+despot&smitten Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 Yesterday I went out and tried geocaching for the very first time. Tremendous fun, even though it took us about six hours of slogging through snow to find it. The big problem? A river. Since we were clueless newbies stumbling around, we kept crossing, backtracking, and re-crossing the river. I hear you can get GPS units that will allow you to download a map of your area and plot your waypoints right on the map. I was using a Garmin E-trex - I don't think that function is available for that model. (?) Any more experienced geocachers have any suggestions as to: 1. Is the mapping function worth it for occasional cachers? 2. Is it terribly expensive? 3. Which units have the easiest-to-use mappping features? Seeings how it took me 6 hours to find a cache that was less than 2km from my house, I think its pretty safe to say I need something EASY. Thanks! Quote Link to comment
popupcop Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 I have the etrex legend. It does have a decent mapping program but I don't really use it. I just click on the map provided on the cache page and zoom in to get most of the rivers and roads in the area. I print a copy to take along if I am unfamiliar with the area. I see that several on this board have the etrex yellow just as you do. They seem to be very happy with it. Quote Link to comment
+Whidbey Walk Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 In my opinion a mapping receiver is not needed and would be overkill for just occasional caching. There are a lot of sources online for maps. If a cache takes me significantly off road I like to check out the area on www.lostoutdoors.com They offer a topo maps and aerial photos of locations. http://home.earthlink.net/~whidbeywalk/ Quote Link to comment
Tahosa and Sons Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 Came across this site the other day. You can put the cache location right on a map and get a printout of what you are looking for. http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/index.cfm Tahosa - Dweller of the Mountain Tops. Quote Link to comment
+dogdoins Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 Welcome to Geocaching! I use the E-trex yellow and also look at the cache map to get close. Before we started using the cache map, we drove around alot trying to find parks by following the arrow on the GPS. That doesn't work very well. There was alot of "turn here!". The cache map should just about eliminate all that. Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 If you slogged for 6 hours and had fun anyway. Then I don't think Occasional will describe your future geocaching. So in the future a mapping GPS is well worth it and hase kept me from the wrong side of the river. If you follow everyone elses advice it will keep you on the right side of the river also. Just watch different datums (The Topozone link is 300' off due to a diffeent datum, that can show the cache on one side of the river when you need to be on the other). Wherever you go there you are. Quote Link to comment
+despot&smitten Posted February 12, 2003 Author Share Posted February 12, 2003 Renegade... does the phrase "the adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai across the 8th dimension" mean anything to you? DS. Quote Link to comment
+Zartimus Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 You certainly don't NEED the onscreen GPS maps to geocache, But they come in real handy in other areas. I dunno, I recommend the maps when people ask me about GPSr's. I find I use it all the time to "get to" the cache. Sometimes it helps to see that on-ramp coming up in realtime, instead of trying to remember the paper map. I went Etrex Legend because of this and the 8mb storage for maps and such. And when I'm not geocaching it's great to use when you're simply driving around town. Heck, I rely on the tracklog to get me back to where I parked the car! The map shows landmarks like roads and rivers and such that come in handy in that situation.. My 2 cents.. Quote Link to comment
+mrcpu Posted February 13, 2003 Share Posted February 13, 2003 Your local camping store may carry paper maps of your local area. I love using a paper map. Just remember to switch your GPS to UTM before heading out. You may want to read some of the other forums about UTM. Rob Mobile Cache Command Quote Link to comment
+Night Stalker Posted February 13, 2003 Share Posted February 13, 2003 The Renegade Knight may not recognize your reference, but I do and will certainly give him a razzing about it. As far as using mapping is concerned I use it all the time, not only to make sure I stay on the right side of the river, but to help me figure out where my jumping off point should be. The best at this is the GPS V the Renegade Knight uses, but I get by with my SporTrak Pro. Lost? Keep going. You're making good time anyway!! Quote Link to comment
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