Your Best/Favorite Benchmarking pictures.

[+dcrep]

I was hiking the Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon, and looked for some non-PID marks along the way. This one had a nice view, from 4844 feet elevation along the trail. Unfortunately my camera failed to record the close-up shot of the disk.

 

Edited April 29, 2010 by dcrep

[+Harry Dolphin]

Good gracious! It's been near 40 years since I hiked the Grand Canyon!

I was in the DWG NRA today.

I did see a purple flower that I do not recognize.

And forget-me-nots.

[+TheBeanTeam]

We found some nice specimens this weekend.

 

 

[+ddnutzy]

This is a picture of PG1684 (Camels Hump Reset 2 RM1) looking north towards Mt. Mansfield which is the highest mountain in Vermont. Camels Hump is the third highest. The haze is smoke from forest fires in Canada.

[+_dxd_]

This isn't a great photo, and not a spectacular view or anything, but it did make me laugh a little

 

It certainly fits part of the description MAY HOLD, BUT OF TYPE COMMONLY SUBJECT TO SURFACE MOTION

It's supposed to project 4 inches. I don't know if this is due to ground subsidance (pumping out all the ground water) or due to flash flooding. If it's the latter, maybe it'll be covered back up someday

 

[+TheBeanTeam]

From a recent benchmarking excursion.

 

 

The view including the Mark.

 

Edited June 17, 2010 by TheBeanTeam

[foxtrot_xray]

From a recent benchmarking excursion.

 

Freakin' cool.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Ha! Teach you to ask questions like that! Just returned from a week's trip from Charleston, South Carolina to St Augustine, Florida and back. Geocaching, benchmarking and fulfilling my NPS cravings.

AQ1543 NPS Reset view toward Castillo San Marcos.

 

CJ0864 FORT SUMTER FLAGPOLE NEW - Andy Bear at Fort Sumter. Flagpole in background.

[+Harry Dolphin]

And, then sometimes you see something that just HAS to be a benchmark, though it's not listed on Geocaching.

Close up

Overhead view. This is DL5719 GTM NERRS EEC at the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, St Johns County, Florida!

 

(Or should this be in the "I found a benchmark, but it isn't listed' thread?

[NGS Surveyor]

Harry Dolphin, Here is a link to an article about commemorative disks on the 200th Anniversary web site, including the one you found: http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/survey...es/welcome.html

 

Eventually all of these commemorative marks should be entered into the NGS database.

 

GeorgeL

NGS

[kayakbird]

I Like Lichens

 

Found a colorful lichen covered post last week near Lewistown, Montana

 

 

SR0367

 

A few more from other states:

 

MINNESOTA

RM0360 Worth seeing, but NGS has DESTROYED the mark.

 

WYOMING

PX0476 RM 1 Bonus drill hole with copper nail and washer, also now a DESTROYED station.

 

UTAH

JM0481 Another different RM, but no trapping here.

 

Nothing from Arizona yet. MEL

[kayakbird]

Posting another lichen post:

 

 

TK0419

 

Installed in 1922 by GEODETIC SURVEY OF CANADA. Hoping to find one where they used their own disk. MEL

[southpawaz]

Here's SY4165 SAG on the shore of Lake Union in Seattle. Glad it was easy to find, I was juggling one pair of batteries between my GPSr and camera.

 

[+kwcahart]

I'm pretty sure we call that snake a Rat snake. Looks like one anyway.

[Difficult Run]

I'm pretty sure we call that snake a Rat snake. Looks like one anyway.

Snake? - Where?

[+Harry Dolphin]

Gratuitous photo of cranes at Port Newark Container Terminal (beause I have a crane fetish), from Bayonne Park. Several tidal stations at PNCT. I just have to figure out how to get in there!

 

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Nice picture Mr. Dolphin, but that looks like a Swan to me, not a crane.

 

 

Shirley~

[kayakbird]

Couldn't resist these lichens and the geology

 

 

 

when I found the best trail back to the river from ESS SS1485 and KIPPS SS1668. kayakbird

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

I've always liked lichens also. Beautiful pics. Thanks for sharing.

 

Shirley~

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

There are such beautiful pictures posted in the this entire thread. They look like those that are used for Puzzles or better!

 

I think this deserves a bump with a wish that someone will post more pictures for us all to enjoy!

 

The really hot weather is gone now, so I hope everyone has a little time to go benchmark hunting now.

 

Happy Hunting!

 

Shirley~

[+NorthWes]

During a quick trip to Pullman WA I found myself with a day available to wander the area. This picture was taken at the overlook on the Washington state side, before driving down the hill to Lewiston ID. We're looking across RZ0919 D23 southwest to the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers at Lewiston. It's a stopping point on the Lewis & Clark trail with one of the commemorative markers; we of course visited there as well as at the historic 1873 RZ1586 station. There's three other PIDs within a hundred yards or so of this marker, plus as an earthcache and several other caches scattered along the descent into the river bottom. It was a 'sweet spot' to stop on our mid-October journey across the SE corner of Washington state. I unfortunately didn't have time to search for any of the marks located on the switchbacks of the Old Spiral Highway seen in this photo...

 

[+NorthWes]

Another viewpoint - this is looking roughly north across SV1268 STEPTOE out onto the vastness of the Palouse grasslands.

 

[foxtrot_xray]

Great pics, NW! Love the first one.

[Commander X]

This is BV1661 University of Southern Mississippi admin building dome. Several other benchmarks nearby

Edited November 10, 2010 by Commander X

[+NorthWes]

For everyone who wants to be fishing this afternoon: RB1412 TRANS,

looking to the McNary Dam on the Columbia River,

east of Umatilla OR on the WA side of the river...

I was pleased to be able to verify the presence of RB1417 and RB1416 - McNary Front and Rear Range Lights.

The front range marker is actually visible to the naked eye in this photo...

[+NorthWes]

After returning home to Alaska I realized it hadn't snowed on southcentral Alaska's Glenn Highway yet, south of Denali Park. A work crew just finished cutting back brush for a hundred yards on both sides of one long stretch of the highway - making the benchmarks in that area easy pickings (albeit ugly easy pickings). On 10-23-10 I drove a 325 mile loop to look for a few good caches and fistfuls of benchmarks. Here's two that had somewhat redeeming backgrounds to their settings (PGrig will understand this subtle pun). Temperature hovered at 38 for the whole drive all day long, and I found lots to log (but not much that was purty).

 

I logged a note on my search for TT1429 P 104, as the only mark found in this area was a GPS-set mark stamped as P104 RESET. It's the only mark of the day which provided a decent background shot to include Denali, about 75 miles distant...

 

Just a few hundred yards south of the Talkeetna turnoff on the Glenn Hwy sits a little white Baptist Church. I stopped in to say hi to the pastor (an acquaintance of mine) and asked if he'd mind if I dug up benchmark TT1429 L 105 in the church's front yard. He was thrilled to see what had been lurking under the duff and detritus - and so was I!

 

Here's a fantastic view of Mt Foraker & Denali, taken from the GC20ZP6 Denali Panorama Cache.

Denali is about 45 miles away here and the Chulitna River is visible below...

[+ddnutzy]

IMG_0724

[+king.hubi]

I really like this thread, wonderful photos you all post here.

 

But I also like to share some of my finds.

 

First the area around bench mark LW2981 - BEAVER. The disk is/was sitting between two Porta Johns. Easy find but very unusual.

 

Second the tidal station disk NOS - 841 3320 B from Bar Harbor, Maine sitting between two Rodman/Dahlgren cannons and facing the sea.

 

This photo shows the two cannons from the front with a bride in the background. They were doing a wedding photo shooting while I discovered the bench mark.

 

King Hubi

[+Rotareneg]

I found something somewhat amusing this afternoon: The witness marker for the azimuth mark for KG0718 was missing its post, the sign was just jammed into the ground right next to the mark:

 

 

And a while back, when I parked in the entrance to a field to go find the azimuth mark for KG0717 I noticed something furry in the field. Turns out it was a very, VERY dead Coyote (posted tiny as to reduce the gross-out factor):

 

[+genegene]

Here are a few of my finds that I like the most.

 

MZ0502 close up

 

 

MZ0502 with arrow. The light you see at the other end of the tunnel is sun light and not a train in case you were wondering..

 

 

Benchmark KU2480 is the big tower in the background middle. This photo was taken from BM KU2378 which is the second pic.

 

 

Edited November 15, 2010 by genegene

[+NorthWes]

A trip to the Moab region almost always had a sky feature in view somewhere...

 

The oft-found GO0510 near 4 Corners, with a thunderhead afar off...

 

There were pieces of the old tower here at San Juan Grand (JM0578), as well as one of those summer evening stormy sky scenes...

 

Montezuma NP's PARK POINT 8572.31 (HM0502) had a flock of butterflies overhead - several of which made it into this photo...

 

I couldn't resist a photo of Mesa County CO's K 153 (KM0059) with the 100-yr-old Loma School to the west - now abandoned to the pigeons...

My employer is Alaska's distributor for Carsonite posts - it's a good thing to see 'em doubled up like that!

[foxtrot_xray]

I couldn't resist a photo of Mesa County CO's K 153 (KM0059) with the 100-yr-old Loma School to the west - now abandoned to the pigeons...

My employer is Alaska's distributor for Carsonite posts - it's a good thing to see 'em doubled up like that!

I LOVE that school. Before I got into BM hunting, I was able to explore the inside of that building. It was fantastic and very very surreal. 11 years ago, vandals hadn't gotten to it yet, so it was very surreal.

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Great pictures everyone! I love to see all of the new posters also, thank you for taking the time to let us see some of your favorite pictures.

 

Now, I finally have some more shots. We took a little trip. We just made a small loop --- around the Grand Canyon without every spotting it. We drove around 800-1000 miles (backtracking a lot and crossing our own path numerous times

 

We found both caches and benchmarks in 6 different counties on this trip and plumb wore ourselves out.

 

Here is C 385 area. A surprise at the power pole #64 mentioned in the monumentation report on the data sheet.

 

 

And a close up for your enjoyment.

 

 

I am showing this next picture because I laughed when I saw the extra short witness post. Someone was running low on post material? R 488

 

 

John already told about this picture in the Good Day thread, but it my very favorite picture of a large, beautiful Joshua tree with the copper nail and washer still intact in the trunk. We were amazed!

Bell RM 1 location.

 

 

A close up of the neat copper nail and washer.

 

 

At A 328 area we spotted this beauty.

 

 

Next up is the view shot towards the south. I love those peaks.

 

 

And a shot of the old road mentioned in the description for this one.

 

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

And...I hope I am not boring everyone to sleep yet....

 

For those of you wanting your very own benchmark....R 110 is just waiting for to go find it and take it home with you. It is definitely out of position, but in a beautiful remote area.

 

 

Along this "road".

 

 

A 148 just has a great looking view.

 

 

At PIUTE we proved that we go down on our hands and knees and still come up with DNFs once in awhile. But we had fun trying. I got to just stand there and take the pictures.

 

 

Out in the middle of the desert.

 

 

R 109 was just a short hike up a closed off road. Got there and we bagged two marks side by side. The one was quite a ways off for co-ordinates.

 

 

And last I have to include this shot of a friendly little guy that posed for us.

 

 

We had a great time and I was able to get some nice pictures to boot.

 

Hope you enjoyed them...

 

Shirley~

[+NorthWes]

I love your desert photos! Benchmarking is the most fun I can possibly have when we have to visit Las Vegas for classes...

[+Rotareneg]

Here's a Five-spotted Hawk Moth I found right next to KG0121:

 

 

You can see it on the shaded side of the corner at the bottom of the picture:

 

 

And the mark itself, so well camouflaged that I couldn't find it the first time I checked:

 

 

And the grain elevator itself:

 

[+NorthWes]

That's pretty cool - the moth is way easier to see than the mark!

[foxtrot_xray]

Here's a Five-spotted Hawk Moth I found right next to KG0121:

Good to see another DeLorme user here.

 

Why is it five-spotted? Are there such things as "four-spotted"? It looks almost as big as the mark itself..

[+Rotareneg]

It's got five spots on its abdomen (if it were visible) while the Carolina Sphinx has 6. Gardeners probably know them better by their voracious caterpillars, the Tomato Hornworm and the Tobacco Hornworm.

[+Klemmer]

Had a great time doing some desert hiking recently. Unfortunately, my fellow hikers weren't too receptive to benchmark hunting. Dropped few new caches. Maybe next trip out to the Grotto, I can grab a few more benchmarks, in addition to DW0355 found a few (7!) years ago. This little guy was so cooperative, we got lots of good picture of him:

THAR BE DRAGONS HERE !!

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Ohhh, I love dragonflies. That is not as colorful as the ones I have seen around here but those wings are great!

 

I am not as favorable towards moths, but that is a great shot of that one.

 

Thanks guys!

 

Shirley~

[jbuffethed]

Clingman's Dome Lookout Tower - FB2495 - Looking towards Gatlinburg

 

 

Newfound Gap, N.C. FB4079

 

[+secondgunman]

Station POTEAUNAV, a US Army Corps of Engineers Benchmark. That's the Poteau River on the left and the Arkansas River on the right.

 

[kayakbird]

Lichens from Morgan County, Utah.

 

 

MR0360

 

Near a previous NOT FOUND 1903 Chiseled Square.

 

 

MR0359

 

kayakbird

[Okie'sKid]

Good job on the previous NF!!

[+billwallace]

This past Sunday I set out to find a cluster of 17 marks centered about here - 35.69066, -120.24322. I had noticed the unusual concentration of marks and found that they stradle the San Andreas Fault up in the NE corner of the county. That "Coping with Tectonic Motion" post by NGS Surveyor was pretty timely for me.

 

Luck wasn't with me, my old ranch truck king cab Chevy just didn't have enough traction on the loose/wet track roads and I wasn't prepared to walk in so I'll save them for another day ... (actually I got stuck and it took me a while to get out and that ate up the daylight ), Here are a couple of pix from marks I did manage to get that day - it's pretty up that canyon even if the sun isn't shining.

 

FV1383 - Waterhole: looking NNW up the Cholame Valley which parallels the San Andreas Fault

 

FV0633 - Y 616

[+edexter]

Great stuff!

Here's a couple recent find photo's from Cape Cod, Mass.

edexter

[TillaMurphs]

Near a previous NOT FOUND 1903 Chiseled Square.

 

MR0359

 

kayakbird

 

Great find!

 

How did you know it was set in 1903?

[+msrubble]

Yes, it's a disk shot.

 

From P 176 in Lutsen, Minnesota.

[+NorthWes]

That's a pretty neat shot down the tube!