Personal Satisfaction

[+Ham What Am]

There is a level of "Personal Satisfaction" that comes with the successful "Recovery" of a Benchmark no matter how many folks have found it before you did. The feeling of accomplishment when you "log" the find and document it is akin to finding that elusive pot of gold at the end of the fabled rainbow. Last week I was fortunate enough to come close to the ultimate, "being the first" non-professional to recover a Benchmark. I was second, but what a sense of accomplishment.

 

Yesterday that changed. I logged a "first" for me. The first non-professional to find a Benchmark that was specifically researched and documented. the WWII era caused numerous small airports to be turned into training fields for the Navy and Army to prepare pilots for combat.

 

Researching old airport photos, first person descriptions of that period, old newspaper files, and anything else that even mentioned the old airport were used to finally locate the Benchmark, although it casts a cloud over some "official records" of building names and numbers.

 

There are two more Benchmarks of the era that have been destroyed over the years through modernization, construction and total removal of a structure that are being documented for inclusion in my "log". This is what makes the hobby of Benchmark Recovery so rewarding, at least for me. And I remember two other airports of the early '40s that are no longer in existence.

 

http://www.wa7hyd.net/benchmark.html

[+LSUFan]

Congratulations on your find(s). I really like the look of your webpage, with the list of all your recoveries.

[glorkar]

I keep a similar log for my personal reference too. I go as far to add the last previously recovered date reported to NGS. That way I can see how many marks I've found, when and what type they are. The only thing I don't have are the links, but that sounds like a good idea. I might just have to implement that

[kayakbird]

Congratulations on making your research pay off with a FOUND in a location with lots of changes. kayakbird

[topflitejr1]

Congratulations, Ham What AM! Sounds like you really do your homework before you go out and "bag some brass". I too enjoy exploring the Historical and significant places that Benchmarking takes me. There are quite a few old runways here in the Antelope Valley as well, with Benchmarks and an occasional Airport Beacon as an added bonus. Happy Hunting!

[AZcachemeister]

I would say that personal satisfaction is what drives most Benchmark Hunters.

 

It's a Benchmarking thing...if I have to explain, you wouldn't understand.

 

 

EDIT: oops.

Edited July 21, 2010 by AZcachemeister

[DaveD]

I think many of feel the same way. Excerpted from the foreward I wrote for the book "Lasting Impresseions" published by

 

Berntsen .http://www.berntsen.com/GoShopping/Surveying/Collectibles/Books/tabid/1778/ctl/ViewProduct/mid/612/itemID/881/Default.aspx

 

"Lasting Impressions is devoted to every surveyor who has climbed that “tough hill,” or cut brush for hours through a snake, mosquito, and chigger invested swamp, to find that called for mark. And for their determination and detective work, have been rewarded by finding that tree stump, brass plug, chiseled square, drill hole, stone or concrete monument, that no one else has seen since the original surveyors left their calling card many years ago. Increasingly, efforts by individuals from the popular past time of geocaching are also playing a significant role in the attempt to preserve and protect these essential components of our national infrastructure. The public may never understand or appreciate the euphoric feeling the cadre of geospatial detectives enjoys. We scrape away decades of dirt and goo to expose the object of our investigations and feel a connection with the pioneers of our national surveying, mapping, and charting history that literally marked the progress of our country. "

[glorkar]

Couldn't have said it better myself DaveD!

[+LSUFan]

That is exactly it, Dave. Excellent wording.

 

Several of us were talking about getting a road trip up to find a stone benchmark placed out in 1878 in our local geocaching forums. We were getting pretty worked up for it. One of our non-benchmarking friends made the comment on "it just looked like a chunk of concrete to her".

 

I told her that's where looks could be deceiving, it was chunk of a limestone. LOL

 

Dave, I hope you don't mind, but I quoted your post above over on that forum too. I'm sure my fellow benchmarkers will totally agree and enjoy your words.

 

P.S. I ordered the 3 for the price of 2 special they are having on the book also. Thanks

Edited July 21, 2010 by LSUFan

[+Ham What Am]

Congratulations, Ham What AM! Sounds like you really do your homework before you go out and "bag some brass". I too enjoy exploring the Historical and significant places that Benchmarking takes me. There are quite a few old runways here in the Antelope Valley as well, with Benchmarks and an occasional Airport Beacon as an added bonus. Happy Hunting!

 

Fortunately, the internet is a collection of information site that can save us a lot of legwork, which for us seniors, is a big help. Starting with a NGS DataSheet on a particular Benchmark is only the beginning. Adding other archived dat to the package fills in a lot of historical significance to project.

[+Ham What Am]

Congratulations on your find(s). I really like the look of your webpage, with the list of all your recoveries.

 

Thank you. It is simple, straight forward, and easy to add to. Even a new column can be added if required.

 

I needed a way to more realistically hand the "Destroyed" label. If I can show a photo of the Benchmark from archival sources and a current photo showing it is no longer there, I consider it "Destroyed".

 

Plus it is most gratifying to show a series of pictures of a Benchmark being "Destroyed", which has a PID, but no data sheet.

 

Then tripping over a Benchmark that has been reported as "Destroyed" is also a hoot.

 

Preserving our Benchmark locations with well documented photo references, especially in this digital age does not cost a thing. Take plenty of supporting photographs. Make it easy to relocated the position 50 to 100 years down the road, even if here is development in the area.