PANTHER 2

I picked just about the worst 45 minutes of the day to be up on Big Pine Hill. The rain and wind started as soon as I reached the top. I located and photographed RM 1 before the soaking rain hit, but after that I had to retreat to shelter beneath the observation platform, where I could stay relatively dry. While there, I read over the benchmark details and discovered that RM 2 was only a few feet from where I was standing. After finding the two reference marks, it was simple to locate the station mark (which by this point was under an inch of water). It wasn’t so simple to get the photographs, but I managed. After a phone call to a friend (Rich) who checked the weather report and assured me that heavier rain was yet to come, I abandoned the search for Panther 1885 and ran, freezing, back to my car. I was happy to see that the disks are all in fine condition, and the designations and dates can be read. RM 2 is located on a large boulder covered in graffiti; the disk is somewhat scratched but still intact.

(Recovered on August 6, 2004)

Station recovered in good condition.

This first order triangulation station is located on Big Pine Hill in Lackawanna State Forest roughly 4.9 airline miles northwest of Thornhurst. The station mark and two reference marks were found as described. At the station a Garmin GPSmap76 receiver with active remote antenna was used to record WAAS-corrected coordinates which were identical (within 0.001 minute) to the adjusted coordinates listed on the NGS datasheet. The station mark and RM1 are well exposed and in good condition, and the stamped designations are legible. Due to its high visibility and close proximity to the observation platform, RM2 is battered and worn, and its stamped designation is becoming difficult to read.

~Rich in NEPA~