After completing the
Stump Benchmark hike, we decided to head back to Tropic and meet up with our friend Bart. Bart is a "local" who grew up in Henrieville and attended school in Tropic. To say that Bart doesn't somehow know most everyone in the Tropic Valley would be an understatement! Why do we bring all this up, you may ask? Well, Tropic Benchmark is on private property and we figured if there was anyone who could help us get permission to access the small hill Tropic Benchmark sits on it would be Bart. We weren't disappointed and several minutes after meeting Bart, at the Hwy 12 Grill, where he was finishing up a delicious cheeseburger, we were headed up the hill.
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| Bart, Tom and Kent work their way up to Tropic Benchmark . . . it's supposed to be located atop the pointy hill |
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| We were greeted by tall dried grass once we reached the ridgeline |
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Shortly, we came upon the Reference Mark that pointed us to the Tropic Benchmark . . .
We have seen many reference arrows, but none as delicate/detailed as this one |
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| Following the Reference Mark directional arrow, we headed for the pointy hill |
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| Tropic Benchmark was placed here in 1929 |
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Heading back down (Kent, Bart & Tom) . . .
This was one of the easiest benchmarks to recover . . . It's good to know "people in high places!" |
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Allison had fun watching these three go over and through the fence!
Men are not flexible, especially old guys!
The amazed expression on Tom's face is priceless (click on picture to enlarge)! |
After bagging Tropic Benchmark, Tom needed to head home. After saying our "goodbyes" we caught an early lunch and discussed about taking a drive up South Hollow Road so we could try and recover Cottam Benchmark. Bart said he'd been wanting to check that area out and volunteered to drive us, in his truck, so later in the afternoon we headed out on our third adventure for the day.
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The arrow points to Cottam Benchmark . .
This was our view as we descended from our Stump Benchmark hike earlier in the day |
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Cottam Benchmark was placed here in 1959 . . . it was reached by helicopter
Thankfully, we had the coordinates for this benchmark or we would never have found it . . .
It was hidden in scrub oak! |
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| The blaze in the tree bark near Kent's hand held Reference Mark #1 |
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| Reference Mark #1 |
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After spending 20 minutes trying, unsuccessfully, to locate Reference Mark #2, we decided to call it a day
Time to head back down to Bart's truck |
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| It's beginning to look and feel like Fall |
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| A fun river rock! |
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| Could we end the day with a more beautiful Utah sunset? |
What a fun day! We were able to locate and recover three benchmarks . . . not too bad for a bunch of amateurs! However, what really made it special was being able to spend time together, not only with each other, but with our good friends Tom and Bart. Thanks guys for your friendship!
