From http://www.geocaching.com/mark/default.aspx#cadastral
A benchmark is a point whose position is known to a high degree of accuracy and is normally marked in some way. The marker is often a metal disk made for this purpose, but it can also be a church spire, a radio tower, a mark chiseled into stone, or a metal rod driven into the ground. Over two centuries or so, many other objects of greater or lesser permanence have been used. Benchmarks can be found at various locations all over the United States. They are used by land surveyors, builders and engineers, map makers, and other professionals who need an accurate answer to the question, "Where?"
Why search for benchmarks?
The interesting thing about benchmarks is that a majority of them are located in plain sight (though largely ignored by the general public). Searching out these locations and documenting them allows others to share pictures of the various areas where they are placed. There's a certain excitement to be the first to find and document a control point, as well as seeing what others have found.
Where does the benchmark database come from?
In 2000, Geocaching.com imported a snapshot of the ever-changing benchmark database from National Geodetic Survey (NGS), a federal agency within the Department of Commerce. The NGS database contains all sorts of information about these benchmarks. In the NGS database, each geodetic control marker has a Permanent IDentifier, known as a PID and an associated datasheet of information about it.
The Rules:
To complete this challenge you must meet all of the following conditions.
- Find and log 1 benchmark.
Your qualifiers (in this case, your benchmarks) need to be loggable (and logged) on geocaching.com for them to count. Only Found benchmarks count (not destroyed, looked for it, think it's there, etc.).
You need to personally find it and log it here. No arm-chair benchmarking. No “told my friend where it is and they found it for me” benchmarking. You need to discover it, be there, see it, log it!
Thank you & Happy Benchmarking! Happy Caching! Happy Trails!
Although this is not required, Good bench mark hunters will post the following items in their benchmark logs.
- Coordinates on your GPS, phone, or other device.
- Elevation reading.
- Close-up photo of the disk, rod, or other bench mark type.
- A second photo from a few feet away showing the mark and the general surroundings/location.
Additional Information:
- Any posted "Found It" logs that do not meet the requirements of this challenge will be deleted.
- If you have not met the requirements of this challenge, you may visit this cache, sign the log book and post a note on this page. When you have met the requirements of this challenge, you may then post a "Found It" log without having to revisit the cache.
- FTF Honors go to the first person (or team) to Qualify and Sign; if multiple people signed at the same time and qualify, Co-FTF works.
- Please contact stargazingwoman with any questions.
- Note: The attributes reflect the cache location, not benchmark locations. The "dangerous area" attribute reflects that you will need to be careful crossing the street!
- Note: The D/T reflects the research you may find yourself doing in order to locate 1 benchmark. Some are easier to find than others. Please stay safe and legal and honor "no trespassing" and "private property" signs and other laws.
Using your GPS unit and/or written directions provided by NGS, which are available for review by the public, you can seek out NGS survey markers and other items that have been marked in the USA. There are 736425 total benchmarks in the database.
Logging Disks and Other Small Markers
If you have a digital camera, we ask that you take a closeup picture of the mark, and another picture from a few feet away, making sure that the mark is in the view. Additional pictures are OK too. Even if you don't have a digital camera, just log your find for others to read.
Triangulation Station Disks
A complete log for a triangulation station includes notes on not only the station itself, but also its reference marks and azimuth mark. If you don't look for them, please note that you didn't look for them. If you find them, include their pictures in your log. Also, include your GPS receiver's averaged coordinates for the azimuth mark.
Location-Scaled Disks
If you find a disk with a scaled location, please include your GPS receiver's averaged coordinates for the disk's location in your log.
I hope you enjoy benchmarking as much as I do!
***** Congratulations to saxhorn for FtQaF: First to Qualify and Find! *****
The cache name is based on the amateur radio operator phonetic alphabet, continuing a theme for my caches.
--... ...-- and Happy Caching!
BYOP!