Geocaching by the Hudson River

 

  

We decided to go geocaching in a preserve near the Hudson River last weekend.  It was quite an interesting trail.  There weren't any signs or information that we saw that explained the history of this preserve, so quite a few of the things we saw were a mystery.  Like this pile of bricks.  And the other innumerable piles of bricks all throughout the whole preserve.

 

  
One of the geocaches we found, which was nicely stocked:
 

 

  

Another thing we came across was a benchmark, in this rock by the river

  

    

Here is a close up:

 

   

Benchmarks are all over - I'm sure you've seen them without even realizing it.  I realize there may be many of you who don't know what they are, so from Geocaching.com's page:

What is a benchmark?

A benchmark is a point whose position is known to a high degree of accuracy and is normally marked in some way. The marker is often a metal disk made for this purpose, but it can also be a church spire, a radio tower, a mark chiseled into stone, or a metal rod driven into the ground. Over two centuries or so, many other objects of greater or lesser permanence have been used. Benchmarks can be found at various locations all over the United States. They are used by land surveyors, builders and engineers, map makers, and other professionals who need an accurate answer to the question, "Where?" Many of these markers are part of the geodetic control network (technically known as the National Spatial Reference System, or NSRS) created and maintained by NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS).

   

I'm not going to go into much more - I could easily do a whole post about benchmarks (which I might), but you can hunt them too, and we look for them as a sort of side hobby.  DH knew there was one down here by the shore, so we specifically did go looking for this one.  (If you're interested, you can find out more here.)

  

There were lots of people fishing down at the shore for striper.  We passed a gentleman on the way in who had caught a really big one.

  

  

This post is getting rather long, so I will leave it to be continued....