Rich and I spent a few hours on this breezy, flurrying morning searching for “Hmmm…” with Hound (of fox-and-the-hound) and his mother, but we had no luck and eventually decided to give up on the hunt. We were cold, and we had more exciting plans for the day anyway … searching for two NY/PA boundary markers!
After a leisurely drive up Route 171 and a stop to investigate the Inn at Starlight Lake, we were on our way toward the boundary monument. Nearing the mark, we both sensed that we’d been in this spot before, though it wasn’t till we got home and did some research that we discovered that we’d driven right past the parking area for “Walk to the Lake,” a (now-archived) cache that we both found back in May 2002. [In fact, I believe it was the first time I beat Rich to a First Find!] The boundary monument is only about a mile from that cache, at a high spot along the river that would probably be lovely in Summer but was bare and colorless in December.
The stone boundary monument itself was no challenge to find, as it’s about six feet high and just a few yards south of the road. RM 3 was partially covered by dirt and debris, but we were able to zero in on it quickly from clues in the description. Our toughest challenge was finding RM 1. The description of the rock into which it’s set is misleading (probably incorrect), with the boulder described as being 1.0 ft, largest dimension. We suspected an error immediately, because the rock is also described as having a height of about 4.0 ft. Multiple times we searched the prominent outcrops of rock in the target area, and finally found RM 1 beneath a thick mat of moss and soil on an outcrop approximately 10 feet long. The error in the description may have been a simple misplacing of the decimal point.
Next, we moved on to search for another boundary monument, a granite post, nearby. We were intrigued by the possibility of finding a potentially “ancient” mark, as marks go; the boundary was surveyed in the late 1700s, so we felt there was just the slightest chance the granite post might have dated from that time. (The station disk, reference and azimuth marks were monumented in 1940, as described on the datasheet, but the granite post was already in place.) Unfortunately, though, we were unable to find any kind of a post in the area. It should have been easy to spot, especially if it still projects 15 inches. The coordinates are close to a road, however, and this very visibility may have led to the mark’s disappearance, if it is in fact gone.
Our final find for the day was an unexpected one: a PDH disk on a bridge. We took Vinegar Hill Road from the New York border toward Lanesboro, and while waiting to turn onto Main Street, Rich happened to glance at the old concrete bridge to his right. He saw something colorful, and I got out to check. I wasn’t too surprised to see one of the typical aqua-colored, unstamped PDH disks that I’ve found on so many similar bridges. Though the cold was fierce, we managed to take a few photos and document the coordinates. This little discovery was a satisfying end to a very adventurous day!
