Indiana Boy need Advise On Geocaching Out West?

[Zig and Zag]

Going to Grand Canyon area for vacaction. (Geocaching) I need to know if you guys do anything differnt then us midwesterners? I know we should wear long pants and use a stick to check for snakes, but is there anything else that this Indiana boy should look out for?

 

Beter to Zig then Zag!

[+welch]

i would think just a general warning about not falling off the mountain, and or in the canyons.

 

[+welch]

oh yea, ask this in the correct regional forum.

 

[+barondriver]

One thing I learned from doing caching in Phoenix & Las Vegas are:

 

GPS is direct..and .7 can mean 1.5 if it's up and down, back and forth and around the mountain..

 

Take water..you'll probably need it.

 

and..

 

I don't think they know how to place an easy cache out there..

 

 

sure had fun though...

happy cachin'

 

[+barondriver]

One thing I learned from doing caching in Phoenix & Las Vegas are:

 

GPS is direct..and .7 can mean 1.5 if it's up and down, back and forth and around the mountain..

 

Take water..you'll probably need it.

 

and..

 

I don't think they know how to place an easy cache out there..

 

 

sure had fun though...

happy cachin'

 

[chloew]

To repeat the last post: Bring and drink (!) lots of water while you are hiking. If you plan on hiking more than 30 minutes bring water. About a quart per hour of hiking should be about right, which turns out to be a gallon for only a four hour hike. Start drinking it at a regular pace as soon as you start hiking, not when you start to get thirsty. If you go for an extensive hike, check with locals to see if there are springs along the way. Bring disinfecting tablets in that case. Also bring some food containing salt and minerals along. Besides water most people hiking get in trouble from a lack of salt in their system when they sweat a lot. Jerky seems to work very well for that. You don't need salty snacks (they make you more thirsty), but just some food that contains regular amounts of salt. Gatorade (instead of or in addition to water) is good for other minerals and electrolytes, but does not contain salt.

 

If you are off by yourself, let someone know where you are going and when you should be back. Check in with them on your return.

[Attila]

Look at a topo to visualize what terrain you'll be treking across. Heat - there's little shade and lots of rocks (which store heat). Early morning and late evening are the best times to cache. WATER (bring your own, we don't have any out here ).

 

"I've never been lost. However, I did misplace the camp for a few days." - Daniel Boone

[Attila]

Look at a topo to visualize what terrain you'll be treking across. Heat - there's little shade and lots of rocks (which store heat). Early morning and late evening are the best times to cache. WATER (bring your own, we don't have any out here ).

 

"I've never been lost. However, I did misplace the camp for a few days." - Daniel Boone

[Skyjellyfetti and Flo]

In addition to the topo, water, and food, watch the weather closely. Most of the canyons in the soutwest have the potential for a flash flood anytime of year. These floods take place very quickly and are very deadly. They are frequent from July through September. Even if you see clear blue skies above you, there may be a huge thunderstorm miles away that feeds the canyon/drainage you are exploring. Since much of the southwest is rock, it doesn't absorb much rain. The result is a flash flood. These thunderstorms usually have lightning. Stay off high plateaus if you see lightning. My advice is to check with the rangers or visitor center for weather info before venturing out, stay out of narrow slot-type canyons if you see threatening weather, and be aware of the distance you have covered. It can be misleading. And have fun.

 

Mountains. They aren't just for breakfast anymore.

[+Renegade Knight]

Based on Idaho, which is cooler than AZ. Bring water. when you think you have enough. Double it. Then allow for being In Arizona instead of Idaho and double it again.

[+culpc]

Remember that there is no air in the desert. Most of the Four Corners states are 0ver 5000' altitude, which means 1/2 the available oxygen of sea-level . Take it a little easy and drink lots of fluids.

 

Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son!

[+culpc]

Remember that there is no air in the desert. Most of the Four Corners states are 0ver 5000' altitude, which means 1/2 the available oxygen of sea-level . Take it a little easy and drink lots of fluids.

 

Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son!

[+majicman]

And don't forget your high heels!

 

mmmmmmmm

 

--majicman

 

(Always trade UP in both quantity and quality and Geocaches will be both self-sustaining and self-improving!)

[NJ_Tonto]

I dont want to offend any of yous - but

 

Some of you people appear to be very - how do you say - sick in the head?

 

Yes, Kimosabe...

[+georgeandmary]

quote:

---

Originally posted by NJ_Tonto:

I dont want to offend any of yous - but

 

Some of you people appear to be very - how do you say - sick in the head?

 

Yes, Kimosabe...

---

 

Isn't New Joisey the place where people start croaking when the temps get above 90. Hell, temps in the 90s make for nice caching. Low 100's is when I start to think about waiting until evening when it gets down to the 90's.

 

george

 

Remember: Half the people you meet are below average.

[+majicman]

Shoot,

 

When it's only in the 90s here in Okrahoma, we are still wearing our furs!

 

--majicman

 

(Always trade UP in both quantity and quality and Geocaches will be both self-sustaining and self-improving!)

[chloew]

... it's the humidity

 

Your choice:

 

A. Cache at 104 degrees, 30 % humidity

 

or

 

B. Cache at 92 degrees, 90 % humidity

 

I'll take A any day.

 

Who can come up with a complicated formula of cache difficulty, terrain, temperature, humidity, rain/lightining/thunder, ticks/mosquitos per cubic meter, light level, and other assorted factors to give a proper find rating, so that we can all compare our total finds more accuaretly?

[+georgeandmary]

News said it hit 114 today. Yup, I'm going caching.

 

george

 

Remember: Half the people you meet are below average.

[+Gliderguy]

having lived in Albuquerque for 3 years, I agree with the quart per hour rule, especially if you are hiking hard with a pack. Ditto on the thin air. Most of the west is above 5000 ft in elevation as already mentioned (perhaps except for the BOTTOM of the Grand Canyon!) you will find yourself winded easier than normal, not so much that you notice just walking around, but will definitely feel the difference climbing steep terrain. I personally really notice the altitude when I get to 8000 feet elevation (lots of the mountain peaks are over 10,000 ft) but I am not in particularly good cardiovascular shape.

 

Technically, you have to be up to 18,000 feet before the air pressure and thus available oxygen is cut in half, but just for reference, pilots are required to go on oxygen anytime above 14,500, and over 12,500 if there for more than 30 minutes.

 

Somewhere in the low teens of altitude you start to lose the edge on your judgement, add dehydration and a beer or two (which affects you more in the thin air anyway) and you are almost unfit to wander around without escort.

 

Finally, if you hike DOWN into a canyon, don't wait until you feel half used up before you start back OUT!

 

Going uphill, you can be pretty used up and still make it back downhill to your starting point without being totally exhausted.

[+Sluggo]

The 1 qt per hour (of water) is good advice as well as the high altitude effecting judgement, however dont't forget physiological factors as well.

Example:

MaxFerret goes after the Mystery Mountian Cache (located on the top of Mystery Mountain). He parks at the 8000 ft level and procedees to hike 2 miles up an easy trail with 2000 feet of elevation change. He drinks 1 qt of water an hour. It takes him 2 hours up and 1 hour back. He took 4 qts of water with him and all is well. He even has a quart of water left. Now, MaxFerret is built like a Meerkat. You know, one of these Meerkats. He's 150 lbs, 5'5", 24 years old, has a very high surface-to-volume ratio, and on the trip his heart rate never topped 138 bpm.

Now consider Sluggo:

Sluggo is built like R2D2 only on steroids. He is 340 lbs, 5'11", 54 years old, has a very low surface-to-volume ratio, and his heart rate never sees the low side of 120 bpm anytime he's off the couch. To top it off, he's diabetic. So Sluggo tries the same cache. He carries 2 quarts of water and two quarts of Gatoraide per hour with him. Only for him it is a three hour up and 2 hour down trip. He also carries some dried fruit and hard candy in case his blood glucose gets too low. He doesn't try to make the trip at the same speed as MaxFerret, he knows his limitations, and he enjoys Geocaching more than anything else in the world (well almost).

The morale of this story is:

Don't take guidelines and rules of thumb as a hard and fast rule. Adjust them to match your own physiology.

And the Most Important Thing:

If you are enexperienced in a particular area, especially if it is very different from what you are used to, TAKE A LOCAL WITH YOU!

 

Anyone want to take an old, fat, slow, but experienced guy Geocaching in the deserts of Eastern Washington? I'll carry your pack... Clean your boots... wash your 4x4....

 

--- Sluggo Marrinelli

 

 

I've been convinced for a long time that the flying saucers are real and interplanetary. In other words we are being watched by beings from outer space. -Albert M. Chop, NASA

[+Sluggo]

The 1 qt per hour (of water) is good advice as well as the high altitude effecting judgement, however dont't forget physiological factors as well.

Example:

MaxFerret goes after the Mystery Mountian Cache (located on the top of Mystery Mountain). He parks at the 8000 ft level and procedees to hike 2 miles up an easy trail with 2000 feet of elevation change. He drinks 1 qt of water an hour. It takes him 2 hours up and 1 hour back. He took 4 qts of water with him and all is well. He even has a quart of water left. Now, MaxFerret is built like a Meerkat. You know, one of these Meerkats. He's 150 lbs, 5'5", 24 years old, has a very high surface-to-volume ratio, and on the trip his heart rate never topped 138 bpm.

Now consider Sluggo:

Sluggo is built like R2D2 only on steroids. He is 340 lbs, 5'11", 54 years old, has a very low surface-to-volume ratio, and his heart rate never sees the low side of 120 bpm anytime he's off the couch. To top it off, he's diabetic. So Sluggo tries the same cache. He carries 2 quarts of water and two quarts of Gatoraide per hour with him. Only for him it is a three hour up and 2 hour down trip. He also carries some dried fruit and hard candy in case his blood glucose gets too low. He doesn't try to make the trip at the same speed as MaxFerret, he knows his limitations, and he enjoys Geocaching more than anything else in the world (well almost).

The morale of this story is:

Don't take guidelines and rules of thumb as a hard and fast rule. Adjust them to match your own physiology.

And the Most Important Thing:

If you are enexperienced in a particular area, especially if it is very different from what you are used to, TAKE A LOCAL WITH YOU!

 

Anyone want to take an old, fat, slow, but experienced guy Geocaching in the deserts of Eastern Washington? I'll carry your pack... Clean your boots... wash your 4x4....

 

--- Sluggo Marrinelli

 

 

I've been convinced for a long time that the flying saucers are real and interplanetary. In other words we are being watched by beings from outer space. -Albert M. Chop, NASA

[+Gliderguy]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sluggo:

_Example:_

MaxFerret goes after the Mystery Mountian Cache (located on the top of Mystery Mountain). He parks at the 8000 ft level and procedees to hike 2 miles up an easy trail with 2000 feet of elevation change.

---

 

In that example, my name would be MaxFuggo.

 

a 20% grade starting at 8000 feet elevation would be easy only for people named MaxFerrarri to MaxFerret or above...

[OFF RODE]

Well from an Az desert dweller/cacher all the above is good advice...we like to plan on a gallon per hour for tough hikes in the desert at 105-110. BUT drink as much of it BEFORE you set out (within an hour or so) so you are fully hydrated when you start. And dont take along just what you think you need for the amount of time planed to be on the hike...what if you get lost? theres no such thing as toooooooo much water in the desert. And one other thing dont put your hands or feet where you cannot see! Good luck!

 

"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there." Yogi Berra