Continued from Starting on Susquehanna County Tri-Stations …
The steep uphill hike felt easier this week, and the half-mile to the summit passed by in a blur of benchmark-related conversation, brisk winds and dull orange foliage surrounding us. All three marks were in good condition, just as we had left them, and required just a little brushing off for photographs.
Before bringing out the camera, though, we put our new level to good use to determine the actual height differences between the station and each reference mark, since the NGS description is in error. Without a cord, which had been left at home accidentally, we had to hook the level onto our long measuring tape instead and stretch the tape from each reference mark, one at a time, horizontally toward the station.
We then measured the vertical distance by extending our thin steel tape down to the station disk. This worked quite well, and we determined that RM 1 is about 38 inches higher than the station (not 12 inches as stated in the description) and that RM 2 is about 25 inches higher than the station (rather than 14 inches).
I took my photos while Rich sprayed circles of pink paint around them and on the small, flat rocks that he used to cover the marks. Hopefully this will help any future surveyors who need to use this station!