J 145

The next mark for today was J 145, which had eluded me when I searched for it several years ago. This time, with two recent recoveries and a meticulous description from surveyor JRO (plus a personal pep talk via email ensuring me that it wasn’t hard to find) I set off into the woods at the intersection of Tremont Road and Seal Cove Road.

Well … the ledges all seemed to be covered over with a thick layer of soil and roots. How could it have changed so much in the three years since the mark was last recovered? I naively thought I would be led right to the mark by the witness sign that JRO had placed, as has happened with other nearby marks, but there was simply no evidence of it anywhere. Even if the sign was gone, I figured that the fencepost would still be around somewhere, but it wasn’t. It took some good use of the rangefinder combined with JRO’s reference points and some old-time benchmark hunting intuition to zero in on the correct ledge, but even then I was unsure. The first tentative swipes with my hand showed that there was at least 3-4 inches of soil and fine root buildup on the top surface of the ledge. Rich retrieved the trowel and brush from the car, and I began scraping the rock. I was just about to give up when I spotted the nice round edge of the mark! I could hardly believe it. It was so well hidden and also so well camouflaged, that even when I knew exactly where it was, when I took my photos from a distance, it was hard to spot.

I didn’t have any way to replace the witness sign, but I had some pink flagging tape, so I attached that to the tree nearest to the mark (there was only one and it was very small, so it had to do), and another larger tree that was clearly visible from the road. They should be good enough to lead someone to the mark for another year or so. It will be interesting to check on it next time and see if the flagging tape is still there, and if the mark has gotten covered over again.