Black Dog Trackers

Yuck ! Maybe a couple of fairly thin 2 feet x 8 feet pieces of plywood with a 8 foot 2"x2" down the center of each and screwed on. Drill a hole through each end of each board and attach a 12 foot tether rope to each hole. A lot of weight. Maybe there's some kind of lightweight plastic analog of such boards. Maybe you could do a survivorman kind of video of your boggy adventures!

Hi procell - In 2000 Groundspeak imported the NGS database (a government database of some of the U.S. benchmarks) and that copy is what is searchable here. For a time they have spoken of importing other benchmark databases and sometimes have spoken of re-importing a newer version of the NGS database. At this point, itt seems that they are not going to do either. Instead, Groundspeak created Waymarking and people have made categories within it, one of which is the Canadian Benchmarks category. You can log finds there, but the Canadian benchmark databases are not pre-imported from official databases. So when you log a find, you have to put in your own description, etc. The Canadian Benchmarks category page does have online references to several Canadian benchmarks databases, so you can start your search from them.

There is a recovery report writing section in holograph's benchmark hunting wiki here.

Those coords - 44 13 30 N 119 37 31.5 W is in the center of Oregon. The Oregon version of the coords have no benchmarks in that area in the benchmarks database. The search window to look with coords is here. It looks like a USDA Forest Service triangulation station. It was apparently never submitted to the NGS which is why it isn't on the benchmark database here. There are hundreds of thousands of marks not included in the database we use here. You can read about that here in the FAQ

andreagl - Groundspeak runs the geocaching site, the benchmarking site, the Waymarking site, and some others. The foundation of the benchmarking site is a position and description database obtained from the U.S. National Geodetic Survey in 2000. Its scope includes only the 50 U.S. states. People log the marks in this database (over 700,000 marks) but cannot add marks to it. Groundspeak's Waymarking site includes benchmark waymark categories for different countries, including the U.K. and Ireland Trigpoints site.

Well it's already near the end of July so I'm starting a part 2 for 2009. Previous versions of the contest are here: 2009 part 1 2008 part 2 2008 part 1 2007 part 2 2007 part 1 2006 part 3 2006 part 2 2006 part 1 2005 part 2 2005 part 1 2004 This thread is for posting really good benchmark pictures, either your own or someone else's. You are a contest winner if your picture is shown here for all to see and enjoy! 1. No intersection stations (the station IS the tower, building, etc.) Why? Well they all look pretty good, but they're not really all that 'benchmarky'. 2. The disk has to be at least vaguely visible in the picture. No - 'view from', 'the area', etc. with no PID marker in it. Why? It's gotta be a Benchmark picture! 3. No closeup of just the disk. (Come on, it's just a disk - where's the nice scenery?)" A close pictures is OK if it includes some surrounding interesting environment. So, here we go ! ANTERO by 2/3Marine E 292 by lost02 CRYSTAL by titocache S 78 by TillaMurphs TULE by lost02 LACY 1972 by dlanderos CLARRISSA by PFF G 40 by southpawaz SCOTT RM3 by Mega Scooter

Renegade Knight - Your writeup about the difference is really excellent ! Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts.

DutchBoy - The NGS has Puerto Rico benchmarks in their database. You could search for them with the NGS rectangular search. You can log the ones in the NGS database at the NGS and you can also log them at Waymarking.

That sounds exciting ! Be prepared to not be able to find some of them. The difference between geocaching and benchmark hunting is that what you're hunting for may have been gone for several decades. Be sure to read the FAQs for benchmark hunting and NGS reporting. If you look for a triangulation station that has reference marks be sure to bring with you the information from the box score.

TeamBlueHeeler - Welcome to benchmark hunting ! In answer to your question, the NGS says here that they don't want recovery reports more often than 1 year apart. However, many benchmark hunters here choose a longer time policy of their own, such as 5 or 10 years. I don't know of any benchmark hunters here that go back to recover their same marks once a year. The NGS has told us that they don't want any more recoveries on intersection stations. However, they will allow emails to them about an intersection station if you can provide evidence that it is destroyed.

Hi POLE POSITION - The NGS database includes not only disks that say "National Geodetic Survey" or "Coast and Geodetic Survey" it's organizational predecessor, but also many other disks owned/set by other national departments or state and local departments. Basically any disk whose position information was sent to the NGS in an official and acceptable manner (and that costs $$$) is kept by the NGS in their database. In short, the NGS 'owns and operates' their database, but not all the marks included in it. The NGS database includes USGS disks (a separate govt. agency), Engineer Corp. disks, Navy disks, Minnesota disks, disks of counties in California, and many other kinds. However. Geocaching has a copy (from 2000) of the NGS database and does not add to it, nor can we benchmark loggers add to it. Instead Groundspeak has the Waymarking sister site that is made for adding disks, so you can log there if you like. So, you can log Engineer Corp. disks and disks of a couple hundred other govt. agencies but only if they are already included in the NGS database, circa 2000. You can read a bit more on this topic in the banchmark FAQ section on it.

Bweznen - There is no way to log it on the geocaching benchmark site. You can log it at the Waymarking site instead. Here is an article to read about this.

Hi goonybird - Well that would be my cryptic writing, but not all. For instance the description of marks you're referring to are NGS marker types listed in their publication here. Those are the common types of markers. The ones in the middle column that start with a D are the disk types. There are even more types than the list has and they are just described in the text instead of having a code. The items you mention like "B 749" and "N 130" are the station names. It's true that they're usually cryptic - they're just serial numbers really. For instance, some surveyors might be paid to do a survey down a road. They might call it the "N survey". Individual stations would be called "N 1", "N 2", "N 3", etc. up to maybe "N 300". Often many are gone, so the ones left seem to skip a lot of numbers, and others never made it into the NGS database although they really are there on the ground. Scaled and adjusted are explained here. The "NO CHECK" is one of the more esoteric classifications that I know nothing about. The "position calculated" is something I did - for reference marks I used some math to calculate the positions just to be able to show them on a map. To limit ngsread's output to specific types of markers, use the /codesin thing on the command line. For example if your ngs file is ak007.dat and you want to limit to azimuth disks and magnetic stations use: ngsread /codesin=DZ,DM ak007.dat

Hi luckykoi - If you haven't, you can read about disks not in the database here.

I emailed Buckner about his survey marks website. He says he's in the process of moving his benchmark pages to his new site and should be done in a month or two.

Between some large rocks was this copperhead snake. I was safe enough because I was hiding behind that leaf. I found this snake while looking for JV4592.

I think this would be somewhat like wanting to waymark a tripod. Does that seem about right?

The gc.com benchmarks database doesn't change, except for logs of benchmarks already there. The database is a copy of the NGS database in the year 2000. There has been talk from the admins about plans to update from the NGS from time to time, but it has never happened. Even if it did, there are thousands of marks that are not included and will not be included in the NGS database, probably including the one you found. It's an issue of paperwork and standards over at NGS. Certainly if you do make a log at the Waymarking site (also owned by gc.com) you can then post a picture here in the forum by referencing the pic's location over at Waymarking (same as if you put a picture anywhere on the WWWeb).

Team Gryarvold - If the RMs prove difficult to find, it might help to remember that the box score azimuths are True North, not Magnetic North. At distances like 20 meters it will possibly make a difference.

another excellent batch.... TRG12 1948 by dcrep YA 1 by sjkimmel99 MOG RM2 by dcrep Marblehead Neck - USED STA NECK ELEV by king.hubi PARK POINT 8572.31 by NorthWes R 33 by dukemartin MARBLEHEAD NECK RM2 by king.hubi Cold Shivers Point - USGS CC11 1934 by king.hubi RV 25 RDGRR by shorbird

I found a leaded brass tube, sort of the opposite thing. I didn't try to excavate the tube part since I wasn't going to use the mark and didn't want to disrupt the sidewalk's surface. A leaded hole is an unusual type of mark, or at least they are unusual to be surviving in the database.

I found a couple of vaguely similar items at Mount Washington.

Hi Klemmer, I enjoyed your flower picture collection! The alien flower on your page 2 is called a passion flower. http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=passion+flower

I saved a few really nice benchmark pictures .... 204 by chaps42 B 499 by nvtriker W 275 by hotrod205 at the base of a solar powered river gauge U 92 by 2/3 Marine ANDGEE by Banshee$$ R 97 by lost02 ROTTEN by southpawaz2

dixiedawn, It looks like Sleeping Ute Mountain. Is that it? I saw it from the other side.