A bad day benchmarking is better that a good working.

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Well, today I got to eat some humble pie! I thought I knew where 2 benchmarks were going to be located, but I didn't have a boat to get to where they should have been. Today I joined up with Kayakbird and and a gentleman from Marble Canyon named Steve. Steve has a boat and was willing to play shuttle driver.

 

I met up with Kayakbird about 7:30AM and we went to the launch ramp at Lee's Ferry where He tried to fit me into a kayak. Those things are not made for someone my size! Kayakbird had rented a level and tripod from True Value and loaded it into his kayak and headed upstream to where M 7 is located. Since I didn't fit into the kayak, I walked to M 7 and there we set-up the level and measured down to the river's edge and back. We also measured to what is BM 1? and checked the elevation difference between M 7 and that chiseled mark. We then sighted across the river at what was thought to be the deadman for the ferry on that side of the river.

 

Well, after checking the "East" bank and finding nothing that would even remotely fit the bill for BM 12, I think I will need to accept that the description saying "East" bank is referring to the very localized area of the river section where it runs North-South. That being the case, the mark that is BM1? near M 7 is probably BM 12 since the ties are relatively close to what the description calls for allowing for the ties being Approximately North and approximately West. Approximately being looking at the sun and your watch and saying North is that way so West is that way and measuring with those direction calls. Mike, You're right that the chiseled mark by M 7 is actually BM12. Boy, that pie taste so good.

 

We tried for GAGE RM1 and could not find it. There was 3 pair of eyes looking for it and it just was not to be. There is a lot of vegetation covering all the boulders and that was the biggest hindrance. It seemed like just about every other boulder would have been big enough and solid enough to have held the disk. It is probably still there, just well hidden.

 

I will let Kayakbird explain how I got his adrenaline going at O 7 when we found the second disk and where it was located.

 

Now we need some volunteers to come out here and find the marks that we couldn't! Anybody, Anybody at all, interested?

 

I had a great time and really enjoyed getting with another die-hard benchmark hunter. SURE beat going to work!

 

John

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

The title should actually read ------ A bad day benchmarking is better than a good day working. Maybe a mod will take pity on this brain-dead old man and correct for me.

 

John

[kayakbird]

Thanks for coming to my side of the river, John; but I think that we need to hold off final judgement on BM 12/11 until we find a tabulation of the original survey with those points listed and described.

 

And without more info on the Gaging Station that GAGE RM 1 and N 7 RM 2 (non-published) are RM's to, there is now a mystery on the other side of the river. After Steve dropped me off at my kayak near the DS L/L for GAGE RM 1 and took you back to the boat ramp, I hiked up the RL leg pads for the abandoned Upper Cableway and found a couple of NONPID BOR marks.

 

Also checked about a hundred likely rocks for the non-published N 7 RM 2 without finding a thing.

 

Just had to take one more look for GAGE RM 1 and found this

 

 

three cornered drill hole filled with a very friable,rock like, cementing material; but no evidence of a missing disk, broken off tang or even a tang hole. Mark is abeam the 60 ft distance down current from the large rock and at the approximate correct elevation.

 

If this is GAGE RM 1 was it ever a disk? kayakbird

[ronstar]

For some of us (surveyors), a good day of benchmark hunting is a bad day of working. Although I don't "hunt" benchmarks as a hobby, I come to the forum to read these interesting benchmarking stories. I'm glad non-surveyors find benchmark hunting interesting and fun.