Monday morning,10/16/2006 0730. Elson drove into my driveway after a good night sleep at the Holiday motel. We offered to let him stay in our guest room, but he said he was a private person and would rather stay in a motel. I think it was his little known habit of sleepwalking/frog giggin' that made him stay elswhere. The Movie "Creature from the Black Lagoon" was based on some strange events in his home town, or so legend has it.
After loading up my pickup, and a few remarks about his riding in a golldurn Ford, we were off. Our destination was the ghost town area of the Boise Basin gold rush about 30 miles east of my home. It was raining off and on up in the high country. The sun broke out now and then to make the view quite lovely at times. Elson said he had not seen sights like these back in the swamp.
[attachment 38082 elaonmountain2.JPG]
Our first stop was at the Placerville airport.
[attachment 38092 elsonairport.jpg]
He looked around and tried to see the runway, but there isn't one. This airport is more like a crash site with a wind sock. The only thing other than the wind sock that tells you that this is an airport is a sign that reads "Placerville Airport. Pavement Ends". He felt a little more at home now.
We then checked out a near by cabin.
[attachment 38091 elsoncabin.jpg]
He felt it was a little too modern and fancy to hold any treasure, what with them fancy wooden walls and new fangled metal roof, so we went on to the place where Nancy had found the 1661 Chinese coin a month ago. He hauled out a strange green detector. It made funny noises, a little like a sick frog, but Elson seemed to like it ok, so the hunt was on.
[attachment 38080 elsonhunting.jpg]
I have to admit that after all the stories that have been told about our forum Cajun, I was a little suprised he was hunting without a helmet. He even knows what he is doing far better than most folks I have seen around with those funny green things. After just a little while Elson let out a whoop. He then was laughing and smiling as he held out his hand. "This is my first on EVER!" he said with a big smile. "This is worth the trip, even if this is all we find."
[attachment 38083 elsonsbell5.jpg]
He had found a very nice bell. We looked it over and concluded it must be some kind of Oriental ceremonial bell. We are probably wrong but it sounded good. I shook out the dirt to see if it had its clapper intact. For the first time in over a hundred years, the little bell rang out in the woods.
I found some round balls, and another chinese coin, and we both found other things at this site between rain showers. The real treasure was sitting in the truck swapping stories with this fun guy while we waited for the sun to break out.
We then moved on up to an old foundation that I knew about outside of Pioneerville. I got a photo that should go down in history at this site, Elson with a real live detector. He did say that it wasn't slimey at all, and was actually cool to the touch. Mr. Garrett will no doubt weep if he sees this picture.
[attachment 38081 elsonwhites.jpg]
Well that is enough for tonight, I will continue this adventure tomorrow, if the cricks don't rise. We had a ball.
HH DC
After loading up my pickup, and a few remarks about his riding in a golldurn Ford, we were off. Our destination was the ghost town area of the Boise Basin gold rush about 30 miles east of my home. It was raining off and on up in the high country. The sun broke out now and then to make the view quite lovely at times. Elson said he had not seen sights like these back in the swamp.
[attachment 38082 elaonmountain2.JPG]
Our first stop was at the Placerville airport.
[attachment 38092 elsonairport.jpg]
He looked around and tried to see the runway, but there isn't one. This airport is more like a crash site with a wind sock. The only thing other than the wind sock that tells you that this is an airport is a sign that reads "Placerville Airport. Pavement Ends". He felt a little more at home now.
We then checked out a near by cabin.
[attachment 38091 elsoncabin.jpg]
He felt it was a little too modern and fancy to hold any treasure, what with them fancy wooden walls and new fangled metal roof, so we went on to the place where Nancy had found the 1661 Chinese coin a month ago. He hauled out a strange green detector. It made funny noises, a little like a sick frog, but Elson seemed to like it ok, so the hunt was on.
[attachment 38080 elsonhunting.jpg]
I have to admit that after all the stories that have been told about our forum Cajun, I was a little suprised he was hunting without a helmet. He even knows what he is doing far better than most folks I have seen around with those funny green things. After just a little while Elson let out a whoop. He then was laughing and smiling as he held out his hand. "This is my first on EVER!" he said with a big smile. "This is worth the trip, even if this is all we find."
[attachment 38083 elsonsbell5.jpg]
He had found a very nice bell. We looked it over and concluded it must be some kind of Oriental ceremonial bell. We are probably wrong but it sounded good. I shook out the dirt to see if it had its clapper intact. For the first time in over a hundred years, the little bell rang out in the woods.
I found some round balls, and another chinese coin, and we both found other things at this site between rain showers. The real treasure was sitting in the truck swapping stories with this fun guy while we waited for the sun to break out.
We then moved on up to an old foundation that I knew about outside of Pioneerville. I got a photo that should go down in history at this site, Elson with a real live detector. He did say that it wasn't slimey at all, and was actually cool to the touch. Mr. Garrett will no doubt weep if he sees this picture.
[attachment 38081 elsonwhites.jpg]
Well that is enough for tonight, I will continue this adventure tomorrow, if the cricks don't rise. We had a ball.
HH DC
