bcache Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 My wife, AJ, and I tent camped a four month stretch during Summer/Fall of 2009 only going back to town to hose the dust off and replenish supplies...mostly beer and ice. We put in more than a few miles hiking, exploring and panning. I Found enough gold to buy new tires for my truck.What really interested me was metal detecting. I didn't know squat about the machines or when, where and how to use them. So I researched and became proficient at reading and potentially good at finding lead, brass, nails, etc.. I also kept notes regarding spots that might be good for detecting. All I needed now was a machine. To this end I gave up time and mental health by working the graveyard shift at Wally-World.By spring 2010 I had my LST. I went out a few times and dug enough junk to see that when, where and how was not all that easy...seemed like the more I learned the less I knew. When the weather got less miserable we headed out to the place that looked good for the search with Kate, my daughter, and her boyfriend, Jim in tow. After warming up on a few spots we set out to an old, extensive camp site about 2 miles from our camp. I liked this spot because there was a narrow access road leading from the camp up to the main mining road. Might be a good place to pick up a dropped and lost treasure like a coin.We started at the camp where we dug up horse shoes, shovels, broken picks, nails...could have started a scrap iron yard. Since I'm half deaf and did not have earphones I set "all metal"/max. sensitivity and gave the LST to Jim. We were sure making one hell of a racket. We worked our way up, off the sides and right on the access road finding fewer targets as we went. We went maybe ten minutes without signal then got a maximum decibel screech. We debated a little thinking horse shoe but that didn't stop us from digging...could always use another horse shoe. We dug down a fer piece. I forgot to point out the LST pinpointing feature so we missed the can by a few inches. It fell out from the side of the hole. There was something rattling around in the can. Jim had looked for gold before with no success... his hands were shaking imagining the improbable. Who would bury rocks way out here in the middle of a road? I took one of the bigger chunks and handed it to him, proclaimed it to be indeed gold and proceded to jump up and down high fiving. Contents: 7.85oz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug f Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 My wife, AJ, and I tent camped a four month stretch during Summer/Fall of 2009 only going back to town to hose the dust off and replenish supplies...mostly beer and ice. We put in more than a few miles hiking, exploring and panning. I Found enough gold to buy new tires for my truck.What really interested me was metal detecting. I didn't know squat about the machines or when, where and how to use them. So I researched and became proficient at reading and potentially good at finding lead, brass, nails, etc.. I also kept notes regarding spots that might be good for detecting. All I needed now was a machine. To this end I gave up time and mental health by working the graveyard shift at Wally-World.By spring 2010 I had my LST. I went out a few times and dug enough junk to see that when, where and how was not all that easy...seemed like the more I learned the less I knew. When the weather got less miserable we headed out to the place that looked good for the search with Kate, my daughter, and her boyfriend, Jim in tow. After warming up on a few spots we set out to an old, extensive camp site about 2 miles from our camp. I liked this spot because there was a narrow access road leading from the camp up to the main mining road. Might be a good place to pick up a dropped and lost treasure like a coin.We started at the camp where we dug up horse shoes, shovels, broken picks, nails...could have started a scrap iron yard. Since I'm half deaf and did not have earphones I set "all metal"/max. sensitivity and gave the LST to Jim. We were sure making one hell of a racket. We worked our way up, off the sides and right on the access road finding fewer targets as we went. We went maybe ten minutes without signal then got a maximum decibel screech. We debated a little thinking horse shoe but that didn't stop us from digging...could always use another horse shoe. We dug down a fer piece. I forgot to point out the LST pinpointing feature so we missed the can by a few inches. It fell out from the side of the hole. There was something rattling around in the can. Jim had looked for gold before with no success... his hands were shaking imagining the improbable. Who would bury rocks way out here in the middle of a road? I took one of the bigger chunks and handed it to him, proclaimed it to be indeed gold and proceded to jump up and down high fiving. Contents: 7.85ozDon't forget to check that hole! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 That is a great story. Thanks for sharing it. I bet there are many more treasures just like that waiting to be found, I better load up the truck... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Soloman Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 My wife, AJ, and I tent camped a four month stretch during Summer/Fall of 2009 only going back to town to hose the dust off and replenish supplies...mostly beer and ice. We put in more than a few miles hiking, exploring and panning. I Found enough gold to buy new tires for my truck.What really interested me was metal detecting. I didn't know squat about the machines or when, where and how to use them. So I researched and became proficient at reading and potentially good at finding lead, brass, nails, etc.. I also kept notes regarding spots that might be good for detecting. All I needed now was a machine. To this end I gave up time and mental health by working the graveyard shift at Wally-World.By spring 2010 I had my LST. I went out a few times and dug enough junk to see that when, where and how was not all that easy...seemed like the more I learned the less I knew. When the weather got less miserable we headed out to the place that looked good for the search with Kate, my daughter, and her boyfriend, Jim in tow. After warming up on a few spots we set out to an old, extensive camp site about 2 miles from our camp. I liked this spot because there was a narrow access road leading from the camp up to the main mining road. Might be a good place to pick up a dropped and lost treasure like a coin.We started at the camp where we dug up horse shoes, shovels, broken picks, nails...could have started a scrap iron yard. Since I'm half deaf and did not have earphones I set "all metal"/max. sensitivity and gave the LST to Jim. We were sure making one hell of a racket. We worked our way up, off the sides and right on the access road finding fewer targets as we went. We went maybe ten minutes without signal then got a maximum decibel screech. We debated a little thinking horse shoe but that didn't stop us from digging...could always use another horse shoe. We dug down a fer piece. I forgot to point out the LST pinpointing feature so we missed the can by a few inches. It fell out from the side of the hole. There was something rattling around in the can. Jim had looked for gold before with no success... his hands were shaking imagining the improbable. Who would bury rocks way out here in the middle of a road? I took one of the bigger chunks and handed it to him, proclaimed it to be indeed gold and proceded to jump up and down high fiving. Contents: 7.85ozWhat a GREAT story! Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCHawgy Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 That's awesome! So you found the can buried near a road leading to an old mining camp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcache Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 That's awesome! So you found the can buried near a road leading to an old mining camp?I found the can smack dab in the middle of the road buried about 12in deep. Pretty clever, huh. Who would think to look right on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Dorado Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 That is amazing..... I would imagine the person that lost/burried it sure missed having that poke! It's a find of a lifetime, Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcache Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 What a GREAT story! TerryTerry, check your PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcache Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 Don't forget to check that hole!Doug, there is more to this story but I thought it was long enough. It took me few hours to narrow it down...didn't want to put anybody to sleep while reading it.I went back to the hole 3 times and filled my backpack with material from in the hole along with the material I removed. That can had been there a long time and was full of holes. I figured that some gold had fallen out. I humped the loads 2 mi to my camp and panned out about 0.6oz. Pretty sure I got it all.Bill C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedrock Bob Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 A great find and a great story! I enjoyed it very much!The old roads are my favorite places to look. You can always find old tools and coins that rattled out of the old flivers. And a heck of a lot of stuff has been lost out of saddlebags and from old buckboards. And when treasure lands in the road it usually gets pushed down into the mud by the tires and hooves. There is just no telling what you might find in an old trail in a mining area! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug f Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Doug, there is more to this story but I thought it was long enough. It took me few hours to narrow it down...didn't want to put anybody to sleep while reading it.I went back to the hole 3 times and filled my backpack with material from in the hole along with the material I removed. That can had been there a long time and was full of holes. I figured that some gold had fallen out. I humped the loads 2 mi to my camp and panned out about 0.6oz. Pretty sure I got it all.Bill CGreat, glad it was worth checking but surprised that you didn't recover more with the can falling apart and all. Gives hope to the masses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitup Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Wow! Absolutely fantastic find!Beats the crap out of my treasure finds so far... and what an inspiration to keep one looking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Man Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Wow, the story alone is worth a fortune. That's a true find of a life time. Way to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigrex Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Wow, that doesn't happen every day, find of a lifetime as others have said, the person who lost that stash I bet kicked themselves for apparently being unable to find it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldfinger Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Great story. Thanks for posting. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucket Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Bill, you've experienced what we all dream of experiencing while out prospecting, revelle in that forever!! I have had hundreds of cans of gold out in the desert but they are all of the "liquid gold" variety..typically buried in a few inches of ice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Soloman Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Bill, you've experienced what we all dream of experiencing while out prospecting, revelle in that forever!! I have had hundreds of cans of gold out in the desert but they are all of the "liquid gold" variety..typically buried in a few inches of ice. :hahaha: :hahaha: :hahaha: :whaaaa: :yuk-yuk: Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcache Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 :hahaha: :hahaha: :hahaha: :whaaaa: :yuk-yuk: TerryYeah Terry, On the first day God created Beer, on the second day he created Gold,... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highbanker58 Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Bill. That was fantastic. We have all gotten a loud signal walking along a trail. dang I wonder how many I've left behind??? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingnugget Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Wow that is an amazing find :spinnin: :zapped: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlennM Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Wow, definitely living up to part of your user name, huh?Good job, guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_desert Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Doug, there is more to this story but I thought it was long enough. It took me few hours to narrow it down...didn't want to put anybody to sleep while reading it.I went back to the hole 3 times and filled my backpack with material from in the hole along with the material I removed. That can had been there a long time and was full of holes. I figured that some gold had fallen out. I humped the loads 2 mi to my camp and panned out about 0.6oz. Pretty sure I got it all.Bill CWow!!! I've read stories about digging 10 ounce nuggets from a road, but nugget cache? Great find... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimshot Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 This is truly such an amazing story I had to bring it up one more time. Not sure how I missed it, as I lurked here quite a bit before I joined this place. This is a very good reason to dig everything for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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