Benchmark Number 500 Today

[mloser]

Well, I had 499 marks and figured I should make number 500 a special one, so I picked KW3073 Swatara Reset because it was going to be quite a hike to get to and had the promise, from the datasheet, of showing evidence of its 1883 setting.

 

I started by researching the station on USAPhotoMaps, trying to figure out how to get to it, as it sits on top of what we here in Pennsylania call a mountain, elevation 1230 feet (no cracks from you westerners). The Appalachian Trail once ran along the ridge right beside the mark and was evident on the topo map, and there was a trail heading UP the ridge to near the station, which I figured was either a feeder trail or the actual AT, as Swatara Gap is a place where the mountain ridge is broken by a stream (and I-81, if that matters).

 

So I headed out, GPSr in hand, and located the AT parking area, and then headed out onto the trail. It started raining lightly as soon as I shut my car door, but since the weather man called for "showers" I figured it would be a passing thing. After about a mile on the trail I got concerned, because it was evident that I was not heading UP the ridge at all, and was in fact passing the mark. This was a depressing development, and it became obvious to me that I was heading the wrong direction on the trail, and if I had continued I would be going away from the station. So I gave it up and headed back.

 

Near the head of the trail I noticed a clear trail heading straight up the mountain. "Why not" I thought. I can at least go until it disappears and head back, or if I am lucky it might be the feeder trail I saw on my map. So up I went. Well, it turned out it wasn't the feeder trail, but it was indeed a trail to the top, and had at one time been the AT, judging by the old white blazes at the base of it. At the top I ran into an old roadway, which is mentioned in the datasheet, and headed east on it. I had thought I would be west of the mark but my GPSr was insistent otherwise, and was, of course, correct in its assumption. This old road trail turned out to be the worst part of my walk. Despite being a shallow grade, about 2/10 of a mile of it were overgrown with chest and face high plants, and since they were wet I was left with the unattractive choices of either getting slapped in the face with wet leaves or bending over as I walked. I chose to walk crouched over, on the way up. On the way down I was already too wet and tired to care and just lamely attempted to push the branches out of my way.

 

I let the GPSr guide me to the station (apologies to Rob (Evenfall), but with this particular station there was NO chance in H-E-double-hockey-sticks that I would have managed to make my way up this hill and find the mark without it. I usually just use it as a guide to get me near the marks though) and saw it when I was about 20 feet away. I was a bit disheartened to find that the 1934 description stating that "the old mark wa reinforced and recapped with standard station mark" meant that an entire new monument was set, instead of setting a disk in the top of the 1883 stone monument. But still, this was a mark I wanted to get and it made for a good 500th find. Both reference marks were located, and I did not located RM1, which the 1941 party also did not recover. I used a small metal detector hoping it was just buried, but I suspect it was removed by hikers and either kept or tossed down the hill.

 

The view would have been magnificent, had it not been for the gloomy day. I trekked back down the hill, a much more highly recommended direction than up, getting wetter and wetter. All told I think I walked about 4 miles to find this station.

 

But was I done with benchmarking for the day? Nooooo. I proceeded down the road a bit to grab 8 more I had been wanting to get but hadn't wanted to do the hiking. Again, the rain was an annoyance, but since I was already pretty wet I didn't care. All were "finds" so it was a successful day all round.

 

By the way, the rain stopped the minute I got back into my car. Go figure.

 

Edited to apologize to Evenfall

Edited April 23, 2005 by mloser

[evenfall]

Nice going Matt! 500 is sweet! That is an awesome milestone!

 

I'll let you off for not workin it ol' school this time, but next time I may have to whip up a penance like when you hunt, you can only investigate USPSQDN Not founds, and when you are home, you will have to be the Chief Answerer to the "I just found a Mark but I can't find it in the Geocaching database" questions.

 

<EG> ;-)

 

As always,

 

Rob

[mloser]

Rob,

 

I consider Power Squadron Not Founds to be an invitation to find a mark so knock yourself out on that one! I wish I had kept track of all the USPSQD marks I have turned into Finds, but it has to number over 25.

 

I have been following one USPSQD member around Berks County, PA, and have collected at least 4 Finds from his Not Founds. And he is a pretty good hunter too, for a USPSQD member! Still, I can tell he is in it for the numbers, as he has worked most of Berks County, and has logged most of his finds at two year intervals (I suspect some without returning to the mark). Despite my previous rule not to report a mark just for the sake of reporting it if it has been reported relatively recently (and I usually used 10 years or so for that) and if nothing has changed, I have taken some pleasure in reporting all the marks he reported in 2003 JUST so he can't re-report them this year!

 

Don't make me answer the "I found a benchmark..." questions! Please! I am a pretty good benchmarker, in my own mind at least, but with 508 finds to my credit I think I have seen only 3 that I wasn't looking for and found accidentally.

 

Matt

[+seventhings]

Matt -

 

Congrats ++ on 500. I guess I better start looking over my shoulder.

 

I've been checking your stats and saw that you were at 499, so I figured you were saving a special mark for the 500th.

 

I tend to keep good stats on my benchmark hunting, but I haven't been keeping track of the USPSQD "Not Found"s that I've found. I wish I had - like you I have at least two dozen, maybe more. Such marks are particularly attractive.

 

How long (yr-mo-da) did it take you to reach 500? When do you think you'll hit 1,000?

 

Again, well done.

 

Will

[a/r/sf/ret]

Congratulations on the milestone.....nice trip report.

[mloser]

Will,

I started hunting in February of 2004, so it took me a little over a year to get 500. I don't think the next 500 will come as quickly. I have gotten most of the ones in my area and now have to drive about an hour to get to decent hunting grounds, so one of my early practices of heading out to grab a couple just won't do it. I would expect the next 500 to take me almost 2 years to get.

Sooner or later I will be heading south towards your area!

 

And saving 500 for a special mark was sort of an accident. I drive a long distance to get to my job and the other day when I was heading home I decided to see if I could get to 500 on the way home. Too bad when I went to clear the track log of my GPSr I cleared everything, including the waypoints, so I was operating blind while driving along I-78, and was forced to page through the 400 pages or so of Berks County datasheets I have trying to find the ones along the route. I started at 493 and looked for 8 marks. If I had found the second RM for one of the triangulation stations I would have gotten 500 that day. I guess in retrospect it was better to make 500 a special one!

 

Matt

[+NorStar]

Inching close to 250 finds, myself in about the same period of time, this means that I am going at half your pace. How do you do it???!!!

 

Congrats!

 

I hope to make it back to the southern Penn. area some day and find some of the marks you have found!

 

NorStar

[mloser]

Obsession NorStar! I just went for it like I do with anything I take up, with a passion.

I am lucky that my kids are old enough that they don't need or want me home, so I was free to spend some time hunting. I went out almost every decent weekend since I started, usually for 5-6 hours. And everywhere I went I hunted, including Seattle, Boston (you and I had an interchange about the Naval Yard if I recall), Florida, Tennesses, Connecticut, Maryland... I think that is it! LOL

But like I said, it will be impossible to keep up that pace as all the close ones are gone. I have started to return to some that required hikes down old railroad beds or up mountains (like number 500), or are a farther distance but more interesting--I am looking at an 1885 mark about 1.5 hours away to grab soon.

All I can say is "keep hunting!"

 

Matt

[+Oo-v-oO]

Wow, and I just logged my first one today.

It was an easy one that I have known about since I was a kid, but it was getting late and I wanted to get started. More will follow, I'm sure.