I've been Paperless Caching [4] for several years, constantly evolving and refining my processes as new tools are introduced.

Well, the new Garmin Colorado400t [5] has turned my entire caching approach on its ear. This unit caries geocache "data" (description, hints, recent logs, etc), and with the latest firmware upgrade, allows logging of finds (and DNFs, Needs Maintenance) in the field.

Read below the cut to learn how I started with an idea, and through participation in a helpful online community, have been able to produce a utility that I think will be of great value to owners of this unit.

So, the latest firmware release for the Colorado (re-)introduced the concept of 'marking a cache as found' - but took it a step further than how it was implemented on the 60-series. Now, users can select from "Found It", "Did Not Find", and "Needs Repair". This information is written, along with a timestamp, onto the Colorado.

I knew this was just what we needed - and this all but does away with the need for carrying a Palm and CacheMate. This has the potential of centralizing the entire paperless caching experience onto a single device.

I won't regurgitate the entire evolutionary thread [6], but after several days of furious development, testing, learning, and collaboration with the macro Zen Masters, especially lignumaqua [7], we had finally arrived at a robust, functional, configurable macro which will enable Colorado users to import these Field Notes from the GPSr, match records in GSAK, and update found/DNF flags, dates, and populating the User Sort field.

Sound geeky? It IS! I'm having a ton of fun getting into coding, learning new stuff, and enhancing my geocaching experience. I'm excited about future additions and enhancements to this macro - but it's already doing some great stuff.

You'll find the ColoradoLogImportSQL.gsk macro in the GSAK Macro Library, here [8], and an associated forum thread for discussing it's current and future operation is here [9].

Enjoy!