Coin$trike for IRON INFESTED Stage Stop

[Cal_Cobra]

Out of the four detectors I use (Fisher F4, F5 & Coinstrike, Minelab Sovereign) the Coinstrike appears to be the best suited for hunting in heavy iron. I have the 6", 8" and 10.5" coils, I assume the 6" would be the best, but was thinking the 10.5" elliptical coil might not do bad either, what do you C$ experts think ??

The place I'm hunting is remote, accessible only via an old stage coach dirt road. It was a Victorian era mineral springs health resort that at it's height had it's own post office, butcher shop, several general stores, several hotels and a multitude of cabins, even it's own cemetery. It was able to accommodate up to 5,000 guests at its peak. It was popular from about 1870 - 1930. The foundations of the old buildings are there, as is TON's of iron. I've been able to find the foundations of several of the old cabins as well, which were on foundation blocks, and look like they were burned down.

HH,
Brian

 

[Bill Ladd]

Of course the 5.5" would be the most ideal as your seeing much less iron under the coil at one time.....I think only a portion of the 10.5" coil is elliptical so really to me it functions too much like a big concentric to be my choice in trash. Before the small coils came out, I like the Fisher donut best cause the hole helps to get deadeye pinpointing, I did good with the stock 8". You do alot of what I called "scoreboard watching"......or looking at the meter in thick iron for a "+" to make it's way into the sea of negatives.....
good luck,
Bill

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Thanks Bill. I'll try the 8" first to see how it does, and switch to the smaller coil if it's going bezerk from the iron. It's a bummer that the old buildings were amazingly still fairly well in tact at this area until just a few years ago when the pot farmers in the area retaliated to the police raids and arsoned the buildings.

If I find anything interesting I'll post it when I get back next week.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[Crosby]

Hi Cal,

My buddy and I hunted that spot in January of 2007. My heart sunk when I got there and saw hundreds of unfilled holes. I guess the area gets hunted a lot by the locals. The iron there is brutal because the area has burned a number of times, going back to when the resort burned on Sept. 16, 1934. When we were there, the gazebo, bottling plant and newer hotel were still standing and seemed to be where other hunters had concentrated their efforts. There were also three worker cottages a couple hundred yards down the road that we tried, they may still be there.
I used an EXII with a number of coils, down to the 5" sunray and a T2, I didn't have my F75 yet. It was tough going with both machines and I pretty much got skunked, as did my friend with his T2. The iron near the old hotel foundations was so thick it was near impossible to get any kind of good signal. We did find lots of square nails on the hill where the cabins were and dug a lot of coin size bits of galvanized sheet metal near where of the buildings were. Best finds of the day were some enamal labeled bottles found in the plant and a wad of dollar bills eyeballed along side the road.
It's a huge area to hunt and I think figuring out where the less known buildings were is the key to finding something. Since my visit, I've put together a lot of information as to what the springs looked like back in the day and I know we only hit the obvious places. If you hike down some of the gullys you'll find piles of broken bottles which might give you a clue.
It made me sad to see that the old buildings burned by arson, but I think now is a good time to hit this spot since much of the brush must have burned with the remaining buildings. Be careful out there.

Cheers,

Harry

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Hey Harry,

Yep it's the same spot, sounds like you guys were on a tour of the NorCal Victorian era mineral springs hotels

This was my second trip there, and I find we spend more time exploring the area then detecting it

Only the worker cottages are still left. I hunted around them on my first trip, and found a few coins, but nothing old.

I didn't find much this trip (an old skeleton key,and a few bits and pieces, but no coins). We did find several of the old garbage dumps loaded with bottles and a sea of other relic type items. We found it towards the end of the day so didn't get much of a chance to explore it, but next trip up we'll probably do a little more exploration of those pits. I need to spend some time researching the area and see if I can't locate a map or better photos to figure out the original layout of the place. We did find several cabin foundations in the hills. Can you believe the place had a bowling alley, dance hall, billiards room, post office, several general stores, and even a telegraph office ? As large as it was, and as popular as it was, there's bound to be some goodies there if you can get away from the main hotel area that's been hunted to death and is loaded with iron from the fires. I'm in the process of buying a F70, so that may well do me good next trip up there after a little more research of the layout.

HH,
Brian