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When we started ( 2004 ) I remember “clearing out” the local caches in a month … then noticing I had to go farther than 10 miles (I hated driving) to find ANY caches … right now there are 142 caches that I have not found with 10 miles of me. Granted we’ve slowed down a lot and my leg has been out of commission for a couple months … but when we started I bet if you included my caches and ones that I did find, there was only about 30 or so total in that range.

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22 years in April … started caching on our anniversary (was “something new to try” while we were staying at a B&B).

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A couple bits of information …

#1 Ranger Andrew from Harrington is NOT one of the hiders. In fact he contacted me a couple months ago more or less making me the “official park volunteer” for approving all cache placements at Harrington. Basicially if the group doing this wants to hide a cache at Harrington (and they do), they have to get my Ok. Ranger Krueger does not own a GPSr and doesn’t really cache (except on vacation with his sister, Rainbow Rach) … the closest he’s coming to hiding caches is working side by side with me, especially the physical details of “Harrington: Risen to Power” (which I’m sure would break State Law if a DNR staffer had not done it).

#2 Yes, I have been in contact with the group doing this. I have a couple names and email addresses. Near as I can figure they seem to have done at least some amount of geocaching, but I’m not clear as to what their geo-names would be and didn’t bother asking.

#3 While they asked me to help them scout out a spot at Harrington face-to-face, I can not … as I’m still recovering from breaking my knee cap (about a month yet before I can drive, return to work and/or walk on something other than Terrain 1). I have supplied them with my “top 5” list of places I would like to see a cache at placed at Harrington.

#4 I have not received details on their location selection for Harrington, and none has been placed there yet. Only caches at Harrington currently are my 10 caches and 2 placed in May by someone called “Pawn of Chaos”.

#5 My most recent contact with the group was questions they had about technical stuff about the geocaching website … like to URLs of caches stay constant (yes) and what would be the best way to put all the event’s caches on a website (I suggested creating a bookmark list and gave them directions on how to do this).

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While I didn’t spend more that a minute glancing at your code (so more could be wrong, in theory) … there is a very glaring mistake … You have http:// TWICE for some reason, at the beginning of it.

@neonride93 wrote:

<a href=‘http://http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=a6fc988f-214f-4608-b447-bfe4c72162c4&#8242; title=”>Cram Island

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in the past I’ve been a fan of GSAK … but once I got my Oregon, i switched to drag n’ drop. Not only is it quick and simple, but it uses the full power of the geocaching mode of the Oregon, including logging your finds when you get back home thanks to field notes on geocaching.com syncing in with the Oregon.

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I for one think you should have to be a member to submit an event. If there’s no limitation on submitting events, someone could just submit a bunch of junk … being able to add an event to me is a “perk” of going thru the membership process.

Just my opinion … not a big deal to me, just my feeling on it.

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Thanks all!

Will check out the Verizon link.
No T-Mobile service by me … in fact their cell services gets between 0 and 1 bars when someone is at my house.

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To answer the question “What GPSr to buy” … if your willing to spend a little more … I’d highly recommend the Garmon Oregon 400t.

I’ve only had mine a couple month and I don’t cache as often as I did years back … but the thing is amazing.

It makes caching about as effortless as I could imagine it being. I use to use an older GPSr (happens to be an eMap for me too), a Palm with Cachemate, and my car-mounted Garmin Nuvi to get me the parking lot. Had to load the GPX file into the eMap, convert the file to load it in Cachemate, and run the file thru GSAK to get it the way I wanted it for the Nuvi. Now I just plug in the Oregon’s cable, drag the untouched GPX file to the Oregon, say “Yes” to Replace, unplug and go.

I’m actually caching more because of it. I update the thing every week or so, since it only takes 3 minutes … and I keep it in the car. I’m always ready to go.

And of course the actual caching with the thing is so easy and simple with only one device. I sprang the extra bucks and got the microSD card with the maps and POIs … very handy for pointing the way to parking and finding where to have lunch later on (the Nuvi now stays in our other car).

Looks like PC Nation has them for $345.

My only suggestion, get an actual lanyard that can “loop in” to the small lanyard anchor point on the Oregon. I tried using the caribiner clip on the back of the GPSr, by hooking a large laynard on to the clip … just about drove myself nuts, because the thing is hang out from your body a bit and upside down all the time.

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I checked out those GeoJr’s a bit online too (mainly to see if they’re viable as loaner units at a state park) … I just don’t think they’re worth the limitations vs. the cost.

If you want a low cost GPSr and don’t need/want to pay for any bells n’ whistles … I’m willing to make an offer:

I recently upgrade to a new unit … so I have a Garmin GPS-72 that is gathering dust. It has no mapping ability, but finds caches and has no limitations on loading caches on it. It’s in excellent shape … it’s always been our backup unit and used when we take first-time “visitors” out caching so they have their own unit to hold.

I’d be willing to ship it out to you … you’d get the unit, the cable to upload caches, a set of rechargable (used) AA batteries and I’d pre-load it with 200 caches centered on your zip code. $20 plus $5 shipping.

If interested, Private Message me with your address … I’ll send it out with no money up front … try it out. If you like it mail me $25. If you don’t want it, mail it back with $5.

I’m not actively trying to sell it … but I’m not using it and I’d rather see you shy away from the Jr. If any one out there thinks I’d be robbing him … please speak up, as I’ve not researched what it’s worth.

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Just my 2 cents …

(1) Ideally you’d divide 40 people into at least 4 groups/teams, more if possible. Having 10 or more people heading to the same thing, in my opinion, will be a bit crowded.

(2) This means that ideally you’d have 4+ leaders that know how the GPS units work.

(3) I recommend that you DO pre-program the coordinates … with that many people, you’d have a tough time “teaching” how to punch in coordinates … focus your efforts on the “fun” of finding caches not learning exactly how to work the GPS units … besides there are so many different brands/models, no two are done the same any way.

(4) From personal experience with a group of kids about half that size … don’t get long winded with a speech before hand about geocaching and how it works. Give them maybe a 2 or 3 minute summary of what it is your about to do. I learned the hard way that about half your audience will wander off mentally (or even physically), everyone will start getting noisey, and no one will hear the rest of what you have to say.

(5) If you can pull it off .. have each group go to different caches (even if some are temps). I tried to have three different teams do the same caches but in different orders, thinking they’d never meet up and bunch up … but in the real world, one team goes too fast, another team goes too slow, the last team went just right … and they all end up at the middle cache at the same time.

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congrats! and thanks again for helping me out with a cache fix when I was less-mobile a few months back.

I’m guessing the 2nd 1000 will take a little longer … since you’ll be side tracked with a trip back to visit Harrington’s lost n’ found box 🙂 … senior moment!

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If there are lets say 5 caches in the area and I have time for 3 … I will avoid to the pine tree / rock pile hides. But if there are not many caches choices I will give them a shot.

But I do sometimes get frustrated when it’s in a pine tree / rock pile hide, when there are other hiding options that would be more enjoyable at the same location. Like there’s a hollow tree 20′ away.

I’m not against tough hides … like recently I found one of those suspend it in inside the end of a fence pole … it was extra tricky because the area was so over-grown I didn’t even notice at first that there was even a fence there … LOL. That one was great and sneaky. Piles of rocks are just plain frustrating … in my personal opinion, so not much fun.

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Being that this is the same day as the Harrington Beach ( GC25114 ) CITO, which I’m coordinating for the WGA … I’d like to openly invite people that might be “sitting on the fence” as to which to attend to jump off the fence and into Hwy 10 😛

While I don’t want to turn anyone away at Harrington, I am pleasantly surprised with the sign up thus far. Looks like we’re already at about 35 people at Harrington, which is more than I would have dreamed. While I’m working with the Ranger on plans to keep those attending busy, the park is not that big (since the campground area has already been cleaned up).

Again if you want to come to Harrington and havn’t signed up yet, I’m not turning you away … please don’t get that impression. I’m just saying you won’t hurt Mr. Harrington’s feelings or mine, if you clean the Highway instead.

(oops … link above has been correct)

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What part of the state has salt water toilets?

@HeliDood wrote:

@Trekkin’ and Birdin’ wrote:

Let’s just say…hypothetically of course…..that a cacher goes for a deep water crossing and forgets to remove his cell phone from his pocket.

If said water was salt water, hypothetically, then it will be a good idea to completely disassemble electronic device and rinse components with fresh water as soon as hypothetically possible.

Hypothetically, salt water is very corrosive and will hypothetically damage said electronic device.

In a hypothetical situation as addressed above, it is VERY IMPORTANT that you DO NOT attempt to turn on a device to “see if it still works”. Immediately remove the battery and let it dry out for a few days.. That cannot be emphasized enough.

I’m not saying I’ve ever dropped my cell phone in the toilet or anything, I’m just saying. Hypothetically, of course.

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I really wish and hope that this new plan can work for the better of our country as a whole. But there’s just so many things, at least from my uneducated point of view, that just don’t make sense.

The one that comes to mind right now, that I heard being debated: If you force insurers to cover pre-existing conditions (which for a “normal” scenario would be great), what happens when someone decides to go without insurance because they’re healthy (paying the smaller “fine” for doing so), then when they get sick they quick purchase the coverage. If a large amount of people start doing this … they won’t be feeding money into the system when they’re health, but they be collecting assistance when they’re sick. Doesn’t this create a stastical guarantee of failure or at the very least upward spiraling participation fees? Or create the need to make the “fine” as big as the premiums?

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