A tapeworm

That was intentional. Now find this one. I'd been BM'ing for about a month when I looked for NF0908 - I should probably go back and check all my previous DNF's!

To add to the list of items in the Benchmarking Duffle Bag: hiking gaiters - help keep some of the sand/gravel/dirt out of one's boots, and here in Michigan, keep out the sand burrs, prickers, & ticks. Similarly, leather work gloves when clearing vines/thorns/etc from around mark.

Public humiliation!!! Public humiliation!!! awwwwww....

Now I gotta read the RULES??? Sheesh!

Another scoring question: "Old" BMs in a hand: bonus points awarded for a hand with 1 or more old disks (as Dolphin claimed for his first hand in the logging thread) or points for each old BM (as shorbird claimed in the next post) ?

Hee hee hee. Shhhhh....

Ooh, you betcha, eh?

Ladyslippers, perhaps, in the spring - although less threatening than soggy moccasins. Any of which may be responsible for the carnage at NF0462

THERE'S the real question! They'd have to lobotomize me before I'd climb up there!

You the man! Benchmarks fear you.

And many more to both of you!

In also, because ... ...I have all my lines picked out to get the whole set of hands three times, using only 19th century DNFs, and won't sleep until after 9/1.

Been there, done that! NF0691

Fair 'nuff.

As long as it has an identification number on the rim - sure. It is almost a disk. It has a 'disk type lid'. Shirley~ Most of those in my neighborhood are too new for inclusion on gc.com - unless the judges will accept PID & designation as per NGS data sheets, with verification by photo on USBenchmarks @ Waymarking.com?

The county download referred to is actually a listing of BMs by county, available here. I don't believe NOAA offers county maps. To get user-friendly maps, use this site - a great tool unless you've got a dial-up connection!

True, but... how insensitive! Hope the benchmark gods didn't see that.

Lots of options listed on the gc.com site. The only one I've tried (& use currently) is Geocaching Swiss Army Knife, which seems to work pretty well once I played around enough to figure it out.

I carry photos to show a disk & a couple types of monuments. As per other replies: - I introduce myself w/ first & last name in casual/friendly manner - Explain that I'm looking for a survey mark [show photo] that was placed in this area in the [1930's or whatever] - Depending on what kind of vibes I'm getting, I may say "That was placed along the road right-of-way in the 1930's...." - haven't yet had the opportunity to look for a mark real close to a private house, thus requiring knocking & asking permission - If more discussion needed, explain about updating computer database of current marks, as no such thing existed when the mark was placed - folks usually fall for that line just fine - I don't call it a hobby, but a "sideline" (& don't wear a hardhat) - Carry NGS datasheet rather than gc.com page, as it looks LOTS more official - usually folks are happy to read the datasheet & update the descriptors: "Don't ever remember a catalpa tree here, but the fence used to run over there..." - Politely & excitedly snap a photo of whatever piece of pipe or conduit folks show me that I really should be interested in

That's pretty funny.

Thanks, all. Like, a bad day benchmark seeking is better than a good day working.

Granted, it didn't involve scrambling up a mountain or dodging trains, nor was the mark originally placed by Methuselah - but I'm pretty old, so anything older than me is REALLY old.... The 1948 description of NF0453 is quite good - so although when I got to the site & found no witness post, big elm tree, nor fence corner, I still thought it was worth scrounging around despite the 1985 "Not Found" report. Sharp!brain helped get me to the likely area - just off the edge of the groomed church grounds, in a scrub-growth spot adjacent to a small privacy fence hiding more forest detritus - by pacing off from the road and SW corner of the church. The elm trees in W. Mich. essentially all disappeared in the 1950's & 60's due to Dutch Elm Disease but just W of the area was a large decayed tree stump which I thought might be a remnant of the NGS descriptor. While I dug amongst the leaves, sticks & weeds, sharp!brain took a nap. Shortly I uncovered a concrete slab with a square hole in the center. Slow!brain immediately told me: "It's the base for one of the concrete posts which occasionally in these parts hold disks on their tops". Thus, the 1985 report is correct; the post & disk are gone. Sharp!brain didn't awaken for half an hour or so, at which time I was a couple miles away at another marker: "Why would they place a 4 x 4 concrete post in a concrete base? That's where the witness post was." D'oh! Returning to the church grounds, I scraped with my boot (no trowel - slow!brain does the packing) 18" west of the concrete foundation. Just a couple of inches below the surface, of course, was the mark. Flush with success, sharp!brain took another nap. Slow!brain suggested: "Why don't we go look for the whole string of "Not Found" marks along the RR tracks 5 miles or so N of here?" - which seriously and adversely affected the day's found/not found ratio. Still, the weather was nice, & I didn't have to jump from a railroad trestle.

monkeykat: That is so cool! So why am I writing tiny numbers & arrows on highway maps to plan searches when you've done all the work already? Great work! Suppose there's a way to have the location icons list the PIDs automatically - i.e., instead of clicking individual icons - so a printed version shows roads & road names/icons/PIDs ?

Is there a place on the web that you would recommend to place your photos to be used on the forums. If you have a personal website or some online community (Facebook, I suppose, for instance) where a URL directs one to the photo, it's easy: - Click on "New Topic" from the Forum page - At the top of the message box there's a menu bar (bold, italics, etc) - the small icon which looks like a tree inserts an image - just add the URL to the pop-up window after you click the tree. Without the online-pic-URL capability, it's stupid complicated but possible (I think opening a new browser page makes this easier): - Go to the Geocaching home page; click "My Account" - On the right side, under "Account Options", click "Edit My Profile" - Scroll down to "Virtual You: Your Photo" (sounds frightening) - Under "Your Photo" click "Choose Profile Image" - Click "upload new image" - browse to where the image is loaded on your computer & click "upload" - The photo now appears on the Choose My Profile Photo page you were at a page or 2 ago. - Click on the photo - the URL that appears on the new page can be Cut&Pasted in the box after clicking on the tree from waaaay before.

Okay, the newbie asks sheepishly - what's a pathtag? Does it separate the men from the boys? Lower gasoline prices? Impress chicks?