Help please. Maine Delorme challenge

[mouse179]

Well, I would like to do the Maine Delorme challenge. But I do not know how to start. Do I just use Geocache.com search engine and find a cache in every grid of the Delorme and then go find those? and in the end do I notify someone that I did them?

I tired the search engine but I have found no real answers.

hopefully someone can help me figure this out and explain simply how to do it and start it. thanks for all your help

[TRF]

Well, I would like to do the Maine Delorme challenge. But I do not know how to start. Do I just use Geocache.com search engine and find a cache in every grid of the Delorme and then go find those? and in the end do I notify someone that I did them?

I tired the search engine but I have found no real answers.

hopefully someone can help me figure this out and explain simply how to do it and start it. thanks for all your help

Yes. To complete the challenge you must find(or place) at least one cache that would be a representative of each and every Delorme map that would comprise the state. Then after you have done that, then you are welcome to log the "final" cache that would signify that you met all the requirements.

If you don't use mapping software then the I guess one would have to go to each map, select an area and do a search for a cache that would be there. If you are using mapping software there are several other ways to find out which caches are located in each map.

Hope this helps.

Cache on!

[dubord207]

Here's something I need to learn. Which mapping software do you use and how does it work? I am now only lacking 6 grids, did it all manually! Guess it's time to add this to the arsenal of techno-stuff we use to cache. ( I'm guessing there will be a few who wonder why I don't have this but I'm ready to learn!)

[WhereRWe?]

Well, I would like to do the Maine Delorme challenge. But I do not know how to start. Do I just use Geocache.com search engine and find a cache in every grid of the Delorme and then go find those? and in the end do I notify someone that I did them?

Not sure if you've been there before, so here's a link to the Maine Delorme Challenge cache site.

[Team2hunt]

Not sure if you've been there before, so here's a link to the Maine Delorme Challenge cache site.

Let's make this as easy as it should be. If you have a Garmin and use Mapsource I will share with you the "tracks" that make up the official map outlines for the grids. I am using a 2005 edition. This is in the rules and is referred to in #5.

As a reminder to add your bookmark on the cache page, as this will grandfather you in the number of maps that you will have to find. This past year I opened up a map in Northern Maine. And I will probably do the same to another "easy" to find map in Western Maine next year.

If you are not a premium member than email me through my profile and let me know you have started, and I will grandfather you.

[pm28570]

Currently I keep my bookmarks private. I've started the Delorme Challenge, so the question is should I make my Delorme Challenge bookmark public for you to see? I'm not really concerned about being grandfathered however I would not be a happy cacher if I discovered I had done something wrong along the way that would prevent accomplishing the goal.

As a reminder to add your bookmark on the cache page, as this will grandfather you in the number of maps that you will have to find. This past year I opened up a map in Northern Maine. And I will probably do the same to another "easy" to find map in Western Maine next year.

[benandtina]

We have a book of scenic drives in Maine. To start, I looked through each drive and figured out which maps I would cover during the drive. I plotted the routes that covered the most maps and then use the "Caches along a route" feature to find potential caches along the way.

We like doing loops that will take us through one set of maps as we drive away from home and then through another set as we return. We try to plan two caches for each map: one that is either difficult or requires a long walk and another that is quick. We try our best to get both but if for some reason the longer one doesn't work out (DNF, running out of daylight, etc.) we can fall back on the quick cache.

To keep track of what we have completed we just keep the atlas in the car and highlight the squares on the map that is at the beginning of the book.

We aren't super hardcore about getting as many maps as possible, so we try to tie the maps in to things. For example, we had never gone to Red's Eats and wanted to a few weeks ago, so we planned to cover that map and the maps along the way. Or, we had a Geocoin that wanted to go to Canada so we picked a scenic route from our book that would get us there (we took Route 6 to Vanceboro, then crossed in to NB, very pretty!) and did the maps along the way.

[firefighterjake]

. . .We aren't super hardcore about getting as many maps as possible, so we try to tie the maps in to things. For example, we had never gone to Red's Eats and wanted to a few weeks ago, so we planned to cover that map and the maps along the way. Or, we had a Geocoin that wanted to go to Canada so we picked a scenic route from our book that would get us there (we took Route 6 to Vanceboro, then crossed in to NB, very pretty!) and did the maps along the way.

I wasn't even thinking about doing the DeLorme Challenge until my good buddy and partner in crime and comedy informed me that I had probably completed a good number of grids without being aware of this fact . . . when he plugged in the info for me I found out I had only a few grids left which was a good impetus for both of us to get out and make those trips to the extreme north, south, east and west . . . and together we had some great times finishing up the DeLorme together.

However, like you, I didn't set out to do the DeLorme . . . it just kind of happened naturally as I went from place to place as my caching adventures took me hither and thither . . . or maybe it was over hill and dale . . . or maybe it was to Chip N' Dales . . . I forget.

[firefighterjake]

Currently I keep my bookmarks private. I've started the Delorme Challenge, so the question is should I make my Delorme Challenge bookmark public for you to see? I'm not really concerned about being grandfathered however I would not be a happy cacher if I discovered I had done something wrong along the way that would prevent accomplishing the goal.

You should allow Team2hunt to see this bookmark . . . first off it will grandfather you . . . which would be important if you have done or did the long trip up north or to the remote northwestern regions . . . and thought you had locked up all the grids there only to discover later on, right before you're ready to log the final that another grid was opened . . . requiring another very long ride to the middle of nowhere for that final cache . . . trust me, Hiram and I were devastated when we thought we would have to go way, way up north to the middle of nowhere for one grid . . . fortunately we were grandfathered.

The other possible bonus is that there is a chance someone seeing your bookmark may be able to alert you if a cache you have listed is listed incorrectly if you're doing this manually . . . ie. you may think a cache right on the border of a grid is in one grid, when in fact it may be in the adjoining grid.

[pm28570]

Good point, one that comes to mind is your Sound of Music cache.....just over the line for map 22.

you may think a cache right on the border of a grid is in one grid, when in fact it may be in the adjoining grid.