Friday, January 02, 2009
Unearthing a Bear!
Finally located a benchmark I’ve been searching for. This one is named BEAR. It’s been a real bear locating that’s for sure! I’ve been out here in the dunes looking for it a couple of times with no luck. Got some help recently from fellow geocacher Mackie when he found the metal post marking the benchmark location. The benchmark itself, however, was below the surface and Mackie didn’t come prepared with digging tools so he marked the area and told me what he found.
Went out today with a shovel and uncovered it. These old benchmarks are fun to discover - this one was established in 1928 and hadn’t been located since 1970!
Posted by Mike on 01/02 at 05:38 PM
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Monday, February 26, 2007
Arago Peak 2 Benchmark
I “recovered” (a term the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) uses to describe finding or discovering benchmarks) Arago Peak 2 (NGS PID # OA1617) back on April 14, 2005 while geocaching in the vicinity. See my geocaching blog entry for that day, though I don’t mention the benchmark.
It was recently pointed out to me that my recovery got listed on a website that keeps track of notable benchmark recoveries! Scroll to the bottom of the page and there is one titled “Westernmost Station in 48 Contiguous States” - that’s it! I didn’t even realize it fell into that category until someone reading my geocaching blog pointed it out - thanks, TheBeanTeam!
Getting to this benchmark isn’t particularly difficult. It’s about a 3.6 mile round trip from the parking area at the end of the Cape Arago highway south and west of Charleston. Access is via the Cape Arago Pack Trail at Cape Arago State Park. Take the trail to it’s highest point then divert southward on a less traveled old road grade. About 1/10th mile later you break out of the mature forest into a young stand of trees. Follow the logging roads due south another 0.6 miles to Arago Peak. From the road you can see a white metal sign marking the benchmark location.
Great views up and down the coastline from this vantage point - See photo links below:
View north - Drake’s Point
trail junction
Posted by Mike on 02/26 at 12:20 PM
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