Marking Your Car As A Wpt

[+planetrobert]

I know that you SHOULD mark your car as a wpt... I also know that I should

 

I have NEVER done so, 612 finds later I have never misplaced it. Maybe it is my uncanny sense of direction, maybe it is that I look at nearby hills when I get out of mine to get my bearings.

 

Only once did I wish I had... I hiked a quarter mile and then a snow storm hid that was SO bad that I had to look at my track log to get back to the truck, I couldn't even see five feet in front of me. and that was THE ONLY time I have ever wished I had marked my vehicle.

 

So, do you do it?

 

OR

 

do you risk being LOST FOREVER?

[uperdooper]

i don't do it as often as i should. i'm usually so excited about the hunt i forget. been lucky so far. love that bread crumb trail.

[+Quintheeskimo66]

 

So, do you do it?

 

OR

 

do you risk being LOST FOREVER?

I only seem to mark my car on those ocasions when I don't need to. Every so often when doing several caches in a row, I think that perhaps I should have marked my car. But luckily I've never really had the need to use the car waypoint. A couple of times it would have been convenient because I would have been able to get back easier than tracking all the way back, but I've been lucky. Perhaps next time out I'll mark the car.

[+Runaround]

If I'm in an unfamiliar park with poorly marked trails and it's more than .5 miles to the cache, I usually mark the car as a precaution. However, around home, the majority of the caches, especially the new ones, are hidden within sight of the car so it's not a problem.

[CoyoteRed]

I don't because SporTraks have a track back feature which is a lot more useful than just telling me where the car is. It even gives you a route to get back.

[+ZackJones]

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. If the cache page provides parking coordinates (which is something I really like seeing on a cache page) I create a waypoint for those coords and then after finding the cache I go "find" the parking coordinates. So far this approach has worked well. If there's no parking coordinates and I forget to mark a waypoint then I'll use the trackback feature of my 60C to get back to the car.

[+nfa]

I try to do it every time...the reality is that I only really do it if I'm nervous about the area a cache is in, if the weather is horrible, or if I'm going at dawn/dusk or darker (my sense of direction is trashed in low-light, I'm not sure why).

 

There have been times I've been glad of the waypoint to my jeep, and times when I've wished I took the time/effort to mark one.

 

nfa-jamie

[+Camo-crazed]

hey runaround, nice sig, fits the topic perfectly

[+AuntieWeasel]

I try to do it every time. The trackback feature isn't always useful, because I often bushwhack and don't want to go back the way I came. Especially if I run across a good path on the way out.

 

If I forget (I often do), I look at the track and figure out where the car is and put a waypoint there after the fact.

 

Ordinarily, though, I've got a waypoint with a nice little car icon named (oddly) Car and, rather than making a new waypoint, I highlight that one and reset-to-here. It seems easier, somehow.

[+flask]

not only do i waqypoint the car, but i waypoint trail junctions. crashco has a predilection for bushwhacking so i just quietly mark changes in trail and (of course) where we leave the trail.

 

that way i get plenty of opportunity to reconsider our return route.

[+Divine]

I know that you SHOULD mark your car as a wpt...

 

So, do you do it?

I did once, but then I moved the car.

[+vree]

I, too, usually just use the backtrack on my SportTrak, and only once did I get turned around anyway. Sometimes my GPS is way off (displays my location scores of feet north of my actual location) and I ended up missing a turn on the trail and having no idea where the parking lot ended up.

I'm not sure if marking the parking lot would have helped much in that case.

[Tahosa and Sons]

Nope. I can usually tell where I am at without the aid of a battery powered electronic wizard machine.

[+wimseyguy]

Only when necessary. If the cache is pretty far off, if I expect to be doing more than usuaal offtrail activity, or I am in an unfamliar area.

Also if it's a really big parking lot.

[+briansnat]

I don't because SporTraks have a track back feature which is a lot more useful than just telling me where the car is. It even gives you a route to get back.

I have the same feature in my Vista and 60CS. I don't use it because too often there is no way in heck I want to go back the way I came. I always seem to pick the route filled with briars, thick mountain laurel and those nasty wild raspberry bushes and once I get to the cache, I invariably find an easy trail out.

 

There are some swamps around here where waypointing the car is important because everything looks the same. Its not as important to me in the mountains because I'm pretty good at finding my way around using the terrain as a guide. The Topo map screen on my GPS is also a big help.

[earthshaker]

Yes you should I was only a half mile from my truck, on an overcast day, I thought about doing a backtrack then I remembered that I walked through a swampy area, didn't want to do that again, think of it this way, the freelance photog, who knows that you should take your camera with you everywhere, left it at home, and missed the shot of a lifetime.

Making a WP of your car just makes sense.

[+C&C+COMPANY]

I do if I'm bushwacking or in the dark

[+Team Perks]

I rarely lose my car in the 10 feet it takes me to walk from the parking space to the lamp post, or from the side of the road to the guardrail.

[+jdtravel]

We haven't been doing this and the occasion came up the other day while caching. We parked the car and went after the cache. We had to go through some black berries and detour around the patch to get to the cache. Then we went after another cache close by. After that we were turned around, several times. Had to back track and look up the first cache again and go from there. It would have been easier to have a wpt for the car and just dialed it into the eTrex and been on our way. We'll use the wpt at the car next time

[WH]

Ill use my GPS to mark my car in the parking lot of the mall. This is especially useful during the madhouse that is the Christmas shopping season.

[+Mr Lost]

Every time. It only takes once needing to and not doing it to make it worth doing every time. Kinda like wearing a seat belt, without quite so serious consequences for nonperformance.

[+TotemLake]

Absolutely! Even with backtrack, your route can be way off if you had questionable signals. It's nice to have a backup plan in case you need it.

[+WascoZooKeeper]

I know that you SHOULD mark your car as a wpt... I also know that I should

 

I have NEVER done so, 612 finds later I have never misplaced it.  Maybe it is my uncanny sense of direction, maybe it is that I look at nearby hills when I get out of mine to get my bearings.

 

Only once did I wish I had... I hiked a quarter mile and then a snow storm hid that was SO bad that I had to look at my track log to get back to the truck, I couldn't even see five feet in front of me.  and that was THE ONLY time I have ever wished I had marked my vehicle.

 

So, do you do it?

 

OR

 

do you risk being LOST FOREVER? 

I try to but sometimes I forget.

 

I also try to remember to reset my track log because sometimes I'll find it's confusing to have a bunch of old tracks still recorded. But sometimes I forget that, too.

 

When I did Door County Cache the tree cover was so heavy I could barely keep a signal long enough to even find the cache. By the time I'd traded and signed the log, I had absolutely no satellite lock left, so having a waypoint for the car and a trackback were useless. Fortunately, I also always have a compass with me and knew the direction of the parking area from the cache. Compasses don't seem to be affected by tree cover for some reason.

[+ibycus]

Not normally, although lately I've been trying to mark parking lots of popular caching areas (helps me when I'm going out again). Normally I can tell on the map screen from my tracklog roughly where I left the car (doesn't look anywhere near as straight once I get off the roads) and I point myself in that direction and start walking. I think if I didn't have a tracklog I would probably be better at marking the car.

There is a park around here that once you get in to it, it is just hills and grass and trees in every direction for about 5km. Its an old park, so most of the trails go in just about any direction you might care to walk (no help finding your way there) More than once up there I've needed my tracklog to get me back out again. It would have been VERY easy to point yourself in slightly the wrong direction, and have to hike 10km in the wrong direction before you find a road to get your bearings from, and then another 10km backagain.

[+The Jester]

I used to do this all the time with my old Garmin 12, it had a MOB (Man Over Board) function that made it real easy. The Rino doesn't have that function, so I don't always do it now. I've thought of getting an extra Rino to leave plugged into the car so I could 'poll' its position when I want to find the car, but it would be cheaper to just mark a waypoint.

[Black Mage]

I only mark my car or the trailhead as a waypoint if I am going somewhere with which I am not familiar. Especially if we are taking the ATVs or snowmobiles somewhere new.

 

Last winter my dad, a friend of his, I went snowmobiling up in the Uinta mountains (NE Utah, below Wyoming). My dad's friend had been there before so we felt pretty confident, but I marked the parking area, just in case. What I did not do, however, was keep the gps on while we were riding. After riding the trail and romping through the open fields for a few hours my dad's friend led us up to a peak to eat lunch. Unfortunately after we ate, the friend got us turned around pretty good and we had no idea which way we had come. Of course me being the genius I was, I didn't have the gps on to show us our trial.

 

Some one eventually rode by and we stopped him and got directions. It turned out that we had been only about 500 feet from the trail the whole time. We just couldn't see it because we were down hill. We finally got back to the truck, at which point we packed up and went to Park City for dinner.

 

The moral of this story: Turn your gps on before you get lost, not after.

Edited December 8, 2004 by Black Mage

[+flask]

i know i said i waypoing all those things, but i forgot to mention that most of my diligent waypointing happens at night.

[+horsegeeks]

We tend to waypoint everything, the car, trailheads and juctions. I've been called by Ms horsegeeks "directionally impaired". All joking aside I do have a terrible time with directions. When Ms horsegeeks or Jason are with me I don't set quite so many waypoints as they are much better at finding their way back. I always do it on big parking lots and college campuses when walking around them.

[MMACH 5]

I don't usually mark the car, although there have been times that I had to resort to the "bread crumb trail" to get back out. I do, however always mark the canoe. On your return to the boat, if you end up at the wrong bend in the river, it'll scare the crap out of you, thinking that your ride has just floated downstream.

[+Medic005]

I haven't marked the car as a waypoint, yet, but most of my caching has been areas that I'm fimilar with. I have used my tracks log to follow back to the car.

[+Kealia]

I do everytime but haven't had to use it yet (backtrack features and general sense of direction used up to this point).

 

As mentioned above though in the seatbelt scenario - it's the ONE time I need it that I'll be glad I do it everytime.

 

My wife used to do Search & Rescue and you'd be suprised to hear the number of times people who have been found by the SAR team have said:

 

"I know this area really well"

"I come here all the time"

"I was only going for a short walk"

etc....

[dsandbro]

Just push the 'panic button' on your key fob and follow the sound of the honking horn.

 

[+horsegeeks]

Just push the 'panic button' on your key fob and follow the sound of the honking horn.

 

If you are close enough to it

[Jeremy]

I used to do this all the time with my old Garmin 12, it had a MOB (Man Over Board) function that made it real easy.

Pressing and holding "mark" makes it easy to add a waypoint. I normally mark the parking area because I try to save a GPX file of my track data when I go on a cache hunt. Though I don't always remember to do it.

[+Quoddy]

not only do i waqypoint the car, but i waypoint trail junctions. crashco has a predilection for bushwhacking so i just quietly mark changes in trail and (of course) where we leave the trail.

 

that way i get plenty of opportunity to reconsider our return route.

These methods are just about exactly what I've found works best for me.

[+Alan2]

I always want to mark it but often forget. Then I have to check the bread crumb trail against the street on the GPS map. If you don't have on-board mapping, marking the waypoint seems more critical to me.

 

Also, the kind of environment is important. In dense woods where I cache, there might be a lot of trails crossing and you can't see beyond 50-100 yards, it's easy to get confused especially if you have an overcast day. However, I imagine it's easier in the west in the mountains where you can get a handle on where you're at by seeing the nearest mountains, cliffs, ranges, etc to get a bearing.

Edited December 9, 2004 by Alan2

[+WascoZooKeeper]

Sat in my car in my driveway at home and marked a waypoint for it before I even left, just so I'd be sure not to forget.

 

Drove 90 minutes to some woods that were supposed to have some good caches. Got disoriented in the woods, and having the waypoint for the car didn't help me a dadgum bit in finding it.

[+Team Tigger International]

Generally if we are going on a long hike we try to remember to waypoint the car so we can find our way back to it . Mostly if we are in Parks such as Pokagon State Park , or Chain O Lakes State Park here in Indiana . Park once and hike to all the caches in said park . Its always nice to have a way to find ones way back . Sometimes however we do tend to forget to Mark the Car .. then we find ourselves saying .. Why didn't we mark the car .

[CCGamer]

Not the car, but learned the hard way to mark a WP for where I drop my mountain bike when the going gets a little too thick.

It was one of those "uh-oh, now exactly where did I lay that thing down at" moments followed by an hour of wandering back and forth in a quasi-grid-like pattern looking for the darned thing.

*THEN* I remember the tracking feature on the GPS! Doh!

[+NightPilot]

Like most everyone else, when I do it I don't need it, and if I don't I probably will. A couple of times I really wished I had - once in a large park with about a dozen caches, and after wandering around all day I really wanted the shortest route back to the car, but I didn't have it, so I just had to go find it. Not a problem, but it wasn't the shortest route. On one night cache I got a little disoriented, and the GPS wouldn't maintain a lock under the heavy wet tree cover, so the trackback was out of the question. I hit a road, and had to guess which way to go, because it went both ways. Duh! I guessed right, but if I hadn't it would only have been a longer walk. It's certainly not always necessary, because I can often find it from the cache which is 20' away, sometimes less. This is another one of those 'depends on the cache and the area' type things.

[+planetrobert]

I don't because SporTraks have a track back feature which is a lot more useful than just telling me where the car is. It even gives you a route to get back.

so does that mean you need to circle around the cache for 30minutes to begin getting back to your car?

[+Rabbitto]

We always mark an "X" on the side of our car before leaving it. Once we have found the cache we walk in ever increasing circles, firstly discarding anything that does not resemble a car. Once we find a something that doesn't "not" resemble a car we check the car for an "X" and if we find an "X" we hop in. This has been a fairly foolproof method for us except for the dozen or so times we have driven off with a taXi in error. We cant believe that more geocachers do not employ this method rather that going to all the trouble of waypointing their car.

[+BVCY Swim]

Nope, never have marked the car, but I have had to follow my GPS tracks back to car on quite a few occasions; usually when I'm deep in the woods at twilight and/or the sun has gone down.

[+Planet]

Sometimes, when I'm feeling smart, I do.

[+TotemLake]

Just push the 'panic button' on your key fob and follow the sound of the honking horn.

 

If you are close enough to it

Ummmm in my case with an infrared sensor, that puts me about 15 feet maximum.

[+fly46]

If I were going somewhere I wasn't familliar and doing a long hike I sure would. I did a cache at an area (now a park) I used to go to all the time with the dog and almost got confused coming back. Of course, had I gotten too confused I could have exited in one of about twelve places and followed the road back to my car.

 

If I were traveling and caching, though, you better believe I'd mark my car before a mile hike.

[+BruceS]

I do anytime I am going to be out of eyesight of my car and I do sometimes even when it remains visible just out of habit.

[+leatherman]

I never do.

I have never lost my car. In a parking lot or the woods. I never understood the need to make a waypoint of the car.

Once I walk through an area, I can remember the way back.

[+NightPilot]

But sometimes the way back is several times longer than a straight line to the car.

[+Moose Mob]

Sometimes you mark it just so you know how far away it is. Sometimes there is nothing blocking the view, but you just can't see it. (look for the red circle, there's a big blue pickup in there).