How far off the trail is too far?

[coinman123]

I have pretty much gotten the LIDAR technique down. Out of 6 suspicious things on the LIDAR, 4 or 5 have been actually cellar holes (4 perfect cellar holes, one looks like a cellar hole, except it only has around four stones inside, and it is very shallow, not completely sure yet). I used LIDAR in another hiking/biking trail area, and was shocked to see 3 perfect looking cellar holes near it (square or rectangle depressions on the LIDAR). I then noticed that the trail used to be a road, with a pond next to it. I checked an 1850's map and saw that one of the cellar holes appears on a that map, but none of the others do. Both are within 10-30 feet from the trail (the old road), but one is .22 miles from the trail, near the pond. According to the LIDAR it is on completely dry land, on a small ridge near the side of the pond. I went .5 miles of a trail once looking for a cellar hole that I read about in a book, and got lost for a little while in the middle of the woods. Is it worth going .22 miles in the middle of the woods to try to find a supposed colonial cellar hole?

Thanks!

 

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[13dolphins1]

If we had a colonial cellar hole in my area (MI) I would take a tent and clear it....lol. Take a compass with you, pack some dry foods and water and good luck. That is awesome

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[1637]

maybe take someone with you.
good luck brad

 

[coinman123]

maybe take someone with you.
good luck brad

I am going to see if my dad will go, it is my birthday tomorrow. Maybe a nice father son birthday hunt

 

[G.A.P.metal]

Well happy birthday coinman123
Ya go to the hole in the middle of the woods...chances are that it is untouched bu other detector est .
Gary

 

[ChampFerguson/TN]

GPS is your friend (as long as you can hit the satellites).

Good Luck!

 

[coinman123]

Well happy birthday coinman123
Ya go to the hole in the middle of the woods...chances are that it is untouched bu other detector est .
Gary

Thanks G.A.P! I hate going to a cellar hole that I spent hours researching only to find a ton of metal detecting holes all around it, especially the ones with shotgun shells and trash on the side of them. I guess it is first come first serve though, but I still always recommend filling in your holes and picking up trash even in the woods. I am sure that the next person to go to a place I heavily metal detected will be upset to find few targets (or knowing my luck a gold double eagle that I somehow missed), and maybe a few dirt plugs that haven't been completely covered by leaves yet.

 

[coinman123]

GPS is your friend (as long as you can hit the satellites).

Good Luck!

Thanks! I made a GPS map of each cellar hole for tommarow, and a path of where I should walk off trail based on elevation showed on LIDAR to avoid wetlands and overgrown woods. These are woods that haven't been disturbed since around 1900, and most woods that old are very easy to walk in, due to the big trees blocking light for smaller bushes and trees that can get in the way. I also have never found many overgrown woods along a ridge like the one this is on. I hope I get signal there. I will let you guys know how the hunt goes!

 

[boogeyman]

I remember back in the day, you'd dig then when finished bury some trash (I used clothing pieces) kind of a courtesy to other folks so they didn't spend a whole day digging a dry hole. You can always police up the brass & trash, bury it in the hole now days.

BTW - If you find chunks of blue plaid shirts, the Boogeyman beat cha to it!

 

[Obsessive]

.5 > .22 . Go for it. Drop some pennies along the way to mark your trail.

Also, I started looking into this lidar thing and found few sources, but nothing with a lot of coverage for my area. Where are you getting your lidar data?

 

[pepperj]

What's .22 of a mile? 1000 ft or so. A mere hop skip and jump, just swing yourself right up to the hole. Going a mile off the trail well that's a whole lot of exploring. You might be surprised at the nice finds will be along the trail leading into the cellar holes. Best of luck on the outing

 

[coinman123]

I remember back in the day, you'd dig then when finished bury some trash (I used clothing pieces) kind of a courtesy to other folks so they didn't spend a whole day digging a dry hole. You can always police up the brass & trash, bury it in the hole now days.

BTW - If you find chunks of blue plaid shirts, the Boogeyman beat cha to it!

Lol, That would probably be easier for me than spending hours and not finding anything, until finally confirming that someone else was here twenty years ago. I usually leave after twenty minutes if I see that many other people were here before, preferring to spend that time trying to find an unhunted cellar hole. It seems like cellar hole hunters are very efficient at getting very close to hunting out a site.

 

[releventchair]

Use a compass for backup. Note direction you will need to return to the trail before leaving it.
Straight lines of travel are the simplest to backtrack.
Never get frustrated returning or you can miss seeing the trail....and note the trail ,if it snakes around if you miss your entrance sight. And note which way to go when you return to the trail.

Water ,uneaten wholesome snacks, t.p ,( stops some heavy bleeding, don't ask l.o.l..) and a means of fire starting are good to have when outback. Bug dope too if they are in season.

 

[coinman123]

.5 > .22 . Go for it. Drop some pennies along the way to mark your trail.

Also, I started looking into this lidar thing and found few sources, but nothing with a lot of coverage for my area. Where are you getting your lidar data?

I'm getting mine from an NH lidar project. I found the lidar to be pretty good at finding small very noticeable landmarks and was even able to see each base in a baseball field with it. It depends on the survey though, some are very high resolution, some are very low. Your profile says you are from the Bay area in CA, here is some lidar I found for that area. I hope it includes your area, also search some general CA lidar sources, maybe those will produce some date for your area. I use FugroViewer to view the data, and 7Zip to unzip the files.

https://data.noaa.gov/dataset/2010-...alameda-contra-costa-marin-napa-san-fran14352

 

[Obsessive]

I'm getting mine from an NH lidar project. I found the lidar to be pretty good at finding small very noticeable landmarks and was even able to see each base in a baseball field with it. It depends on the survey though, some are very high resolution, some are very low. Your profile says you are from the Bay area in CA, here is some lidar I found for that area. I hope it includes your area, also search some general CA lidar sources, maybe those will produce some date for your area. I use FugroViewer to view the data, and 7Zip to unzip the files.

https://data.noaa.gov/dataset/2010-...alameda-contra-costa-marin-napa-san-fran14352

Very Cool. Thanks. That's one of the sources I was checking out and they do have some coverage for a few areas near me. Need to do more research.

I've got family in Wolfeboro. They keep saying I need to come out and search their property... I say it will have to be spring or fall.

Thanks and Happy Hunting!

 

[Tpmetal]

I would hike for miles if there was even the slightest interest of a site off the beaten path. In fact the further the better, less chance it's been touched.

 

[coinman123]

I quickly went. The first cellar hole was completely humted out and trashy. The second was covered with two feet of branches and logs from recent logging. Ai I could find the one off the trail, though it was actually along a smaller worn trail, it was all uphill on a ridge. Perhaps it was just a geological feature that looked like one on the lidar. I didnt have an actual gps placemark for that one, just a path that I would go on to get there marked on GPS.