TheCaliKid
Well-Known Member
Well, the day of the Great Bottle Hunt finally arrived........woke up early, got in the car, and began to drive the 72 miles (one way) to the site. Here is a detailed accounting of what happened.
Once I got to the site, I begun a painstakingly thorough and systematic search of the road and surrounding area. Here are some pictures of the road:
I searched this road for over 4 hours, this was first thing I found - a 1 pint NATIONAL DISTILLERS flask bottle......this is how I found it:
^ Being a total newbie to the hobby, I have absolutely no idea of the age/value/rarity of this bottle - maybe it's just worthless trash, but I have to have something to show for my efforts, so I am keeping it. Besides, I think it looks cool.
The next thing that happened was, I went to dig under a large Gray Pine tree and so I moved some old dead dry branches out of the way, and came face to face with this guy..........an adult Pacific Gopher Snake:
Because he was in the shade, his cold blood really was cold-blooded and so didn't move around much. I never pass up an easy opportunity to handle a non-poisonous snake. It is just rather difficult to hold a slithering snake in one hand, and a camera in the other hand, and try to get decent pictures......but I was able to manage it:
I let him slip out from under my foot, and he tried to go "anaconda" on me:
After the letting the snake go I dug under the tree and, naturally, didn't find anything. That was alright with me, because finding the snake had made it a fun and worthwhile experience.
The next thing that happened was, about an hour later I came a wide flat area near to where the old road ties in with the new road. It was a scene of horrific destruction.
Spread out over a very large extended area (not entirely shown in pictures) were the remains of hundreds of ACL bottles. I literally cried when I saw it. After thinking about it later in the day, I come up with the theory that after the road had been abandoned, hunters in the 50's and early 60's would camp in this area (there was several remains of hand-made stone fire rings), since back then they could still drive down to this area. Then they would shoot up their glass bottles before they left.
The murder scene:
Some pieces I recovered from the murder scene:
After so more searching, I found another flask bottle with a broken top. Then I found this bottle, this is how I found it:
^ I have no idea how old it is or anything. Could be a trash bottle, who knows at this point.
I found a survey benchmark in the area from 1942...........another clue as to when the newer road may have been built:
After I walked the road going back the other way to my car, I decided to switch tactics a bit. I thought to myself: "If the new road itself is 50 - 60 years old, why not look off of it"? And that's exactly what I did.
I happened to be looking on the passenger side slope of a very sharp curve, that was covered in Manzanita scrub (god that stuff is prickly!), what happened was that the driver had to slow down and the passenger, with the empty soda bottle sitting in between their legs decided it was as good a time as any to chuck the bottle out the window. That's my theory anyway.
This is what I found, and how I found it:
And then, not more than 15 feet away, I found this:
So, after about 6 hours of searching and getting mild heatstroke (very unpleasant I might add), this was the days haul:
Not bad, considering that it was my first time out actually looking for bottles. I will need help with identifying/dating/valuing these bottles, which I will post pictures that will enable this, later. I would also like some help on the best way to clean out the insides of these things. Right now I need a break.
I have decided that I will not be going back to the old dirt road, and here's why:
1. Not traveled enough, lack of litterbugs.
2. Too much soil displacement
3. Hunters/campers shot everything that was laying around
I may check out the other road when I am in the area, but I am not planning a special trip out there just to do bottles. And, it would have to be in the cooler months of the year. I realize now that finding that Big Chief bottle last weekend was an almost once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Searching for complete old glass bottles off roads is very exhausting and draining work! My favorite finds of the day are the Royal Crown and 7Up soda bottles. I give the 7Up bottle to my girlfriend as a birthday present because her birthday is in five days from now. Even though they both have label fade, they are special to me because of all the work I did to find them. At least the glass of both of them is in great condition.
Oh, and here is one last shot of the scenery that I didn't really get to enjoy all that much because I had my head down:
Hope you all enjoyed this post, and happy hunting!
Once I got to the site, I begun a painstakingly thorough and systematic search of the road and surrounding area. Here are some pictures of the road:
I searched this road for over 4 hours, this was first thing I found - a 1 pint NATIONAL DISTILLERS flask bottle......this is how I found it:
^ Being a total newbie to the hobby, I have absolutely no idea of the age/value/rarity of this bottle - maybe it's just worthless trash, but I have to have something to show for my efforts, so I am keeping it. Besides, I think it looks cool.
The next thing that happened was, I went to dig under a large Gray Pine tree and so I moved some old dead dry branches out of the way, and came face to face with this guy..........an adult Pacific Gopher Snake:
Because he was in the shade, his cold blood really was cold-blooded and so didn't move around much. I never pass up an easy opportunity to handle a non-poisonous snake. It is just rather difficult to hold a slithering snake in one hand, and a camera in the other hand, and try to get decent pictures......but I was able to manage it:
I let him slip out from under my foot, and he tried to go "anaconda" on me:
After the letting the snake go I dug under the tree and, naturally, didn't find anything. That was alright with me, because finding the snake had made it a fun and worthwhile experience.
The next thing that happened was, about an hour later I came a wide flat area near to where the old road ties in with the new road. It was a scene of horrific destruction.
Spread out over a very large extended area (not entirely shown in pictures) were the remains of hundreds of ACL bottles. I literally cried when I saw it. After thinking about it later in the day, I come up with the theory that after the road had been abandoned, hunters in the 50's and early 60's would camp in this area (there was several remains of hand-made stone fire rings), since back then they could still drive down to this area. Then they would shoot up their glass bottles before they left.
The murder scene:
Some pieces I recovered from the murder scene:
After so more searching, I found another flask bottle with a broken top. Then I found this bottle, this is how I found it:
^ I have no idea how old it is or anything. Could be a trash bottle, who knows at this point.
I found a survey benchmark in the area from 1942...........another clue as to when the newer road may have been built:
After I walked the road going back the other way to my car, I decided to switch tactics a bit. I thought to myself: "If the new road itself is 50 - 60 years old, why not look off of it"? And that's exactly what I did.
I happened to be looking on the passenger side slope of a very sharp curve, that was covered in Manzanita scrub (god that stuff is prickly!), what happened was that the driver had to slow down and the passenger, with the empty soda bottle sitting in between their legs decided it was as good a time as any to chuck the bottle out the window. That's my theory anyway.
This is what I found, and how I found it:
And then, not more than 15 feet away, I found this:
So, after about 6 hours of searching and getting mild heatstroke (very unpleasant I might add), this was the days haul:
Not bad, considering that it was my first time out actually looking for bottles. I will need help with identifying/dating/valuing these bottles, which I will post pictures that will enable this, later. I would also like some help on the best way to clean out the insides of these things. Right now I need a break.
I have decided that I will not be going back to the old dirt road, and here's why:
1. Not traveled enough, lack of litterbugs.
2. Too much soil displacement
3. Hunters/campers shot everything that was laying around
I may check out the other road when I am in the area, but I am not planning a special trip out there just to do bottles. And, it would have to be in the cooler months of the year. I realize now that finding that Big Chief bottle last weekend was an almost once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Searching for complete old glass bottles off roads is very exhausting and draining work! My favorite finds of the day are the Royal Crown and 7Up soda bottles. I give the 7Up bottle to my girlfriend as a birthday present because her birthday is in five days from now. Even though they both have label fade, they are special to me because of all the work I did to find them. At least the glass of both of them is in great condition.
Oh, and here is one last shot of the scenery that I didn't really get to enjoy all that much because I had my head down:
Hope you all enjoyed this post, and happy hunting!
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