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Benchmark Picture Contest - 2009 (Part 1)


Ernmark

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On June 17, 2004 - BDT posted unto the Forums the following text (also known as topic 73525):

 

"Some benchmark pictures are really excellent! Sometimes I "set as background" one for my computer for a while, until I find another really good one. I propose a thread here for posting really good benchmark pictures, either your own or someone else's.

 

Contest rules: (yeah I know, I'm always proposing so many rules; ... anyway...)

 

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. It has to be a PID in the database, or at least one of its reference marks or its azimuth mark (in case they don't have their own PID).

 

4. No closeup of just the disk. (Come on, it's just a disk - where's the nice scenery?)"

 

And in keeping up this great yearly tradition, I'd like have the honor of kicking off another great year of hunts, finds, & info (and of course photos) by starting this 2009 thread - also, in the tradition of pulling pictures from the gallery that were taken by other benchmarkers .....I submit the first picture - a nice seasonal photo by our own Harry Dolphin:

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KV4911 WATNONG 2 (RM2)

 

Special thanks to the Dolphin for freezing his fins off to bring this picture to us while we sit inside w/ our computer & beverage!

 

Edit (1st of 2009) to add Dolphin lingo to above sentence.

Edited by Ernmark
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That's cool! I think the NGS datasheet needs to be updated, basically like the fourth finder wrote. OK, well, it suppose it could be cleaned up a bit for the official US Government database:

 

"... 22 FEET NORTHEAST OF THE CENTER LINE OF A DRIVEWAY SOUTHEAST TO FARM YARD AND A BARN, 28 1/2 FEET SOUTHEAST OF THE CENTER OF THE SOUTHWEST END OF A CONCRETE SIDEWALK LEADING TO A HOUSE, 7 FEET BEHIND AN UNDEAD GUARDIAN FROM HELL ARMED WITH A KALASHNIKOV AKM-TYPE VARIANT."

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Well. I'm new to the forums and each year i've got more interested in benchmarking. Recently found a 1898 drill hole BM so that was cool. Reading rules not sure what a PID is but if my pic doesnt meet them i'm sorry.

 

Heres one i wanted to share.

 

Its Benchmark: HP0164 and i was first to log. Which inst to uncommon out in Nevada.

 

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Here is a beautiful view down Laguna Canyon in Southern California, and of the calm Pacific Ocean. Sometimes it is actually pacific (as it was named). But not very often. The benchmark is an Orange County Surveyor vertical bench mark, designation 3Z-45-71. It isn't in the NGS database, but I thought the picture worth it. The picture was taken January 11, 2009, when most of the rest of the country was.... umm.. a little bit colder?

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993ee270-bc2c-4d48-9146-91a4fafaa90d.jpg

 

Here is GV1913 located in Petersburg, VA. Its on the abutment of a railroad bridge where the CSXT goes over the Norfolk Southern main line between Norfolk, VA and Roanoke, VA.

 

This is also a historic area which added to the hunt. This would approximately be the western flank of the Army of Northern VA during the defense of Petersburg, VA. The Battle of the Crater took place approx 3 miles to the NE.

 

RadioKrafter

Chesapeake, VA

Edited by RadioKrafter
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d0187aeb-623f-4c69-b261-69e2f4233d35.jpg

 

My friend Mega Scooter took this photo while on the hunt for a benchmark named

Hold near a rock quarry. Unfortunately the quarry's activity has nearly disturbed a RM. If you look closely you can see Mt. Hood on the horizon.

 

This thread is filled with killer photos! Keep up the good work.

 

—Malnut—

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d0187aeb-623f-4c69-b261-69e2f4233d35.jpg

 

My friend Mega Scooter took this photo while on the hunt for a benchmark named

Hold near a rock quarry. Unfortunately the quarry's activity has nearly disturbed a RM. If you look closely you can see Mt. Hood on the horizon.

 

This thread is filled with killer photos! Keep up the good work.

 

—Malnut—

Looks like a very nice columner basalt outcrop as well.

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Benchmark hunting on a snowmobile would be awesome!!

 

LOL! I hadn't realized Shirley had put THAT picture up on this thread!

 

I have to tell you, I've only found a few while snowmobiling (we Alaskans call it 'snowmachining' - a local cultural quirk). It's a bit problematic - if there's snow enough to ride, the mark is usually buried! Some are on wind-swept outcrops (like this one), but sometimes...

 

It's a kick to set up for this kind of hunt, I'll admit. The route had been on paper for several years now, but I had to get the right combo of deep enough snow, sunshine (I won't ride mountains on a flat light day), and wind conditions to make the trip feasible. Plus - a minimum of one partner is necessary for safety reasons... on this day my newest son-in-law was delighted to get invited along, and did a dandy job at actually finding the main disk. I've ridden this area on and off for over twenty years, and the added bonus of newer high-performance snowmachines made the hillclimbs getting to this outcrop quite easy (actually, really fun!). I've got my eye on several others, but must exercise care as they're in zones with a higher potential for avalanches.

 

We were having so much fun heading up the Placer River towards Spencer Glacier last weekend that I completely forgot about looking for TT0293 as we zoomed under its setting. My track log shows that on the exit route we skirted between the railroad tracks and the rock outcropping where TT0295 is located. We were ripping along to meet factory reps and ride the 2010 line of certain brands of 'snowmobiles' and literally forgot all about looking for these two marks! Criminal...

 

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Transiting the Alaska Railroad under the setting for TT0293 along the well-beaten path on the Placer River - March 28 2009.

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Well... it was a 'not found' report following our search for UV4687 Bald Mountain. We had decent weather, but there was still a stiff snow drift right on top of the mark. So we dug; we found 'loose rocks' so packed with snow and ice we couldn't move them. After twenty minutes at ground zero we gave up and returned to the delights of riding on spring snow. It was 43 degrees when we loaded the machines up about 3 hours after these photos were taken. So this is a sub-genre known as 'not found' photos - but the journey to the search was a blast, and the scenery was out of this world.

 

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The search party dug with avalanche search shovels - we ended up removing all the snow,

but couldn't move most of the rocks we found. The old tower is at left, with Denali on the far horizon...

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One of the most scenic areas in North America... Beachside at the Beaufort Sea

looking north to Prudhoe Bay West Dock #2; mark, witness post and digging tool in foreground.

A lovely spring day on Alaska's North Slope! Mark recovered 4-23-2009.

 

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TT3579 - 949 7649 D TIDAL - A National Ocean Survey Tidal Bench Mark Disk - 1976.

Recovery of scaled mark and photograph by the Ladybug Kids (from Valchorbanks AK)

Edited by NorthWes
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One of the most scenic areas in North America... Beachside at the Beaufort Sea

looking north to Prudhoe Bay West Dock #2; mark, witness post and digging tool in foreground.

LOL! I wish I had a digging tool! I had to bust up the foot thick top crust of snow with my steel toed work boots and strip the suspension gear out of my hard hat to make a scoop for the soft stuff. Imagine my chagrin to discover the mark under only two inches of snow two or three feet west of the orange NOAA witness post and (what I assume is) the original steel witness post. It was +5° F with a stiff breeze that dropped the windchill to -10° F, but I couldn't pass it up. Edited by Ladybug Kids
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