Benchmark Picture "Contest" 2008--Part 2, Got some to share?

[+Klemmer]

I thought I would roll this thread over to Part 2, since Part 1 is getting a bit large, and it is well into the second half of the year.

 

I'll start off with some of my favorites from a fun benchmark hunting expedition to Yosemite National Park, in no particular order:

HR0809 on O'Shaughnessy Dam, holding back Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The falls are either Wapama Falls, or maybe Tueeulala Falls

 

HR0839 just down the trail from one of the largest living organisms in the world, the Giant Sequoia.

Couldn't get a benchmark in a picture with one, but here is my take on a good picture of one nearby (click on it again for full resolution / size for best effect).

 

HR0843 with the ruins of a cabin from 1888.

 

HR0148 (front center) with one of the many granite domes in Yosemite. I think this one is Polly Dome.

 

HR0164 (front center) with Lembert Dome in the background.

 

HR2847 on top of Mt. Hoffmann, looking down on Half Dome (near top center), from 10,855 feet.

The angle is opposite from the one you usually see. That was quite a hike!

 

HR0173 with sunset colors reflected off mountains (colors not modified!)

 

DF8630 is too new for the Geocaching database, but this one was a classic. As I was working around the triangulation station, looking for an angle for a nice scenic picture, this deer just walked into my picture! OK, now that's service from Mother Nature!

 

If you are interested in more pics from the trip (not all benchmarks), here is a link to my album from the trip. There are many sub-albums, just click on them, and note that some have several pages.

P.S. This one is my favorite, it just pops!

Edited September 2, 2008 by Klemmer & TeddyBearMama

[+Shorelander]

So, er, I moved about a month ago, and while I haven't gotten out of the city much, I have found a few pretty spots...

 

TU0494 (LIEA 3)

 

TU1207 (STATE SURVEY 2-12 1969)

 

TU0570 (8 1)

 

TU0569 (H 3)

[+NorthWes]

Hmmm... shorelander's been going to the beach, Klemmer & TeddyBearMama to the mountains... I went to both on Labor Day.

 

UW7522 NOTCH 2 1964 looking west to the mouth of Turnagain Arm, south of Anchorage AK.

 

Wind had come down to around twenty (from blowing fifty with gusts to eighty mph), and the rain had let up late in the afternoon. I decided to finally attempt this search on slick rock right at the high tide mark. Twenty minutes after leaving the site the bore tide rolled in - what a missed photo opportunity!

[+Klemmer]

Wow. What a contrast in climates in the three groups of pictures. What a country!

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

OK, that means you need a Moonscape scene.

FQ0590 Knob

What's that? So it is a stark, desert scene then.

 

I wonder if there are any benchmarks on the moon yet?

Edited September 2, 2008 by 2oldfarts (the rockhounders)

[southpawaz]

This one is more extreme than necessarily scenic: TU2077 KA LAE LIGHT, the southernmost station in the 50 states.

 

 

I got some other nice scenic shots on my vacation on the Big Island, need to get them uploaded then I'll get them posted here.

[Wintertime]

Great pix, everyone! Thanks to Larry for reviving this topic with a new thread.

 

I visited Ka Lae once, and have thought about visiting Barrow, AK to balance it, but haven't gotten around to that. :-) Closest I've come is Fairbanks.

 

I took a couple of benchmark pix in Ontario recently; will check to see whether they're post-worthy.

 

Patty

[+89SC]

Here's one from the highest point of Shenandoah Mountian near the border of VA and WVA. The firetower is the first one I've seen made of stone.

 

HW3443

 

Edited September 3, 2008 by 89SC

[southpawaz]

Here's TU0960 OBSERVATORY USGS with the smoke plume from Kilauea Crater in the distance on a rainy morning.

 

[southpawaz]

Another shot of Kilauea, this one from TU2394 HVO 113:

 

[southpawaz]

Here is AH8365 MESHERA looking south towards KA LAE LIGHT, visible in the distance:

 

 

There is a spot along here somewhere where more adventurous types jump off the cliff.

[southpawaz]

Looking NNW from AH8364 HAOLE, a bit further north along the west cliff from KA LAE LIGHT.

 

[southpawaz]

Did someone mention the moon? Here's a view looking ENE from TU2339 KAENA POINT. In the distance is the steam plume from the current active lava flow meeting the sea.

 

[southpawaz]

Another view from TU2339 KAENA POINT, this time looking NW. One of the reference marks is lower left.

 

 

I was really hoping to also go further east to TU2337 LAEAPUKI but it would have made for a longer wait for my companions than I wanted to subject them to.

[+Shorelander]

Just gonna bump this because it's fallen on to the second page.

[+Ernmark]

Here's a nice view:

COOK by sjkimmel99

[+NorthWes]

My good friend Ladybug Kids took advantage of a recent sunny fall day to take a couple

of his skijor hounds out for a mountain run, targeting UW7827 HUGH.

His series of photos from above Anchorage at this station are awesome!

 

Looking SE across the mark and Turnagain Arm towards Hope AK:

 

(I'd inadvertantly posted this in the earlier thread,

but thanks to Klemmer & TeddyBearMama's keen eye

I've realized my mistake. It's here now in all its airy glory!

What a view from that ridge...)

[+Klemmer]

OK, I just had to find out what a "skijor hound" was. Found out it's not a breed of dog (my first thought), but a sport! Kinda like cross country skiing, but with the dog doing the work! I love it! Gotta try it someday. First I need a new dog....

 

[+Rumpled]

I've always wanted to try skijouring with my labs; but alas my older is 11 now and has arthritis.

I would be a bit afraid they'd pull me too fast; I've tried taking them along as I bike, but they pull too fast for me to ride if on the leash.

Off the leash it's great; and I've gotten them up to about 18 mph for a short stretch - they could hold 12 for awhile.

 

When in the snow with saucers, my chocolate will carry them back up the hill for people. He just thinks they are big frisbees.

 

Well, enough of dogs - they haven't taken any good pictures of benchmarks recently.

[+supertbone]

Here is a photo I took of LO0827 in Brighton, UT this past week. On the same stone as the BM is a historical marker highlighting the first statewide celebration of pioneers arrival in Utah. In the back ground you can see the fall foliage.

 

[+Ernmark]

...it's that time of year again...

KW2722

[+NorthWes]

Well, enough of dogs - they haven't taken any good pictures of benchmarks recently.

 

Ha! Great photo of a skijor dog and owner that Klemmer & TeddyBearMamma posted.

Shown here is Daddy Ladybugs behind teammates Ingrid, Mons, & Jack in a Skijor Race

at Creamers Field in Fairbanks Alaska (in a photo I use on the cache page at GCRQGT Skijor!

- a nice cache in a dogpark/loon nesting zone/swamp/moose sanctuary near the house here).

Ladybug Kids takes the sport to a top competitive level... and speed!

He's in a step turn in this photo, as the hounds take the corner at top speed in 4x4 drive...

 

But since this is about benchmarks, here's Victor & Mesa (the two hounds that went up

with Ladybug Kids after UW7827 HUGH), drinking from the hole left behind at HUGH's RM1.

Taking the concept of benchmarking as a refreshing pastime to a whole new level, I'd say!

No wonder he takes these guys along when looking for high marks!

 

Ok - I'm over the frivolity. It also looks like I'm over benchmarking around here for a bit,

as the first inch of the first snow of winter has piled up on my back deck in the past hour...

and the NWS is forecasting another 4-6 inches over the next two days!

[southpawaz]

Here's a "twofer" picture I took yesterday. The disk in the foreground is CZ1933 PICACHO and the peak in the background is CZ1943 PICACHO PEAK.

 

[+Klemmer]

Ahhh... Good old Picacho Peak... It was a great landmark for navigating around that area when I was in USAF pilot training. Used to fly T-41's (a striped down Cessna 172) out of a little strip somewhere across the Interstate from Maranna Airpark (which I see is now Evergreen Air Center). Can't remember the name, and don't see it on Google earth anymore. Also later flying T-37's and T-38's, we used to use an old strip somewhere around Coolidge (Williams Aux Field 2? Called it Headpin) for "touch & go's". But I sure do remember Picacho Peak! Thanks for the memories!

 

Edit: OK, I had to go find my old USAF log book. It was Eloy Municipal Airport, which still appears to be there, and seems to be an active Skydiving center. Cool. Further North than I remembered.

 

Edit2: OK, The old Headpin field is now Coolidge Municipal Airport

Thanks again!

Edited October 23, 2008 by Klemmer & TeddyBearMama

[+dcrep]

Station and RM2, respectively, for ES0934 Promontory.

 

Edited October 24, 2008 by dcrep

[+NorthWes]

Oh my - Picacho and Promontory (on the Mogollon Rim) look so warm and inviting.

Nice photos! It's going to drop as low as zero here tonight... I'm missing Arizona...

[+pgrig]

Absolutely stunning photography! Nice work all around!

-Paul

[+Harry Dolphin]

 

A benchmark named FISH. White, Warren County, NJ

 

 

Dolphins love FISH!

[+dcrep]

RM1 for DU2204 McDowell Reset.

 

 

Edited November 12, 2008 by dcrep

[+NorthWes]

UW7714 Microwave Tower - only one leg foundation is left (triangular mass at center left) but the 10am view eastward

down Cook Inlet's Turnagain Arm was spectacular. The station's about 140 feet above the highway/railway route.

 

DH4693 AKDOTPF GPS24 (in the NGS database, but not geocaching.com)

(and often mistaken by geocachers for TT0446 while seeking the nearby cache).

Couldn't resist the 11am 'sunrise' shot across the mark and the ice-clogged waters of Turnagain Arm.

It was a balmy 28 degrees F with a mild 15mph breeze out of the east - pretty calm at 'Windy Corner'.

[+pgrig]

Here's MUSCLE (MY4910) in Gloucester, MA.

 

[+Klemmer]

Here's one from my recent trip to Australia. Unfortunately, there is no public (free) database for Survey Marks in Australia that I could find. But I have no doubt that this IS a horizontal control mark, likely a pretty old one. The bridge is the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge, which I was able to climb, as part of an organized group climb to the top. Loads of fun, a must-do if you get there. Not as strenuous as I had thought it would be. The famous Sydney Opera House is just around the corner, but I couldn't get it in the picture with this or any other BM I could find. Fun trip (mostly business).

 

[Z15]

Grand Traverse Bay - Lake Superior

2 marks in photo - NOS in center of sq concrete and US Corps Engineers at white aerial targert (paint)

Edited November 21, 2008 by Z15

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Took some friends out and introduced them to benchmark hunting with this recovery GP0618 BITTER.

 

 

Great area to learn benchmarking.

 

 

BITTER looking at Shinumo Altar

 

 

Looking northwest

 

 

Shirley getting brave enough to look over the edge.

[+dcrep]

RM1 and RM2, respectively, for DU2198 STEWART MOUNTAIN.