remained lost & quite puzzled for a long time
made a few tries & probes
since i was only a couple hundred yards from civilization
then finally had to ask my inner being to lead me to the truck
& directly emerged on the fire trail
as i thought
north of where i started
but actually
i soon realized
i was south of it
yikes
so i must have hit the 2 markers immediately south of the truth
& not the truth at all
so of course i rededicated myself to going back into the woods for
the truth
even if i had to get lost again
so as to proceed at least as far as the next marker to the north
rather than the south
dohh
but just then something told me to take another look at the map of
the g richard thompson state wildlife management area
that was posted just there
& which you can see outlined in purple on the topo
when it dawned on me
because i only first saw it
the parking area is really just inside clarke & not warren
yikes
or else that map was wrong too
so
the 2 witness posts were really farther north than had i thought too
& correspondingly more likely to actually mark the true tripoint
or at least the more northerly one of the 2 posts
the one where i had found no actual marker
i laughed & congratulated myself for persevering so
until the point practically had to be manufactured out of thin air
& handed to me on a platter
what a moment of truth for a moment of truth
i did not see fit to return to the woods
since i didnt think any further improvement was possible
in hindsight
now that i am in front royal again
perhaps i should have gone back & dug for gold just at the base of
the first witness post
at the spot corresponding to the spot where the other marker was
found in full view
but i had already dug a few inches already just there
so it is hard to say
but anyway
do we really have our 5th pearl in a row
well truly i still dont know if it is class a
or class e
but thanks to all for being here for this pearl of a try
& must run again
so beeps for now
--- In
BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "aletheiak" <aletheiak@y...>
wrote:
>
> daybreak & i was already on the fire trail
> & soon pulled in at the right parking area
>
> i thought it was still in warren county
> where it says overlook on the topo
> but as i realized only later
> the place was slightly into clarke
>
> found the ridge & the supposed overlook hilltop no problem
> but no ability to overlook anything in these dense woods
>
> a promising sign very nearby tho
>
> witness marker
> dont disturb nearby survey marker
>
> & of course i disturbed & combed everything
> but no marker was found
>
>
> from there i followed the well rounded ridge north for 120 giant
steps
> which i took to be the maximum necessary distance for the tripoint
> if my topozone topo was right
>
> but nothing doing
>
> then wandered about & got lost in the woods
> as it is a cloudy day here
>
> found & followed the ridge again
> til i found the witness marker again
>
> but oh no
>
> this was a different post
>
> & this one had a real marker not to disturb with it too
>
> a beautiful brass spike driven most of the way into a brass
octagonal
> base plate in cement
>
> head of spike an inch & a half across
>
> spike an in inch thick
>
> awesome
>
> the words
> county marker
> were discernible on the base plate
> but nothing else of interest
>
> i figured this could well be it
> but the truth was i didnt know where i was
>
> i took a photo
>
> then tried to find my way out of the woods
>
>
> but this will have to be intermission
> as i am losing my computer now for awhile
>
> --- In BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "aletheiak" <aletheiak@y...>
> wrote:
> >
> > good thanx
> > & i have also since learned by trial & error & lots of needless
> wrong
> > turns etc that my impasse at interstate 66 was purely imaginary
> > since a spanking new route 638 rises from route 55 in linden just
> > around the corner from the appalachian trailhead
> >
> > i only barely missed it this afternoon
> > dohh
> > which i only learned this evening on the way down
> >
> > a reverse discovery similar to 700 chain bridge road
> >
> > in the meantime tho i had dead reckoned my way on killer back
roads
> > to within a mile of the truth by nightfall
> > & decided to come back down to front royal for the internet &
> warmer
> > sleeping
> > before continuing in the morning
> >
> > it wasnt such a hard moment of truth after all
> >
> > not yet anyway
> >
> > & delighted i passed it
> >
> > but of course all this is still prequel
> >
> > --- In BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "Lowell G. McManus"
> > <mcmanus71496@m...> wrote:
> > > Mike,
> > >
> > > USGS maps show scattered dwellings within .4 mi. of the Clarke-
> > Fauquier-Warren
> > > tripoint. According to Microsoft Streets and Trips, they are
on
> > roads called
> > > Axton Lane, Deer Path Lane, and Fawn Ridge Road (all Linden,
> VA).
> > These roads
> > > are accessed from Fire Trail Road, which is at the top of Blue
> > Mountain Road.
> > > The tripoint should be approximately 200 yards east of the
> > intersection of Fire
> > > Trail Road and Axton Lane.
> > >
> > > Lowell G. McManus
> > > Leesville, Louisiana, USA
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "aletheiak" <aletheiak@y...>
> > > To: <BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com>
> > > Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2004 3:57 PM
> > > Subject: [BoundaryPoint] front royal va
> > >
> > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > all faculties presumably working here now mike
> > > > but the 3 missing coeds are still barely escaping me
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > also
> > > > ever since winchester
> > > > i have been devoting myself in earnest to the growing string
of
> > blue
> > > > ridge pearls
> > > > which now runs consecutively thru
> > > > 1 frfrwa
> > > > 2 mdvawv aka jelowa
> > > > 3 cljelo &
> > > > 4 clfalo
> > > > tho called clfaje by mistake in
> > > > as in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BoundaryPoint/message/12318
> > > > if indeed i have them all right even now
> > > > let alone all in the right order too
> > > > & it has continued today with an initially unsuccessful try at
> > > > 5 clfawa
> > > > which proves to be miles up the appalachian trail
> > > > on an only formerly vehicular ridge road
> > > >
> > > > or at least thats how it looked from the busy trailhead
> > > > just off interstate 66
> > > > where i got my first kicks from it & all the backpackers i
> would
> > be
> > > > pillowcasing with
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > but a county atlas here in the library offers some hope of a
> > closer
> > > > road approach
> > > > via blue mountain i think
> > > > or perhaps there is a better appalacian trail approach from
the
> > north
> > > > & i may well check both of these ideas out further
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > however
> > > > a sample try at the twin & easy surrogate of clfawa
> > > > 5a clfrwa
> > > > came up empty
> > > > i mean
> > > > evidently unmarked despite a clear fence line
> > > > & easily searchable corn stubble field
> > > > & marked highway right of way
> > > > & signed county line
> > > > & pavement breaks
> > > > & even a power pole red herring
> > > >
> > > > not that i trust even probable twins to look the same any more
> > > > after my cljelo probably looks like van misapprehension
> > > > which came home to roost just this morning
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > but it is hard to see the point of busting more hump for what
> > amounts
> > > > to a 2 to 1 shot against finding it marked
> > > > except that it is the next perfect pearl on the still perfect
> > string
> > > >
> > > > oh yes
> > > > i know
> > > > the ridge & the boundaries do divagate a bit
> > > > indeed a bit all over the place
> > > > so this isnt really perfect at all
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > which however is a good thing
> > > > since perfect is finished
> > > > & finished is dead
> > > > as if there even were any such thing
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > but the ridge & boundaries are at least this far very
> > substantially
> > > > the same
> > > >
> > > > & so far all the tripoints do sit at least quite close to the
> true
> > > > blue ridge
> > > >
> > > > & there is a real nice streak of 4 at least class c visits
> already
> > > > going here
> > > >
> > > > so i am perhaps facing a real moment of truth in trypointing
now
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > but maybe i will just go & look at some more maps before
> deciding
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Yahoo! Groups Links
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >