Recently started thinking (again) about getting into metal detecting. I have a couple of cheap detectors, but want to get into it with something decent. Watching the guy on Oak Island finding tidbits of history gets me all excited :-)
Anyway, wanted to pass along something that may be of interest, or not.
As a kid, in the mid 70's, I lived on a ranch in a valley north of Guadalajara, Jalisco. The valley has a thermal river running through it, and is part of a national forest park. There were annual floods during the rainy season there, when, after a downpour, all the water would drain into the thermal river, bringing it to sometimes over 6 or 7 ft. deep, where it was normally only a foot or so. This would last only a little while, usually an hour or less. Of course all manner of detritus would be piled up along the banks after each episode. Sometimes, though, it would only be a small flood, and would just rearrange the riverbank gravel. Once, while walking along the riverbank after one of these smaller gullywashers, I noticed a coin in the open, just laying there shiny and clean in the pumice and obsidian sand, just off the edge of the undercut dirt bank. I remember it like yesterday. The coin was small, I was 13, and excited, and rushed to show my dad. Never saw the coin again after handing it over to him. I remember it, in retrospect, reminded me of the back of a dime, but it had two sort of pillars or torches, not one. It was very worn but obviously silver. The date was not completely legible, as I recall. So, years later, after looking at Spanish coins online, I think it was a small Real coin, may a One Real, if that is a denomination, or maybe a Two Real. Thing is, I don't remember it being much larger diameter than a dime.
I don't think that my dad wanted that information to get out, for fear the local or regional government would descend upon us and declare the area a historical or archaeological area. There was/is, incidently, also what I later can identify as an authentic Guachimonton in the valley, at the fork where a dry gully joins the hot river. I know this because I used to climb up on it and discovered it seemed to be a dirtpile covering a huge pile of small boulders. When I mentioned to dad or some of our workers, they told me to stop digging around there and leave it alone. Later on in years, I realized what it really was by some pictures of a archaeological complex about 25 miles north of our valley.
So, just passing that one along. There was always talk about that valley having a long history of being a hideout for all sorts of ne'er do wells and cattlemen, robbers and Huichols, pilgrims and hunters. Who knows what manner of treasure may lie along the banks or upstream. The actual hot water spring is accessible, almost. Above it lies a couple of miles of drainage paths. And there is that dry gully that winds back up into the mountain, spilling its secrets into the hot river valley after every rainstorm
One day I'd like to go back there and do some detecting.
Anyway, wanted to pass along something that may be of interest, or not.
As a kid, in the mid 70's, I lived on a ranch in a valley north of Guadalajara, Jalisco. The valley has a thermal river running through it, and is part of a national forest park. There were annual floods during the rainy season there, when, after a downpour, all the water would drain into the thermal river, bringing it to sometimes over 6 or 7 ft. deep, where it was normally only a foot or so. This would last only a little while, usually an hour or less. Of course all manner of detritus would be piled up along the banks after each episode. Sometimes, though, it would only be a small flood, and would just rearrange the riverbank gravel. Once, while walking along the riverbank after one of these smaller gullywashers, I noticed a coin in the open, just laying there shiny and clean in the pumice and obsidian sand, just off the edge of the undercut dirt bank. I remember it like yesterday. The coin was small, I was 13, and excited, and rushed to show my dad. Never saw the coin again after handing it over to him. I remember it, in retrospect, reminded me of the back of a dime, but it had two sort of pillars or torches, not one. It was very worn but obviously silver. The date was not completely legible, as I recall. So, years later, after looking at Spanish coins online, I think it was a small Real coin, may a One Real, if that is a denomination, or maybe a Two Real. Thing is, I don't remember it being much larger diameter than a dime.
I don't think that my dad wanted that information to get out, for fear the local or regional government would descend upon us and declare the area a historical or archaeological area. There was/is, incidently, also what I later can identify as an authentic Guachimonton in the valley, at the fork where a dry gully joins the hot river. I know this because I used to climb up on it and discovered it seemed to be a dirtpile covering a huge pile of small boulders. When I mentioned to dad or some of our workers, they told me to stop digging around there and leave it alone. Later on in years, I realized what it really was by some pictures of a archaeological complex about 25 miles north of our valley.
So, just passing that one along. There was always talk about that valley having a long history of being a hideout for all sorts of ne'er do wells and cattlemen, robbers and Huichols, pilgrims and hunters. Who knows what manner of treasure may lie along the banks or upstream. The actual hot water spring is accessible, almost. Above it lies a couple of miles of drainage paths. And there is that dry gully that winds back up into the mountain, spilling its secrets into the hot river valley after every rainstorm
One day I'd like to go back there and do some detecting.
