Spring?

[saxikath]

There's hope for spring at last... there are crocuses in our yard.

If I had a GPS unit, this would be a perfect day to try geocaching. It's gorgeous out. I am going to have to pull myself away from the (expletive deleted) Florida math standards this afternoon and go for a walk!

Comments

Guess what I saw?

[(Anonymous)]

Boats! On a completely unfrozen river!

and some flowers.

Dare we dream of spring?

-moo

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

Are you involved with any geocaching groups? I just learned about this sport and it looks pretty nifty, though I'm not entirely sure of the point. I also don't have a GPS, so...

[saxikath]

I've never done any geocaching. davehogg has been talking about it lately, though, which has gotten me intrigued.

There's something similar called letterboxing that doesn't use GPS. Might try that, too.

[zenala.livejournal.com]

Ooh! I just saw the first crocuses here this morning!
Though there have been a few other little flowers for a week now. (mostly snowdrops and buttercups)

[clauclauclaudia]

If you want to borrow my GPS midweek at any time, feel free! I tend to want it over weekends, though. :)

Or you could emulate WaldenRun, who geocaches (and benchmarks) without a GPS. He just does lots of map-geeking to figure out where caches are, apparently.

Here's my geocaching profile, if you're interested. Regis and I hit a couple west-coast caches, and then there was a lull of over a year before I got my own GPS.

Benchmarking you can definitely do without a GPS, but there's no treasure trove at the end.

[davehogg.livejournal.com]

Or you could emulate WaldenRun, who geocaches (and benchmarks) without a GPS. He just does lots of map-geeking to figure out where caches are, apparently.

I've found that, especially with older marks, the GPS is more of a hindrance while benchmarking. When you are dealing with lat/lon coordinates put down in 1935, you end up on the wrong corners of intersections when you use the GPS. At most, I use the receiver to get me within 100 yards and then use the description on the sheet to find the mark.

I tried doing a cache without the GPS, just to see if it were possible. Using a very detailed online topographical map, I was looking about 50 yards away from where I eventually found the cache after turning the receiver on.

[clauclauclaudia]

It's definitely more feasible to benchmark sans GPS than to geocache. But WaldenRun does both. I think he has quite an eye for hiding places or something.

http://www.geocaching.com/profile/default.asp?A=37231

[davehogg.livejournal.com]

I think he has quite an eye for hiding places or something.

Is he available for rentals? He might be able to find how someone can hide a 35mm film container in the middle of a road. (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=23938)

I wonder if he does orienteering - it would seem to be a natural hobby for someone that skilled with maps.

[clauclauclaudia]

Is there an underpass?

No idea. That's very intriguing.

[davehogg.livejournal.com]

No, it is a straight stretch of road on a college campus. There are wooded ravines on each side, but the hints seem to indicate that my GPS is right and the cache is in the middle of the road.

Florida math standards?

[andyt.livejournal.com]

They actually have standards down here? I thought the schools were just crappy. Didn't know they had standards for it.

Anyhow, we've had a string of gorgeous days too. Had I a GPS and no <'nother expletive deleted> conference paper to write, I'd have been out trying geocaching, too. Oh well. Some day.

Glad to hear Spring is finally coming to all you Northerners. This is the first "winter" where I haven't had a real winter, and this whole lack of seasons (except hot and hotter) thing is taking some getting used to.

[meranthi.livejournal.com]

To seem like a complete innocent, what is geocaching? It sounds like the greatest scavenger hunt of all time...