Franconia Hunt

[Lunk]

Got out to Franconia early this week. My main objective of course was to score some nice space rocks, but I also wanted to try out White’s new Goldmaster 24k VLF unit to see how well its proprietary XGB automatic ground tracking would handle the extreme variable ground in the northern half of the strewn field. Anyone who’s searched this area with a VLF detector knows how tedious it can be dealing with the endless volcanic hot rocks, and while the 24k handled the ground matrix extremely well and running a low sensitivity eliminated a lot of the hot rocks, there still remained plenty of them to deal with. Although I did find one half-gram iron with the 24k, with all the hot rocks it was hitting I just couldn’t cover enough ground to increase my odds of making a good find.



 As many of us detector operators know, in hot rock hell pulse-induction and zero-voltage transmission technologies are king. So I put away the VLF and brought out the Minelab GPZ 7000 equipped with the 19” coil for maximum ground coverage...time to get serious! With a quick adjustment I was able to ignore all but the largest and most insidious hot rocks and cover a ton of ground, netting several small irons and 2 stones at 27 grams and 75 grams. But the best part was just enjoying the peaceful serenity while roaming the wide open spaces of the Franconia strewn field, and even spotting a wild burro.

[Dubious]

Nice finds!  How accessible are the fields you hunt there?  Would a car do it, or is something more rugged needed?  I have been thinking about trying some flat places down south (I am in N.Cal.) for meteorites in the winter (when it isn't too hot!).

[fredmason]

Lunk, you are one hell of a he-man to swing that 19 inch coil while hunting in Franconia. The ground coverage is excellent but the strain is much greater. I am curious how you mount the 19 and gpz...harness, hip-stick, swing-arm???

Very nice irons, much larger than most, I think! The stones are cool too...

fred

[Lunk]

35 minutes ago, Dubious said:

Nice finds!  How accessible are the fields you hunt there?  Would a car do it, or is something more rugged needed?  I have been thinking about trying some flat places down south (I am in N.Cal.) for meteorites in the winter (when it isn't too hot!).

Thanks Dubious. The southern half of the strewn field south of Interstate I-40 is accessible by car. The large majority of the northern half is included within the Warm Springs Wilderness, where vehicles and other mechanized equipment are prohibited.

[Lunk]

24 minutes ago, fredmason said:

Lunk, you are one hell of a he-man to swing that 19 inch coil while hunting in Franconia. The ground coverage is excellent but the strain is much greater. I am curious how you mount the 19 and gpz...harness, hip-stick, swing-arm???

Very nice irons and stones...

fred

Thanks Fred,

Being only 5’4” tall and a scrawny 130 lbs, I’m certainly no he-man. But the GPZ stock harness and bungee adjusted correctly  fits me well, and I can swing that massive coil all day without fatigue. I never use the swing-arm either. However, if I get crazy and swing too fast, the inertia can about knock me down!?

As a side note, I once ran into a guy at Rye Patch that could swing the GPZ all day unaided by a harness, hipstick or bungee, and he WAS a he-man. I don’t recall his name, but I may as well call him Arnold...with a German accent...

[Randy Lunn]

Lunk, these are fabulous finds in an area that has been hit pretty hard especially near the road. My hats off to you. Well done!

[fredmason]

Thanks, Lunk...I thought you were taller than 5-4...we met at an Outing at Rich Hill many years ago...when Chris and JP were filming, you had a rock that we all thought was a meteorite....

I have seen guys using the GPZ without aids...they are way tougher than me!

Wishing you continued "good luck" in your hunts

fred

[Lunk]

19 minutes ago, fredmason said:

I thought you were taller than 5-4...we met at an Outing at Rich Hill many years ago...

Fred, I must have been standing on one of those granite boulders out there...??

[Dubious]

On 12/12/2018 at 1:28 PM, Lunk said:

Thanks Dubious. The southern half of the strewn field south of Interstate I-40 is accessible by car. The large majority of the northern half is included within the Warm Springs Wilderness, where vehicles and other mechanized equipment are prohibited.

Can you still use a metal detector in the Warm Springs Wilderness?

[Lunk]

Dubious, I see nothing on the BLMs website of the Warm Springs Wilderness that prohibits the use of metal detectors there.