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Very cool benchmarks


EraSeek

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I went to my favorite Benchmark today to see if I could get an interesting picture. This weekend a Fine Arts Festival is in the Public Square of Wilkes-Barre, PA where the benchmark is located on top of a 3 foot monument. It was under the tent where the judged artwork was displayed. I put my Magellan upright on top of the monument while I was writing down the engraving on the monument sides. A woman walked up and I took it away and said "Excuse me". She looked at me and said she thought it (the Magellan and the monument) was a sculpture exhibit! I'll post pictures after I get them back.

http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.asp?PID=LY143

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FINDING THE MASON-DIXON LINE MONUMENTS WAS TRULEY A RUSH FOR ME. IN 1763 CHARLES MASON AND JEREMIAH DIXON,TWO ENGLISH SURVEYORS,WERE CALLED IN TO SETTLE A BOUNDRY DISPUTE BETWEEN THE STATES OF MARYLAND AND PENNSYLVANNIA. THE SURVEY WAS COMPLETED IN 1767 AND HAS BEEN KNOW AS THE MASON-DIXON LINE EVER SINCE. THE SURVEYORS SET UP MILESTONES TO MARK THE BOUNDRY.OVER THE YEARS SOUVENIR HUNTERS REMOVED MANY OF THE STONES, ALTHOUGH AUTHORITIES WERE ABLE TO RECOVER MANY OF THEM. THE LINE HAS REMAINED AT PARALLEL OF N39DEGREES 43MINUTES 26.3 SECONDS. AS CACHERS WE ARE ALL INTERESTED IN NAVIGATING WITH OUR GPS', I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT MR MASON AND MR DIXON, IF ALIVE TODAY, WOULD BE A GEOCACHER, ENJOYING IN OUR SEARCH FOR BENCHMARKS AND CACHES. THANKS MICKYD

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quote:
Originally posted by Alan2:

I made this benchmark a virtual cache back in November. Now that there is official benchmark caching, am I suppose to do something to change to an "orange" page or leave it the way it is or something else?

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=10814

 

Alan


 

I vote to leave it. Benchmarking and geocaching are entirely separate games.

 

25021_1200.gif

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This benchmark is "located at Sea-Tac International Airport at the W end of runway 16L-34R"

 

And the description is kind enough to tell you who to contact to get access: "Contact the airport manager at 206-431-4026 to arrange access to the airport."

 

Who's gonna try it?

 

"If a boy has enough intelligence, he ought to go into the ministry, except that if when he enters college he is given to carousing, drinking, and wenching, then in that case he should enter the law." - Harvard Student Review, 1796

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I suggest that *Benchmark Hunting* be renamed *Survey Mon Hunting* (mon = monument), or something else which would be more inclusive than *Benchmark Hunting.* Monuments other than benchmarks which could be searched include: triangulation mons (elevation may not be given or may be only to the nearest 10 meters), state boundary mons, international boundary mons, and the Willamette Stone (initial point for the Willamette Meridian and Base Line, 45°31'11"N, 122°44'34"W, from which the U.S. Rectangular Survey of Oregon and Washington commenced).

 

I'm getting excited [:)] about searching for International Boundary Monuments along the boundary between Washington State and Canada! In past years I've done research, mapping and intensive calculations for international boundary monuments along the north line of Whatcom County--south line of British Columbia. I was never in the field to actually find one of these monuments.

 

Forest Engineer[8D]

 

Kaneloa[8D]("Tall Man")

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I suggest that *Benchmark Hunting* be renamed *Survey Mon Hunting* (mon = monument), or something else which would be more inclusive than *Benchmark Hunting.* Monuments other than benchmarks which could be searched include: triangulation mons (elevation may not be given or may be only to the nearest 10 meters), state boundary mons, international boundary mons, and the Willamette Stone (initial point for the Willamette Meridian and Base Line, 45°31'11"N, 122°44'34"W, from which the U.S. Rectangular Survey of Oregon and Washington commenced).

 

I'm getting excited [icon_biggrin.gif] about searching for International Boundary Monuments along the boundary between Washington State and Canada! In past years I've done research, mapping and intensive calculations for international boundary monuments along the north line of Whatcom County--south line of British Columbia. I was never in the field to actually find one of these monuments.

 

Forest Engineer[8D]

 

Kaneloa[8D]("Tall Man")

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I had the prevelidge of logging a benchmark at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland where Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the Star Spangled Banner. The actual bm is a replica of the flagstaff which Francis Scott Key could see from the British ship he was on.

 

see [jv5557]

 

MICKYD

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This is similar to Mason-Dixon line BM and it's not in the database, but its in the NRHP database, see http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/VA/Fairfax/state.html.

Very cool. I made a virtual out of it, see http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=26497 , GC6781.

 

And then there is the Zero Milestone BM, I logged this today, see http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.asp?PID=HV1847 HV1846.

PKPaul.

 

[This message was edited by pkpaul on July 14, 2002 at 06:26 PM.]

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travis:

This monument you were looking for is most likely a PACS or SACS, a primary or secondary airport control station, and most of the PACS are very close to mostly active runways. You need very specific official reasons to get next to one obviously. This are used for precise surveys to generate navigation data for landing.

We recently tried to get to DX3328 in Fullerton, California but were told rather pointedly "not on my aerodrome" and we had some semi-official reason.

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Another oddity for benchmarks: There is a mark on the top of the water tank that serves the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MI. Obviously, I could not photograph it--I could not even get close to the tower. If you are not a registered guest, you pay $10.00 just to be on the property, and after 6 pm, only registered guests are allowed on the road that leads to the hotel....so poking around the back of the hotel was a real no-no!

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I found a really neat one yesterday at the site of the "re-located" Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. I'll post a pic of it as soon as I get the film developed. The only drawback: It was placed by the North Carolina Geodetic Survey so it's not on any lists. Neat disc, though.

Coords: Zone 18S, 0451886 Easting by 3900989 Northing at >1m ASL.

Sorry for the UTM, but I'm just too tired to translate them now, besides, it's more accurate. icon_cool.gif

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