How to Post Challenge Images

So, before we really really get under way on the challenge, I thought we should clear up how to post your "proof of arrival" images. We will probably have 40 or 50 participants in the challenge, figure an average of 25 images per participant. That's around 1200 images for somebody to sort through. Terri is probably going to be the one trying to keep track of who's been where. Let's make this as easy for her as we can. Who wants to be mean to Terri? Do you want to be mean to Terri? I didn't think so.

First, how NOT to post them: in the image gallery. It would be pretty much impossible to keep track of who's been where. Images posted in the gallery are not really in any particular order. There's also no automatic way to keep track of where you're claiming to be in the picture. Do you know what Hawley Mountain Lookout looks like from every possible angle? Naw, I don't think Terri does either.

Now, how to do it right:

• Prominently display your challenge bandana or t-shirt in every image for the challenge.
• Try to make sure the site is easily identifiable in your picture (look for a sign or structure or recognizable natural feature)
• Upload the image to a file host, such as imageshack or flickr or smuggy (your choice here)
• Open up the thread of the site you're posting in the Challenge 2010 forum
• Reply to the thread with a new comment and link your picture

Now, depending on your personal level of nerdiness, that may sound hard. File host? Thread? Link? What? No worries! Brian was nice enough to write up step-by-step directions on how to do all this stuff for the technically less literate. The directions are a sticky thread at the top of the Challenge 2010 forum. There is also a link to the directions from the "How To" page you can get to from the menu bar.

One last tip. If you have Microsoft Excel, it might be worth your while to download the spreadsheet with all the sites from here. That spreadsheet has links to every forum, as well as coordinates, altitudes, and estimated difficulty levels.

And remember. Don't be mean to Terri.