After being out of work sick 2 days last week & then laying in bed all day Sat......
Sunday with the sun blazin' I had to get out & do SOMETHING.....(even my own lawn would have sufficed)....But, I thought of a cellar hole that was close to home & I'd only tried once for maybe an hour & dug a Flying Eagle cent there. Howard called my cell, so I invited him to tag along...(Plus, I knew he had a toysoro so wouldn't be much of a threat) Haaa ha
Using the GPS, my old access road was now gated so we parked along another road & were going to hike in a different way. I also mentioned that "Who knows we may find another hole?"
We used lots of DEET spray & hiked into the pine forest. There were no typical stone walls to follow, but a mound, loaded with green ferns & rising up from the pine floor caught our attention as we walked.....If you look close you can see the large rock which was once part of a Colonial center hearth chimney....
[attachment 29793 puffadHole2.jpg]
Once we saw the rock we ran ahead knowing some type of cellar hole had to be there too...As you run you get very excited, & wonder things like "How intact is it?" "How old is it? Has it been dug before", etc.... (We never made it to the "Flying Eagle Cellar").
When you see a nice cellar hole like this for the first time that appears from the 1700's it's a great feeling. (This is a very nice & intact one too). There's always high fives & you can't wait to fire up your machine.......
[attachment 29794 PuffadHole1.jpg]
Before we gut the detectors going, we noticed it was sorta built on the side of a hill & I had the core probe with me to look for another bottle dump. Howard probed a likely depression & I spotted this little feller here hiding out amid the leaves....
[attachment 29795 PuffAdder1.jpg]
This is an Eastern Hognose snake & it's only the second one I'd ever seen. I know they puffed out their necks like a cobra to appear meaner than they are. Plus, the way he was curled up & the colors can startle folks at first. So, when I yelled "Rattler!" it was pretty funny watching Howard run as the "Puff adder" did his intimidation routine
We always nickname all our sites so only WE know their location. As Howard ran away, I had the name "Hognose Hill" come to me right away
After he caught his breath, Howard checked out the area around the chimney which would have been inside the house at one time.
[attachment 29796 PuffadHoward.jpg]
We found quickly that we were not the first ones to find this site. There were pock marks all over from other detectorists, but there were still several targets they missed or maybe they got discouraged with all the iron present (or didn't have Fisher's). I actually like this kind of challenge. I like to pull out small coins & buttons that the others missed. So, we decided to just go slow & dig it all.....
Howard found an iron bell, we dug spoons, lamp larts, furniture hardware, & other oddments...
[attachment 29797 PuffadFinds2.jpg]
It didn't look good as far as finding even 1 button or coin...the others probably got the easier to find large cents already. I call them the "Cherry pickers" But, out in the iron filled front edge of the hole I was able to pull this 1875 indian head out of a bed of square nails with the C$. The signal was like a +12 because it was either deep or next to a nail. The soil was very sandy, & kind to all the relics & coins. WE both really would have LOVED to see a large cent surface from this sand. It's would have been like one of S.Jersey Don's My final target before we left was this cool floral coat button. It's one piece but does not appear Colonial to me (But who knows?).......
[attachment 29798 Puffadfinds.jpg]
The "flying eagle cellar" will have to wait till next time.....
Hope you enjoyed the pictures.
HH,
Bill
Sunday with the sun blazin' I had to get out & do SOMETHING.....(even my own lawn would have sufficed)....But, I thought of a cellar hole that was close to home & I'd only tried once for maybe an hour & dug a Flying Eagle cent there. Howard called my cell, so I invited him to tag along...(Plus, I knew he had a toysoro so wouldn't be much of a threat) Haaa ha
Using the GPS, my old access road was now gated so we parked along another road & were going to hike in a different way. I also mentioned that "Who knows we may find another hole?"
We used lots of DEET spray & hiked into the pine forest. There were no typical stone walls to follow, but a mound, loaded with green ferns & rising up from the pine floor caught our attention as we walked.....If you look close you can see the large rock which was once part of a Colonial center hearth chimney....
[attachment 29793 puffadHole2.jpg]
Once we saw the rock we ran ahead knowing some type of cellar hole had to be there too...As you run you get very excited, & wonder things like "How intact is it?" "How old is it? Has it been dug before", etc.... (We never made it to the "Flying Eagle Cellar").
When you see a nice cellar hole like this for the first time that appears from the 1700's it's a great feeling. (This is a very nice & intact one too). There's always high fives & you can't wait to fire up your machine.......
[attachment 29794 PuffadHole1.jpg]
Before we gut the detectors going, we noticed it was sorta built on the side of a hill & I had the core probe with me to look for another bottle dump. Howard probed a likely depression & I spotted this little feller here hiding out amid the leaves....
[attachment 29795 PuffAdder1.jpg]
This is an Eastern Hognose snake & it's only the second one I'd ever seen. I know they puffed out their necks like a cobra to appear meaner than they are. Plus, the way he was curled up & the colors can startle folks at first. So, when I yelled "Rattler!" it was pretty funny watching Howard run as the "Puff adder" did his intimidation routine
We always nickname all our sites so only WE know their location. As Howard ran away, I had the name "Hognose Hill" come to me right away
After he caught his breath, Howard checked out the area around the chimney which would have been inside the house at one time.
[attachment 29796 PuffadHoward.jpg]
We found quickly that we were not the first ones to find this site. There were pock marks all over from other detectorists, but there were still several targets they missed or maybe they got discouraged with all the iron present (or didn't have Fisher's). I actually like this kind of challenge. I like to pull out small coins & buttons that the others missed. So, we decided to just go slow & dig it all.....
Howard found an iron bell, we dug spoons, lamp larts, furniture hardware, & other oddments...
[attachment 29797 PuffadFinds2.jpg]
It didn't look good as far as finding even 1 button or coin...the others probably got the easier to find large cents already. I call them the "Cherry pickers"
But, out in the iron filled front edge of the hole I was able to pull this 1875 indian head out of a bed of square nails with the C$. The signal was like a +12 because it was either deep or next to a nail. The soil was very sandy, & kind to all the relics & coins. WE both really would have LOVED to see a large cent surface from this sand. It's would have been like one of S.Jersey Don's My final target before we left was this cool floral coat button. It's one piece but does not appear Colonial to me (But who knows?).......[attachment 29798 Puffadfinds.jpg]
The "flying eagle cellar" will have to wait till next time.....
Hope you enjoyed the pictures.
HH,
Bill
