P 144

This was our only not-found mark of the day, and I honestly wasn’t surprised that we were unable to find it. We were searching using coordinates pulled from the topo map, which was suggested by surveyor JRO because he had attempted to use the provided coordinates as well as measurements from other nearby marks without success. It was only after his visit that he thought to check the coordinates from the USGS topo, only to find that they weren’t quite in the same spot he was searching. So he requested that, if we had a chance, we check the topo coordinates the next time we were in the area.

Well, we gave it a shot today, as our last attempt of the day. We found a utility pole that may have been the one referred to in the description, but it’s difficult to know since the numbers have been changed since the description was written. There is another (potentially older?) pole buried deeper in the brush, but it would have been even more difficult to reach that pole and attempt to measure from it. The pole itself might even have been replaced in an entirely different location. So that is a bit of a tenuous reference. We can of course measure the distance from the road centerline pretty accurately, if the road hasn’t been shifted significantly. But searching the area at the intersection of the given distances from those references was immediately disheartening.

I see no reason that the mark wouldn’t be here; I just don’t know how we would be able to find it beneath the many inches of accumulated soil, roots, and leaves atop the bedrock. In fact we didn’t even see a hint of bedrock poking out anywhere, so it must be thoroughly buried, and quite deeply.