New Member, New 800

[Sasquatch]

No luck this time. Went to Crow Creek Mine, but couldn't cross the stream due to high water, will try again in the late fall.  Walked around all day, just getting a lay of the land, seeing where trails went, trying to see where the different layers were between the stream and cuts in the hill.  So much iron around, many large pieces of iron read back high numbers, really wanted to get out of the tailings and trash.  A large portion of the claims were blocked off and a no tresspassing sign hung up, so couldn't explore as much as I would have liked, did find lesser used trails and poked around a lot of cut banks.  Then visited a friend that was camped out there and showed his son the detector and we found a few coins and nails aroud the campsite.  Today detected around the house and found interesting trash, a stud from an old studded tractor tire, few ammo shells and bullets, ring pulls, bottle caps, quarter, old Carousel soda can.

[Andy2640]

Yeah I hear ya Sas!

I had a similar experience around a wooded trail the other day.  Far too many bleeps to dig, and i found myself getting a little frustrated.  I moved on to less troden paths but not much joy.  Then i hit a ploughed field which bagged me 2 1900 coins, one of which was on the surface.  Those deep ploughs are our best friend.

I remember my first week with the nox, I was taking her to all the wrong places.  Then i started doing more research, asking myself where the old fairs would be located, old parks, old anything really.   I had lots of disappointments for the first few weeks, but then i started homing in on the good stuff.

Anyways,  good luck buddy.

 

Andy.

[Sasquatch]

Reading some of Steve’s posts in other threads seems I shouldn’t be afraid to tone down the sensitivity and play with the  target accept/reject to filter out the nails around here.  

Alaska, is like New Zealand, too young for all that history, but I am curious to try the beaches up here, have to be old cleats and anchors from ship docks and sunk ships that aren’t old enough to be historic but would make for nice nautical sounvenirs.  Would be really cool to find a porthole.

Is amazing how little you notice the rain once the detector starts swinging.

[Chase Goldman]

Alaska has plenty of history, my friend.  Lots of Russian exploration, conflicts with Native Americans, fur trapping/trading and hunting before "Seward's Folly" (the 1867 Alaskan Territory Purchase) and the Turn of the Century Gold Rush.

See this story on a Russian shipwreck and tale of survival near Sitka and the Archeologists who used metal detecting technology to rediscover and study the survivor's encampment.  I met one of the team members at an Archeological metal detecting expedition at James Madison's restored estate in Virginia.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp%3Fcntn_id%3D136012&ved=2ahUKEwi-mMvkqITdAhVKiqwKHQvgAfgQFjADegQIABAB&usg=AOvVaw1QqAjz751fG9v509lS2H-k

Do some research and you might be surprised at what might be near your doorstep besides prospecting claims.  No guarantees, but you never know what historic events predates Alaska as a US Territory and State.

[Sasquatch]

Good point, there is a lot of history up here and you never know what can be found.  Unfortunately there is a lot of land too so the density of history is much thinner than Europe.  The other unfortunate thing is percentage wise there is very little privately held land.  State, Federal and Native Lands are all strict on historical artifiacts which can be anything over 100 years, amazes me how miners can come dig up acres of land, leave all their trash behind, then all the sudden it is a historic site and can't be touched, seems backwards to me, there should be a bounty for cleaning up the litter.

Actually there is some very acient history, maybe even metal based.  Talked with an archeologist the other day that found a Pleistocene Age find, not sure what, but with native copper abundant in some areas, there could be very old stuff found, might have to see if I could accompany them sometime.

[Chase Goldman]

7 hours ago, Sasquatch said:

might have to see if I could accompany them sometime.

You should definitely do this if you can.  Archeological metal detecting is great fun.