1,000 And 0 Club

[+seventhings]

Although, as it is often said in this forum, it's not about the numbers, I take this opportunity to crow a bit about joining the 1,000 (benchmarks) and 0 (caches) club today. Logged 12 finds today and ended the day with 1,008. Here are some numbers for your edification:

 

Found = 1,008 (should be 1,009 but I can't access HU1241)

Not found = 471

Logged as destroyed = 63 (mostly intersection stations)

Noted as inaccessible = 125

 

Found / (found + not found) = .682

First time found (672) / total found = .666

 

Disks = 677

Rods = 77

Mason-Dixon stones (with PIDs) = 25

Other stones = 13

Intersection stations = 185

Other marks = 31

 

Marks not in Geocaching (and not included in the 1,008):

No-PID RMs and AZs = 60

In NGS, not in Geocaching = 4

Mason-Dixon stones without PIDs = 16

Lewis and Clark commemorative disks = 10

Other no-PID marks = 64

 

263 recoveries submitted to NGS, a few more in process

19 states: VA, DE, DC, MD, PA, NJ, NY, WV, KY, IN, IL, MO, IA, WI, OH, NM, AZ, UT, CO

32 different PID prefixes

 

Thanks to all for your encouragement and for so willingly sharing your experiences and expertise. Special thanks to sixthings and fivethings who have accompanied me on many excellent hunts; CallawayMT for taking a motivating interest in my Mason-Dixon stone recoveries; Black Dog Tracker, ArtMan and Mr. Magoo for keeping me honest in our common territories and for adding a little competitive element to the hunt; Deb Brown for taking my hobby seriously; and, of course, Mrs. seventhings. While my benchmark hunting has been a source of amusement for Mrs. 7, I notice that she has taken aggressively to spotting orange Carsonite witness posts from great distances.

 

I will now take a break from the hunt. When I resume in April (or thereabouts), it will be at a much lower level of intensity.

 

Regards all,

Will

 

Edited to add clarification to the no-PID marks tally.

Edited November 30, 2004 by seventhings

[rescue557]

Although, as it is often said in this forum, it's not about the numbers, I take this opportunity to crow a bit about joining the 1,000 (benchmarks) and 0 (caches) club today.

Why no caches?

[evenfall]

Congratulations Will! An excellent milestone! I hope we will still continue to enjoy your company here in the forums while you relax. You are in some pretty rare company whether they cache or not.

 

As to why no Geocaches? Well, it could so easily be asked why have so many geocachers declined to benchmark hunt? I am sure the reasons are many and personal, but not all that important to the rest of us. People follow their inspirations and intentions, then they take action.

 

Whether it is an exclusive thing or not, people remember us for what we achieve, not what we don't. It's really as simple as that.

 

Again, Way to go Will!

 

Rob

[+Harry Dolphin]

Yes. Good question. Why no caches? I enjoy hunting for both. I seem not to be finding a lot of benchmarks (that have disappeared). But they'e fun to look for too. I have to be pretty sure before I label one as 'destroyed', but I;ve marked a few that way. My favorite 'mark as destroyed' is KV4066 WOR TV Mast. Pretty sure there's no 810' TV tower here1

54 Benchmarks, 14 DNFs, 6 marked as destroyed (soon to increase, as I look for more in north Hudson County, NJ).

[ArtMan]

Special thanks to ... Black Dog Tracker, ArtMan and Mr. Magoo for keeping me honest in our common territories and for adding a little competitive element to the hunt....

Thanks, Will --

 

Awesome achievement. Anyone else over the 1000 milestone? I'm really not all that competitive, but I am curious as to how I stack up against others.

 

But, uh, does your 1000+ total include those non-PID marks? Not to suggest you're fudging, but I've always considered the "found" recoveries logged here as the significant number. Just wondering.

 

I'm also impressed by your found:unfound ratio. Yours is better than 2:1; my record is about evenly divided between successful and unsuccessful attempts.

 

Sorry to see you'll be in hiatus until Spring. Winter in the Northeast can mean snow and cold, but it also means less canopy in the way of GPS signals and often less ground cover, too. Plus less poison ivy.

 

-ArtMan-

[+seventhings]

rescue & Harry -

 

Why no caches? They simply don't interest me. Besides, the benchmarks demand enough of my time, energy, attention span and spare change.

 

ArtMan -

 

Good question. Yes, my 1,008 comprises only benchmarks with PIDs in the Geocaching database. Were I to include the no-PIDs, the "in NGS/not in Geocaching", the RMs and AZs, and the commemoratives, the number would be 1,163.

 

Will

[+California Bear]

Congrats! It will be many a year before I reach the 1000+ mark. Too many of the marks in my area are plowed under by the voracious appetite of developers. Heaven only knows we need MORE half empty strip malls here in So Cal.

[+Black Dog Trackers]

7 -

 

Congratulations on the 1,000 marks!

 

I have only one question. Why only 263 NGS reports? (This is not to say that I do better - I've done only 1 myself.) I was surprised to see this number compared to 1,000 and wondered what your criteria are for doing an NGS report.

 

I hope things go very well between now and April!

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

Way to go 7

 

I got 164 more to go to get to 1000.

found 836

not found 58

notes 168

destroyed 10

all logs 1072

 

I think I am way low on NGS submissions as well,need to get busy and

logem in.

 

I have not kept track of the various others but summers up around 500+ or so BLM,ACE,USCGS,USGS,DEPT OF AGR,FOREST SERVICE,STATE,COUNTY,CADASTRAL,MMMMMM.

 

I take your hobby as serious as you do!!I do we do oh!! yea that too.

 

It looks like this area is now looking into the GIS/and or 911.

I think they will see the data as a little more special now,that it all has been recovered,the NGS Control that is,here.

I am adding to it every day.

 

Oh yea I almost forgot......311 caches

[+seventhings]

Black Dog Trackers -

 

My NGS recoveries are much fewer than my total finds for the following reasons:

 

1. For the first year or so (about 400 finds), I didn't do any NGS recoveries. I don't think that I started reporting recoveries to NGS until Deb Brown joined the fray with her guidance. And I didn't report any of the first 400 ex post facto.

 

2. I generally don't submit a recovery report if the description/to reach are adequate and the station is defined by adjusted coordinates.

 

3. I generally don't submit a recovery report if the station has been recovered since 01/01/2000, unless to add handheld coordinates to a mark defined by scaled coordinates.

 

4. I generally don't submit recovery reports for intersection stations unless they are either destroyed or the description needs to be substantively corrected or expanded.

 

5. I gnerally don't submit recovery reports for not founds unless I am very confident that no one else could find 'em either.

 

6. Often, I'm just lazy and don't get around to it.

 

Will

[evenfall]

Just for the record for those who may wonder, there is no obligation on anyones part, but for those who may be interested in knowing as an example here, all 1000+ of seven's recoveries would be happily received by the NGS as a recovery, on the basis of a recently recovered survey marker alone. You could think of it like bumping up an old topic in the forum. It freshens up the last time the station was known to exist, and that adds value to the data in the database. This includes landmarks found or not found, any kind of station disc, bolt, rivet, drill hole etc... Found, not found or damaged, they like one report per year and are happy for the updates of any kind.

 

Even if the description is adequate and the adjusted Coordinates are fine, (meaning it is triangulation and not leveling in most cases) every submission that anyone chooses to make with the care taken to do so accurately is a valuable submission to the data they use. They are also interested in the photos too if you would like to send them. Criteria is located in the Deb Brown pinned topic.

 

I do not mean to say that anyone needs to do this, but they can choose to if they like. If there is not time in your life or you don't feel like doing it, that is as legitimate as any reason not to. It is strictly a volunteer effort. There need not be a personal criteria for submitting recovery to the NGS or not, but it always helps out if you choose to. Many people may already realize this, but for those who may not, now they do.

 

Thanks, Rob