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I used to do this (the exact template, actually), but the responses I got ranged from nothing to “Bite me”. Since there is no guideline requiring that the terrain or difficulty be accurate, it seems like a waste of time. I used to do the same thing with bogus hints, which are also highly discouraged but not against the guidelines. I got better responses for that, but mostly was ignored.
@zuma wrote:
@marc_54140 wrote:
The idea for these caches came from MWGB. The caches have no info given – the D/T is default to 1/1/, no cache description, no hints, no attributes, etc.
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This is not really a new idea. King Boreas has been doing it for years. For example, see GC1065N one of his with no description at all that I did yesterday.
zuma
Maybe you should start a thread on the national forums indicating Marc has adopted KB as his mentor…
And seriously, I did a cache today that involved climbing a rotten tree. Terrain rating was 2. Lots of people out there who have not idea what they are doing with these ratings. At least it wasn’t a 1. Needless to say, I wasn’t very nice in my log.
Nope, Flash is not allowed on cache page, as a download is required.
You will notice that you had to ask me many times for me to create this post. This is not because I am keeping it a secret, but because this is a bit complicated to explain. If you are one of those “techphobic” people, just move along to the next post. Nothing to see here.
The hot ticket is to create the route on Google MAPS, not Google Earth. The routing algorithm on Google Earth is very rudimentary and not adjustable. Now, I hear you saying “Google Maps doesn’t have a GPX or KML export”. Correct! That is where the trick comes in. There is a Javascript site out there in the world called GMapsToGPX. Here is the process:
Setup
1. Go to this page and follow the instructions to install the GmapsToGPX bookmarklet. A Bookmarklet is like a little Javascript program which calls another program out on the net. Note that this idea here is that the bookmarklet never changes, but the underlying program is regularly updated with the changes to the Google Maps site. (Pretty clever, eh?)
2. I like to put this bookmarklet on the links bar so that I can get to it quickly.Using the tool
1. Go to Google Maps and “Get Directions”. If you want to create a multipoint route, make your first set of directions from the first to the second point, and then “Add Destinations” to add the rest of the points. (You can do this one stop at time if you want.)
2. Hit Get Directions.
3. LOOK AT THE ROUTE. Make sure all the stops included are in the right place. If not, you may need to be more specific in the name of the stops (note that you can use Lat/Long in these fields if you know them.
4. Look at the route again. Is it following all the roads you want? If not, use the mouse to “drag” the route over to the roads you want to follow.
5. When route is what you want, hit your GMapToGPX link.
6. A screen will be displayed with a text version of the GPX file. To work with GC.com, hit the “Full” button, which will change the GPX to include routes, tracks, and points.
7. Select ALL the text and copy it.
8. Open Notepad. Paste the text into Notepad. Save the file with a .GPX extension.
9. This file will be good to go for the GC.com route. Just upload it and create your PQ.I didn’t search. I created the route from scratch for you, hitting all the cities and villages classically included in the Romantic Road. Just using a Google Maps default route will essentially take you “on the interstate” to get there. Of course, if you really want to take the highway, Google will take you there.
By the way, my route is public and can be found by searching for the keyword Romantic Road. Or, you can just hit the link a few posts up.
If you are REALLY too cheap to pay the daily admission to the park, there are several places you can park and hike in. The easiest is probably
N43° 03.103 W88° 24.840
which is on Cushman Park Road, about 1.5 miles from the site as the crow flies. Quite a few caches on the way over.
You can also park just off of 18 at
N 43 00.769, W 88 23.863
and hike in on the Ice Age Trail from the south. Looks like about a 3 mile hike to me.
I’m just curious WHAT they have been smoikin…
So, what you are trying to say is that you also want a route from Dresden to the northern terminus of the Romantic Road? Your method would probably work, but gc.com is very finicky with KML files. In the past, I have had to save the file, then reload into Google Earth, then save again. I almost always use GPX files instead, which are much more reliable. In this case, however, since I am at work and don’t have the utility I need to create a gpx, I just did what you tried and did a Google Earth route. Here is a link to it. Dresden to Wurzburg. Didn’t do anything special with this, just followed the instructions.
If you want to try it yourself, remember that you need to check the box after you upload it to save the file. Also remember that it needs to be a KML file, not a KMZ file.
OK, its ready.
1. Go to my Route page (Link)
2. Look at the previewed route. If it is not the route you are taking, let me know and I can tweak it for you.
3. Hit the Create Pocket Query link. You will be taken to the page where you can filter by cache type, cache status (be sure to only get ACTIVE caches), distance from the route, number of caches returned, and a bunch of other stuff. If you want all the cache types, the farthest you can get from the route is about 2 miles. Once you get it the way you want it, hit submit.
4. Use the Preview PQ link to make sure it is returning what you want. If not, make changes and submit and preview again. Once you have it right, check the day of the week you want to receive the query.Some notes on Germany.
1. Most multis are virtual except for the final stage. Obviously you will need to translate these pages to get started. You will also find that the listed coordinates for older multis is actually the parking coordinates (the German reviewers are working to change this)
2. You will notice a significant number of webcam caches along the way, if you are into those.
3. I didn’t notice any earthcaches along your route, but I didn’t do a complete search. I think that earthcaches are primarily a US/Canada phenomenon.
4. You may want to filter out events, etc.Have fun!
I can put together a route file for you to create a PQ, but I can’t do it from here. If you still need it this evening, it will take me about 30 minutes.
Ya know, I remember someone who used to have this webpage which espoused the idea that you should measure coordinates by approaching your new cache from 8 different directions on 3 different days and then averaging the 24 values. For some reason, I can’t quite remember who it was who made this suggestion, but I remember thinking it was a pretty good idea. I actually used that for my “Get Your Free Maps Here” cache with my etrex, as well as most of my other caches. I wonder whatever happened to that guy…
Just jumping for the person having Firefox/Gmail issues. Just hit the Older version link in the upper right if it acts squirrelly. You might have to do this a few times, but eventually, it sticks.
These caches are part of a contest for their fall colors festival, known as Leaf It to Rusk County. You can get the details at http://www.leafittoruskcounty.com. Stop by the visitors center in Ladysmith and get a contest card. (One of the caches is at the visitors center, but I don’t remember which one).
No, the condemned bridge was in Racine at Reservoir Dogs. I didn’t hop the caution tape. Instead, I walked through the creek. Much safer, I thought… Actually the caution tape was placed there when the water in the reservoir was at the same height as the bridge. I’m guessing one of our public safety officials forgot to go back and take it down.
Google Earth is OK, but this is better. Try this program with GSAK. The link will download a file, which you should save in your macro directory. Then, just filter to the caches you want to plot and then run the macro.
Also, for just one cache, open the “split screen view”, then select Google Maps from the split screen format pulldown. A Google map of each cache will be displayed in the lower window. This is standard functionality and requires no macros.
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