Oregon Hikers

When out bushwhacking in a remote area today, I noticed a Longview Fibre marker on a tree, then another, and another. From where I stood, they were surrounding me in a circular pattern. It felt a little spooky. I was clearly in the center of a circle. But why?

There was a fence post next to me (one of those steel posts that you might use to support a simple wire fence).

Then I noticed this little concrete obelisk marked "S" on adjacent faces. A little digging revealed a "P" under each S. There were very faint roadbeds in the area, and I saw at least one large tree that appeared to be sawcut, but it was so old and decayed that I couldn't be 100% certain.

Any ideas?

My best guess would be it's a survey marker of some sort. The road beds you saw could also be railroad beds. If that's the case the SP might refer to the Southern Pacific railroad.

"The Southern Pacific Transportation Company (reporting mark SP)"

Can you provide the location of the marker?

Neat fine! I'd like know where that is too.

dn

Hi Peabody. I wondered about Southern Pacific, but in an area this steep and remote, I think a rail line would likely be owned/operated by miners/loggers. But maybe in those days the major rail lines got into the natural resource extraction business too. Whatever it is, odd that it's marked on just two faces. My first thought was "south" but that didn't hold up to scrutiny.

Don, glad to see you spotted this topic. You know you've found something cool when DN doesn't know what it is.

I think there's a very low risk of theft, so I'll post location below.

Well, then, mystery solved: that's the corner of the Beacon Rock State Park boundary.
(I originally thought maybe it stood for "State Park," but it seemed too obvious somehow.)

Oh!
Almost disappointing that it's not something more exotic and historic, but good to know. Most bushwhackers in the gorge (and elsewhere) have encountered SP signs on trees, but I guess this was oddball. Somebody really exerted some effort to mark that corner.

Interesting to note that this marker would only work on a ninety-degree junction, but I imagine most SP borders are like that. If I'd really thought this through, I would have observed the orientation of those faces (I'm old school, still carry a compass).

I wondered if this topic would grab any attention buried down in this forum. Thanks for all the feedback and comments.

Damn...looking back at the map I posted, I'm embarrassed I didn't notice my yellow x is right at a green corner. It's a wonder I don't get lost more often.

I was going to say "State Park" just as a smart axx comment

Peabody wrote:My best guess would be it's a survey marker of some sort. The road beds you saw could also be railroad beds. If that's the case the SP might refer to the Southern Pacific railroad.

"The Southern Pacific Transportation Company (reporting mark SP)"

Can you provide the location of the marker?

Swing and a miss.

Even if it was a miss this time, not necessarily a bad one. They had remote survey reference points that were used for triangulation during large scale construction all the time.

Since railroads were given every other section in places, it's not too far out in left field to think a railroad marker would be out of expected terrain. Good guess.