I went to hunt for chantrelles today, something I have never tried on this side of the coastal range. Having no idea where to go, I figured I would just follow the river until I got out past rural, get up in the hills, park, and take a walk. Of course, within minutes of getting out of town, it started raining. But this is Oregon, so it wouldn't be right if it didn't. Anyway, I am driving along, and I am getting pretty disappointed, because it looks like I am in 3rd growth timber, which has never been too generous to me with the chantrelles. But I was out of the house and up in the trees so decide to give it a chance.
So I come to a wide spot in the road and park. I havent made it 5 steps from the car when I see this structure through the trees... <picture titled surprise>... So from there I make it down to the river, and run into a pretty impressive dam, and I am finding some pretty big piles of pebbly concrete foundation, and old red clay pipes are laying broken on the surface and poking out in a few places, and I gotta tell ya, all thoughts of chantrelles were gone!
So I am walking around, trying to figure out what I am seeing (any guesses??) when I find about 4 and a half feet of hearth and chimney made of river rock. That is when I discovered my camera battery had died!! Anyway, I know the hearth has been there awhile, because there are 2 trees with approximately 24-28 inch diameter growing in where there had to have one time been house. So now I am more in my element, so I turn and start to canvas out towards the river. After a few minutes, I see glass, so I start dragging the side of my foot thru the leaves and detritus. I found a few aqua shards, I am thinking ball jar, and the pieces of the Wizard Oil bottle. And then I see a rough square of river stones... Now, I have never in my life dug an outhouse, or a well, or anything like that, to be honest, before I came on this site, I had never even thought to look for one. But now I think I have found one. And it is raining, one of those steady thick temperate rain forest days. And I have no tools. So I head back to the car. Excited.
As I am driving back towards civilization, I notice some dirt piled like a new culvert had been punched through, so I get out to look at the pile, and I see some shards, mostly zinc lids and crockery, a big thick embossed measuring cup, a bleach bottle base, and a few smooth clear jars. And some light scratches someone has made around the bank, maybe 6 or 8 inches deep. And there were shards from food jars, like pepper sauce, mustard, nothing exciting, but of course i had to find a stick and poke around a bit and uncover some screw tops, and a broken clear tray and vase (I kept the top of the vase), and the yellow base of some kind of bottle I would have been stoked to find. And that blue shard that says (Well, what I can make out) "A. J. WHIT NE ORK"
Because it is raining, and I dont want to get covered in mud, and I have no tools or gloves or anything, I pull myself away, but go ahead and take a roundabout way back to the car, and find another surface deposit of twist to liquor and food bottles, mixed with tinfoil thick rusty cans. And it is POURING by now, my glasses are fogging, my boots are cased in mud, you know the deal. The funny thing is, I dont think I have ever lugged home a broken bottle, but I wanted some pictures to post for you all, as boring as they are.
So, a privvy is pretty much always worth digging right? Or should I get a probe? Keep in mind, the only things I have ever probed for were water lines to get depth after dowsing. Or maybe there is someone nearby that would be game to teach a burrower how to dig a vertical shaft? We might be able to get a dry enough day or three...
And I think I figured out the nature of the ruins...
http://s850.photobucket.com/albums/ab64/looketdis/Surprise/ Pictures
So I come to a wide spot in the road and park. I havent made it 5 steps from the car when I see this structure through the trees... <picture titled surprise>... So from there I make it down to the river, and run into a pretty impressive dam, and I am finding some pretty big piles of pebbly concrete foundation, and old red clay pipes are laying broken on the surface and poking out in a few places, and I gotta tell ya, all thoughts of chantrelles were gone!
So I am walking around, trying to figure out what I am seeing (any guesses??) when I find about 4 and a half feet of hearth and chimney made of river rock. That is when I discovered my camera battery had died!! Anyway, I know the hearth has been there awhile, because there are 2 trees with approximately 24-28 inch diameter growing in where there had to have one time been house. So now I am more in my element, so I turn and start to canvas out towards the river. After a few minutes, I see glass, so I start dragging the side of my foot thru the leaves and detritus. I found a few aqua shards, I am thinking ball jar, and the pieces of the Wizard Oil bottle. And then I see a rough square of river stones... Now, I have never in my life dug an outhouse, or a well, or anything like that, to be honest, before I came on this site, I had never even thought to look for one. But now I think I have found one. And it is raining, one of those steady thick temperate rain forest days. And I have no tools. So I head back to the car. Excited.
As I am driving back towards civilization, I notice some dirt piled like a new culvert had been punched through, so I get out to look at the pile, and I see some shards, mostly zinc lids and crockery, a big thick embossed measuring cup, a bleach bottle base, and a few smooth clear jars. And some light scratches someone has made around the bank, maybe 6 or 8 inches deep. And there were shards from food jars, like pepper sauce, mustard, nothing exciting, but of course i had to find a stick and poke around a bit and uncover some screw tops, and a broken clear tray and vase (I kept the top of the vase), and the yellow base of some kind of bottle I would have been stoked to find. And that blue shard that says (Well, what I can make out) "A. J. WHIT NE ORK"
Because it is raining, and I dont want to get covered in mud, and I have no tools or gloves or anything, I pull myself away, but go ahead and take a roundabout way back to the car, and find another surface deposit of twist to liquor and food bottles, mixed with tinfoil thick rusty cans. And it is POURING by now, my glasses are fogging, my boots are cased in mud, you know the deal. The funny thing is, I dont think I have ever lugged home a broken bottle, but I wanted some pictures to post for you all, as boring as they are.
So, a privvy is pretty much always worth digging right? Or should I get a probe? Keep in mind, the only things I have ever probed for were water lines to get depth after dowsing. Or maybe there is someone nearby that would be game to teach a burrower how to dig a vertical shaft? We might be able to get a dry enough day or three...
And I think I figured out the nature of the ruins...
http://s850.photobucket.com/albums/ab64/looketdis/Surprise/ Pictures
