Sorry that the cache highlight is another one of mine. I didn't have any others and don't feel comfortable highlighting someone elses cache without permission. So all you cachers with more than 0 hides, send a cache highlight on one of your caches to "newsletter at iowageocachers.org" and yours can be the next cache highlighted.

Check out the new WAP pages on the IGO website. They work great on my PDA phone. I love the weather link. As I have said, we are starting a new section in the next issue that will help newbies (and maybe even some who have cached for a while) learn how to place caches. We should have some goos articles about cache types, sizes, materials, constucting, placing and the list goes on. I want to thank Blue Grass Tom for writing them.

Hey, if you have an idea for an article, or better yet, have written an article, send it to our email and we will see about getting it in an issue. This is your newsletter, help keep it going.

Number of Finds/Hides: 453/22 (subject to change depending on the weather!)

Signature Item: I like to leave a small hand-made wooden cross, that my step-father, Gary makes for me. Most have a scripture reference instead of my signature.

Occupation? Pimento stuffer in an olive factory. No, seriously, I'm the plant manager for Hawkeye Corrugated Box Company in Cedar Falls. I worked as a salesman for them for the first 9 years before coming inside to manage production for the last 10. You could say that I make empty brown boxes for a living. It's a great company to work for and I even borrowed a GPS from my boss for my first 50 finds and my first hide.

How you got your username? I attended the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) after a 3 year enlistment in the Marine Corps. I picked up the nickname 'Bear' while at school. Put them together and you get my nickname. My license plate reads the same, so if you see me, be sure to wave and say 'hi'.

How long have you been caching? My cache log says the first cache was Thunderwoman Cache on May 18, 2002, so just over 4 years. Geocaching is my primary hobby, although I enjoy camping, just a little hunting and just a little fishing as well.

Favorite cache/why? Wow! I have several on the favorites list. Tapley Shallow in Illinois, now archived, because the hint had me humming a children's tune while I searched. It was a great hide that's container blended right into the location. We did the St. Louis Arch Virtual Cache while on vacation. It takes you through the museum under the Arch answering questions, then outside to find the final. Lots of fun for the family. Ancient Highway to the Middle of Nowhere, down by Ottumwa, just because it's in a cemetery and kinda spooky! Two Colorado caches. Pike Never Made It at 14,110 feet on top of Pike's Peak. It's worth it because you get to drive up the mountain. Huffer Hill in Rocky Mountain National Park is up over 12,000 feet and earns its name.

Least Favorite/why? Mineral Springs Park, in Owatonna, MN (now archived) because I took 5 or 6 newbies out after dark on New Year's Eve, 2002 to show them this 'great' hobby of mine. We found the park, found the trail, found the hiding spot and the cache was missing! :( Other than that, anything in the 'extremes' (too hot, too cold, too buggy, too muggy, too itchy, too many leaves) don't get me wrong, I have a sense of adventure, but I also have common sense. Probably explains why my favorite times to cache are Spring and Fall.

How did you get started? I was surfing the net one day and saw an article on MSN about it. After reading about geocaching, I asked my boss if I could borrow his old Eagle fishing GPS. The rest, they say, "is history". For me, it's a great blend of technology, orienteering, land navigation, and adventure. I LOVE the t-shirt that says, "I use billion dollar satellites to find tupperware in the woods."

Current caching goals? I'm trying to average about 100 finds a year, just to keep active in the hobby, yet not be too addicted. I'd like to add to the number of different states I've cached in (it's always fun to go some place new). I'd also like to come up with some unique "out of the ordinary" hides around the Cedar Falls area.

There is a funny story behind this cache. “The NVG” Placed a new cache and MookieD1415, JFS001 and I (3AMT) all spent a good hour each (at different times) looking for it. It was called “On the Banks of Boxelder” and the coordinates took us to a very nice place along the Des Moines River. Many Many hiding places for a cache but each of us was being told to go thirty-five feet into the river. So we each let The NVG know and asked for a little hint. He told us it was in some roots. So there was more searching by all three of us and still nothing.

So The NVG headed out to check on his cache and discovered that he had made a slight (5 minute) error on his northern coordinate. His three must have looked like an eight. Needless to say, with the correct coordinates we found the cache quickly (although it was not easy to actually get too). He had to archive the cache and place a new one as the distance was to far to just correct the coordinates.

The original place he had us looking was such a great place for a cache, I ran out and dropped one there. So head out and grab a nice little cache on the banks of the Des Moines River and you don’t even have to get wet.

A couple of Eastern Iowa geocachers we profiled in “The West Liberty Index” last month. LOBRI (Lori and Brian Connell) and AHTEL (Vince and Letha Ottaway) were highlighted in the article published August 1st. It is a very good article and describes geocaching, CITO and why both couples got into caching.

Check out the article here http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16993535&BRD=1105&PAG=461&dept_id=151632&rfi=8