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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Benchmarks
From: Richard M Pisko
Date: 2003 Oct 6, 23:41 -0600
From: Richard M Pisko
Date: 2003 Oct 6, 23:41 -0600
On Sun, 5 Oct 2003 19:43:21 -0700, Brooke Clarke wrote: >These are not USGS type benchmarks but rather someone's GPS receivers >readout where a cache is hidden, typically with a log book and pencil >for the finder to record their info. > I tried today for the first time. I parked with "Geo1" .8 miles away at about 282 degrees true. The actual course length was about 2.5 miles round trip, and an elevation change of 300 feet each way. Went from prickly pear cactus in shortgrass prairie to Wild Rose bushes in riverbottom deadwood piles. I think I lost five pounds of sweat, but only a little blood. I dunno, I may try a different one tomorrow, since there are so many around here. No way to take sextant sights ... too much wind for an artificial horizon. and I was following a ridge line west with a sharp drop off to either side. I could have used a theodolite and tables, maybe ... but that setup is pretty awkward going down the coulies, and I slipped on a gravel section at about a 100 percent grade. I think resection from known points might have worked if I cut down a tree or two for visibility. Besides, I couldn't see the cache until I was about three feet away. (I took bearings from four places at about 100 feet to get a closer idea as to where it should be.) All in all, a GPS unit has a lot going for it in that game. -- Richard ...