July Statistics

[holograph]

I've posted the July statistics on the extreme benchmark page. See holoscenes.com

 

It looks like Artman is holding on the the lead for NGS recovery reports, and the race for third place is tightening up.

 

Edited August 4, 2005 by holograph

[+Spoo]

holograph:

 

Thank you again for keeping this tracked and updated and for posting it for us.

[+Red_Cedars]

holograph:

 

Thank you again for keeping this tracked and updated and for posting it for us.

Thanks indeed. I've been having fun following my results ever since starting on this earlier this year. And this month I've hit a personal goal! If you sort by 2005 YTD, you don't have to scroll down to see my entry! Woo Hoo! I like setting goals like this. This way, the only person I have to outperform is me.

 

R_C

[ArtMan]

I'm honored but somewhat surprised to still be claiming the top spot, given my rather lax benchmarking activities of late.

 

I remain in awe of Me & Bucky. Though they choose not to report to NGS, their overall benchmarking accomplishment puts them in a class by themselves.

 

-ArtMan-

[holograph]

And this month I've hit a personal goal!  If you sort by 2005 YTD, you don't have to scroll down to see my entry!  Woo Hoo!  I like setting goals like this.  This way, the only person I have to outperform is me. 

By that measure, I'm in danger of falling off my own list. Good thing I bought a larger computer display last April!

 

I've had a run of bad luck with not founds, and other activities have kept me out of the field for much of the spring and summer. Last weekend I spent an hour with a 150' measuring tape trying to find what should have been an easy, well marked, relatively new station. After giving up without success, I came home and did some more research only to discover that I had been mislead by architectural changes to the school building used as a tie. KV7112

 

I did discover that NJ has a great online source of aerial photography, though, some of the best I've seen that is available to the public online.

 

(click for full image)

[Z15]

I noticed a bug in extreme stations for Michigan.

 

You list SG0166 as the lowest station at 1 meter but the datasheet says 185.

[holograph]

I noticed a bug in extreme stations for Michigan. 

 

You list SG0166 as the lowest station at 1 meter but the datasheet says 185.

The datasheet that you retrieve from the online PID retrieval form shows the correct elevation, but the archived datasheets show 1 meter.

 

For whatever reason, the online datasheet was updated but the update never got included in any annual or monthly archive. I can annotate the entry for the extremes, but until NGS updates the archive, the page will continue to show the wrong elevation.

 

edit: typos

Edited August 4, 2005 by holograph

[ArtMan]

I did discover that NJ has a great online source of aerial photography, though, some of the best I've seen that is available to the public online.

And where would that resource be, Holograph? And how does it compare with the "urban" images on TerraServer (which for me is the gold standard of free, online aerial photos)?

 

-ArtMan-

[holograph]

I did discover that NJ has a great online source of aerial photography, though, some of the best I've seen that is available to the public online.

And where would that resource be, Holograph? And how does it compare with the "urban" images on TerraServer (which for me is the gold standard of free, online aerial photos)?

 

-ArtMan-

The New Jersey Image Warehouse. It has two sets of orthophotos, both color, one set taken in 1995 that is comparable to TerraServer at 1 meter resolution, and one set taken in 2002 that is 1 foot resolution.

 

You need to use the LizardTech MrSID viewer or decoding software (free) to convert to GeoTiff or other image format.

[+BuckBrooke]

1 foot resolution might be good enough to establish the destruction of missing intersection stations.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Ah, Holograph. If you want a lot of DNFs, try working along the New York & Susquehanna! Or Rte 23.

Tis a strange sport. Usually, I look for benchmarks near geocaches. Sometimes I just go looking for interesting benchmarks.

And it's tough to log benchmarks to NGS with Holograph in your backyard, and seventhings and BlackDog Trackers wandering through the territory!

We were up to High Point State Park today geocaching. Found three benchmarks, DNFed one that was definitely missing. I can log one into NGS. Oh, well. It's just a game.

[+maconart]

I am sure it is just me, but I do not understand the chart/totals. My geocaching total is 123 marks. But this does include finds in '04. While I have made it a habit as of late to fill out a mark recovery form for each find there have been some that already was reported within the year.

 

In '05 I have made 71 Geocaching remarks. Of this number, eight have been no finds and 2 have been destroyed. So, hmmmmmmm?

 

I do applaud and appreciate the work it takes to maintian this list.

 

And it is just my competitive side that wants to be as high as I can on a list...

[+maconart]

Wait a minute... the number 71 matches up... now I get it! The totals includes the not founds and not recovered marks!

 

DOH!

[+PFF]

It looks like Artman is holding on to the lead for NGS recovery reports, and the race for third place is tightening up.

 

I'll be yielding the Number Three position (YTD) on the next report--but for an excellent reason. My real estate practice is running "wide open", which is a good thing for a self-employed person! But it cuts into the hobby. I'm lucky to get 15 finds per month, during the summer.

 

NORTH CAROLINA saw considerably fewer reports to NGS during July. Was it the heat? The humidity? Ticks? Snakes? Only two folks made submissions--one from GEOCAC and one from USPSQD.

 

The Power Squadron's FM topped me in sheer numbers, with a lot of aerial intersection points and an average interval of "one year since the last recovery”. I had considerably fewer recoveries, but I'll brag that most were in the "first find in 30 years" category.

 

The Tar Heel State will welcome a new individual to Holo's statistics page next month. Dream Chaser, in the eastern part of the state, recently began adding benchmarks to her 500+ geocache finds, and she is letting me coach her on NGS submission standards. I did a team hunt with Dream Chaser and she is very sharp.

 

Neweyess, who regularly reports granite markers on the NC/SC border (in addition to urban benchmarks), spent several weeks in South America, where he claims to have recovered the Equator. He says he brought back a souvenir for me with the Zero latitude stamped on it--and insists it is a legal export from Ecuador. I'm eager to see it! Meanwhile, I've sent him a copy of field notes from an old state line survey--compliments of NCGS in Raleigh, where State/County Boundary Specialist Roger Barnes hopes we will uncover a few of the missing marks.

 

North Carolina recently lost a number of old benchmarks as streets and highways were widened and as railroad trestles and bridges gave way to newer structures. One Height Modernization disk, placed only three years ago, fell victim to the paving of a high school parking lot.

 

Memo to Self: If you come back in another life as a benchmark, don't do it in an urban area!

 

-Paul-

[holograph]

Ah, Holograph. If you want a lot of DNFs, try working along the New York & Susquehanna! Or Rte 23.

Harry,

 

Yeah, Rt 23 and the NY&S are heartbreakers. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, there is a 15 mile stretch of highway that runs parallel to the railroad. Along that 15 mile stretch, there are about 50 benchmarks in the database, and they are all within 20 miles of my home.

 

Unfortunately, Rt 23 was widened so most (all?) of the ones along the highway have gone missing. I haven't looked for any of the ones on the railroad, since it is still active and I tend to shy away from operating RRs. However from the descriptions I can tell that most of them likely gone, too, since many were at "the station" or "the base of the tank" or "the signal base" which are long gone.

 

There are a few at the upper abandoned portion of the line that are still there (LY0704, LY0705, LY0706, LY0707). LY0708 gave me a nasty case of poison ivy last fall, and I don't think it survives. LY0709 is somewhat inaccessible and I haven't search for it yet. The others near Sussex are all victims of development.

[+Red_Cedars]

Yeah, Rt 23 and the NY&S are heartbreakers.

Reminds me of Highway 99 through north King County here in Washington. There's a whole slew of marks that say "In the dirt strip between trafic lanes" that were placed in the mid 40's. That highway is a major N/S thoroughfare for the region and has been paved over for quite some time. There IS NO dirt strip between the lanes any longer and hasn't been for decades. When I find such a log, I visit the site to confirm this, then log a DNF at geocaching.com with my reason.

 

R_C

[+bicknell]

NORTH CAROLINA saw considerably fewer reports to NGS during July. Was it the heat? The humidity? Ticks? Snakes? Only two folks made submissions--one from GEOCAC and one from USPSQD.

Here in Virginia, yes the heat has kept me inside, but 10 times more the 100% humidity has kept me inside. It's been miserable here with heat indexes > 100 many days, all due to opressive humidity.

 

Add in getting married, getting a dog, and other factors of life and no recoveries in like two months. I can't wait for cooler weather.

[mloser]

Even a bit north of you in PA it has been an oppressive summer. I went out hunting yesterday but the humidity got the best of me and I was wilted in short order. My end result was one find and one drive-by find, and 3 DNFs that need looked at again when vegetation recedes to be certain they are actual DNFs.

 

Summer is a Catch-22--you want to go out when the temps are nice but the undergrowth makes searching a hundred times more difficult. I have found that I do my most enjoyable and successful hunting in early spring, when temps are high enough that I don't freeze but the spring plant growth has just started.

[+Black Dog Trackers]

Yep, it's the summer heat and humidity that makes benchmark hunting seem like no fun at all. I'll take the low-humidity 110 degree heat of the West over 95 degree heat with high humidity in the East any day! Been there, done them. Human air conditioning won't work in high humidity. Especially when I read of marks that will no doubt entail an uphill bushwhacking slog, I postpone it for September or October. I have too many other hobbies that can escape the heat.

[+seventhings]

bicknell, mloser and BDT -

 

reading your comments on VA-PA heat with interest. I went benchmark hunting in Moapa, NV, (40 miles north of Las Vegas) on July 19th. That was the day Las Vegas hit 117 degrees, an all-time record. I had 20 datasheets but quit after six or seven searches.

 

then, July 27th. 115 at Hoover Dam.

 

w

[+bicknell]

bicknell, mloser and BDT -

 

reading your comments on VA-PA heat with interest. I went benchmark hunting in Moapa, NV, (40 miles north of Las Vegas) on July 19th. That was the day Las Vegas hit 117 degrees, an all-time record. I had 20 datasheets but quit after six or seven searches.

 

then, July 27th. 115 at Hoover Dam.

 

w

We got married in Vegas July 2nd. Believe me, I'll take 110 and 5% humidity out there over 92 and 97% humidity out here any day of the week. Here you just drip with sweat, out there your body can cool itself and it's not so bad.

[+seventhings]

I should have added: having lived in New Jersey and Virginia for most of my life (and CA and CO for some of my life), I agree - I'll take the 110/15% over 95/95% any day of the week. (But 117 is pretty wicked hot!)

 

W

[+Me & Bucky]

I'll take the 110/15% over 95/95% any day of the week.  (But 117 is pretty wicked hot!)

 

Have done both, with caching & benchmarking in 118 degree heat in Needles, CA over the July 4th weekend in 2003, and 95/95 while visiting family in Ohio.

 

I've lived out of Vegas and worked in the out-of-doors of the desert southwest for the past 15 years, and even in the extreme temperatures out here, it is much more oppresive when I visit the folks back in Ohio.

 

That said, here are some tips that I have found that work for me while working (and playing) outside in the heat:

 

Always, always wear a wide brim hat, light cotton long sleeved shirt, long pants (usually kakis - NOT jeans), and a good pair of boots. These items keep the sun off of you, and the boots protect your feet from the desert nasties. I wear a t-shirt under the long sleeved shirt, and have found that this keeps me cooler than just wearing a light long-sleeved shirt. I wore jeans when I arrived in the desert 15 years ago, but only wore them for a short while. They just get too hot. I now wear Royal Robbins 511 Tactical pants (canvas, light colored, reinforced knees, lots of pockets). My brother, in law enforcement, turned me on to them, and now I wear nothing else.

 

When its hot out (say, between 95 - 110), I will wear one of those neck thingies with the silica gel crystals in them. Soaked in cold water, they are good for a couple hours, then need to be recharged. I have been wearing one non-stop in southeastern Arizona for the past 6 weeks.

 

For really hot temps (above 110), go with a "cold vest". This is a mesh vest with pockets for thin Blue Ice inserts. These can be found online at safety supply businesses.

 

It goes without saying that you need to keep the water intake at a high level. If you are thirsty, you are already behind. As with most parts of the country this summer, Arizona has been facing high temperatures. My water intake for the past month has been between 2 and 2 1/2 gallons per day. Fruit juices (that I cut in half with water) are the only sugared drinks that will drink outside in the heat. No colas or Gatorade, although I might drink a Coke when I get inside and out of the heat (Gatorade might taste good, but you can get more than enough salts and sugars from the food you eat).

 

As far as food is concerned, I try to eat several small snacks, rather than a big breakfast or lunch. Heat tends to make people not feel hungry, so this is something I have to keep reminding myself to do.

 

So, embrace the heat! The past several weekends I have cached and benchmarked in Phoenix (twice), Tucson, Las Cruces, El Paso, and Tombstone, (with one weekend spent, and another coming up playing with hummingbirds in Lake Roberts, New Mexico). Don't let temperature keep you from the out-of-doors!!

[JBAndersen]

Me & Bucky said

playing with hummingbirds in Lake Roberts, New Mexico

 

Hey, me too! See ya there, eh?

I can't wait to see how they get those hyper hummingbirds to sit

still long enough to put a band on them.

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

Wish I could be there too.

the 97*/92% getting me.

I like the Gila.

Like you say the dry is bestest.

 

I graduated in Deming.

Catch some big native's.

If not big a bunch,we use to love camping there.

We still have a friend or two there.

 

Stink up the canyon............