We've been on vacation from work this week and I've enjoyed what time I've spent detecting, but it's been a difficult week.
We burned a lot of gas driving around to some of our favorite places, one of which is where a community was thriving in the late 1700s to the mid 1800s, but we were never able to get in due to snow, and now saturated ground.
We finally managed a way to get into one of our favorite places from last year, which gave us a slew of old silver coins. Upon walking into this place we noticed some new backhoe work had been done in a new area so we hustled. There was glass everywhere ... a beautifully crafted pink jug made from depression glass was displayed, broken. Green glass, blue glass, white glass.... everywhere. Joe found a bottle neck sticking from the ground and grabbed it. The 1890s bottle was fully intact.
We detected the area for a bit, noticing the fresh deer, moose and other wildlife tracks in the mud. None were sighted while we were there. We also noticed some shoe prints ... unburied holes .... chunks of metal left on display instead of being removed from the site .... someone else had been there. It's one of our honey holes and someone else had been there.... the icing on the cake was neither the holes were filled, nor was the junk metal removed. The fresh prints showed the person's tracks from this morning. Other tracks looked a day old and yet other tracks looked 2 or even 3 days old. The shoe print was one easily recognized by Joe. We know who it was. On the walk out this site sported a V nickel and a wheatie for Joe. Nothing for me. We both went very long periods of time without a single signal. (The two of us use different brands of detectors).
We went to another area, not positive where this foundation was we were seeking, so we stopped at a house in that area. We spoke with the lady and showed her the printout of the old map. She knew exactly where it was and waved us on to detect as we please. She also told us of some buildings which once existed across the street from the foundation.
The foundation was so well hidden, no one would ever know it was there unless they researched old maps. It lies in a simple tree line dividing two fields. We ran home for lunch and ran back to the site. Walking through the treeline was difficult. Brush, pricker bushes, trees, fallen trees and branches.. and then ... stone walls and a foundation. Stuff was everywhere. Bottles were sticking out of the ground. This place has never been touched. We walked the length of the treeline, scouting, and exited the wooded area via a perfectly fallen stone wall. It was as though the stones had been laid across the bank in the same manner in which they had once stood.
Ticks and mosquitoes were swatted with our shovels. It was a difficult situation. I made my way up the field and across the street to where the other buildings once stood, the ones the lady told us about.
We learned a lot about this new site today ... the sink rate is very slow... the old round pull tabs were found at less than 2 inches. We didn't stay long because of the bugs, and yes, we had bug spray. But we'll be back!
Here's a little of what we found... junk, but it dates the places we visited, and that's especially important for the new spot we hit today. We learned the house burned in the 1940s and nothing has been built there since. We know the house was in use at least in 1912, but most likely it was built in the mid 1800s (based on research).
We burned a lot of gas driving around to some of our favorite places, one of which is where a community was thriving in the late 1700s to the mid 1800s, but we were never able to get in due to snow, and now saturated ground.
We finally managed a way to get into one of our favorite places from last year, which gave us a slew of old silver coins. Upon walking into this place we noticed some new backhoe work had been done in a new area so we hustled. There was glass everywhere ... a beautifully crafted pink jug made from depression glass was displayed, broken. Green glass, blue glass, white glass.... everywhere. Joe found a bottle neck sticking from the ground and grabbed it. The 1890s bottle was fully intact.
We detected the area for a bit, noticing the fresh deer, moose and other wildlife tracks in the mud. None were sighted while we were there. We also noticed some shoe prints ... unburied holes .... chunks of metal left on display instead of being removed from the site .... someone else had been there. It's one of our honey holes and someone else had been there.... the icing on the cake was neither the holes were filled, nor was the junk metal removed. The fresh prints showed the person's tracks from this morning. Other tracks looked a day old and yet other tracks looked 2 or even 3 days old. The shoe print was one easily recognized by Joe. We know who it was. On the walk out this site sported a V nickel and a wheatie for Joe. Nothing for me. We both went very long periods of time without a single signal. (The two of us use different brands of detectors).
We went to another area, not positive where this foundation was we were seeking, so we stopped at a house in that area. We spoke with the lady and showed her the printout of the old map. She knew exactly where it was and waved us on to detect as we please. She also told us of some buildings which once existed across the street from the foundation.
The foundation was so well hidden, no one would ever know it was there unless they researched old maps. It lies in a simple tree line dividing two fields. We ran home for lunch and ran back to the site. Walking through the treeline was difficult. Brush, pricker bushes, trees, fallen trees and branches.. and then ... stone walls and a foundation. Stuff was everywhere. Bottles were sticking out of the ground. This place has never been touched. We walked the length of the treeline, scouting, and exited the wooded area via a perfectly fallen stone wall. It was as though the stones had been laid across the bank in the same manner in which they had once stood.
Ticks and mosquitoes were swatted with our shovels. It was a difficult situation. I made my way up the field and across the street to where the other buildings once stood, the ones the lady told us about.
We learned a lot about this new site today ... the sink rate is very slow... the old round pull tabs were found at less than 2 inches. We didn't stay long because of the bugs, and yes, we had bug spray. But we'll be back!
Here's a little of what we found... junk, but it dates the places we visited, and that's especially important for the new spot we hit today. We learned the house burned in the 1940s and nothing has been built there since. We know the house was in use at least in 1912, but most likely it was built in the mid 1800s (based on research).
