Geocaching
Jun. 25th, 2008 10:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kengrYesterday ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fayanora and I went geocaching on our bicycles.
We didn't find any of the caches. Turns out that of the 4 we looked for, two had been made "inactive" since I'd printed out the data sheets a couple of years back. Another was in a fenced off area (most likely) and the gates were locked. And the 4th was one I've tried to find without luck several times before.
At least that last one (the nearest to my house) had some more recent log entries on line that told me which side of the fence to look on. Going to have to go over the area more carefully again later (it's hidden in a hedge so searching is a real pain.
But we also looked for some surveying benchmarks and found two of the four we looked for. Another one we couldn't get at (it's set on a chimney at a local school and is probably either on the roof or inside the furnace room. But the chimney is distinctive, and we got within 10 feet of it, so that counts.
There was supposed to be another one on the school grounds but we couldn't find it. We did find a broken concrete slab that was in about the right spot and about the right size. I'm going back with a tape measure and looking for the "offset" references and using them to check for the marker.
If it is the slab, I'll take a picture and post it with a log entry at http:\\www.geocaching.com so other folks will know it's been mangled.
I don't know how much distance we traveled, as I'd forgotten to reset the trip log on my GPS before we started. But When I first thought to check, it was at 10 miles and when I finally got home it was at 22. My best guess is that we did 15 miles.
We left my place around three and got to hers around 9. And we only live a mile and a half apart.
I'm working up a checklist for next time so we won't have things like backtracking to my place to get my camera (though we did need to do that anyway as we decided we were going to check locations nearer Fay's place so we had to get the stuff that she'd left at my place.
Fortunately, I'd put that "saddlebags (panniers if you want to get technical) on my back when we'd originally started so I was able to load the printer that I'd found for Fay.
We both got a fair bit of exercise, and fay found a trail near her place that she hadn't known was there. We also got to check out using FRS radios for talking back and forth. We determined that the vox setup wasn't going to work. But hitting the push to talk button wasn't that bad.
I may try the other set (a different brand and harder to set things on) later. Among other things, they use standard cell phone/cordless phone headsets, which will get the mikes closer to our mouths.
We're going to hit Stuff and Sportsman's Warehouse one of these days so Fay can check out the GPS units at the store fore features, then see what's available used at Stuff. Also she needs to pick up a compass for a friend anyway. Sportsman's Warehouse has a wide variety of those. Besides, I can afford to buy a bag of their *insane* chocolate malted milk balls (Think of Whoppers but with better centers and a chocolate shell several times as thick. Really good)
We also have to hit Bike Gallery as I need a proper rear view mirror on my bike. I mounted one I've had for years but it just wasn't sticking out far enough to let me see behind me.I also need a bell, as at one point we were on a narrow trail and approaching a bunch of folks walking their dog. Since we were behind them I had to yell. A bell is a lot nicer. (and would make my bike 100% legal :-)
Fay needs to get her bike seat fixed (the bracket that hold the front of the seat is missing. She may want a better seat as well as what she's got is a racing seat and I think she needs the old-fashioned "wide" seat like my bike has. The kickstand on hers needs Adjusting as right now it sticks forward at an odd angle and tends to collapse if you try using it.
She also needs to start pricing some add ons and safety gear. She needs a helmet, and, Portland being Portland, she needs fenders on her wheels (so she won't get a strip of mud and worse up her back when it starts raining again. She also needs a headlight. The white reflector in the front *might* be legal, but won't show you holes or broken glass in front of you when you are riding side streets at night.
And she wants a rear rack and panniers like mine.
Most of all, she needs a *helmet*.
Oh yeah, I gave her some Trek bottles that were sold with a sports drink in them. Not standard bike bottles, they have caps designed to let them hang from a carabiner. But they fit the bottle cage as well as the pop bottles she's been using do.
My camelback clone worked ok, though I discovered that if you don't but the cap back on the sipping tube *tightlly*, bending over to look for something on the ground will get you sprayed with cold water. It only holds 2 liters, but that's plenty for what we were doing. And it's very well insulated.
Pity that when I went back to CostCo to get a second one, they didn't have them anymore.
fayanora and I went geocaching on our bicycles. We didn't find any of the caches. Turns out that of the 4 we looked for, two had been made "inactive" since I'd printed out the data sheets a couple of years back. Another was in a fenced off area (most likely) and the gates were locked. And the 4th was one I've tried to find without luck several times before.
At least that last one (the nearest to my house) had some more recent log entries on line that told me which side of the fence to look on. Going to have to go over the area more carefully again later (it's hidden in a hedge so searching is a real pain.
But we also looked for some surveying benchmarks and found two of the four we looked for. Another one we couldn't get at (it's set on a chimney at a local school and is probably either on the roof or inside the furnace room. But the chimney is distinctive, and we got within 10 feet of it, so that counts.
There was supposed to be another one on the school grounds but we couldn't find it. We did find a broken concrete slab that was in about the right spot and about the right size. I'm going back with a tape measure and looking for the "offset" references and using them to check for the marker.
If it is the slab, I'll take a picture and post it with a log entry at http:\\www.geocaching.com so other folks will know it's been mangled.
I don't know how much distance we traveled, as I'd forgotten to reset the trip log on my GPS before we started. But When I first thought to check, it was at 10 miles and when I finally got home it was at 22. My best guess is that we did 15 miles.
We left my place around three and got to hers around 9. And we only live a mile and a half apart.
I'm working up a checklist for next time so we won't have things like backtracking to my place to get my camera (though we did need to do that anyway as we decided we were going to check locations nearer Fay's place so we had to get the stuff that she'd left at my place.
Fortunately, I'd put that "saddlebags (panniers if you want to get technical) on my back when we'd originally started so I was able to load the printer that I'd found for Fay.
We both got a fair bit of exercise, and fay found a trail near her place that she hadn't known was there. We also got to check out using FRS radios for talking back and forth. We determined that the vox setup wasn't going to work. But hitting the push to talk button wasn't that bad.
I may try the other set (a different brand and harder to set things on) later. Among other things, they use standard cell phone/cordless phone headsets, which will get the mikes closer to our mouths.
We're going to hit Stuff and Sportsman's Warehouse one of these days so Fay can check out the GPS units at the store fore features, then see what's available used at Stuff. Also she needs to pick up a compass for a friend anyway. Sportsman's Warehouse has a wide variety of those. Besides, I can afford to buy a bag of their *insane* chocolate malted milk balls (Think of Whoppers but with better centers and a chocolate shell several times as thick. Really good)
We also have to hit Bike Gallery as I need a proper rear view mirror on my bike. I mounted one I've had for years but it just wasn't sticking out far enough to let me see behind me.I also need a bell, as at one point we were on a narrow trail and approaching a bunch of folks walking their dog. Since we were behind them I had to yell. A bell is a lot nicer. (and would make my bike 100% legal :-)
Fay needs to get her bike seat fixed (the bracket that hold the front of the seat is missing. She may want a better seat as well as what she's got is a racing seat and I think she needs the old-fashioned "wide" seat like my bike has. The kickstand on hers needs Adjusting as right now it sticks forward at an odd angle and tends to collapse if you try using it.
She also needs to start pricing some add ons and safety gear. She needs a helmet, and, Portland being Portland, she needs fenders on her wheels (so she won't get a strip of mud and worse up her back when it starts raining again. She also needs a headlight. The white reflector in the front *might* be legal, but won't show you holes or broken glass in front of you when you are riding side streets at night.
And she wants a rear rack and panniers like mine.
Most of all, she needs a *helmet*.
Oh yeah, I gave her some Trek bottles that were sold with a sports drink in them. Not standard bike bottles, they have caps designed to let them hang from a carabiner. But they fit the bottle cage as well as the pop bottles she's been using do.
My camelback clone worked ok, though I discovered that if you don't but the cap back on the sipping tube *tightlly*, bending over to look for something on the ground will get you sprayed with cold water. It only holds 2 liters, but that's plenty for what we were doing. And it's very well insulated.
Pity that when I went back to CostCo to get a second one, they didn't have them anymore.
