AZ SR 78 - Jake's Corner... Finalized

This week, we set the final Right of Way monuments on SR-78 in Greenlee County, AZ. This brings to a close a project we have worked on since 2005. I'm very glad to have worked on this project as it brought me to another remote and extremely scenic area of Arizona. Only a very small portion of Highway 78 actually lies in Arizona as it crosses into New Mexico shortly after its beginning at 3-Way.


The project was nestled into a small basin atop this mountain (Big Lue Mountain) that was filled with Ponderosa Pine, Alligator Juniper, and small cacti all mashed together in a micro-climate caught between desert and forest.
Only a mile long, this project posed several new survey challenges and gave us a few stories that have become GMTS lore.




Google Earth Lat/Long: 33°04'20.14"N,109°04'57.89"W

Fall Colors In Phoenix....

Yes, mid- December is fall here in the desert. The colors are changing and the birds of the North have migrated here for the winter.


I spent this past week setting the final ADOT Right Of Way monuments for the Loop 101 - Loop 202 Interchange in Tempe.


We set a 24" long steel hex rod with a 3" aluminum cap for these.


I also got a chance to test the timer on the new digital camera.



Google Earth Lat/Long: 33°26'02.58"N,111°53'27.19"W

It's About The Evidence

While walking through a large drainage basin near the intersection of two major Phoenix freeways, we stumbled upon this little number. Number 9mm that is. It appeared to have been ditched out the window of a car from the interchange. I reported it to the local authorities and am hoping that it breaks the case wide open. Nobody except a surveyor looking for a shorter way to walk to the next boundary monument would have ever crossed this location and the pistol may have never been discovered.

AZ SR 95 - HOLIDAY HARBOUR

Surveying a portion of AZ State Route 95 North of the town of Parker, we encountered steep mountains, thick brush and high temps. The large cliffs and the Colorado River make for a striking landscape along this project. Thanks to a couple saws and a machete we were able to get all the monuments set.












Google Earth Lat/Long: 34°15'45.64"N,114°07'45.71"W

US 160 - Tuba City: Week II

We've returned from our second excursion to the Navajo Nation to finish the field work on US-160. On this trip, we were locating the section corners that had been set between the late 1980's and 2006. These can be a bit of a challenge to find on the reservation because the Navajo do not divide their land according to the U.S. Public Land System in this area. It gave us a great opportunity to explore this interesting landscape a bit more thoroughly, as well as interact with the locals, who were extremely friendly and helpful to us.

The BLM sets a uniquely designed monument on the Navajo Reservation.


We found an exposed slice of petrified sand dune. The white lines of wind blown sand are actually solid rock.


Section Corner near standing rock hoo-doo's.


The monsoon rain had all the washes running with chocolate milk colored water.


We couldn't help but take some time to wander a bit.



The Moenkopi Wash Valley.




This was a fun hike.


Google Earth Lat/Long: 36°06'40.21"N,111°17'53.86"W

AZ SR 74 - Lake Pleasant

Since 2005 we have been surveying a 12 mile section of Arizona State Route 74, also known as the Carefree Highway. I had a chance to snap a few pictures in the early morning light of the nearby mountains and a bit of the flora featured here in the Sonoran desert surrounding Phoenix.






Google Earth Lat/Long: 33°49'45.77"N,112°21'32.25"W

US 160 - Tuba City

We began surveying the right of way of a five mile stretch of US 160 near Tuba City, Arizona. Tuba City is on the Navajo Reservation just East of Grand Canyon National Park. This job involves our standard procedure of locating the highway right of way monuments as well as the PLSS Cadastral Survey corners in the area.

The landscape here is extremely unique and has the feel of working on Mars. Very little grows here and the ground is composed of sand and loosely bonded sand.


The swift erosion of the ground here creates large washes and adventurous hiking to get to the survey monuments and often we found the monuments could no longer grasp the crumbling stone.



This area is rich in prehistoric remnants including real fossilized dinosaur tracks and marine life.

While searching for a survey monument, we came across this stone which has an exposed fossil of what appears to be a sort of star fish. The fossil impression is about three inches across. I was ecstatic to have found such a specimen.

It is also monsoon season in Arizona and the constant rumble of nearby thunderstorms was ever present. Here you can see one approaching the Grand Canyon with the North Rim still sun lit in the middle right of the picture.



Google Earth Lat/Long: 36°06'40.21"N,111°17'53.86"W

AZ SR 78 - Jake's Corner

Starting in 2005 we began a Right of Way project on Arizona State Route 78 in Greenlee County, near the New Mexico border. This is another very geographically and topographically diverse area of Arizona. Ranging from low desert valleys to ponderosa pine covered mountain tops, Greenlee County has it all.


Our project here was to establish the existing ADOT right of way through Homestead Entry Survey #509. A Homestead is a tract of land that was granted under the Act of June 11, 1906, giving title of a tract situated within un-surveyed public lands to the claimant who has cultivated the property. This was my first time dealing with a homestead boundary. A highlight was climbing to the top of the nearest peak to find the Homestead Survey Location Mark, a stone monument set as a common point to tie all nearby homestead boundaries to.


Our company is based in Phoenix, so it was a welcome venture into the high country to escape the heat. A week surveying in the tall pines, wildflowers and afternoon monsoon thunderstorms was all too perfectly timed.






Google Earth Lat/Long: 33°04'20.14"N,109°04'57.89"W