Team Markwell's GPS Adventures
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October 2006

Click on Dash Icon to see the Map GD64-BYYT Terra Server Picture Coordinates: N 41.3123° W 088.5526° State: Illinois Date Found: 10/25/2006 4:14 pm Hunters: Kelly Temperature: 39°F/4°C Closest Distance: 83.6 meters Southwest of Morris, Illinois - Far SW of Chicago 28.32 miles from home

Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is dashpoint.

Dashpoint Name: Dupont Road - Again I was in Morris dropping off a few things for an upcoming scouting event and I figured I could spare the 30 minutes it would take to head out to an area I've been to in the past. This point was only 864 meters from GD56-BYYV that I scored in February of 2006. This point was a little different. I needed to head up the service entrance road for the Chemical Plant, which NOW bears the corporate name ORICA and separate name for Forbo Adhesives Orica is an Australian-owned global chemical and mining services company. The Seneca Plant is one of its leading U.S. facilities. From the corporate website: The Orica Nitrogen LLC plant in Morris, Illinois, USA, has been an instrumental supplier to the mining and construction industries for over 30 years. Originally build by E.I. DuPont in 1967, "Seneca Works" employs 50 people and is located on 1,000 acres along the Illinois River. Using air and ammonia, the facility manufactures nitric acid and ammonium nitrate. These chemical products are key ingredients in the production of commercial explosives. Forbo Adhesives is evidently a different global corporation in the same plot of land: Forbo Adhesives Synthetic Polymers: The Elvace Department, later to become the Seneca Plant, was built by Dupont in 1971, as part of their larger Seneca Works. Dupont operated the Elvace Department ( Elvace is the trade name for the Vinyl Acetate Ethylene [VAE] copolymer produced here) until 1983, when it was sold to Reichhold. The Seneca plant is located on 25 acres in northern Illinois farm country and has undergone several expansions to double its capacity since 1971. Additional warehouse space, as well as upgrades in raw material handling, were completed within the last several years to maintain the Seneca plant's status as a state-of-the-art VAE producer. So - the road directly to the east of the plant - whether it's Forbo or Orica or both - leads to a delivery area as well as to some homes just north of the plant. The older Terraserver image shows a gravel or paved road extending to the east, but that road is LONG gone, and has grown over. I was able to park the car at 157 meters near the driveway and stroll what WOULD have been the road - which is now a grassy patch between the cornfield. I walked down to the 84 meter reading and called it scored. 3 points for Markwell and Trailblazers

Click on Dash Icon to see the Map GD64-CACK Terra Server Picture Coordinates: N 41.3917° W 088.1101° State: Illinois Date Tried: 10/29/2006 3:35 pm Hunters: Kelly Temperature: 67°F/19°C Closest Distance: 146.6 meters Off Route 53, East of the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Cemetery 18.43 miles from home

Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is dashpoint.

Dashpoint Name: Coming Closer to the VA Cemetery Two years ago (Oct 3 2004) I attempted GD40-CAAX, which was 2.1 km due east of this point. Everything I said in the report for that point pretty much sums up the report for this one. The point was 146 meters beyond the fenceline of the old Joliet Army Arsenal. The site was ecologically condemned due to blasting powders and storage of other explosives, but it has since been turned into a National Tallgrass Prairie. The closest access to the point was off of Hoff Road (same as last time) and Hoff Road to the west of Illinois Route 53 leads to the Vetrans Administration Cemetery - Abraham Lincoln National VA Cemetery. I've uploaded a photo looking at the dashpoint, which looks remarkably similar to the one I uploaded for GD40-CAAX. The previous point also had images to some of the warning signs, which I stumbled on again, but rather than placing duplicate images in the album, you might want to look at those. ;-) So, zero points for Markwell and Trailblazers

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Last Updated:
October 30 2006