Ernmark

Woohoo! Only 3140 more counties to go !

You can add it to the US Benchmarks category on Waymarking.com..

..we're all just too darn prolific! PS - I'm another one who submitted a huge slew of reports on 5/18..

Mega Scooter - Nice shot ! Here's an interesting one from a quick peek at the gallery: DC2006 by sandiegoland ...so is that the border fence in the foreground?

#2 - would be interesting to call up unusual types - i.e., gravity stations, etc..

Delaware WM1AAG - waymarked by whereabouts

..regarding the original post - there are many pre-2000 benchmarks that for some reason or another have not made it into the Geocaching database. In my area, they mostly seem to date from 1942 - one example that comes to mind is KV2740 - a non-descript PADH disk along an abutment, although there are USC&GS disks as well...

The GC database consists of US benchmarks. You can log them (or list new ones) under the Canadian Benchmarks category over at Waymarking.com..

I've run across several 'destroyed' marks myself which appear to be in excellent condition - one of which was verified by 2 of 'us' - KW2805 (KINK). Mloser submitted this one for undestruction many months ago (Matt, correct me if I'm wrong) but it is still destroyed. My only thought is that in this one's case, it was slated to be removed during road improvements that never occured...although NGS seems to always be cautious about marking one as destroyed - even if a 'KINK2' would've been set. Interestingly I have run into more marks with the same gentleman's name that are 'destroyed' from the same time period (~2001) but are still in place and appear to be in good condition ...not sure if it was an NGS person or the submitter, which I would expect. Edit - spelling - and again for clarification.

..bringing in another thread topic - it looks like the registration on Google Earth for RIM is a good 200' or more off - am I right? (link)

Pennsylvania WM19BK (PID - none)

Maryland WM36JT (PID DF8458)

As many of the readers of this forum know, holograph maintains an excellent website - www.holoscenes.com which documents a tally of GEOCAC adventures, as well as some excellent maps. Another part of the site - visit link references the U.S. State Center of Population monuments, all of which were set after the 2000 Census. I have had occasion to visit 2 of them so far, and since most (if not all) were set too late to make it into the GC database (some not even in the NGS database), my challenge is this: If you have visited any of these monuments, please list the pictures to provide a gallery/tally of what's out there so far! I'll start w/ the 2 I've collected so far:

I was gonna chew you out for not listing the PID (for those of us too lazy to look it up), but I got off my duff (actually not really) & looked up your logs for 5/3: FQ0689 ...I wanted to check out the USGS topo - that's some nice terrain! I've got to get out & do some desert benchmarking sometime! Thanks for showing us the pix!

Nice ! I try to plot out the RM's & AZ also...but I must admit doing it "old shool" by plotting it out on paper. I'll have to give this hi-tech method a try (being a computer person by trade & all) !

...in yet another thread hijack - the word on the street is that the Earth's magnetic field may actually be starting to shift polarity - see link (perhaps old news - this article's from '04...but interesting nonetheless)

...on that topic - here's a blast from the past: see link

Since your new to Benchmark Hunting, I think it is fair to warn you that there is a risk of becoming 'hooked' on this hobby - you could succumb to what is clinically described as OCBD (Obsessive Compulsive Benchmarking Disorder). I did a treatise on this malady in 2006 - be on the watch for symptoms as listed here. Welcome !

..I just ran into that situation myself - I was out yesterday to find out why PADT reported a tri-station & 2 RM's as not found last year, after a previous good GEOCAC recovery - NICARY JV3401, JV3400, JV3402. I will resubmit a found good also & add any additional relevant info. I also found another station yesterday that had a GEOCAC 'found good' just a few weeks ago w/out the person verifying the station's existence...which kind of ties into my 1st post on this thread. I made note of this in my gc log, but I'm a little leery of being the 'heavy' when it comes to chiding someone who is probably honestly trying to help.. PFF, I'll bet you never get an automatic reply because you always enter a thorough detailed description in your recovery! - E

..agreed. I've been adding the NGS tag line when in this area myself. I did communicate w/ one of the loggers a while back, but I think some of these people aren't frequenters of the BM forums & think that NGS is just another place to add logs & 'stats'. I guess that's why I was thinking that "above the fold" on the geocaching/mark page might be a place to emphasize it (gosh- why would anybody need to re-report a mark ArtMan had visited a few months before?...well, unless it was hit by a meteor!)

..well, the next thing you know ol' Jed's a millionarie now he spends all day huntin' benchmarks out in the fresh air! I forget the rest..

..speaking of GEOCAC reporting to the NGS, in looking for new marks to hunt, I've begun to run into NGS datasheets just beyond the fringes of where I normally galavant where I'm seeing up to 3 GEOCAC recoveries in the span of 18 months. I ran across one that I myself logged on geocaching but passed on reporting to the NGS, because one of 'us' had reported a recovery about 2 years earlier but now has 2 more GEOCAC entries. Having seen water tanks or conspicuous marks in shore towns where USPSQD individuals reported NGS recoveries 1 year to the day apart for a number of years - I'd hate to see GEOCAC start to to this. This has been discussed before (length of time between visits, etc.) but I wonder if geocaching.com/mark should have a bold-type reference made near the top of the page about keeping the deatsheets clean & submitting when there have been changes of a decent amount of years between recoveries. I'd hate for US to be asked not to submit recoveries to NGS. Maybe it's not that widespread, but as more geocachers succumb to Obsessive-Compulsive Benchmarking Disorder, this may show up more often... Edit - spelling error

Waymarking.com link

..but if you're into solving a puzzle - it's a lot of fun to look for the other marks! You get to put long unused brain cells in action calling up math/geometry & trying to figure out 50-year old descriptions. Often the Reference Marks are pretty close and can be flushed out...then there's the Azimuth Marks - often a 1/2 mile away! I found one that was over 5 miles from the main station! If you think it might be fun, try to look for a whole set...but be careful - you might get hooked on a new aspect of geocaching !

Yes - once in a while.. Sometimes they are converted to other uses or just there ..decaying. In my area there is often an open area w/ ballast spread around where the station once was..