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aklap
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 8140
Location: WI, USA
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 Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 11:31 pm Post subject: Geocaching |
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I don't want to hijack the TPBM game thread...
I've been interested in GC'ing but just wondering what GPS y'all have that do it?
I think TEC's right - it'd be a great way to get exercise without really knowing it 
Maybe we could start a GF GC - if there already isn't one!
_________________
Al
“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa
Last edited by aklap on Tue Jan 23, 2007 1:58 am; edited 1 time in total |
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gfrach
Joined: 28 Aug 2006
Posts: 236
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 1:56 am Post subject: |
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I think any GPS device should work fine. I have a Garmin but I don't know which one exactly.
It's a lot harder than it sounds because GPS devices don't work well in lots of trees (they can't communicate with the satellites well that way) and they're notoriously bad when short distances from the setting. And geocachers can be *very* sneaky about how they hide things. One that oh my was literally a small cylinder that was about 1/4" in diameter! That was a tough one!
But it is fun!
Rach |
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Fidissimus
Joined: 17 Mar 2006
Posts: 1459
Location: Portland, OR.
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 2:23 am Post subject: |
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I love it! I think we should start a travel bug circuit with the goal of making it to all the GF cachers on this board. 
I've seen some really cool places that I otherwise would never have looked into, known about, or even considered going to because I was following a little arrow looking for "treasure". I've even gotten my video-game addicted husband out of the house and hiking with me!  If you knew him, you'd know what a miracle that is... I mean he was hiking... outside... where the big bright light lives... and having *FUN*.  Just wondering what was the coolest/beautiful/most interesting place you went to while caching?
I will admit that I'm a wuss - a fair weather cacher if you will. I haven't been since October and probably won't start again until May-ish... though I've been itchin' to go lately.... but there's NO WAY I'm getting DH out of the house for that in winter. It's hard enough in good weather. I need a local catching buddy. Sigh.
And to Al's question, I have the Garmin GPSMap 60CSx. What can I say? It rocks... I've been under some pretty thick tree cover and still gotten decent reception. That's important in the PNW - we have a lot of trees up here! The battery life is pretty good too. However I always carry spares especially if I'm going to be out all day. It's worth the investment to get rechargeable batteries and just rotate them. My biggest complaint - the base map sucked, so be sure to get the upgraded maps... yeah, yeah, yeah more $$ but SO much better in the end. Also don't buy direct from Garmin - yikes! I bought mine from TigerGPS on line. They'll match any price you find. Which they did; I found one lower on line but didn't think the company was reputable so asked Tiger to match it. Not a problem. They matched the lower price and shipped it quickly. If you feel comfortable buying on line, I'd recommend them.
I did a lot of research on which GPS I wanted to get. I was planning on a splurge for myself, I've wanted to cache for over four years before I dedicated the funds to it, so it had to be right. Plus I was tired of paying "fat tax" for a gym membership that I wasn't using... so at least at the end of the day I'd have a cool electronic toy to play with in addition to getting some exercise. Now if the weather would just warm up a bit!
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Cheers!
Jenn
GF BD: Feb. 2001
Free of wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice, dairy, eggs, almonds, pineapple and brewers yeast.
http://graindamaged.blogspot.com/ |
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ostrich
Joined: 30 Mar 2006
Posts: 3960
Location: Nebraska
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:05 am Post subject: |
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Linky, for those of us who didn't know what the hell you guys were talking about.
Fid, my husband's the same way. I tell him he's allergic to the daystar.
This does sound like fun, but I think I'd be flying blind so to speak. Those GPS units aren't cheap.
_________________
Ostrich :>--O==={
I lie below, you float above
In the pretty white ships that I am dreaming of |
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The Edifying Conscience
Joined: 29 Aug 2005
Posts: 2343
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:14 pm Post subject: Re: Geocaching |
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| aklap wrote: | I don't want to hijack the TPBM game thread...
I've been interested in GC'ing but just wondering what GPS y'all have that do it?
I think TEC's right - it'd be a great way to get exercise without really knowing it
Maybe we could start a GF GC - if there already isn't one! |
For my birthday a 3-4 years ago I received a Garmin Etrex Legend. I didn't choose it or research it, but it's a great beginner's GPS. I haven't had any problems with it even under thick tree cover. I've found it does help to keep fresh batteries in it and it's essential to let it get a good reading before going into a new area or once in a new area. When I was in Germany I just let it sit on the roof of my aunt's car for 10 minutes before we left.
I'm sure Fidd gave the site but just in case it geocaching.com. |
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The Edifying Conscience
Joined: 29 Aug 2005
Posts: 2343
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Fidissimus wrote: | I love it! I think we should start a travel bug circuit with the goal of making it to all the GF cachers on this board.
I've seen some really cool places that I otherwise would never have looked into, known about, or even considered going to because I was following a little arrow looking for "treasure". I've even gotten my video-game addicted husband out of the house and hiking with me! If you knew him, you'd know what a miracle that is... I mean he was hiking... outside... where the big bright light lives... and having *FUN*. Just wondering what was the coolest/beautiful/most interesting place you went to while caching?
I will admit that I'm a wuss - a fair weather cacher if you will. I haven't been since October and probably won't start again until May-ish... though I've been itchin' to go lately.... but there's NO WAY I'm getting DH out of the house for that in winter. It's hard enough in good weather. I need a local catching buddy. Sigh.
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A CDGF travel bug would be fun. I bet there are lots of GF cachers out there. We should check into it.
I was just looking at my account at geocaching.com and realized that I last logged a find in April! I'll have to fix that this weekend. I'm choosey about which geocaches I'll look for. I prefer to look for small, medium or large caches in pretty areas. No micros for me! One of the neatest ones I've found was a virtual that took me/us to the gravesite of the alleged last confederate soldier. It's called 'Something Odd.' Another that I really loved took me/us to the ruins of a local mansion. I could have spent hours wandering around that area. In fact, we did spend a couple of hours wandering. I've also found an APE cache which was really cool. It was the largest cache I've ever seen filled to the top. It was about 4' x 2' x 8" or so and was located on the middle of a hill in a forest preserve. The poor guy that dragged that up there! One time we didn't see a HUGE buck and when he moved I thought the four of use--fake nephew & niece, their friend and I were literally going to have heart attacks. We couldn't have been more than 6 feet away from it but it was hidden to us by overgrowth.
The other really good thing about caching is that it gave me a chance to reconnect with fake nephew. He's a self-proclaimed geek NOT NERD and he loves using the GPS. He doesn't like reaching his hands into places so he mans the GPS and I do the reaching. Fake niece enjoys caching as well and that kid is fearless when her cautious brother is around. Typical younger sister has to show him she's not afraid when he is....brat. : )
I never cache alone, but I have on occasion been known to borrow a dog and leave a note as to which exact caches I'll be visiting. My aunt and uncle's lab is a natural cacher. She must sniff where other people have walked on a couple of occasions she's taken me pretty close to a cache without using billion dollar technology.
EDITED to add that I didn't know Portland has a winter. |
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The Edifying Conscience
Joined: 29 Aug 2005
Posts: 2343
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:48 pm Post subject: |
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Al,
If you decide to take the plunge and get a GPS make sure you also get a backpack and fill it with a few useful things. I have a small sidepack that I use. It has room for the GPS, camera, cell, a small first aid kit, a whistle, extra batteries, a leather glove for reaching into dark places, a flashlight, swag, emergency information, a small useless compass, bug/tick repellent and handywipes, pens and paper.
The last time I went caching fake niece and I both tripped over some barbed wire fencing that was on the ground at a remote forest preserve. I cut the palm of my hand and she tore her jeans and cut her knee. I was glad that I had something to use to clean our 'wounds' and the bandages made everything better... |
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gfrach
Joined: 28 Aug 2006
Posts: 236
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 2:32 pm Post subject: |
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| TEC wrote: |
EDITED to add that I didn't know Portland has a winter. |
 I'm not in Portland, but in Eugene. Oregon winter is really the muddy season (though this year we've really had a winter--snow and all!). And trust me, I'm with Fid on this, geocaching in the muddy season really isn't a lot of fun.
Rach |
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aklap
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 8140
Location: WI, USA
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 2:33 pm Post subject: |
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Interesting...very interesting. Makes me really want to do it now!!!
But alas, we are trying to save for a trip to see Mickey. So any funds will be funneled there.
I think it'd be really cool to have some type of GF caching. I see that I have some reading to do!!
_________________
Al
“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa |
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aklap
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 8140
Location: WI, USA
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 2:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Fidissimus wrote: | | I love it! I think we should start a travel bug circuit with the goal of making it to all the GF cachers on this board. |
 Yeah...very cool...
You could you cache a USB drive? Would it get stolen? I'm thinking it'd be fun to cache that with a pictures of everyone that found it. They'd just keep adding to it.
TEC and I are probably in close enough proximity that at trip to WI Dells would do it for each of us. LOL! (FYI - WI Dells is a favorite tourist attraction of many that live "south of the border" )
_________________
Al
“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa |
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The Edifying Conscience
Joined: 29 Aug 2005
Posts: 2343
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 4:39 pm Post subject: |
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| aklap wrote: | Interesting...very interesting. Makes me really want to do it now!!!
But alas, we are trying to save for a trip to see Mickey. So any funds will be funneled there.
I think it'd be really cool to have some type of GF caching. I see that I have some reading to do!! |
Just so you know, when my parents took fake niece and nephew to see Mickey they did a couple of caches in the various parks.... |
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nancw
Joined: 04 Oct 2006
Posts: 751
Location: Denver, CO
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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This sounds so cool - I WANNA TRY! I've heard of it before, but never talked to anyone or really looked into it.
Sounds like it's almost as widespread and yet still fairly unknown as Celiac Disease. |
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aklap
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 8140
Location: WI, USA
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 5:59 pm Post subject: |
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| TEC wrote: |
Just so you know, when my parents took fake niece and nephew to see Mickey they did a couple of caches in the various parks.... |
SIGH - looks like I'll be saving for a GPS to take on the trip...
_________________
Al
“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa |
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The Edifying Conscience
Joined: 29 Aug 2005
Posts: 2343
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:37 pm Post subject: |
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| aklap wrote: |
SIGH - looks like I'll be saving for a GPS to take on the trip... |
Friends don't let friends go away without packing their GPS! |
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ostrich
Joined: 30 Mar 2006
Posts: 3960
Location: Nebraska
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| Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 8:08 am Post subject: |
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I'm trying to get my aunt into this. She's gone about 4 weeks now without a cigarette, but she could still use something to do (the mental attachment is strong in this one). So if you end up geocaching in FL, look her up!
_________________
Ostrich :>--O==={
I lie below, you float above
In the pretty white ships that I am dreaming of |
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