With record snowfall in the Sierras in December and freezing temps, there's been no way to get out at all. Watching the weather closely I spied a couple of days with decent temps. With the snow still stubbornly blanketing everything in Western Nevada, I decided to pack up and drive east a ways where the ground was clear. Had to drive quite a ways, so did an over-nighter.
The first place I went to on Wednesday is an old ranch permission I haven't been to for a long time. The ground was clear, but pretty muddy. Walking was difficult and driving on the dirt roads was tough too. I didn't want to rut up the roads, so I set out on foot. The first thing I came across was an odd looking thing sticking out of the ground that I thought was an antler tine. Nope, turned out to be a 'plummet', at least that's what we call them out here. Unfortunately, the proximal end of it was broke off. They typically have a raised ring on the proximal end to keep the cordage from slipping off.
The only other artifacts I found were a little dinged eastgate arrowhead, a dentalium shell bead (west coast wampum) and an old shell button. All that slogging across the muddy ground was slow going and I didn't have much time to search once I got out there.
The next day, Thursday, I decided to get out the metal detector. I talked to an old guy(92) that lives in a small nearby town that told me where the old school house was when he was just a boy. I located the spot, but it had been pretty disturbed and seemed to be covered with fill. The old guy told me the kids all tied up their horses right next to the road, so that's where I concentrated. Found a couple of wheats, both 1945, so I was hopeful of a silver. Then I get this banging 95 on the Simplex! It wasn't a coin, but a concho. I could tell it was silver by the color. I also found a marble by eyeball, half of a little silver disk of some sort, and a strange round thing made of copper or brass.
The concho cleaned up pretty nice.
Driving towards home, I noticed a park in a town along the way and figured I had about an hour of day light left to look so I stopped. Not much to show for my efforts: $1.76 in clad, a rotten old timer pocket knife and a junk ring. But, it was sure nice to get out finally!
Thanks for lookin'!
The first place I went to on Wednesday is an old ranch permission I haven't been to for a long time. The ground was clear, but pretty muddy. Walking was difficult and driving on the dirt roads was tough too. I didn't want to rut up the roads, so I set out on foot. The first thing I came across was an odd looking thing sticking out of the ground that I thought was an antler tine. Nope, turned out to be a 'plummet', at least that's what we call them out here. Unfortunately, the proximal end of it was broke off. They typically have a raised ring on the proximal end to keep the cordage from slipping off.
The only other artifacts I found were a little dinged eastgate arrowhead, a dentalium shell bead (west coast wampum) and an old shell button. All that slogging across the muddy ground was slow going and I didn't have much time to search once I got out there.
The next day, Thursday, I decided to get out the metal detector. I talked to an old guy(92) that lives in a small nearby town that told me where the old school house was when he was just a boy. I located the spot, but it had been pretty disturbed and seemed to be covered with fill. The old guy told me the kids all tied up their horses right next to the road, so that's where I concentrated. Found a couple of wheats, both 1945, so I was hopeful of a silver. Then I get this banging 95 on the Simplex! It wasn't a coin, but a concho. I could tell it was silver by the color. I also found a marble by eyeball, half of a little silver disk of some sort, and a strange round thing made of copper or brass.
The concho cleaned up pretty nice.
Driving towards home, I noticed a park in a town along the way and figured I had about an hour of day light left to look so I stopped. Not much to show for my efforts: $1.76 in clad, a rotten old timer pocket knife and a junk ring. But, it was sure nice to get out finally!
Thanks for lookin'!
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