Alistair.com - GPS and Geocaching

	This part of my site talks about GPS, GPR receivers, Geocaching and anything else I have time for.
August 4, 2003	New Geocachers I went out Geocaching with a first timer yesterday who just "didn't get it". We had talked about it before we left and had a short discussion of why and how, but it wasn't until we actually got to the first cache (Piper Mill) that I got "the look". It was the look of Why are we doing this?. So we talked about why someone would hide something in the middle of nowhere? What was the point? When does it end? How does this thing work? So, in order to reinforce the idea, I decided to try a second cache (Scout Pipeline), hopefully answering some questions in the process. While we managed to get there quickly enough with this new Geocacher at the controls, there was still that "I don't get it" look. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it. I dropped off two travel bugs, which, as it happens, only served to further confuse the issue. [permalink]
July 1, 2003	Across the Decachelon Finish Line It took 3 outings, but I managed to complete the last 4 stages of the Vancouver Decachelon last Saturday. If there was a theme, it was definately the mosquitos that ravaged my legs and arms as I trudged around in search of these 4 caches. I must have bites on top of bites, with very little surface area untouched by those pesky bloodsuckers! After finishing the last stage and obtaining the required clue, I set out in search of the final destination. It was about 10:15 at night, but I decided to head in the direction given by the clues anyway. I got to within about 2km when I realized it would be almost impossible to get there in the dark, so I headed home. So Sunday, I made my way to the Winner's Podium and, after some considerable (and unnecessary) bushwhacking, I got to the destination. Thankfully, I had excellent coverage (3 satellites in the inner ring, with 2 on the edge of that same ring) and I naviated to within 5 metres of the cache. I was excited to find it, as it had been a couple of weeks since finding the first stage, but there was no one there to share my glee other than the singing birds. I wrote in the log book, placed my first sticker (an example will be uploaded soon) and re-hid the cache. A good day. [permalink]
June 25, 2003	Tea & Travel Bugs I got up a little early today and decided to go walking around the neighbourhood. Because I had my GPSr with me, I thought I'd visit Oakalla Vista again, as I had attempted to rescue it after it had been strewn over the cache location, soaking wet. I was happy to see that the cache looked excellent and had been visited many times since my last outing. A great bonus was the presence of the Little Teapot travel bug! I'll have to find a new home when I go to San Francisco or Vancouver Island. [permalink]
June 23, 2003	4 Decachelon Events Nothing was odd about deciding to go out and try to find some Geocaches yesterday. Other than it was 7:30pm when I left and the closest one was about 15 kms away. But my timing was pretty good, seeing as the day before was the longest day of the year so I had a few hours of light left. I started with Board Walking, which is in a nice area I never knew existed. There was no one there, so it was pretty easy to walk around looking for something that might not be there. After a short search, I found it, logged my visit, took a little alien and left. Next, Bramble Scramble. It must be the part of town or something, because this cache location was also deserted. I could have lounged around the area and took in the wide open space, but I was on a mission, and the sky was getting dark. So I logged my visit, re-hid the cache and dashed off. Number 3 was Rampart Scaling which was an interesting find in that the location is nearly hidden itself. I never knew this existed and the walk down to the water is pretty cool. With a full view of the harbour, downtown and the North Shore mountains, it is certainly a place you could spend some quiet time. But not me! I had to make #4 before all the light was gone and it was heading under the horizon. Gotta run! The final cache I was looking for was Stump Jumping. This one proved to be the most difficult, but only because it was already dark and, at 9:20pm, it was hard to find my way around. My mini-penlight to the rescue and I managed to locate the cache. 4 out of 4! As I filled out the log book, I heard a sound that was a little scary. I slowly looked to my left and a huge furry animal was descending upon me! I uttered a bit of a yell and reflexively jumped back, which scared the life out of the wee raccoon that had snuck up on me. After calming down (and watching the racoon and his family depart), I finished logging my find, replaced the cache in it's original location and headed for home. [permalink]
	Switch to Blogging I was trying to update this page for the longest time manually, and I have decided to switch to Blogger instead. At least this way I have the remotest chance of actually updating it regularly. [permalink]