Benchmark : Challenge of the Century Mystery Cache

THE CACHE IS AT THE POSTED COORDINATES. You may find the cache and Sign the log at anytime. However, Please read the description below for logging requirements.

Numbers. We are fascinated by them. We love to celebrate milestones and goals met of various numbers. One hundred always seems to be a significant number that gives us a sense of accomplishment.

To log a “Found it” for this cache, in addition to finding the cache and signing the logbook, you must have:

Demonstrate this logging requirement any way you see fit; reference your profile, text in the log, or attach an image.

Time once was that finding one hundred caches was a major milestone. Now it can be a busy weekend (or day!). But how many of you out there care enough or know enough about Benchmarks to make the effort?

So what do we know about benchmarks?

What is a benchmark?

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?" Many of these markers are part of the geodetic control network (technically known as the National Spatial Reference System, or NSRS) created and maintained by NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS).

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 through photos on the website's benchmark gallery. Some of these points haven't been visited and documented in a very long time, so you may also be rediscovering long neglected objects of American history as well!

A GPSr makes getting to the right area easier, but when you're there, you will (generally) be better off if you use the details of the benchmark's location description to locate it. Because most of these benchmarks were installed prior to the existence of GPS, the benchmark database is geared toward finding benchmarks from the descriptions, not the coordinates. Occasionally, however, a good GPSr will prove to be an invaluable tool in finding a benchmark, especially in situations where the location's description is inaccurate due to development and the passage of time. A good GPSr will also help you get to benchmarks in locations you are unfamiliar with.

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.

To read more go here.

DUE TO THE DIFFICULTY THAT COMES WITH FINDING SO MANY BENCHMARKS, THIS CACHE HAS BEEN GIVEN A 4.5/4.5 RATING.

But this is a challenge that everyone can accomplish. So don't be intimidated.

Many of you may be just like most muggles when it comes to benchmarks. You really do cross paths with them everyday! But are you aware of all the types of benchmarks out there?

Have any of you ever seen the Statue of Liberty? Or how about something a little closer to home? Does that make it easier to understand?

Our geocaching team are all big fans of benchmarks too! We love to find geocaches of all kinds, and benchmarks just feel like another unique smiley! Each one is its own slice of history, and all you have to do to log one is find it and see it! With all the puzzles we work on sometimes they are a welcome break from the sleepless nights and headaches, ha ha!

Each benchmark find has its own story too, like the time I was flying into New Jersey and I happened to spot a water tank out my window. Not able to mark coordinates from the moving plane, I instead wrote down all the details I could see and noted the landmarks nearby. Then wait, is that another one! It is!!! So when we landed I used my phone and charted our flight path using google maps, then checked for the benchmarks listed as water tanks in the area and came up with the right listings for both my finds! How exciting!!!

Benchmarks may also be the crosses on top of a church, or a weather vane. Benchmarks may also be tv or radio towers. They can also be another unique landmark used as a benchmark, such as the case with Lady Liberty.

It is important to remember when searching for a benchmark that not all of them listed are still there. Benchmarks do not get archived, although they can be reported destroyed. The best mode of attack is to start by searching out benchmarks that others have logged and shown to be still there. Here are a few to get you started:

And this last one is tricky but hopefully it will never go anywhere!

That should be enough to get you started! Now go out there and find them and then find this cache! Good luck and happy caching!

CONGRATULATIONS TO JMCz ON THE FTF!!!