Yosemite Valley is accessed from the west via the Wawona Tunnel. Coming out of the tunnel, the visitors are welcomed with one of the best, breathtaking views of the Valley. The Park has accommodated the visitors with two parking lots - one old one and a second recently added - to stop and take in the view. The older of the two lots (on the north side of the road) is surrounded by a short, bench high rock wall. This mark is set in the top of that wall, in line with the tunnel.
The parking lot is visited by many hundreds of visitors a day during the summers, many of which notice this mark. I my short time in the lot (looking at this mark and HR0724 at the other end of the lot, near the tunnel opening), as I took these pictures of the mark, I had no less than 6 people ask me what the mark was and it's purpose. I was able to have multiple, very brief conversations about the mark, and surveying in general.
This mark has not been blue-booked into the NGS database. I wasn't able to find any information online about the mark. All I know about it is what is stamped on the mark itself. The numbers stamped in the middle of the mark look to be roadway stationing, which implies that this may have been a multi-purpose mark for the project for which it was initially set.
The best coordinates I could establish (using an app on my phone) were: N 37° 42.928', W 119° 40.610.
The elevation stamped on the mark is 4358.91 feet. That elevation is not far off of the posted elevation for nearby HR0724 of 4413, only 258 feet away. There is, however, not a 54 foot difference in elevation between the two marks, indicating that this mark, set in 1936, did not utilize HR0724 which was set in 1934. Curious.
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| US Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Public Roads multi-purpose mark - Benchmark detail. This mark contains both elevation (vertical) and highway stationing (horizontal) components. |
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| USDA, Bureau of Public Roads multi-purpose mark - Benchmark setting in the top of the granite wall around the parking lot overlooking Yosemite Valley. View northeasterly. |
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| USDA, Bureau of Public Roads multi-purpose mark - Benchmark setting in the top of the granite wall around the parking lot overlooking Yosemite Valley. View northwesterly. |
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| USDA, Bureau of Public Roads multi-purpose mark - Benchmark setting in the top of the granite wall around the parking lot overlooking Yosemite Valley. View southeasterly. |
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| View westerly toward the opening of the Wawona Tunnel into Yosemite Park (and mark HR0724) from the location of the USDA multi-purpose mark. |
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| View northeasterly from the opening of the Wawona Tunnel into Yosemite Park toward the USDA multi-purpose mark. |
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| USDA, Bureau of Public Roads multi-purpose mark - Benchmark setting in the top of the granite wall around the parking lot overlooking Yosemite Valley. View northeasterly. |
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| USDA, Bureau of Public Roads multi-purpose mark - Benchmark setting in the top of the granite wall around the parking lot overlooking Yosemite Valley. View northeasterly. |
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