Competition

When the Engineering Landmarks category showed up in the directory I looked through the various databases listed in it's description and found a local bridge on a list that was only about 15 miles from home. The problem is that the bridge, Tacoma Narrows Bridge, has already been waymarked in other categories - by two people in three different waymarks - and for all I knew those waymarkers were busy crosslisting the bridge in the engineering category as I was dinking around looking through the databases.

One of the waymarkers, Rose Red, is currently taking a trip along the Oregon Trail with limited computer access so I was safe on that count, but Prying Pandora is quick on the draw. I needed a picture and coordinates and I needed them fast.

Having waymarking competition in my home area is a new thing for me. A couple weeks back I waymarked a historic church in Elbe, Washington on the way up to Mt. Rainier National Park only to come home and find that someone else had already waymarked it. ELBE!! A town with about 5 people in the middle of nowhere!! Not to worry though. The waymarker had a home base south of me.

But lately I've been watching with worry as Prying Pandora, a well-known local geocacher with a few thousand cache finds, has started listing waymarks. Her home waymarking base is only a couple towns NE of our town and if she's becomes as avid a waymarker as she is a geocacher then I'd better worry. This is all in good fun of course. It's very exciting to have someone visiting my marks and leaving marks of some cool new spots that I didn't know about for me to visit.

Yesterday I visited her Tacoma Narrows Bridge waymark in the "Suspension Bridges" category, pondering whether I would beat her to the punch listing it in the engineering category as I was stuck in traffic on the bridge, high above the Puget Sound. It's a new waymarking era for the Hikenutty crew. We can't poke around when a hard-to-find category gets listed on the directory. I think I like it, though.

My engineering waymark, "Tacoma Narrows Bridge", was approved yesterday just hours after it was submitted. One more category down, only 250 or so to go. :)