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Is this a find?


WildwoodBob

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I found a very remote benchmark location this AM. I found the original descriptions of markers, like a boulder with a hole drilled in it (2 of those), ash trees with painted markers, but the ash tree with the fork in it has fallen over and rests on top of where the marker most likely is. All of the measurements from found reference points indicate as such.

 

The tree is about 24" in diameter and I doubt if I could move it.

 

Any ideas???

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I just ran in to a similar problem on a marker I just attempted today. I found the spot, I found the witness post, i got the measurements from streets fairly accurate, but the location was covered by a fairly recient (within the last 5 years) or so gravel and earth burm. Looks like the marker may have been under it (after all it was listed as 1.5 feet from the witness post that was there.) But since I didnt go about digging up the gravel after kicking a little around with my shoe, I did list it as a Not-Found, BUT WITH the explination that it may be there and covered. I surely would not list it as destroyed either, since my search was not extensive. All odds are it is there, but since I didnt lay eyes on the disk, I cant 100% say it is for sure.

I think yours falls along the same lines, you are fairly sure its under the tree, but you cant be 100% sure since you have not seen it. Thats just my 2 cents, YMMV.

-Centaur

 

[This message was edited by Centaur on August 24, 2002 at 02:24 PM.]

 

[This message was edited by Centaur on August 24, 2002 at 04:50 PM.]

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I have "found" two benchmarks which were both in monuments planted in the middle of intersections. For one of them I was able to walk out there and snap a picture, but there was too much traffic for the other one. Can I just assume the benchmark is still in the monument and log it as a find?

I've also found a monument that, while it wasn't in an intersection, it didn't want to open easily...so I left it alone. Can I count this as a find?

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If you went looking for a cache and didnt actually find it would you log it as a find?

 

I would have to say no and no.

 

What do I do when I find one?

If you have a digital camera, we ask that you take a picture of the disk, and several pictures of the area around the disk. You can even use a compass to mark your photo so people who see the benchmark can view the area from your point of view. Or just log your find for others to read. You do not take them. These markers are public property and are actively used in surveying./QUOTE]

 

Sounds like you really need to see the marker to count it as a find.

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Thats correct, but trying to remove the cover over a marker that is located in an active roadway is very dangerous and should be discouraged. When professionals need to do this, they lay out OSHA approved traffic control, including warning signs and safety cones to redirect traffic. The covers are often very difficult to get off, having been run over and jammed on tightly. Its also often difficult to get them back on properly. Anyone trying to do this and causing an accident is likely to be held liable for the damage. Markers of this kind are very common in the public land states and Ohio was the first public land state, so there are probably many very old ones there, but it is not worth risking lives to see them. Outside the public land states there are very few markers set in this way.

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quote:

If you went looking for a cache and didnt actually find it would you log it as a find?


 

That doesn't quite fit since caches aren't hidden inside a secondary container.

 

My thoughts were along the lines of SurveyTech... For your average civilian, locating the monument box is the best you can do without putting people in danger, breaking the law, causing damage, etc.

 

For official NGS records, no it wouldn't be a find. But I think for the hobby/sport of geocaching/benchmarking it would be.

 

[This message was edited by Egnix on August 26, 2002 at 08:23 AM.]

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quote:
Originally posted by russotto:

Well, for the tree, there's always a chain saw...


 

russotto,

 

I see you are in PA. If you have the chain saw, do you want to go along icon_biggrin.gif

 

Seriously, I thought about that, but the hike to the location is quite a steep climb and I just wasn't into carrying a chain saw. The plan is to have a few helpers, use a smaller downed tree as a lever and see if we can roll the big one away.

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quote:
Originally posted by russotto:

Well, for the tree, there's always a chain saw...


 

russotto,

 

I see you are in PA. If you have the chain saw, do you want to go along icon_biggrin.gif

 

Seriously, I thought about that, but the hike to the location is quite a steep climb and I just wasn't into carrying a chain saw. The plan is to have a few helpers, use a smaller downed tree as a lever and see if we can roll the big one away.

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I decided to rethink my strategy and got out the old drafting eqipment. I did a to-scale drawing using the BM description and went back.

 

I also used a real compass once I found the boulder with a drill-hole in it. I was real close last time, but this time I got it!

 

The URL is BMKW3120

 

I did set my GPS on the benchmark and let it set for a while. When I compared the coordinates from my GPS to what is posted for the BM, it was amazingly accurate.

 

N 40 21.985 W 76 54.531 from the benchmark page, N 40 21.986 W 76 54.530 from my GPS.

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