EOS 2009 (A good year!)

[+pgrig]

EOS--that's the official NGS code for "End of Season--Benchmarking--2009." I bundled up and trotted out in the snow and wind yesterday, and found a few things, but I fear that it will soon freeze up, so I've called it quits on my second year of benchmark hunting.

 

It's generally been a good year, focused more on quality (older marks, old coastal military stuff, and various "oddities") than on quantity, and much facilitated by the advice from all of you out here at GC.com. Thanks to your helpful critiques, there are some mistakes I don't make as often.

 

I suppose my #1 lesson learned is, "Read (your Datasheet) many times, dig once!" Yesterday's outing showed me yet again that I still haven't really learned this one, since I keep overlooking small written clues that would have saved me hours of work, but I resolve to be a more thorough reader in 2010.

 

I adopted some new tools. An extensible, light, 15-ft tall (max) pole in a PVC pipe painted blaze orange (and held upright by a big barn spike stuck in the ground) proved very useful in helping me sight on various woodsy marks. Orange flagging tape tied high up trees or branches also saved several finds for me in the same fashion. A compact and easy to carry pair of Friskars loppers let me cut my way through to several otherwise hopeless stations. I also learned that my metal detector lies to me a lot, and I need to make it ping a spot many times before investing the energy in digging it. I also know now that my GPSr lies even worse than my detector!

 

Thank you all for your help (and you know who you are!), and I look forward to next year's hunt!

 

-Paul

[foxtrot_xray]

You northerners.. How can you stand being under 4 feet of snow for 6+ months?

 

Other than the bitter cold, and the rain that seems to fall daily here in my new home, I got plenty of time left.

 

Good to hear you had a great year! Much better than mine. I guess you can start planning for next year now.

[+Klemmer]

So Cal = No EOS

(just a little rain once a week or so)

 

P.S. I grew up in Buffalo NY. Now I live here. Enough said.

[+pgrig]

Shirley-- I now have 3 1/2 grandchildren across two families in No. Cal, so you folks may have to hold on to your benchmarks before too long!

-Paul

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Shirley-- I now have 3 1/2 grandchildren across two families in No. Cal, so you folks may have to hold on to your benchmarks before too long!

-Paul

 

It's a BIG country out here. No. Cal is a looong way from our tiny part. But, if you so decide to take a trip with your Grandchildren to Page/Lake Powell or Vegas/Laughlin, Nev. area, be sure to let us know!

 

P.S. Congrats on the 1/2 grandchild.

 

Shirley & John

[foxtrot_xray]

P.S. Congrats on the 1/2 grandchild.

.. I hope they got the good half.

[Bill93]

>You northerners.. How can you stand being under 4 feet of snow for 6+ months?

 

It ain't easy, but at least it kills scorpions and kudzu and sets back the poison ivy a little.

[AZcachemeister]

So Cal = No EOS

(just a little rain once a week or so)

 

P.S. I grew up in Buffalo NY. Now I live here. Enough said.

 

Same here in baja Arizona...only not so much rain.

I am planing to recover a big string through the Barry Goldwater range (southwestern AZ) over New Year's weekend.

[+PFF]

 

I am planing to recover a big string through the Barry Goldwater range (southwestern AZ) over New Year's weekend.

 

 

That sounds like it will be fun! I like to start the New Year by benchmark hunting on the morning of January 1st. For a few hours, there are very few people stirring, and very little traffic. It's an ideal time to go after marks where I normally can't find a parking space--such as a downtown area or a college campus--or where there are too many curious onlookers. ("Is that man carrying a metal detector, or a rifle?")

 

For the past two years, this annual event has been a team hunt. January 1, 2009, LJPARR and I started around 8AM on the normally-busy Blue Ridge Road, picking up marks at a bank, a hospital, and in front of several office buildings. Then we moved to a main road leading into downtown Raleigh, where we were the first recovery in 25 years for a half-dozen stations.

 

The year before, WWFLVR and I teamed up to recover a dozen marks on, and around, the Duke University campus on the afternoon of December 31st, and we met again the following morning to visit numerous stations along Highway NC-98, which is the main route into Durham from Wake Forest.

 

You are wondering: Can you do this and still party? Sure. When you hit the cold air on New Year's morning, your head clears up very quickly. Just remember to pack the car the evening before, so you don't go off in a fog and forget to pack something--like the data sheets. [Grin.]

 

Or, there's a technique some folks use as they get older. A few days into the New Year, I asked a friend if he stayed up to watch the Ball drop in Times Square. "No," he said, "but I taped it."

 

-PFF-