Mar 16/2010
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Geocache Activity 605 |
DNF |
IDENTIFICATION
Difficulty 1; Terrain 1.5; size small Creator: WD65 Date First Hidden: 2/10/2010 Date Last Found: 3/14/2010 Description This is a popular fishing area of the Crowsnest River but please be sure you abide by all regulations if fishing is in your plans. You are on the west side of the East Hillcrest bridge and you will see an old stile which has been in place for at least 40 years. At one time there was also one on the other side of the road, but this has been removed. Hint Comments
PLANNING
I was eager to begin today's activities. Yesterday I learned how to use geocaching.com's "Create Pocket Query" to obtain all the caches along a route (in this case Highway 3 between Pincher Creek and Sparwood). This gave me a total of 49 caches to search. This was a .loc file. (The geocaching.com website says that I should be able to obtain this as a .gpx file but I have not been able to figure out how to do this yet.) I then had to convert this to a .gpx file using a program called GPSBabel. I then used a program called Garmin Road Trip to see these caches located on a map on my Mac. This is the same map that my Garmin nuvi uses for its display. This gave me a clear picture of the location of each cache along the highway before I set out. I then downloaded these caches as a .gpx file to a file folder on the Mac desktop and I dragged this folder to the Garmin nuvi (in the folder called GPX) which was hooked up to the Mac. This may seem like a lot of work, and it is, but it is still much better than having to load each of the 49 web sites individually into the nuvi.
I took along my BT-335 data logger, my Garmin nuvi, my camera and my iPhone. I did not make any notes as I assumed I would be able to use my iPhone to obtain the cache descriptions and details. I also did not make any notes about the sequence of searching as I assumed the nuvi would always indicate which cache was the next nearest and that would work satisfactorily as I was basically following a linear route.
OUTCOME
This was my 7th search of the morning. More difficulties. I failed among other things to notice the name of this cache. However at no time did my nuvi suggest I go over to where there was a nice structure for getting over a fence. I think that is likely where the cache site is located. Here is my posting to the geocaching.com website:
This one gave me trouble today. Actually it was my third DNF. My GPS unit had me going in circles, but none of the circles intersected with the cache. I really like the Crowsnest Pass area, so I am looking forward to trying again.
I am now 4/7 for today. And I forgot to take any photos of the area I was searching.