My First Benchmark

[+G*Force*5]

Today I took a quick walk out my drive and a 1/4 mile down the road and found my first benchmark. I am amazed how many benchmarks are within walking distance of my house. Most of them haven't been found yet. Looks like I will be first to find alot of the benchmarks in my area.

 

Planning on going out again this afternoon and look for a couple more.

[+happycycler]

Congratulations! and welcome to this hobby!! Please post here often and keep us up to date on your interesting finds.

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

Way to go!!!

Before long you will have a herd of em.

Good luck.

There are a bunch of them out there yet to be discovered,uncovered,and are a great hobby to pursue.

 

I got one that was very Historic on almost the same day (1 day off) 200 years after Lewis and Clark passed the point and Lewis made survey observations from above Tavern Rock Cave near an almost impossible benchmark to get to.

Tavern Rock Reset

TAVERN ROCK RESET

 

TAVERN ROCK CAVE

Edited May 26, 2004 by GEO*Trailblazer 1

[+G*Force*5]

That is really interesting about Traven Rock Reset.

 

I know there is a bencmark of some sort up on my parents farm. I will be going up there this weekend. I will check it out while I am there.

[+Black Dog Trackers]

G*ForceFive -

 

Hopefully the one on the farm is in the database. There are a lot that aren't. Before you go, you might want to check whether it is on the database using the search boxes on the FAQ page and the auxiliary searches you get when you click on "Other search options". When you find one in the farm's area, click on "nearest benchmarks" to find the others nearby that you can look for while you're at it.

 

One trick I use to find benchmarks using a map is to take advantage of the map you get for any benchmark. Click on the map and then zoom out a bit, make the map go in whatever direction and distance you want, Identify the geocaches in your target area, pick a geocache and go to its page and then click on "nearest benchmarks".

[+SixDogTeam]

Rock on!

[+DixieRoo]

Count me in, too! Found my first benchmark yesterday and logged another today! Always wondered what that concrete post was for... and now I know! Consider me hooked!

 

An interesting note... as I was reading through the original description, I noticed references to towns and communities that no longer exist. It is neat because I've also seen these communities listed on old maps. A bit of history, I guess. One of them even called my town a "village" back in 1933, and it's not much more than that now, although we DO have a working traffic light now and we're fixing to get a Wal-Mart! Woo hoo, I guess we're "movin' on up," right?

 

This is too much fun!

[+happycycler]

Welcome & CONGRATS DixieRoo!! I also enjoy the history that is connected with this hobby. I recently posted similar info. about a long gone village that was referenced in some genealogy document that we were looking at. (Hobbys can Intersect)

[Shoobie & the Sand Crabs]

I have only found one benchmark and i found it on accident on top of a mountain

[dana_mix]

I found my first benchmark two days ago...a triangulation disk plus two of the three reference disks. Last night I went back to test my GPS accuracy with my Garmin eTrex. Given 14 readings, the average on was 13.3 ft off. The median was better, at 10.4. The best estimate of the disk I could have made was taking the median of the easting and northings separately. That point had an error of 5.9 ft. I'm so proud of my receiver. By the way, the median is the middle value; given 14 numbers it's the average of the 7th and 8th biggest.

 

Later that day I noticed another disk while looking for a cache. I didn't note it and will try again.

[+GeckoGeek]

That point had an error of 5.9 ft. I'm so proud of my receiver.

Keep in mind that the number of digits a consumer GPS displays resolves to about 6ft or so. So anything under 6ft is as close as it gets.

 

You want more accuracy, be prepared to pay $10,000+ for survey grade equipment.

Edited June 14, 2004 by GeckoGeek