klunker Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 It was just the other day I decided to go detecting. That's not a frivolous decision to be made lightly in the Northern Sierra Nevada mountains in early February but a recent series of severe rainstorms had melted the snow off below about 4,000 feet and a storm that was predicted for the night before failed to arrive. So with a few kind words of encouragement and a couple of dog biscuits I was able to get the dog out of his warm bed on the back porch and coerce the Jeep out of hibernation. The Jeep loves dog biscuits. With the snow level just above town and the highway below town closed due to the recent storms my only choices for places to detect were areas that had been detected dozens of times by dozens of detectorist over dozens of years. If my arithmetic is correct dozens X dozens X dozens = absolutely pounded but I thought with a little dumb luck I might stumble across a missed nugget or two. I have an ample supply of dumb and great hopes for the other part. The roads were in horrible and somewhat dangerous condition which cost a lot of detecting time but the old Jeep got us there in good order. However, by the time I got the detecting gear and the reluctant dog unloaded a cold wind had come up and it began to rain with flurries of snow mixed in. I should have loaded up and left right then but I have never let common sense spoil a good detecting trip. I did at least have enough sense to head out up hill from the Jeep so that it would be faster to return if I had to make a desperate escape. I worked my way up the side of a steep gulch and dug the usual square nails, bullets, bits of wire and tin can shards out of the half frozen mud, with the appropriate cuss words, finding just enough targets to keep me interested. In fact I was interest enough to loose track of the time until finally the dog suggested that maybe we should start back a bit early just in case the Jeep made a poor choice negotiating one of the mud holes on the way back home. The quickest way back to the Jeep was to continue up hill to the ridge line above us and follow it down to the road where the Jeep was parked. I stopped on top of the ridge catch my breath and from there I had a fantastic view in several directions. The storm was breaking up and the evening sun was peeking out underneath the retreating clouds making the snow covered mountains to the East glow with a beautiful rose color. I then realized - there was no place on earth I would rather be than where I was, there was nothing in the world I would rather be doing than what I was doing and all of those bits of trash that I cussed were actually priceless treasures. It was just the other day... I turned 70 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Seeker Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Happy Birthday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zincoln Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Great story. A fun read, and a nugget in the end for all of us, no doubt. Happy birthday. Waiting on that storm up north tonight! Zincoln Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootscrape Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 That’s golden !.... it is like mother nature rewarding you for your devoted efforts in getting out and having a go. 👌 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCR Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 At fixin to be 61, you give me good hope. I’m not worried about my old Jeep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geof_junk Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Happy birthday and enjoy those left over dog biscuits as your reward. 🦴 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry in Idaho Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 You're writing skills are much better than your detecting..😆 Happy Birthday and great way to get an excuse to eat a couple dog biscuits. Hopefully the jeep found you/dog home safely. Well it had to of...or we wouldn't of been able to read it. Keep it and just maybe one of those nails will turn golden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norvic Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 KL go on you dont look a day older then 36.😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phrunt Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Happy Birthday klunker, always look forward to your posts and this one was a doozy. Where you live sounds a wonderful place, you won't catch me complaining about snow, quite the opposite! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northeast Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Great read Klunker, thank you. You have provided such great entertainment to those on DP forum with most posts both humorous and educational. It must be quite a gift as I saw the heading of the thread and was smiling before I had even clicked on it. Happy birthday to you, with wishes for many more quality years ahead and the drive to bestow further wisdoms upon us 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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