PARK POINT 2 RM 3 (HM0505)
State: CO
County: Montezuma
Quad: Point Lookout
Location: N 37° 16.841' W108° 27.694'
Elevation: 8581 ft.
Designation: PARK POINT 2 RM 3 1972
Setting: Concrete post
Type: Survey Mark
Year: 1972
Established By: Defense Map Agency
Recovered: 14 September 2008
The drive to Park Point Lookout was our first encounter with the awe-inspiring views of Mesa Verde. We of course had to mark the occasion with a few benchmark recoveries! The disks were all easy finds, but there is a strange intermingling in the histories of the two marks (PIDs HM0504 and this mark, HM0505) at Park Point. The station disk for this PID, HM0505, has the name PARK POINT 2 RM 3, which would imply that there is a reset disk named PARK POINT 2, but there does not seem to be one. The only other station mentioned is PARK POINT 8572.31.
This station has an RM 1 listed in its description; is it the same RM 1 that belongs to HM0505? RM 2 for this station is actually the station disk HM0504. It is not at all clear which RMs actually belong to which station. I have described both RMs and provided photos on my page for HM0504: PARK POINT 8572.3. As seventhings said in his Geocaching.com log for this mark, "I found PARK POINT, and two RMs for something." On our slow drive back down the mountain, we searched quite carefully for but could not locate the azimuth mark, nor the culvert on which it had been set.
Defense Map Agency Official Description, 1972 (see datasheet for recent updates) :
DESCRIBED BY DEFENSE MAP AGENCY 1972 THE STATION IS LOCATED IN THE MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK, 8.3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CORTEZ AND 5.2 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF U.S. ROUTE 160 AND THE MAIN ENTRANCE INTO THE PARK. THE STATION IS ON THE NORTHWEST SIDE OF THE FIRE LOOKOUT TOWER ON THE HIGHEST POINT IN THE AREA. TO REACH THE STATION FROM THE COUNTY COURT HOUSE IN CORTEZ, GO EAST ON MAIN STREET ALSO, U.S. ROUTE 160 FOR 10.4 MILES TO THE ENTRANCE INTO THE MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK. TURN RIGHT, ENTERING THE PARK AND GO SOUTHERLY FOR 4.1 MILES TO INTERSECTION WITH ROAD FROM THE WEST. CONTINUE SOUTH ON PAVED ROAD FOR 6.5 MILES TO INTERSECTION WITH ROAD FROM THE WEST AND SIGN PARK POINT FIRE LOOKOUT TOWER-HIGHEST ELEVATION MESA VERDE PARK. TO REACH THE AZIMUTH MARK FROM THIS INTERSECTION, GO WESTERLY FOR ABOUT 1.0 MILES TO POINT WHERE FIRE TOWER IS VISIBLE FROM THE ROAD AT A CONCRETE CULVERT AND THE AZIMUTH MARK ON THE RIGHT. TO REACH THE STATION FROM THE INTERSECTION, TURN RIGHT, WEST AND GO FOR 0.6 MILE TO THE VISITORS PARKING AREA. FROM HERE, THE STATION IS ABOUT A 100 YARD WALK ALONG A PAVED PATH TO THE LOOKOUT TOWER AND SITE OF STATION. STATION MARK--A CORPS OF ENGINEERS DISK STAMPED--PARK POINT 2 RM 3 TPC 1972 SET IN A CONCRETE POST PROJECTING 0.2 FEET ABOVE GROUND. UNDERGROUND MARK--A CORPS OF ENGINEERS DISK STAMPED--PARK POINT 2 RM 3 TPC 1972 SET IN CONCRETE ABOUT 3 FEET BELOW GROUND. REFERENCE MARK NO. 1--A STANDARD USC AND GS REFERENCE-MARK DISK STAMPED--PARK POINT 2 NO. 1 1934 CEMENTED IN A DRILL HOLE IN BOULDER, 20.620 METERS NORTH-NORTHWEST OF THE STATION. REFERENCE MARK NO. 2--A STANDARD USGS TABLET STAMPED--PARK POINT 8723 USC AND GS 1934 CEMENTED IN A BOULDER, 7.240 METERS EAST-SOUTHEAST OF STATION. AZIMUTH MARK--A CORPS OF ENGINEERS DISK STAMPED--PARK POINT 2 RM 3 AZ. MK. TPC 1972 CEMENTED IN A DRILL HOLE AT THE EAST END OF CONCRETE CULVERT, 8.0 FEET NORTH OF THE CENTERLINE OF THE EAST-WEST PAVED ROAD.
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...Army Corps of Engineers Survey Mark PARK POINT 2 RM 3N 37° 16.841' W108° 27.694' |
...Eyelevel view of the disk set into concrete post. |
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...Looking approximately NE toward the walkway; the fire lookout tower is also visible to the right. |