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Cool – I just checked the cache we are discussing, and sure enough, it has a decent map shown! Guess we just gotta be a little more patient… Now was that automatic, or did somebody get it done for us? If so, thank you very much.
Ain’t technology marvelous? The more we learn about it, the less we know, it seems.
cYa Grandma & Grandpa
Knowing the location as we do, the star on the map is accurate. However, others looking at this map would not find it to be of much use. There are directions in the narrative, but we always find the maps to be a great help when choosing caches to seek – much quicker to glance at the map than to pour through the verbage! Hopefully Cathunter is right in regard to the maps automatically upgrading, but we have found several of these low quality maps recently while looking at cache pages.
Thanks for the replies – we appreciate it.
Gram & Gramps
I just took one off me 5 minutes ago. Still crawling, not dug in. We were out at Hartman Creek last evening, setting up a series of GeoCaches for our Adventure Camp and found several on us. So I guess they are not dormant yet. Grandma & Grandpa
We enjoy reading the comments about the COTM’s, and have looked up many of the nominees. But we have not been to any of them we’ve seen listed. So we don’t vote.
Maybe consider regionalizing the COTM? That might kick up the interest from those of us not from the SE metro corner of the state. We rarely get down that way, but travel more often in central and northern and northwestern WI, and our cache record reflects this.
cYa Gram & Gramps
We are heading north to our cabin in the Townsend area. Put in docks, pontoon boat, rake, etc. Also want to check on a cache we put out late last fall, just before 2′ of snow! If it’s all ok, we’ll register it, and invite all of you to visit another neat part of Wisconsin. And of course, there are a few caches we have not gotten, and my brother-in-law is interested in learning about this… so the weekend won’t be all work!
cYa Gram & Gramps
I attended a Gunderson Medical Foundation (of La Crosse) seminar on Lyme Disease & ticks a few years ago. All of the following comments are from materials and presentations at that seminar.
The larger brown ticks we saw a lot of at Hartman Creek are pesty, but fairly harmless. They are recognized by their brownish color with a white spot on the back. They are abundant in WI in the spring and early summer. They typically DO NOT transmit any diseases. When removed, if some mouth parts remain in our bodies, they are usually dissolved and absorbed quite automatically and without harm.
The much smaller deer tick can transmit the Lyme Disease germs, but only after a minimum of 24 hours attachment, and more likely, 36 hours. These are typically less than 1/8 inch in length, and are orange-brown with a black spot near the head. Because of the small size, detection can be quite difficult.
Removal methods vary. Forceps, tick removal gadgets, and fingernails all work, as does thread and soda straws, apparently. As pointed out earlier, do not squeeze the body of the tick – it needs to be grasped close to the head and pulled straight out. A dab of antibiotic ointment on the bite is suggested.
If a small deer tick is found attached, careful observation of the bite site is called for. A typical trouble sign is a bullseye discoloration or rash in the immediate area. If found, a trip to the Dr. is in order. If Lyme Disease is caught early, treatment with antibiotics is quite effective.
I’ve removed many from myself and others. I like using my fingernails. I’ve heard of lots of other methods – hot matches, alcohol, vasaline – but just grabbing and pulling them off works pretty good for me.
I’ve come to the conclusion that ticks are just another challenge to deal with if I am going to enjoy a life outdoors. I love wilderness canoeing, hunting, camping, hiking, and of course, GeoCaching. I check myself over carefully whenever I’ve been outdoors, and try to educate my outing partners to be diligent as well. And we’ve found lotsa ticks, but nobody has gotten sick!
cYa Happy Caching Grandpa
We were caching in northern WI this past weekend. We all found ‘normal’ brown ticks on us, which typically do not transmit the Lymes germs. We did not find any deer ticks, which can carry and transmit the Lymes germs. All ticks were found before attaching themselves – we were pretty diligent checking for them! Good opportunity to teach some good woodsmanship to the 2 grandkids with us. Grandpa
Hartman Creek Park is home to numerous very clever raccoons which can get into almost any food reserves. Food in tents is not a good idea! I’ve watched them open coolers under our pop-up camper while we sat around the campfire 15 feet away. Another time, one lifted the unlatched tailgate of our van and was about halfway in when a piece of firewood hit him. I’d suggest coolers with a positive latch on them, not just the snapdown lids, and keep food in the car trunk. Gram & Gramps
I used to teach an “Antiques Roadshow” unit to showcase the progression of computer technology. I had all of the old computers mentioned in my collection, plus some others. Remember the Northstar Horizon… TRS 80 Model III… Compaq ‘Portable’ – 40# and the size of a suitcase… Apple //+ & //e & //c & Mac 128… Funny thing is, I remember having many of these when they were state of the art, and being proud of how cool they were!
Ah, the good ole days. But I sure like my Athlon XP 2700 speed and 80gb hard drive and 512k RAM and Pipeline broadband!
Grandpa
Gram & I just registered for a campsite in the family camping area at Hartman Creek State Park. We’ll set up our pop-up camper Thursday afternoon on Site #44 – stop by and see us! Lots of sites are still available as of 02/22. But Hartman Creek is a very popular state park, and they are usually filled to capacity every weekend – I am actually surprised at how many are still open.
I expect that we will get the Long Haul Award. The Park is about 5 miles from our home!
Look forward to meeting lotsa new friends, and having some fun with caches.
Gram & Gramps – Waupaca
We live about 5 miles from Hartman Creek State Park, and have been there many times. We’ll be glad to help in any way needed.
This sounds like a great time in our beautiful part of the world!
Feel free to eamil us directly: [email protected] We watch email closely, but not necessarily the discussions…
Gram & Gramps
quote:
Originally posted by GrouseTales:
Hello everyone!I’m the chairperson for the upcoming campout. The Lil Otter will be our co-chair. I’m really getting excited as the planning progresses.
As with past events, the WGA loves to get our local cachers involved in helping out with cache placement. As such, I’m looking for a handful of volunteers who would like to help place caches for the campout.
The emphesis is on creating fun, quality caches. This is a good opportunity to showcase creative ways of hiding caches.
We will also be hosting night caching events on Saturday night. In the past the night caches have proven to be a LOT of fun. Some blinked, some hooted, some range a bell. We’ve had angels flying out of trees, ghosts illuminating their presence, and trails of alien blood leading to crashed spacecraft.
If you’re interested in helping place caches, post your reply here, AND please send me an email. I’ll probably try to work out a day when all the volunteers can go to the park on the same day to hide their caches. Possible dates are 4/24 and 4/25.
Again, we would like to get the involvement of cachers in the area. If you’re willing to drive, we would appreciate other cachers helping as well.
Other items: We would also appreciate some volunteers to help/bring the following items:
[*]Firewood (enough for 2 fire pits, for two nights)
[*]charcoal (about 40lbs)
[*]bottled water
[*]soda (regular/diet)If there is anything else you would like to contribute, feel free to drop me a note.
Thanks!
Where is this Magical Maps available? Cost? What areas does it cover?
We do one or two big canoe trips every summer, plus several small 1-2 day trips. We’ve been to the Ely area, Canada a few times, & northern WI & the U.P. a lot. This resource sounds great!
quote:
Originally posted by wzbt03:
I went on a trip up there two summers ago and bought the Magical Maps CD that has the whole area on it. This is the special CD just for the canoe trips. They request that copies not be made of the software but I would be happy to loan you my original if you would return it when done mapping.I agree with the Kevlar canoe idea. We did a couple of portages that were greater then 1 mile and I would have hated myself if I had not gotten the Kevlar one.
When we were up there and set up for camp for the night, we had a visit from a couple of ladies that just wanted to rest a bit at our site before moving on. They we a pair of breast cancer survivors who where in the final stage of their “quest” as survivors on a month long canoe trip and were headed for the grand finish that features a 8 mile portage. Those were some neat people to meet.
If you would like to borrow my disk, just send me a email.
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