ET 3 FHK (HW3270)

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State: VA
County: Page
Quad: Old Rag Mountain
Location: N 38° 36.701' W078° 21.767'
Elevation: 3097 ft.
Designation: ET 3 FHK 1965
Setting: Boulder
Type: Bench Mark Disk
Year: 1965
Established By: USGS
Searched For: 01 October 2006

Status: Station Mark Not Found. RM 1 Found.

This tri-station (or rather, what little we found of the set of marks) was a surprise. I hadn't printed out the datasheet before our trip and was therefore unaware of any marks at the Stony Man Overlook. But as soon as we pulled off Skyline Drive to take in the view, Rich looked to his left and spotted a boulder—I think he even said "That would be a nice spot for a disk"—and then a second later noticed a disk on top! We investigated and found it to be ET 3 FHK RM 1, for which I soon realized I had no datasheet.

With only the directional arrow on RM 1 to follow, we searched in vain for the station disk in the thin strip of grass and weeds between Skyline Drive and the parking pull-off. While Rich probed the ground, I wandered around a bit and soon discovered the remaining stem of what I presumed to have been RM 2, set in the rock wall at the edge of the overlook. This allowed us to zero in somewhat on the probable location of the station disk, but another twenty minutes or so of probing yielded nothing.

Without a datasheet, we were unaware of the nearby azimuth mark (which likely still exists). When we return to the park, I'd like to take another quick look for the station putting the datasheet measurements and compass bearings to use, even though we saw nothing resembling a 3 by 3-foot boulder at the site. I'd also like to find the azimuth mark.

A report on the condition of these marks was submitted to NGS, along with the following recovery note:

Station mark not found. The ground was probed, but no evidence was found of the station disk or of the 3 by 3 foot boulder that once held the disk. RM 1 was found in good condition as described. The stem of RM 2 was found as described in the rock wall, but the disk is missing. The azimuth mark was not searched for at this time.

Handheld GPS WAAS-corrected coordinates for RM 1 are 38 36 42.9(N) 078 21 45.6(W). Handheld GPS WAAS-corrected coordinates for RM 2 are 38 36 42.4(N) 078 21 46.3(W).

Zhanna

USGS Official Description, 1965 (see datasheet for recent updates) :

DESCRIBED BY US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 1965 (ELH) THE STATION IS LOCATED ABOUT 7.5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LURAY, 7 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SPERRYVILLE, 4 MILES SOUTH OF THE JUNCTION OF U.S. HIGHWAY 211 AND SKYLINE DRIVE AND IN THE SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK. TO REACH THE STATION FROM THE JUNCTION OF U.S. HIGHWAY 211 AND SKYLINE DRIVE, GO SOUTHERLY ON SKYLINE DRIVE FOR 6.95 MILES TO STONYMAN OVERLOOK AND STATION ON THE RIGHT. THE STATION IS 38 FEET SOUTHEAST OF ROCK WALL, 21 FEET NORTHWEST OF THE APPROXIMATE CENTER OF SKYLINE DRIVE AND 10 FEET NORTH OF A SIGN READING (HUGHES RIVER GAP). IT IS U.S. GEOLOGICAL BENCH MARK STAMPED ET 3 FHK 1962 CEMENTED IN A DRILL HOLE IN A 3 BY 3 FOOT BOLDER. REFERENCE MARK NO. 1 IS 15 FEET NORTHWEST OF THE APPROXIMATE CENTER OF SKYLINE DRIVE AND 5 FEET SOUTHEAST OF A 8 INCH OAK TREE. IT IS A STANDARD DISK STAMPED ET 3 FHK NO 1 1965 CEMENTED IN A DRILL HOLE IN A BOLDER APPROXIMATE 8 FEET LONG. REFERENCE MARK NO. 2 IS 139 FEET SOUTHWEST OF THE NORTH ONE OF TWO CONCRETE POST HOLDING TRASH BARREL, 109 FEET NORTHEAST OF THE SOUTH ONE OF TWO CONCRETE POST HOLDING TRASH BARREL AND IN THE LARGEST BOLDER IN ROCK WALL. IT IS A STANDARD DISK STAMPED ET 3 FHK NO 2 1965 CEMENTED IN A DRILL HOLE IN ROCK WALL. THE AZIMUTH MARK IS 46 FEET WEST OF THE APPROXIMATE CENTER OF THE SOUTHWEST ENTRANCE TO STONYMAN OVERLOOK, 36.4 FEET SOUTHEAST OF DRINKING FOUNTAIN IN ROCK WALL AND 5 FEET NORTHWEST OF CORNER OF ROCK WALL. IT IS A STANDARD DISK STAMPED ET 3 FHK 1965 CEMENTED IN A DRILL HOLE IN ROCK WALL. TO REACH THE AZIMUTH MARK FROM THE STATION GO SOUTHWEST THROUGH THE PARKING AREA TO THE SOUTHERN END OF STONYMAN OVERLOOK TO THE ROCK WALL AND MARK. (APPROXIMATELY 0.15 MILE) HEIGHT OF LIGHT ABOVE STATION MARK 1 METERS.