originally posted by Web-ling: I also hunt most traditional caches GPSr-less, using only maps and aerial photos. WL, I've been aware of this for a while, but I never gave it much thought... until just now, for some reason.

 

But here's what I envision: you get the coords and go to lostoutdoors.com and print out a map of the area, then go there to find the cache. Is that about what you do?

 

Jamie

---

Exactly! I usually print the lostoutdoors.com map and aerial, and either mapquest or mapblast maps to get me in the right general neighborhood. Also, at least in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Mapquest's aerials are more current, but they don't put the little X at the coords. I usually check MapQuest's aerials to make sure the area hasn't changed much. I've noticed that in a lot of other places, Mapquest's aerials are the same as LostOutdoors.

 

Topo maps seem to work best for benchmarks, since many of the BMs are already marked on USGS maps. My GPS is pretty useless for benchmarks, except for 'triangulation stations,' which seem to have accurate coords.

 

GPS-less hunting makes those too-easy caches a little more interesting. And if I can't locate the cache without the GPSr, or if I'm in a hurry or my kids are getting impatient, I just whip out my little yellow Etrex.

 

[+Jamie Z]

Hmmm,

 

That doesn't seem nearly as difficult as I first imagined. Not that it sounds easy, but I was picturing in my mind some genious geosearcher, with maps and compasses hanging from a Batman-style utility belt to go along with your Superman sense of direction.

 

But... not that I've heard you explain it, I just may give it a shot.

 

Here's a Q, though. Do you like to bring your GPS along usually anyway, just in case? Or do you leave it home to "force" you to find it sans gizmo?

 

Jamie

[RobertLG]

Actually, when I use the term "orienteering" I mean simply: use a map, clues, and compass to find a location, meaning cache.

 

Searching the Internet, I find that orienteering means much more to a number of people. They would have the game/sport played as a complicated race, way more involved than how I see it played. It may be that "orienteering" isn't the best term. Though I wouldn't know how else to describe it.

 

I have found that the aerial photos from lostoutdoors.com are very old, perhaps 30 years old? I like the idea of using topos. I can also supply my own map and post it to my web site. My first "orienteering" version simply instructed the players to use a Washington state road map and a ruler. The rest of the play was in clues, and then finally required a compass.

 

I thought my game was quite clever until I heard from two very smart players (WaldenRun and RonParker) who "found" the cache (actually figured the coordinates to the cache) without leaving their computer. Both of them did so by consulting both my geocaching instructions AND my orienteering version. The orienteering clues there gave these players what they needed to close in on the cache's location. I have since tightened up my clues a bit. But I'll bet they could still figure the location out. On second thought, I know they could.

 

I'm glad to hear there is interest in making the games accessible to those without receivers.

 

RobertLG

 

games page

[RobertLG]

Actually, when I use the term "orienteering" I mean simply: use a map, clues, and compass to find a location, meaning cache.

 

Searching the Internet, I find that orienteering means much more to a number of people. They would have the game/sport played as a complicated race, way more involved than how I see it played. It may be that "orienteering" isn't the best term. Though I wouldn't know how else to describe it.

 

I have found that the aerial photos from lostoutdoors.com are very old, perhaps 30 years old? I like the idea of using topos. I can also supply my own map and post it to my web site. My first "orienteering" version simply instructed the players to use a Washington state road map and a ruler. The rest of the play was in clues, and then finally required a compass.

 

I thought my game was quite clever until I heard from two very smart players (WaldenRun and RonParker) who "found" the cache (actually figured the coordinates to the cache) without leaving their computer. Both of them did so by consulting both my geocaching instructions AND my orienteering version. The orienteering clues there gave these players what they needed to close in on the cache's location. I have since tightened up my clues a bit. But I'll bet they could still figure the location out. On second thought, I know they could.

 

I'm glad to hear there is interest in making the games accessible to those without receivers.

 

RobertLG

 

games page

[+Web-ling]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jamie Z:

 

Here's a Q, though. Do you like to bring your GPS along usually anyway, just in case? Or do you leave it home to "force" you to find it sans gizmo?

 

Jamie

---

 

I usually bring it. More often than not, I've got at least one of my kids with me, and they get impatient pretty quickly. If I don't find it in a few minutes, I switch to GPS-mode. If I'm by myself, I'll usually hunt at least a half hour before I "cheat" and switch to the GPS. Also, for multicaches, I almost always use it. It's not really a big deal to me, GPS-less or not. Doing them GPS-less just makes it more fun.

 

[gm100guy]

I use my topo map program before each hunt and look up where the cache is and get a lay of the land.

 

I have used my compass on some hunts well my kids use the the gps. I find it more exciting and helps the kids not to rely on fancy gizmos all the time.

 

I think every cacher should learn to use the map and compass first then use the gps.

 

My brother and I are going to use the gps and set up some compass activities for his scout troop at some of there camps. Has anyone done this and compare how accurate the gps reading are when you go back and find the location?

 

gm100guy

http://members.rogers.com/gm100guy/cachepage.htm

[+apersson850]

When I fixed a local orienteering meet (conventional), I scanned the map into OziExplorer, placed all points on the screen (as waypoints), made the courses as routes between the waypoints (gave me the course length easily) and then downloaded the whole thing to my Vista.

 

In the woods, I could use the Vista and the map to locate the points I intended to use. Very convenient, when you sometimes stand there looking at some boulders, wondering which one the map maker actually thought about when he placed one on the map.

 

Anders