[TeamSWAG]

quote:

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Originally posted by Decrepit:
We always like Mauthee Lake, the sites on top of the hill in the 500 are great for viewing meteor showers and the like on clear nights.

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Wow, this is just amazing. We camped at Mauthe Lake, site 511 this weekend. We had the reservation for weeks before you made the recommendation. This was our “test” camping trip, not too far from home, to practice for longer trips. It was great, except for the part where I was trying for Camocache #1 and managed to lock all the keys in the car. Fortunately a nice DNR ranger was able to jigger the lock. But the campsites were great, very quiet, and private. It’s definitely on our list of campsites to come back to.

Mike

[TeamSWAG]

Does anyone else sense this rapidly turning into a whole weekend event? We’re thinking about camping somewhere in the area, rather then making the trip back home afterwards. The 22nd works perfectly for us.

Can any of you who have already done the cache give us any tips on how we should prepare? My poor husband is quaking in his hiking boots!

— Vicki

[TeamSWAG]

Instead of having some kind of policy, which couldn’t be enforced anyway, I’d recommend a lot more feedback (both positive and negative) on a cache-by-cache basis. I’ve seen great and lame caches by both new cachers and old hands. When the cache isn’t great or could use improvement, the finders should SAY that in a polite way. Like, “Say, there’s a great hollow tree about 100 ft north of your cache. Have you thought of moving it there? Or making your cache a multi and putting the final stage there?”. I think any advice will be well-received for the most part. Even if it’s not acted upon, it still gets the cacher thinking about making their next cache better. Also in the cache log, if it’s a great or mediocre cache, say so. Lots of times the logs help me find the really good caches. Ultimately most people put out caches so that they will get found, and if word gets out that most of their caches aren’t great, they aren’t going to get many finds.

What I’d really like is for geocaching.com to put in a ratings system so that finders can rate caches (say 1 – 10 ) and then I can do a query for caches above a certain rating. Maybe a scenic rating and cleverness rating, or something like that. I know, not going to happen in the near future. What we can do is keep the Recommend Caches board here filled with great finds.

Just my two cents.

Mike

[TeamSWAG]

Count us in! We’ve been warming up to tackle a challenge like this. Either of those two weekends in July would work.

[TeamSWAG]

Thanks, everyone! Now that we’re paperless (and how did we ever live with out it?!), we seem to be picking up steam.

— Vicki

[TeamSWAG]

quote:

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Originally posted by DCexplorer:
To summarize what’s been said:

1. electronic compass ‘feature’ finicky and not worth it.
2. people use mapping in vehicles, not necessarily for caching (if they map at all)
3. people like color screens
4. People like toggle switches
5. Cathunter, who looks forward to someday kayaking the Bering Straits from Alaska to Russia, fears driving in downtown Chicago.

thanks to all that replied!

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I think I’m just a freak then. I have a Vista and my wife has a Legend and I just can’t use hers because I need the magnetic compass. I do have to do the “Compass Calibration Dance” (spin in two circles) everytime I go out.

And I love my maps when driving. I always use them when in the country to find the closest road to the cache, or to navigate through the city.

I would like a color screen eventually. My brother had his Legend C at Christmass and the color maps are just so cool. I still couldn’t use it all the time, though (no compass).

Toggle switches are nice. I agree with that part.

Don’t know about Cathunter.

Mike

[TeamSWAG]

Good question! We were out at the Fleet Farm in Plymouth a few weeks back looking for some and all they had were the HUGE size ones. Does anyone know if there’s still an Army/Navy surplus store in downtown Milwaukee (Wisconsin Ave, IIRC) and if they have any? I keep meaning to check them out one of these weekends.

Mike

[TeamSWAG]

One of the problems I think is that we share the same stomping ground as alot of wayward teenagers, who tend not to have alot of respect for anything. One of my caches has been completely taken, and I know that it was near some spots where alot of school kids “hang out”. Don’t get me wrong, there’s alot of good kids out there. I just think you have a better chance of having your cache trashed or taken if it was discovered by muggle kids instead of muggle adults.

[TeamSWAG]

I have done this on a few occations, most of the time when I just forgot my cache notes. I actually called my wife of the cell phone one time and had her track down the notes and give me the clue. I only found about half of the caches when I went out without any notes at all, and then I’m usually kicking myself after I get home and read the clue. So it’s not as fun as regular caching in my book, but still better than no caching at all.

Mike

[Author]

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