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Second Annual Gbes Rally


rusty_tlc

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What are the actual dates? When I looked earlier today, it seemed like it was on a Fri (5/20) and Sat (5/21), but that didn't make sense? Is it correct? I sent an email to Monty, but he didn't get back to me.

That's the way I read it too TA. The night rally sounds like it will be Friday night, then the daytime rally will be Saturday (breakfast brunch before hand). I noticed the fee went up substantially too. On the other hand, there's certainly more stuff going on than last year, which by anyones account that attended was an absolute, unadulterated blast :unsure: . I thought the Towing Truck company sponsorship was a nice touch (free towing out of the desert if your car breaks down) <_< .

 

Unfortunately, we might have a conflict on our calender for that weekend :lol: I can wholeheartedly recommend this Event for anyone that has second thoughts. Monty/Nevada Wolf and the crew put on an amazing Event last year.

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What are the actual dates? When I looked earlier today, it seemed like it was on a Fri (5/20) and Sat (5/21), but that didn't make sense?  Is it correct?  I sent an email to Monty, but he didn't get back to me.

That's the way I read it too TA. The night rally sounds like it will be Friday night, then the daytime rally will be Saturday (breakfast brunch before hand). I noticed the fee went up substantially too. On the other hand, there's certainly more stuff going on than last year, which by anyones account that attended was an absolute, unadulterated blast :blink: . I thought the Towing Truck company sponsorship was a nice touch (free towing out of the desert if your car breaks down) :rolleyes: .

 

Unfortunately, we might have a conflict on our calender for that weekend <_< I can wholeheartedly recommend this Event for anyone that has second thoughts. Monty/Nevada Wolf and the crew put on an amazing Event last year.

Sorry I haven't checked back on this thread in a while.

May 10 and 11 are the dates I have. Friday for the night rally and Saturday for the day rally.

 

The fee has gone up but there will be a lot more features. A biggie is there will be a tow truck on call.

 

Proccedes in excess of expenses from last years event went to help the Fallon Families First for the relief of the victims and families of the Fallon Leukemia Cluster.

 

There was an Event Cache last weekend and Monty went over a lot of info about the event. All of which is covered on the website as well.

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May 10 and 11 are the dates I have. Friday for the night rally and Saturday for the day rally.

 

actually, the dates are may 20 (friday night) and 21 (saturday after a group breakfast).

 

the biggest reason the fee was increased from last year is that we have a big liability bill and porta-potty expense to cover. last year we had a benefactor take care of the liability. that won't happen this year.

 

that said, we thought if we had to raise the fee we might as well give the participants something for their money. so we are!

 

we have just about confirmed the breakfast that will take place on saturday morning. it looks like it will cost under $6 for a pancake breakfast with, yes, pancakes, sausages and orange juice. the venue will, most likely, be the starting line for the day run. how convenient is that?

 

still working on details for the saturday night awards banquet.

 

there will be more features to the rally and a lot more caches (40+).

 

you can checkout the rally's web site at: http://www.phantoms-lair.com/rally05/

 

btw: governor kenny guinn is dedicating saturday, may 20 as nevada geocache day in honor of the rally. how cool is that?

 

as long as you have a vehicle that will take most dirt roads you should have no trouble with the course.

 

oh yeah, BRING YOUR CAMERA! this year's route is stunning and with the winter we're having we should have some very nice desert wild flowers for your viewing pleasure.

 

got a question on the rally: montywolf@gmail.com

 

cache you later.

monty wolf

dr. of rockology

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May 10 and 11 are the dates I have. Friday for the night rally and Saturday for the day rally.

 

actually, the dates are may 20 (friday night) and 21 (saturday after a group breakfast).

 

...

 

cache you later.

monty wolf

dr. of rockology

Thanks Doc.

I realized my mistake this weekend. This is the first time I've been back to correct it.

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we thought if we had to raise the fee we might as well give the participants something for their money.  so we are!

 

... breakfast ... will cost under $6

Huh? <_<

I believe the Dr. was referring to another rally at night on top of the day rally which will be under an almost full moon, more caches and a more scenic drive. Not breakfast for under $6. This rally is going to be an outstanding event. If anyone can make it you won't be disappointed. It's gonna be a fun weekend, isn't that what it's all about? Also, the proceeds go to a very worthy cause.

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Yes, the Navigational Rally fee has the appearance of a substansial increase this year. But if you do the math, you will see the cool thing here is there are TWO Rallys. Look at it this way....$25.00 per person per Rally compared to last years ($30.00 per team per rally or $15.00 per person per Rally)....That is not much change these days....I don't know about my fellow cachers, but I could easily spend this much on a casual day of geocaching after, lunch, gas, trade items, etc.

So really, the price I believe is more than fair, and as we all know Nothing in life is FREE....

This is going to be a fun event.......Nevada is the perfect playground for events such as these..."So jump on in everyone, the water is warm"

Cacheleen

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:D We attended the last GBES event that gave us the "trial run" We being- Junglejan and KEELSX6. HOW FUN! And that was just a taste of what is to come. The rally in May will be our first rally and we are excited to take part-- a little scared, too ;) One of the things we are looking forward to the most is being able to do one of our favorite things with so many other people who "get it"

There are just too many people who think we are a little off the deep end about geocaching. ;) Boy are they all missing out! :D

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The rally in May will be our first rally and we are excited to take part-- a little scared, too :D One of the things we are looking forward to the most is being able to do one of our favorite things with so many other people who "get it"

 

Nothing to be scared about - well - maybe "Pucker Canyon".... but as long as you just stare straight ahead and don't try looking down the side of the 75 degree cliff to the bottom 500 feet below you'll be fine... :D except of course that one place during the night rally when your headlights are sending messages to the stars and the "road" drops the opposite direction... but I digress..

 

The 2005 Rally is going to be absolutely fantastic... It will leave you wanting more and requesting to sign up for the 2006 event right then and there... and also for the others that are in the works...opps! ;) - not suppose to be leaking information out ;) ... should not have typed that!

 

Orange Hippo

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we thought if we had to raise the fee we might as well give the participants something for their money.  so we are!

 

... breakfast ... will cost under $6

 

and then hemlock asked: Huh?

this is funny, hemlock!

 

yes. breakfast will be under $6. but, you'll have to wait to find out how much the awards banquet will cost.

 

i like the way cacheleen paints the picture of value in the entry fee.

 

$25 per person per rally = $100. that’s a bargain in my book!

 

we are still waiting for gc.com to approve the rally as an event. they've had it in their hot little hands for quite some time. looks like one of the issues is the fee. a lack of communications between the area’s cache approver (no, it’s not hemlock, dear friends) and me would be another issue. this is certainly not from a shortfall of my attempts to do so. i tried to tackle these issues back in november and still we wait for the same questions to be answered here in, what is about to become, the second week of february.

 

we've got some pretty big bills to pay to put this thing on. it would be nice if we could just say "come on out and play for free!" but, in a litigious world like we live in today, that is just not practical.

 

but, there are many more expenses than just our liability. like where are our volunteers, and participants going to pee? some people are not comfortable with experiencing the “call of nature” out in nature itself. getting porta-potties out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere is not cheap. neither are the permits, timing devices, trophies (18 in all: first, second and third for night, day and overall for each member of the team), food for volunteers, etc needed to operate an event of this nature.

 

NONE OF THE MONEYS WE ACQUIRE GOES INTO OUR POCKETS! WHATEVER WE DON’T SPEND TO PUT THE RALLY ON WILL GO TO THE VICTIMS AND THE FAMILIES OF THE FALLON LEUKEMIA CLUSTER. WE DON’T EVEN TAKE ANY CASH OUT TO PAY FOR THE GAS FOR THE MANY TIMES NEEDED TO DRIVE THE TWO COURSES. this isn’t something you can just put together on a map and call it good. ivan, teri and i must have run last year’s course 15 times. then the gbes admin group pre-runs the courses to determine the many course speed averages. oh yeah, there’s also all the trips of hiding the caches, setting up the checkpoints, picking up the trash, etc. that’s a lot of gasoline. all of it out of our pockets! this year, with an extra course and more elements, we will be spending even more of our own money to operate this thing. as a geocacher, i’m sure you understand why we do it. it’s because we love geocaching, just like the rest of the caching community.

 

originally, when ivan and i first put the idea of a geocache rally together, we wanted it to be the best cache-event ever presented. from what last year’s competitors have to say, i believe we’ve done just that!

 

we also wanted to expand the world of geocaching by introducing a fun competition that tests, therefore improve, the skills a geocacher needs in order to be a geocacher. i believe we succeeded in doing that, as well.

 

we have also taken what we did last year another step by incorporating more challenges to the event, not to mention an extra day (ok, so it’s a night) into the mix. when i look at gc.com’s guidelines for conducting a cache event, it sounds to me like we qualify to the letter!

 

perhaps, if we’d called it a “geocache safari” instead of a rally we wouldn’t be dealing with all this red tape.

 

maybe a wiser man than i can lend a little insight into all this.

 

monty wolf

dr. of rockology

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Hey California, Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, Utah cachers, Mark your calendars for the 2005 GBES Navigational Rally in Fallon Nevada, May 20th and May 21st . Let us see, how well you can operate your GPS....Nevada has the perfect playground to test you. Join the fun we would love to have you all. Oh, we have a limit on the number of entries, so you best hurry.

Hey this invite also goes out to our very own Cache approver in Colorado too. COadmin.

"Jump on in the water is warm"

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i was just going over the list in an update email to the nevada commission on tourism of groovy things about this year's rally and thought i’d pass it along.

 

we've got a couple of challenging courses plotted-out.

 

the night course will look quite eerie in the narrow beam of headlights and the glow of the full moon. :anitongue: it will have a bunch of caches for team’s to find including the multi-cache, which will send people on a night hike in the mystery of the desert. think you have what it takes?

 

saturday morning will begin with the optional pancake breakfast, which for 6-bucks, including gratuity is cheaper than anyplace else in town. and with around 200 participants, officials and volunteers all trying to get breakfast at the same time from one of the restaurants or fast food joints, the pancake breakfast sure sounds like the plan to me. :tired: the starting line will be in the parking lot where the pancake breakfast will take place.

 

the day course will put you into the desert within minutes of leaving the starting line. you’ll see areas created for the newland’s irrigation district that even few fallonites see. waterfowl abound, so keep your camera ready at all times. naval air station fallon is home to “top gun.” we will be crossing two bombing ranges used by top gun and other navy pilots. you may get to witness a practice bombing run or a mock dogfight. oh yeah, they fly on saturday, too so, keep your camera ready. you’ll pass by historic mining towns and trails from nevada’s past, a couple of canyons with incredible vista and one slot canyon that looks like a place that time has forgotten with walls of rich earthen colors, accented by bright colored lichens and thick moss. keep your camera ready!

 

on both courses you’ll be given challenges where better than average performance is rewarded with a few bonus points. superior performance is rewarded with a bunch of points. there are four degrees of points rewarded in the challenges.

 

checkpoint challenges will give navigators a chance to test their skills with the gps-receiver. you’ll need to find one of the rally’s many caches without using the goto function. sure, it’s easy, when the stopwatch isn’t ticking in your ear and all those bonus points are their for you to take. if. . .

 

course challenges will put the team’s driver and navigator in a situation where rock-solid communication between the two will be imperative. there will be a lot of rapid turns in a relatively short length (5-10 miles). once again the stopwatch is ticking while you attempt to maintain an exact average speed of 21.7 mph. can you do it with 50 bonus points in the balance? oh, and don’t go too fast. if you are just one second quicker than the official course challenge average you will not get any bonus points. sure, you could play it say and run a little slower, but 50 points looks a lot better than 25 points.

 

the multi-cache will take you on a short hike to a view that you will not soon forget. we’ve given you enough time to find all the waypoints from the parking area to the final location and checkout the scene. but, don’t space-out on it, ‘cuz you gotta keep your speed average as close to the official average for that leg.

 

and if just having a fun time while you try to stay on course, on time and score a few caches while you travel scenic desert terrain, you’re going to love the gbes navigational cache rally. in this event, with so much to see, there is certainly no disgrace in taking your time and coming in last. the adventure will still be grand and unique.

 

even nevada governor kenny guinn is proclaiming saturday of the rally nevada geocaching day, in honor of the rally. you will be a part of it!

 

like wolfman jack used to say: “you go’ love it death, baby!”

 

cache you later.

monty

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if i sound excited about this year's rally it's because. . . well. i am.

 

i get excited every time we go out to grab a few waypoints for the route, look at checkpoint set-ups, course challenge sections, cache locations etc.

 

ask cacheleen if she was excited when we took her up to checkpoint 3 last week :) . or, at least tried to take her to checkpoint 3. there was so much snow up there we couldn't get there B) . and this is not the highest elevation on the route.

 

according to our botanical expert, willybee, we should have some very nice wildflowers to welcome everyone.

 

cacheleen has suggested i put together a music cd to go with the "feel" of the course or the compliment the view. you don't know how tempting this is.

 

hey, i gotta calm down, i've got a radio show to do right now.

 

monty wolf

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I thought the Towing Truck company sponsorship was a nice touch (free towing out of the desert if your car breaks down)  :o .

For everyone's information - The tow company is Superior Tow & Transport - (775) 352-1580 if you ever need their services.... and if you have a chance please call them & leave a message for Ty the manager.. to thank him for their support of the rally - thanks.

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Hey monty any tips on how to prepare for the rally?

<shamless shilling by rusty :o >

You might ask WildOats about mid-road rock avoidance procedures... of course she failed that class last year :o ... did get a nice trophy for her wall though!

( hehe - couldn't help myself Jenn!) :huh:

Edited by Orange Hippo
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Hey monty any tips on how to prepare for the rally?

<shamless shilling by rusty :huh: >

ok, rusty. here's a shy half a quid for your shameless shilling! :o

 

i would suggest listening to ferrante and teicher recordings, eating your corn flakes with banana slices. . . oh wait :o . . . wrong preparations.

 

since geocaching requires only a small amount of the functions your gps-r will perform, turn it on and get to know some of the other features it has besides the goto function.

 

participation in the rally will require you to use the trip computer’s overall average speed feature to keep you on time. do not use the moving average. check out the reset the average and remember how to do it quickly. you’ll want to reset your trip computer every time you leave a checkpoint.

 

set up a route in the gps-r and follow it. you’ll quickly see that it’s not a very effective way of finding geocaches, as it goes to the next waypoint when you get in the general area of the current one. but it’s a great way of following the rally route. during the course challenge sections of the rally, waypoints will pass to rapidly to goto one waypoint to the next. ;)

 

we suggest using two gps-receivers during the rally; one to navigate and one to hunt. you can also use the second unit’s average speed function for those irritating course challenge sections that appear out of the middle of nowhere.

 

try finding an exact location with your gps-r without using the goto. go out somewhere with a fellow gps user and ask them to leave markers (small toys, small caches, small children) and take a waypoint for each. you find them by noting your location on the gps readout; watch the numbers change as you move about. in longitude the smaller numbers are to the east; in latitude the smaller numbers are to the south. you’ll be using this technique to find checkpoint challenge caches.

 

on my garmin venture and vista i can change what i see on a particular screen. if i were competing in the rally i would set up the navigation screen so it shows me distance to the next waypoint and average speed. on the map screen i would have average speed and pointer (or distance to waypoint). on the video screen i might have “the big lebowski.” ;)

 

get your vehicle ready. make sure you have plenty of what it’s going to take to get it, and its passengers (you and your teammate), into, and back out of, the desert safely. bring a shovel, water, tow-strap, water, tools and don’t forget water. you’re going to be out in the desert. there’s a good chance that you’re going to not need any of the items. but, what if you do? basically, you want to do any vehicle prep you would normally when heading out into the backcountry. don’t forget to air-down your tires. you really don’t want to change a tire from of a rock-break because you were setup to tow a 5th-wheel with 60 lbs. of pressure just waiting to escape.

 

maybe you’ll want to checkout your driving skills in areas of sand, crossing narrow (24”) washouts, driving off road at night, and general 4x4 driving practices.

 

btw: this is not a rock-crawler course. it is a very reasonable course. but you will need ground clearance and 4x4.

 

one of the events in the rally is a night rally, so you’re going to have to supply your own source of illumination (beyond these tips). headlamps, flashlights, lanterns, spotlights, etc. will be needed to play. practice holding your gps, light and a piece of 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper while chewing bubble gum. headlamps with lights strapped, duct taped, or bubble-gummed to your arm so you have free hands may be the way to go. get creative, because we sure did putting this thing together.

 

put some vittles in the backseat. you’re going to be out there for a while on saturday.

 

don’t forget to bring some water and a first aid kit for justin. you know, justin case?

 

certainly, you will want to bring your camera and spirit of adventure.

 

you should also bring some king crimson cd’s instead of the ferrante and teicher! well, i would!!

 

you will also find more tips for participating in the gbes navigation cache rally at: http://www.phantoms-lair.com/rally05/directornotes.htm

 

monty

gbes rally director

Edited by drofrockology
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The rally in May will be our first rally and we are excited to take part-- a little scared, too :tired: 

 

Nothing to be scared about - well - maybe "Pucker Canyon"....

it's interesting how pucker canyon got it's name.

 

last year, while pre-running the course to obtain the official rally speed, after we all met at the washout to discuss its problems, rick (papa laughing gravy) said the car seat was still stuck to his. :rolleyes:

 

i'm not sure if it really does have a name. to the east is a canyon called gz (ground zero?) canyon. but, noting is on the west side of the sand spring range.

 

i think it should be called laughing gravy canyon. :huh:

 

monty

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ask cacheleen if she was excited when we took her up to checkpoint 3 last week  :) .  or, at least tried to take her to checkpoint 3.  there was so much snow up there we couldn't get there  :rolleyes: .  and this is not the highest elevation on the route.

 

cacheleen has suggested i put together a music cd to go with the "feel" of the course or the compliment the view.  you don't know how tempting this is.

 

 

:D Woo Woo, what a hoot this was, even if we didn't make it because of the snow. I have to say Nevadawolf is an awesome driver. We had some neat music..........next thing I know I am mentally kicking myself in the rear for "raising my hand" to volunteer at this Rally.............

I want to "Play"...........That does it I am entering next year..... :huh:

But I am in for this year, I am happy to be a part of such a fun geocaching event no matter what side of it I am on. :o

This event is for everyone, provided they have the appropriate vehicle.....It is all about fun and using your GPS unit to it's fullest.

So "jump on in, the water is warm". :tired:

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This event is for everyone, provided they have the appropriate vehicle.....It is all about fun and using your GPS unit to it's fullest.

So "jump on in, the water is warm". :blink:

I agree. Last year I was really nervous about ''Racing'' off-road. However, the crew does a wonderful job at setting a safe and sane pace that everyone get's to try to follow. There was one stage where we lost our heads (racing backwards from the first check point back to the first cache because we thought we failed to leave a stupid envelope) but things went well after that.

 

If anyone's willing to step out of the boat of comfort, you'll find a wonderful adventure is out there waiting for you. This is not a Gathering to be missed! :D

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...There was one stage where we lost our heads (racing backwards from the first check point back to the first cache because we thought we failed to leave a stupid envelope) but things went well after that.

Ah HA!! I remember seeing you doing that!!

 

Moonchaser (my navigator) and I looked at each other in total amazement when we saw you RACING back the opposite direction of everyone else! " Were the heck are they going?"

 

Also wondered if you had just figured something out that we hadn't and maybe WE were going the wrong direction :blink: ... they did say people were going to be going different directions at times - but 180 degrees and at high speed???

 

I wondered about that for a good part of the day!

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I agree. Last year I was really nervous about ''Racing'' off-road. However, the crew does a wonderful job at setting a safe and sane pace that everyone get's to try to follow. There was one stage where we lost our heads (racing backwards from the first check point back to the first cache because we thought we failed to leave a stupid envelope) but things went well after that.

 

If anyone's willing to step out of the boat of comfort, you'll find a wonderful adventure is out there waiting for you. This is not a Gathering to be missed! :mad:

:mad: Thanks Green Achers, It is nice to hear the "Alumni" stories, and the cool thing this year is we all get to visit afterwards and share"Rally" stories at the Banquet.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that one..... :mad:

I invite all previous Rally Alumni to Feel free to share your experiences of the Rally here , this may help others decide if they want to attend, and perhaps they may want to ask an "Experienced" Rally Alumni for advice. :mad:

As Green Acher stated "this is not a gathering to be missed" :mad:

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Can't wait for the rally. Had blast with the event cache in Carson City doing the sample rally around town. Found all the animal bricks by the way. Got a card for my birthday from my husband ;) stating the card was good for one lift. I'm thinking, do I fix my butt or my boobs :D . It was for the 4" lift on the Jeep Rubicon :ph34r: . Oh well, the Jeep will be styling for the event, even if my boobs or butt isn't. Can't wait for the next cache event. :D

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Also wondered if you had just figured something out that we hadn't and maybe WE were going the wrong direction :D ... they did say people were going to be going different directions at times - but 180 degrees and at high speed???

 

I wondered about that for a good part of the day!

Ya. It was the stupid farmer navigating (me). Guess we did have a little speed going. But with 4X at the wheel, I knew I was in good hands. The points we lost doing that stunt would have placed us in second place! ;)

 

On a good note, we did pick up another Amateur to talk to through the race. The local repeaters were great to allow us to use they're resources but in the out back, we ended up switching to simplex 145.555 MHz to save power and free up the frequency. In all that dust and hills and such, it added to the race fun. I think most everyone else were trying to squeek out 0.5 watts on FRS (UHF) or 5 watts on the chicken band (VHF - fowl language) while we enjoyed up to 50 watts (UHF/VHF). As my shop professor always told us, ''Blown, Charged nor Injected... there's not replacement for cubic inches'' and that's true with radio as well. When the message really needs to get there, power works. :ph34r:

 

___________

 

Avatar's are fixed here

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Can't wait for the next cache event. :ph34r:

you will not have much longer to wait.

 

we have scheduled an event cache for february 26th at 1:30 at the little waldorf in reno, near unr.

 

we submitted the event to gc.com about 10-12 days ago. still waiting for its approval on this day. :D

 

we will be helping new geocachers work with their gps-receivers and cache-chunting techneques. we will also have a mini-rally course set-up participants, or potential particicpants, practice some of the methods you'll need to run the rally competitively. we will have a simulated checkpoint established.

 

oh, yeah. we're going to give away a few goodies.

 

cache you later.

monty wolf

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Call me lame but how do you guys get the picture posted by your name when you make a post. Does this make since. I think they are called avitars?????? Correct me if I'm wrong. I have one in mind but don't know how to do it.

hi jan:

 

to get the picture on your forum posts:

 

go to your cache page.

 

near the top of the page where it says "my account details" click "edit profile"

 

scroll down. you'll see it.

 

cache you later.

monty

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i just received a private email from one of the rally participants asking about what type of wildlife might be seen during the rally and thought i'd put some of the critters on the forum.

 

besides the typical high desert critters (hawks, rabbits, ground squirels, kangaroo rats, range cattle) i have seen golden eagles, mule deer, prong horn (antelope) and wild horses in the areas where the rally courses has been set up. there is one section where bald eagles may be present.

 

the areas surrounding fallon have a lot of migratory waterfowl. the species are too many to name and number. a section of the rally was created for the purpose of viewing some of these birds. there should be yellow-headed blackbirds (one of my favorites because of the bright yellow contrasting with their black bodies) near the irrigation canals and ditches.

 

there are a couple of herds of big horn sheep where the day course passes. boogsar, who used to fly in helo's for the navy told me he's seen mountain lions in his night-vision while flying over areas of the rally courses.

 

the big horns and mountain lions are fairly unlikely to reveal themselves, but if the others are around the chances are pretty good that you will see, at least a handful of those mentioned above.

 

depending on the temperature there may also be reptiles out sunning themselves. if it's hot, there may be a few snakes out at night, but i think it's going to be too early in the season for them to be out at night. they usually do the nocturnal-thang when it's too hot for them to be out in the daylight.

 

speaking of snakes, yes, there are rattlesnakes in the desert. in all the years i've spent in the deserts of the southwestern u.s. i have only seen 2 rattlesnakes. one of them i got out of my car to get a closer look at. since most people get bitten on the hand because of reaching into rocks and bushes you should be safe from that (the route caches are not hidden). of course, since this is in the desert, you will be wearing boots, won't you?

 

my advise on rattlesnakes: be aware but don't let it ruin your day in the desert. watch where you put your feet. if it's hot during the day, don't walk right next to bushes or in the shade of rocks, don't reach into places you can't see and if you do see one, don't get close enough to stress-out the snake.

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DocofRockology forgot to mention Stick Lizards and Jackalopes.

 

Luminarius Lacerta Bacillum (light giving stick lizard) or Stick Lizard, protects itself from the scorching temperatures of the desert sand by inserting the stick it carries in it's mouth into the ground and climbing up on it. The lizard will remain on it's stick for up to 10 hours a day, absorbing great quantities of light which is reprocessed into a new form of light which at night shines out of the lizard's eyes, mouth and small modules on it's skin. Stick lizards spend most of their time on their sticks during the hottest times of the year, coming down only to feed on the small fruits of the Nox Lumen Belua Cactus (night light eating monster cactus) or Light Eating Cactus. This cactus is incapable of producing food from sunlight and instead relies on the recycled light of the Light Giving Stick Lizard creating a strange, reciprocal relationship.”

 

The jackalope is an antlered species of rabbit, unfortunately rumored to be extinct, though occasional sightings of this rare creature continue to occur, suggesting that pockets of jackalope populations continue to persist in its native home, the American West.
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we were out working on the night course sunday. we have about 90%

of the waypoints set. the checkpoints are placed and the course

challenges established. all that's left of the night course is to

decide where we're going to place the caches. i can't wait to run it

at night! it should be quite interesting!

 

we also dropped by a section of the day course to make a routing

decision. while we were there our gbes admin botanist, willybee

(who's caching signature item is a personalized packet of wildflower

seeds native to the great basin), tossed out native wildflower seeds

in select areas for your viewing pleasure.

 

not that you won't have much to look at.

 

when we begin the day rally we'll have you out in the desert in minutes and you're going to love the views we set up for you. we'll also pass through a section of the

lahontan valley where there is a very good chance that you'll see some of the pacific flyway waterfowl that passes through on their way north. several variety of ducks frequent the canals and lakes of the area. you may also see pelicans. you'll probably see a few great blue heron, a couple species of egrets, ibis, killdeer and avocets. the last time we traveled this section we must have seen 50 flickers,

which are related to woodpeckers.

 

you'll have a lot of subjects picture taking.

 

# # # # #

 

due to popular demand, gbes admin is now considering conducting rally

school in the sacramento area. if you competed last year and want to

know what to expect this year, if you have a friend who is thinking

about running or if you know someone who thinks the rules will keep

them from having fun, this event will be a must.

 

if you would attend such an event (it would be scheduled for a

saturday, around midday), please, send an email to gbesevents@gmail.com

 

we're really starting to get pumped on this year's rally. the courses

are going to be awsome!

 

monty wolf

rally director

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Not to steal any of the good Doctor's thunder, but Sacramento Rally School will be held on the 12th of March. I'm working with the Doc and a few of the GBES folks and rally volunteers to nail down the venue and time. An advantage of this day is that there is an RCGDS Event Cache being held the same day, which gives our NV brethren a chance to visit rugged Sacramento for some serious adventure caching! I'm suspect that Rally School will be held in the early afternoon to allow folk to do some caching beforehand or afterward. Stay tuned for details....

 

The SKWERL (bryan)

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Also, as a 2004 GBES Rally alumnus, I have to say that this was the most fun caching adventure I've ever participated in. And that is despite the fact that I didn't even finish it last year (yes, I was the doofus who used the high-clearance one-wheel-drive vehicle in the event. :D ). If you have the opportunity to participate in this event, by all means do so!

 

The SKWERL (bryan)

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Not to steal any of the good Doctor's thunder, but Sacramento Rally School will be held on the 12th of March.  I'm working with the Doc and a few of the GBES folks and rally volunteers to nail down the venue and time.  An advantage of this day is that there is an RCGDS Event Cache being held the same day, which gives our NV brethren a chance to visit rugged Sacramento for some serious adventure caching!  I'm suspect that Rally School will be held in the early afternoon to allow folk to do some caching beforehand or afterward.  Stay tuned for details....

 

The SKWERL (bryan)

Wright you are Bryan. This will also be a good chance to try out a few tricks too...

 

28fb0f5c-9580-4a88-a190-cbeeca36328a.jpg

 

BTW, I really felt for you last year - eating all that dust in the hot sun while we ran the A/C. :ph34r:

Edited by Green Achers
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The Sacramento Rally Skool is now finalized and it is set up as an event cache to boot!!!

 

Take a look at GCN02Y "Rally Skool"

 

It will be held in a park outside of Penryn, CA (E of Sacramento on I-80), which will actually be more convenient for folks coming over the hill from NV. It will be a little bit different than the one in Reno with the Checkpoint happening first and the Route Navigation happening afterward. This was done so that you could have some fun navigating and end up in Sacramento around dinner time for the RCGDS event. Of course there is a fair amount of time between Rally Skool and the RCGDS Luau event, so you might want to do some caching along the way... :mad: . Through a series of coincidences, the selected Route that will take you through a few areas with a cache or two....

 

The Rally Skool event opens at 11:30 and closes to new students at 1:30. In order to claim Rally Skool as a find, you will need to complete the Checkpoint challenge within a fairly generous thirty minute window. To make it interesting, you will have to run around the park in a motorcycle helmet, goggles, riding suit and dirtbike boots (just kidding) :blink: . The limited time window will give the faculty a little time to do some caching after the event as well.

 

Hope everyone likes the setup. Feel free to drop me a note if you have any questions or comments!

 

The SKWERL (bryan)

Newcastle, CA

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