S 144

Our fourth and final attempt for today was S 144, which has intrigued me since I first began researching it a few months ago. The scaled coordinates from the datasheet are rarely to be trusted, but this benchmark appears on the USGS topo map, and those coordinates tend to be much more accurate (within the admittedly low resolution of the 24K topo map series). At any rate, they rarely put us more than 10 yards or so from the mark, and often much closer.

So I figured we had a decent shot at finding this one. The only thing that made me a bit hesitant was the fact that professional surveyor “JRO” (who has found some other marks in this area that we were unable to find) made an unsuccessful search in 2018. Still, we figured that we would give it a try today, as long as we could find a safe place to park. We found a reasonably wide pulloff directly across the highway (on the western side) from the ledge that we suspected held the mark, being the correct distance above the highway and the correct distance north of the utility pole that still sports the same number it did in 1962. I crossed the crazy highway and began to poke around carefully and thoroughly on the various faces of the ledge.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find the mark or any sign of the “arrow cut in the vertical side of the rock” - not only was that the aspect of this mark that had intrigued me the most, but if I had found it, it would have given mre some idea where to clear off the layer of moss, lichen, and soil that had accumulated on top of the ledge. I did pull off a few of the larger pieces of dried moss with my hands, but it was a messy job and there was just far too much of an area to clear without tools or without a better idea of where to look. This would be another good place to use a metal detector! I would love to return with some tools, now that we’ve scoped out the area and know more about it.