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Your Best/Favorite Benchmarking pictures.


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While hunting for a pair of marks (HT3042) on top of Twin Peaks, San Francisco. Both marks are visible in this shot and are aligned just east of the BofA Building in the distance...

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And after the sunset, HT3091, the dome of San Francisco's City Hall...

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Edited by Geoides
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Got a few good pictures on a trip south this weekend.

 

Here's CG0608. The now dead live oak tree in the picture was used as a reference in the 1935 description.

 

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Here's the ghost town Ruby, Arizona, just over the hill from CG0605. The caretaker did a double take when I asked him to verify the location of the Pool Hall referenced in the description. "How'd you know about that?"

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That mark was an interesting old hand stamped pipe cap "adopted" by the CG&S when they ran their level line:

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A bit further on down the road, here's CG0609:

 

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And finally, here's an interesting disk I found just a few blocks north of the border in Nogales, CG0209: 00bba471-10f2-442a-966f-84e6b3b313fe.jpg

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To re-iterate......

 

Everyone knows that I love to look at all of the pictures taken by any benchmark hunters. So, this thread is devoted to those who have taken good pictures that do not have a disk in the picture but were out there hunting them.

 

If you happen to have a shot with a mark in it, that will be fine also.

 

The one thing I ask, is to tell us which mark you were going for. Also, if you have anything else to tell us about your recovery or day, feel free to tell us. Also, feel free to place arrows in the picture for clarification if you want to tell about where something is.

 

Have fun! Let us see some of your adventure pictures!

 

Great pictures so far! Thank you all.

 

So, here is a tortoise that we saw right after finding our first 1899 drill hole along the Nevada/California border. FS1149 T 138.

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He was right in the middle of the road - if you can call Government Road a road (right, Klemmer?)

 

Shirley~

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.

We like the NOAA juxtaposition in this photo.

 

Very nice, great photo!

 

Friday I went out to find DV1918 PAINTED, which takes its name from the Painted Rock Petroglyph Site. The azimuth mark is on one of the two rocky knolls at the Petroglyph Site, up above these boulders:

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And here's the view from the station itself, looking out over the Painted Rock Ranch in the floodplain of the Gila River:

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southpawaz, very nice, thanks for the petroglyphs picture and then the view shot! I love finding petroglyphs or pictographs and taking pictures of them.

 

89SC, WAY COOL picture of the snake. He sure looked like he was going to strike at something! It also looked like you were right down at eye level with him....you wouldn't have done that....or would you?

 

MtnHermit, Great picture of CONEJOS station at the peak (elevation 13154). How many feet elevation did you hike up to get that picture? Do you have any view shots?

 

Thanks to you all! More, please....

 

Shirley~

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MtnHermit, Great picture of CONEJOS station at the peak (elevation 13154). How many feet elevation did you hike up to get that picture? Do you have any view shots?

 

Shirley~

Tent_8524.jpg

Tobacco Lake as seen from the summit of Conejos Peak

 

Benchmark_8523.jpg

 

SunsetView_8526.jpg

View from Conejos Peak

 

Here's a Trip Report if you want to read more.

Edited by MtnHermit
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89SC, WAY COOL picture of the snake. He sure looked like he was going to strike at something! It also looked like you were right down at eye level with him....you wouldn't have done that....or would you?

 

Shirley~

 

You have to get down to their level to get the good shots. This is a younger black rat snake from the week before. It was even more aggressive. It kept striking at the lens.

 

rat2.jpg

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89SC, WAY COOL picture of the snake. He sure looked like he was going to strike at something! It also looked like you were right down at eye level with him....you wouldn't have done that....or would you?

 

Shirley~

 

You have to get down to their level to get the good shots. This is a younger black rat snake from the week before. It was even more aggressive. It kept striking at the lens.

 

rat2.jpg

 

Remind me NOT to go with you! Neat shot though. :D

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Here's an interesting non-NGS Benchmark picture, from on top of Mt. Baden-Powell (9400 feet). At the top left of the picture is Edwards Air Force Base and Rogers Dry Lake, where many Space Shuttles and other test vehicles of all sorts have landed.

BP_Rogers.jpg

 

And there is a great monument on top in memory of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, which I was proud to be a member of (Life Rank) many years ago. Several groups of Scouts up there yesterday.

Monument.jpg

 

Closeup of the plaque on one side:

BP_plaque.jpg

 

It is a serious hike to get there, from 6500 feet at parking, so almost 3000 feet elevation gain, in about 4 trail miles. It is known locally as a killer conditioning hike. The trail and views are great! One view from partway up:

View.jpg

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We are extremely lucky to still have these forums and fantastic pictures for our pleasure. Groundspeak was down for just a short time due to a fire and water damage to the electrical power generators. But, Elias is on the job on the 4th of July no less!

 

A Big Thank you to Elias!!

 

Mega Scooter - the wheat field brought back many memories of our birthplace - Indiana for me. Thank you.

 

Great pics Klemmer, as always.

 

BDT - A copper head! I never saw one in real life while we lived in Indiana. I am glad that you had that leaf to hide behind. :D Thanks for the picture. :anitongue:

 

Shirley~

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This is one of my recent favorites. As I stepped off the cruise ship and saw the radio tower BM UV5702. I noticed a bald eagle slowly flying around and around and around the tower. So I frantically whip out my camera, zoom in the to extent possible, and take my picture. I was so excited to see a new thread of BM pictures where this one would fit right in!

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Great picture, cjf! I propose that it is the first picture of a Bald Eagle in the same frame as a benchmark (OK, an intersection station).

 

 

Details......details......benchmark....intersection station.... :P

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Thanks to you all! Great photos!

 

southpawaz, that tower was one our early ones. We do remember it well. Our daughter and son-in-law were along for this one, the ranger was there and invited us in and to even climb that tower if we wanted. Our daughter got about a third of the way up and chickened out.

 

We still had a great time, but no digital camera that early on. :unsure: Thanks for bringing back memories..... :cool:

 

Shirley~

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MtnHermit, Great picture of CONEJOS station at the peak (elevation 13154). How many feet elevation did you hike up to get that picture? Do you have any view shots?

 

Shirley~

Tent_8524.jpg

Tobacco Lake as seen from the summit of Conejos Peak

 

Benchmark_8523.jpg

 

SunsetView_8526.jpg

View from Conejos Peak

 

Here's a Trip Report if you want to read more.

 

A link to a 14ers.com trip report on the benchmarking forums!!! Greatest post ever. My two passions rolled into one. Thanks for the post MtnHermit.

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Here's a story of one that got away. Friday I hastily planned a trip and headed out southeast to visit Characahua National Monument. Since it was a long drive, I had only loaded about 20 roadside benchmarks to hunt along the way and just done a quick radius search on GC.com for marks near the Massai Point earthcache in the National Monument and not seen anything close by. After doing the earthcache, I decided to hike up to Sugarloaf Fire Lookout, and while I was there I took a quick look around on the foundations to see if there might be a USGS tri-station but didn't see one. Today I was looking again at the area with the Scaredy Cat map viewer and lo and behold, what do I see but CY1305 SUGARLOAF, a USGS station set in 1936 (the same year the lookout was built) but not "adopted" by the NGS into their database until 2003. Adding to my chagrin, I must have walked right past it to take this picture of the lookout, and from the description, the station should be somewhere in the photo (if I'm not standing on it):

 

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And here's a view off the northeast corner of the lookout of the rhyolite hoodoos looking down into Bonita Canyon:

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7904c21a-117b-40e4-a3c2-8bf5ee5ebeb9.jpg

Between some large rocks was this copperhead snake.

I was safe enough because I was hiding behind that leaf. :ph34r:

I found this snake while looking for JV4592.

we just starting Geocaching at the begining of May and decided to tie bench marking into our trips. After seeing all the pictures in the forums I am not sure I want to do either down in the states. FEAR OF SNAKES

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Here's a story of one that got away......

Adding to my chagrin, I must have walked right past it to take this picture of the lookout, and from the description, the station should be somewhere in the photo (if I'm not standing on it):

 

I can remember some that when we went to hunt for a benchmark, we had been there before to look at the views (like the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and other places) and never had noticed the benchmarks before. Of course that was before we had gotten bit by "the hunting for those little round disks" bug. Good story!

 

sjkimmel99,

 

Great pictures! What kind of bird is that in your first pic?

 

bth7,

 

Snakes are actually pretty scarce. We have gone for long stretches without seeing one (well, except for those on the highways). They tend to slither off in the brush if they feel threatened. I sure would not let the fear of snakes keep me from hunting a benchmark.

 

Keep the pictures coming! I am lovin' them bunches!!

 

Shirley~

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Had a great hike last weekend, up to San Jacinto Peak (10,834 feet), near Palm Springs, CA. I've been up there before (four time now), but FINALLY found the Azimuth Mark that belongs to the San Jacinto Triangulation Station. Looked for it before, but this time got it! It is quite a ways (trail distance) from the peak, and previously not well documented. Kudos to our forum member Rumpled for the first find and the coords!

More info & pictures on my latest Geocaching log: DX5119

More pictures on our picture website HERE

 

And, here's a couple flower pictures for Shirley:

Very wide open Maripos Lily:

Mariposa_Lilly.jpg

 

California Corn Lily:

CA_Corn_Lilly.jpg

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Klemmer, Thanks for the links and flower pictures. Way cool!

 

On the 20th we went to Flagstaff to get with our Daughter and Grandkids. Of course we had to go find some caches and benchmarks. After we found R 490 FQ0391 (John has not posted a find log yet) and then Peter Pan's hideout tree (cache) we went to the U. S. Naval Observatory close by.

 

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It has a 61" telescope inside the dome.

 

The lady behind the front desk was very busy, but took some time to take us on a tour to see the telescope and get some more pictures. One of those is a view of Mt. Humphrey's from the walkway around the outside of the dome.

 

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We also saw the place where they take the mirror to clean it and then resurface it. We all had a Great memorable time there. They accept walk in visitors! Who would have known?

 

Shirley~

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Another great hiking / benchmark hunting day. Found EV9281 on Mount Islip. Here's a few more wildflowers for Shirley:

Blazing Star: First I've seen south of the Sierra Nevada. Really showy, unusually long stamens, and just across the road from the Dawson Saddle trailhead:

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Another pretty wildflower, but so far I haven't been able to identify it;

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And finally, a pair of members of the wild snapdragon family, possibly Lowbush Penstemon (although a bit out of it's described range):

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Sorry of you're not a wildflower lover, but I know Shirley likes them....

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Some pictures of benchmarking in Scotland:

 

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Sunrise over S5332 Peat Hill, Ayrshire.

 

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View to Holy Island from S1607 Goat Fell, Arran.

 

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View to Holy Island from S8701 Clauchland, Arran.

 

One from down south:

 

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S6860 Ravenstonedale, St Oswald's Church, Cumbria. An 18th century church, with 13th Century monastic remains in the graveyard.

 

And one I found, rather than took, and which always looks vaguely Egyptian to me:

 

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Some pictures of benchmarking in Scotland:

 

3773106142_6af1f5428a_b.jpg

 

Sunrise over S5332 Peat Hill, Ayrshire.

 

3772299953_10b42d8d02_b.jpg

 

View to Holy Island from S1607 Goat Fell, Arran.

 

3772300583_58b7f818e3_b.jpg

 

View to Holy Island from S8701 Clauchland, Arran.

 

One from down south:

 

3773116328_706298f8c4_b.jpg

 

S6860 Ravenstonedale, St Oswald's Church, Cumbria. An 18th century church, with 13th Century monastic remains in the graveyard.

 

And one I found, rather than took, and which always looks vaguely Egyptian to me:

 

3772309685_b09db5b04e_o.jpg

 

Excellent photos!

I especially like the one with the island, very mysterious and enticing.

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Excellent photos!

I especially like the one with the island, very mysterious and enticing.

 

Thanks. The island is rather special. The building visible on the bottom right is a Buddhist retreat centre, and there are monastic remains going back at least to the 7th century, when the island was inhabited by an early Irish saint, Molaise, after whom the island is named - in Gaelic Eilean Molaise.

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