foxtrot_xray

My favorite chiseled marks are: https://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.aspx?PID=EE0017 because of the location, history, and the fun way to get there, and https://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.aspx?PID=EE0061 Because it is so easy and plain to see, and old.

Interesting - I personally love the chisled items - squares,circles, triangles. Heck - there's a really neat one up in Wyoming west of Cheyenne - at the Ames Monument. I did a quick search of this mark in @op's post in the NGS database from August, and it was not tied into the NGS database, so you won't be able to log it here on GC.com; and if it's not on Waymarking, you may need to create a new waypoint there.

Good luck! Let us know the outcome!

This. Specifically, ngs.infocenter@... will be the people you need to talk to.

As stated in other areas of this forum, n a very small percentage of USGS marks are in the NGS database. (GC here has a copy of the NGS database.) So, you can waymark it, or kist save your pictures for a cool find. :)

Thanks guys - That helps, but I'm the type that still needs to watch and help. (What you old me is like telling me the coordinates of a station, while I need the directions and how-to-reach. :D)

Frankly, I would love to learn the process and equipment needed to run a level check. Every time I come by a vertical monument that I THINK is disturbed, or is questionable, I wish I had the knowledge and know-how to check and verify.

Honestly? Don't touch it. Don't try to push it down. Frankly, you don't know how FAR you should push it down. If the rod has been shifted due to any reason, the station is no longer valid, and pushing it back wouldn't suddenly 'made' it valid any more.

I would actually be surprised if you haven't.. I mean, it is obviously the less-used term: Heh. Otherwise, I'm not sure how accurate of an order it would be if the marker swam around all year!

I would like to get the hardware necessary to do this at some point, honestly. Just to learn.

BenchMap will soon had a data option to ONLY show these GPSonBM stations that are needing recovery.

When I was running the above numbers, I noticed something strange, and found out I had a bug in my database. I fixed it, and reimported all the stations, and found something interesting: Of all the publishable stations, 10 have a "MONUMENTED" or "FIRST OBSERVED" (code of "S" in the NGS database) by the "GEOCAC" agency. ONE is legit, DM5588, actually named 'GEOCAC', the special one set back in 2009. The rest are odd ones: All have an entry similar to:

Interesting - decided to run some queries on my database (which is from the begiinning of September of this year) - There are 256 stations that were monumented by GSC, and total of 366 that they've reported on. There are 155 in AK, 2 in ID, 37 in ME, 10 in MI, 9 in MN, 15 in MT, 34 in ND, 3 in NH, 21 in NY, 11 in VT, and 9 in WA. 205 datasheets do not have a 'Mark Logo' entered in. 9 are marked as CGS, 33 are marked as GSC, and 19 are marked as NGS.

Good luck!

The capped ones (rods with access covers) will certainly be picked up by a metal detector - those are aluminum access covers, and they'll be picked up. (At least, with a real metal detector. Since they ARE aluminum, it's possible cheaper, iron-only or magnetic-only detectors won't pick them up..!) Some stations will list the ownership of the land the mark sits on Usually if it is along a roadway, but is outisde the right-of-way, I will do searches in someone's yard - but never do any digging or metal-detecting without contacting the owners. And yes, more than a couple times I've walked up to the front door. In the case of a few times, the owner even knew where they were, and pointed me to them. Now, about looking for Found/Not Found stations, in areas I am not familiar with or new to - like Bozeman in this case, I will usually stick to previously Found marks. But in areas I know well (like around where I life, or have lived, or will be in a long period of time for work or vacation), THEN I will pull up Not Found stations, and spend some extra time looking for them. The more familiar you are with the area, the more it helps looking for more difficult marks.

Apologies I fell silent, all - starting Wednesday, the contractor stepped up their game, and the rest of the week was too busy for me to get out. Which really bums me, because I had some others I did want to get. Unlike many others here (like Kayakbird here), I don't have a set criteria. I usually start by looking on Google Earth for stations - things I like to see are either stations along old roadways/ole rail beds, or stations with interesting features. Some things I take into account is: 1. whether it HAS been recovered before or not (and how recently. For trips to parts of the country I don't normally go, I stay away from not found marks, because of time. 2. If it's along a roadway, how active/busy the road is. (i.e. two-lane vs 4-lane divided highway) - too much traffic, too much like work. 3. If it's along a railway, whether the line is still active or not (or if I have permission or not - a couple of the ones I found last Tuesday I had legal access to the railroad's ROW.) 4. any other intersting features. (i.e. Near an old school building, the 1936 description lists an 'old road', Again, I usually start on Google Earth with Topo maps, and go from there.

Weather was nice - while the temperature wasn't scorching, I will admit that the sun WAS. I got burnt a LOT more badly than anticipated, and with the calm wind, it was _hot_. The visibility was good - could see for miles, so the scenery stood out. Today, contractor showed up, and after a half-day, called it. So, I headed back over that way and found some other marks (nothing as exciting really, but were personal curiosities) around the area.

Success. First day on the job, and after showing up and waiting thirty minutes, I got a call stating that the contractor can't make it, and will meet me tomorrow. So, that gave me a day's worth of pay, with nothing to do. So about 11:30 I got to the small parking area, and headed on up. Was steeper than I had anticipated. I brought water and trail mix/small snacks, and am glad I did. I am out of shape being a desk-jockey for years now, and about 2/3rds of the way up had to take a good 10-15 minute break. .. I need to get in better shape. Got up there and could easily see everything. (And in every direction - haze was not bad at all.) Was gorgeous. Took pics, then sat and had a couple snacks for lunch, then headed back down to the car. About 5 minutes after parking and setting off, a local pulled in and got out of his car. He told me to 'be careful, as the snakes are moving up, and may be active. But it's a great view once you get up there.'. About halfway up, I happened to see a white SUV pull in behind my car - an officer got out and looked around my vehicle, then looked up at me. No wave, no calling or anything - he just got back into his vehicle and drove off. Those were the only two people I 'saw' while I was out there. (Not including a farmer bailing and loading hay onto a flatbead.)

Thanks! I have started reseaching - and yeah, negative info is *better* than none! Appreciated!

Same here. I still hunt *regularly* and very actively - especially when on a job away from home and have access to rail lines, or airports, etc. But I haven't cached in a LONG time, and likely will never again. The forums here died out, likely because some of the same reasons..

I've seen your initials on a LOT of datasheets while looking out there. That one is neat enough to try and attack. I have it mapped out, and see a trail/dim road heading uphill to to coming from the northeast. How are farmers/ranchers up there? I'm used to dealing with them in KS, OK and northern TX, and haven't even had an issue before, but figured I'd check.

Heading out to Bozeman a week from yesterday, for preliminary work on a new grade-crossing project. Planning on doing some searching and recoveries out there.. Looking forward to it, as this will be my first time in the state - ever.

interesting Mel - My initial thought while reading that was simply: > The setting doesn't specify whether the mark (different from the *setting*) is above of below ground. So, it'd be a bolt (marker=B) in a tile (setting=...). However, I then went to look through the settings to find the 'tile', and .. yeah, you're right. There's not *tile*. There is tile PIPE, which IMHO is different than just a tile.

Here's the same data for the Stations' SETTING.. CDE # SETTING 58 18 Galvanized steel rod in sleeve (10FT+ or 3.048M+) 56 75 Copper-clad rod in sleeve (10FT+ or 3.048M+) 55 106 Unspecified pipe/rod in sleeve (10FT+ or 3.048M+) 39 166 Tunnels 41 202 Large structure with foundations on bedrock 47 247 Galvanized steel pipe without sleeve (10FT+ or 3.048M+) 45 307 Unspecified deep unsleeved setting (10FT+ or 3.048M+) 33 470 Piles or poles (e.g. spike in utility pole) 48 649 Galvanized steel rod without sleeve (10FT+ or 3.048M+) 60 719 Aluminum alloy rod in sleeve (10FT+ or 3.048M+) 57 802 Galvanized steel pipe in sleeve (10FT+ or 3.048M+) 40 1336 Large structures with deep foundations 2 1910 Object driven into ground 21 2104 Set in concrete in a clay tile pipe 65 2188 Unspecified rock or boulder 37 2348 Massive retaining walls 16 3172 A metal rod with base plate buried/screwed into ground 4 3941 Object surrounded by mass of concrete 35 6349 Mat foundation or concrete slab other than pavement 34 6491 Footings of small/medium structures 15 7958 A metal rod driven into ground. See text for additional information 9 11731 Set in prefabricated concrete post 38 11903 Abutment or pier of large bridges 46 12229 Copper-clad steel rod without sleeve (10FT+ or 3.048M+) 59 13390 Stainless steel rod in sleeve (10FT+ or 3.048M+) 31 15346 Pavement (street, sidewalk, curb, etc.) 50 20061 Aluminum alloy rod without sleeve (10FT+ or 3.048M+) 17 20150 Set into or fastened to top of metal pipe driven into ground 32 23488 Retaining wall or concrete ledge 49 25291 Stainless steel rod without sleeve (10FT+ or 3.048M+) 80 25434 In a boulder 0 32882 Unspecified setting 30 45332 Light structures (other than listed below) 36 52632 Massive structures (other than listed below) 66 55041 In rock outcrop or ledge 7 396913 Set in top of concrete monument And there's just over 98k sheets that have no setting information. (This is different that datasheets that HAVE a setting specified as '0' - Unspecified Setting.)

Huh. D'you know who tried to do the reset? Seems like that's a big 'oops'..!