37 M

Remember the wacko we met at LY0800? I think we met his twin brother at 37 M.

It began like any typical search. We drove to the coordinates on a route that took us along a dirt/gravel road. I spotted a protruding ledge in the woods, just off the road, that seemed to be a very likely setting for the benchmark. The area was not posted and there were no residences or other buildings, or any signs of life around to approach for permission. Ordinarily I would’ve just walked to the ledge and looked, but in this case, thick poison ivy stopped me. We could see it from the car, and we decided to skip the search, just as we’d done for 38 M nearby.

As we were gathering our datasheets and getting the GPS ready for our next destination (burgers!), around the corner came a guy in a pickup truck. He crawled to a stop and opened his window, and Rich opened his. I had a feeling what was coming.

Really, the less said about this encounter, the better. The guy completely flew off the handle even though we had done nothing wrong (we were sitting in a car on a road that he even admitted he doesn’t own). We hadn’t left the vehicle. We hadn’t touched any of his property. He was calling Rich and my father horrible things, with no real provocation or justification. Obviously, we left and won’t be returning to this area. It’s a shame that this guy, if he truly owns the land, hosts an historical treasure that most other people would be honored to know about.

So I guess in this case I have poison ivy to thank for keeping me out of the woods, where I might otherwise have been when this crackpot rounded the corner. I would’ve been caught red-handed, and things could have turned out worse.