Recent stories in the Paper, podcasts, and events.

I missed this in the Tribune... but saw it when doing a recent search

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/49699170-80/geocaching-cache-geocache-gps.html.csp

I listened to Cache-a-maniacs today.  Some great shows.  If you are not familiar with it, the podcast interviews everyday geocachers and spends time asking them how they got into it, their favorite things they have done, experiences and other fun tidbits of info.

It is just a lot of fun to hear from everyday cachers.  One of the first I listened to was the interview with dumbledores army 2006.  A local cacher.  There are also a number of others I have seen visiting my caches, or on different logs through the years.  If you have the time surf throught them and find a few to listen to.

Gasp... More fun with the Utah Parks Caches.

I was doing a paper search and the top one was Deseret News.  Apparently they are running more contests. 

"From now through September, certificates redeemable for gifts will be placed randomly in caches throughout the state park system. A limited-issue Utah State Parks 50th Anniversary coin and a Utah State Parks Boating Program coin will also be cached."_excerpt from article.

So.. those of you who love coins.. have a reason to go back and check some of the caches while you are traveling.

Seattle

And of course another link from Seattle papers.

Talking about the events for Geowoodstock VIII and the Lost and Found Event.

Last but not least ...Events!!

It is that time again.  It seems spring and fall have huge numbers of events.  This year had tons in the spring. At one point we had over 40 events planned in the state.  We are well down from that number now.  It looks like we are approaching 23.  So there is a lot going on.

There are a number of events that are becoming traditional, and we look forward to them.

Every month there are the following

Hot Dog dinners in Springville - Jac0b

UVCA - Utah Valley Cache Aholics - Princess Daisies.. August will be a scavenger hunt.

The semi regular events,

Splash Mobs - by GR8JPN

HikingSeals and The Nightfox each have a hiking series that is going on

A few regional events

Musical Highway Premier by Ironbuttwing & WillDrillZ

Annual September 11th Tribute / Memorial Hike by UTDARCY

Events for Special Dates

8-9-10 Flash Mob Event by PeanutsParents

10-10-10 Event by PeanutsParents

10-10-10 Multi Event - UT by hjnielsen

Then the big annual events:

Whiting Campout - 2010 by JAC0B

Maple Mountain Hike - 2010 by JAC0B

10 Years of Utah Geocaching! Potter's Ponds 2010 by bunkerdave and Udink

As far as I can tell, skimming through all the old archived events nationwide, the Potters Ponds event is the first overnight camping event that was held.  So this one appears to be carrying on the tradition. Hope to see you there. I have a campsite reserved, and bug spray bought.

There are many other events that are going on so take the time to find one and get out to a few of them.  We are all nuts, but we love to share our experiences with each other.  I have had more fun at events than caching.  The people here are great.

Get Satisfaction.

I do not know if any of you have noticed the tab on the left hand side of the screen on Geocaching.com.  The one that is labeled "feedback".  This is a special link to the website Get Satisfaction.

This is a way for the geocaching community to post bugs, praise, and ideas for the lackeys at groundspeak to see.  If you have not been there it is a great way to see if some ideas are planned, not planned, or under consideration by geocaching.com.

Here are a list of a few of the most popular of them.

Bring Back Virtual Caches  Under consideration

Create a "Nano" Cache Size Option Under consideration

5 Star Cache Rating for Finders Under consideration

Challenge Icon Under consideration

Removal of the stupid facebook-link Planned

Night Cache Attribute Planned (along with a number of new attributes)

Bring back the Webcam Caches.

APIs for 3rd party developers

Map more than 500 caches

View friends map/smiley faces.

Dipping Trackables in Caches Planned

There are hundreds of others.  So take the the time to toss a vote in.

Scout Caches and Reviewing

I went with my family camping this last weekend to Maple Dell Scout camp.  I was there for July 4-7, enjoying the mountains and relaxing for a few days.  It was a good time except for one small detail, two small details actually.

I was trying to review caches.  Quite often it is a bit of work.  Checking for all the possible issues and looking for problems, and most of the time publishing them.  This was a holiday weekend, and cachers were out around the state placing caches wherever they could find them.  So I ended up looking at all the caches that were available on my little cell phone screen.  It was harder than I expected.  I have done 2-3.. or even a dozen.  But trying to go through 15-20 each day was a bit tricky.  I cannot really leave a note for people if there was a problem, so I just tried to list the ones that I could.  Sorry for those that waited until Wednesday for an answer.

I am shocked at the amount of caches that people are asking to be listed.  So many new players are appearing.  There are a lot of new people out to place caches, and so many are being listed.  If you are from the Vernal Area you are seeing a huge group of new listings appear.  Great series and trails are being worked on, and many creative and interesting caches are being listed. 

I headed up to do the scout caches around the camp.  I still have a number more to go.  You can see above that I have done a number but I still have a few others.  I normally avoid puzzle caches. (You can guess why).  These are relitivly easy puzzles so I have taken the time to get them done. 

Hopefully I will get up soon and do some more of them.  This has been my most enjoyable series so far.  I hiked about 3 miles this vacation to get a group of them. (about 10 I think).

From Fires to Squaw Peak Road

We headed out today for an afternoon drive with the two girls.  I had decided that I wanted to go somewhere else, rather than a normal drive.  As I was driving up Hobble Creek Canyon we passed a small fire burning on a hill.  I was tempted to stop, but it a few guys were staring at it, so I assumed they were burning the weeds off the hillside.

A little further up the canyon I came to the catch basin.  There was a fire burning on the hill, and people were rushing up to put it out.  I jumped out of my truck and grabbed a shovel that I had in the back and began to put the fire out with the group.  It took about 15 minutes and the fire department started to show up.  At that point the fire was contained.  The fire under the trees was the hardest to put out.  The oak tree bark had burned, and they were full of hot coals.  If you backed into them, or brushed them you were scorched.  I limb with a red hot spot on it stabbed me in the back of the head, the bright side was that the coal cauterized the wound.

We had to wait until the police and the fire department cleared things up and we were able to start heading up the canyon. I wanted to take squaw peak road.  I had seen it on maps for many months and never taken the time.

We were there about 30-40 minutes in all.  Everything is so dry, it could all go up pretty easily. 

The road was pretty good until we hit our first cache. GC1X3TK Our First Cache

I dug around a bit for that one without much luck. A regular one near a tree or a post.  I was sure that I should find it quickly.  Well I did finally discover it, but it was not a regular but a micro. That made me look far harder than I normally would.

We continued up the canyon. and was having a pretty good ride except for one thing.  This road was rougher than crap.  It was not impassable, just rough.  The road gravel was entirely gone and the stones that made up the mountain were poking through.  That threw us all over.

GC1H24P The Hollow was our next stop. It is always nice to find a nice ammo can.  It was kind of steep to get to.  I was not having any luck at all getting my daughter down to it.  She had worn flip flops (note as a parent to check kids before leaving house).  So stumbling down a steep and rocky hillside for a can hiding in bushes was not one of my best ideas. Thanks Baldin' Eagle for getting it our for me.

One other one was found while on the trip.  GC1E6VJ  Utah Valley View.  It was near the road by Caverspencer.  As we headed up up up.

The road around the mountain finally came to a spot where I thought we could take a break.  We had bounced a few thousand times and we needed a break. 

There I hiked up into the trees with my daughter and placed a cache.  I would have gone farther but one of them got caught by a tree limb and wanted to head down.   So there I placed GC2B6NH Kolob Basin Overlook It was a nice spot and took a while for us to climb up to.  It is at the high point of our trip, at 8700 feet.  I hope to go up and follow this trail to the peak.  Maybe in a month or so I can trick Jac0b or Balding into coming up with me.

After a great little break, a snack and our walk, we headed on down the other side.  Not nearly as steep and a lot longer it was a nice ride.  The girls where upset that we did not find a place with trees.  So I waited until I found a place. And pulled off.

I walked out to a point there.  I was looking for the name of this little ridge and did not have any luck finding it.  It is  one a topo map somewhere, but I did not feel like digging for it.  So way up in the hills is now GC2B6NV What a Knob.  It is a nice overlook of a canyon.  I think it is little rock canyon.  But without the map I will never know.

It was a really sharp edge ridge.  One side protect the aspens on the East side.  The other side is steep. and full of a lot of loose rocks.  I gathered some and made a small pile of stones to put it under.  The places up here need the extra weight to hold the containers down.  I can picture the snow pushing it down the mountain unless I have the stones in place. 

It was a good ride.  Rough and it took more effort than I planned, but it was enjoyable.  the road got better and better as I headed north. Until soon there were cars driving past me the other way.

Well.  Thats it for today.  Enjoy the caching.