Creek
Full Member
Winter in Washington has sucked this year. Poor snowfall in the mountains has not been to inpirational for skiing, the rock is too wet for climbing and the weather has been grey and freezing for weeks.
Thoughts drift to warmer, greener times...
In the summer I spend most of my time snorkeling the local rivers, swimming with the salmon that migrate up to spawn. The whitewater and deep green pools are amazing to snorkel as long as you are dressed for it. This means wetsuits, really good wetsuits. Our rivers come right off the snowy mountains and are quite cold.
I digress.
The local river has trails and a couple foot bridges that cross it. Cross country skiing across the bridge one day I spotted in the water what can only be described as a lot of coins. Tourists had been throwing coins into the river. The cold green water was around 6-8 feet deep. Very uninviting to say the least as swimming season is at least 6 months away. Did I mention I'm skiing?
Time passes.
Thoughts of that cache of booty inspire me to reinvestigate metal detecting.
I find this forum. Your stories of amazing finds push me over the edge.
The wetsuit and snorkel gear comes out of storage. Mentally I weigh the suffering that is very, very clearly going to be a big part of retreiving what is not really that much money. My wife, bless her soul, is used to this kind of thing and responds with much heckling and heartless, mirthful laughter.
Token sunshine and mid 40 degree temps provide meager encouragement.
I commit.
It's cold and the water is colder. The current is much faster than I realized.
I'm huffing and puffing and swimming hard. I dive and the water turns my face blue. Diving down, down I snatch for a handfull of coins and swim hard for shore. Risking my life for 81 cents causes me to pause and reflect on the wisdom of this endeavor but then pride takes over. Navy SEALS would do this kind of stuff for kicks so I continue. 15 minutes later I'm driving home with wooden feet and $8.00 in change.
Circulation returns.
The next day is not sunny. The bowl of change taunts me. Finding free money has it's attraction. Wading through snow for small change is humbling and I rush to get back in and get this over with fast. There is more clad than I realized but the water is deep, fast and still cold but I know what to expect now and I work fast. The monitary gains add up.
Days pass.
The 38 degree water does not bother me so much now and I push, push for more time, more laps, more dives. I'm having a good time. It's not about the money, this has become a mission. Real life commitments loom and I call it good. Only crazy people swim when there is snow on the ground. Tallying up, I find I did pretty good. A couple foreign coins from England, Canada, Poland and the Phillipines are quite sexy, yet worthless. The cashe is depleted, but more remain hidden and I left several coins prominently displayed to convince the tourists that throwing money in a river is indeed a good idea.
Some people wish for luck, some make their own luck.
Brrrr!
Making money the hard way
My best haul, before cleaning
All cleaned up and purdy!
Thoughts drift to warmer, greener times...
In the summer I spend most of my time snorkeling the local rivers, swimming with the salmon that migrate up to spawn. The whitewater and deep green pools are amazing to snorkel as long as you are dressed for it. This means wetsuits, really good wetsuits. Our rivers come right off the snowy mountains and are quite cold.
I digress.
The local river has trails and a couple foot bridges that cross it. Cross country skiing across the bridge one day I spotted in the water what can only be described as a lot of coins. Tourists had been throwing coins into the river. The cold green water was around 6-8 feet deep. Very uninviting to say the least as swimming season is at least 6 months away. Did I mention I'm skiing?
Time passes.
Thoughts of that cache of booty inspire me to reinvestigate metal detecting.
I find this forum. Your stories of amazing finds push me over the edge.
The wetsuit and snorkel gear comes out of storage. Mentally I weigh the suffering that is very, very clearly going to be a big part of retreiving what is not really that much money. My wife, bless her soul, is used to this kind of thing and responds with much heckling and heartless, mirthful laughter.
Token sunshine and mid 40 degree temps provide meager encouragement.
I commit.
It's cold and the water is colder. The current is much faster than I realized.
I'm huffing and puffing and swimming hard. I dive and the water turns my face blue. Diving down, down I snatch for a handfull of coins and swim hard for shore. Risking my life for 81 cents causes me to pause and reflect on the wisdom of this endeavor but then pride takes over. Navy SEALS would do this kind of stuff for kicks so I continue. 15 minutes later I'm driving home with wooden feet and $8.00 in change.
Circulation returns.
The next day is not sunny. The bowl of change taunts me. Finding free money has it's attraction. Wading through snow for small change is humbling and I rush to get back in and get this over with fast. There is more clad than I realized but the water is deep, fast and still cold but I know what to expect now and I work fast. The monitary gains add up.
Days pass.
The 38 degree water does not bother me so much now and I push, push for more time, more laps, more dives. I'm having a good time. It's not about the money, this has become a mission. Real life commitments loom and I call it good. Only crazy people swim when there is snow on the ground. Tallying up, I find I did pretty good. A couple foreign coins from England, Canada, Poland and the Phillipines are quite sexy, yet worthless. The cashe is depleted, but more remain hidden and I left several coins prominently displayed to convince the tourists that throwing money in a river is indeed a good idea.
Some people wish for luck, some make their own luck.
Brrrr!
Making money the hard way
My best haul, before cleaning
All cleaned up and purdy!