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Oregon Hunt

Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2020 1:24 pm
by Rusty Jonesin
Took a trip out to Oregon for a few days the first week of March, pre-pandemic ( actually I think WHO declared it a pandemic the day we flew home) with canaddict and Angry Gary. A little early in the year to be hitting the higher elevations but we had a lot of targets to hit around the Redmond area. We worked our tails off (shoulders) swinging & digging, mostly swinging as we didn't find very much. Still, time well spent as it was great just being out on an adventure exploring central Oregon with Scott and Gary. Fun Times!
So I thought I'd share some pictures from our trip, mostly scenery.
Morning moon
Morning moon
On our way east we searched camps around Detroit Lake, the lake level was low, couldn't resist detecting the lake bottom. Found a lot of bait jars, pieces of cable but no cans.
Detroit lake bottom
Detroit lake bottom
Gary on the lake bottom
Gary on the lake bottom
Resembles Devils Tower
Resembles Devils Tower
What would you think I would find at Detroit Lake.....
1955 Chevy Custom from Detroit Lake
1955 Chevy Custom from Detroit Lake
Back on the hunt
Back on the hunt
Rex T. Barber Veterans Memorial Bridge, Crooked river gorge
Rex T. Barber Veterans Memorial Bridge, Crooked river gorge
Scott saw this area on a YouTube video, we had to check it out, got my four ghost cans here.
sun baked
sun baked
B8.jpg
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new direction
new direction
Trees
Trees
Oly-Moly
Oly-Moly
crystal clear, snow melt
crystal clear, snow melt
diggers
diggers
small pit Lucky's and Oly's
small pit Lucky's and Oly's
This area at one time was a camp
This area at one time was a camp
Blitz tabs
Blitz tabs
hold on,more pics coming up.

Re: Oregon Hunt

Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2020 1:57 pm
by Rusty Jonesin
B15a.jpg
canaddict searching in graupel shower
canaddict searching in graupel shower
Me in the graupel shower
Me in the graupel shower
Canada Dry sparkling soda bottle
Canada Dry sparkling soda bottle
Scott and Gary were digging a 30's pit with Pabst Export OI's I spotted this bottle they pulled out and recognized it as a Canada Dry Seltzer Water bottle. I had never seen one before. I have a Sparkling Orange bottle I dug years ago in Grand Marias, MI. During the 1930's Canada Dry painted the orange and sparkling water bottles. The Sparkling Orange is orange and bright and easily noticed, but the Sparling Water is more subtle rainbow colored.
Iridescent rainbow paint
Iridescent rainbow paint
The label is shot but I don't want it any way. Anchors my soda bottle collection.
Soda Bottle Collection
Soda Bottle Collection
Mt. Jefferson
Mt. Jefferson
Riverside dig
Riverside dig
Mt. Hood
Mt. Hood
We ventured down this snow covered road, we started sliding on the ice and decided to turn around.
Icy snow
Icy snow
Found some rust in the snow
Found some rust in the snow
Rain forest
Rain forest
A Falls
A Falls
It was cool digging in all these different terrains in the same day. would have been nice to bring home some more rust but that's how it goes sometimes. I will be putting one beer can on the shelf, the Rainier cone. Also four ghost cans some killer Oil cans, and the cool Canada Dry bottle.
Scott, thanks for setting this up had a blast! I'm glad we got out when we did.(could)

Here's to mud on your boots,
Rusty

Loot
Loot
Oil Cans
Oil Cans
Wwhhaaat!! Blue Rainier Club?
Wwhhaaat!! Blue Rainier Club?
Garage shelf,  Ghost Cans
Garage shelf, Ghost Cans

Re: Oregon Hunt

Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2020 2:42 pm
by DaveNH
Great pics. It's always a can-venture when you get out there and look. At least you weren't totally shut out. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Oregon Hunt

Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2020 3:27 pm
by Beamer
Thanks for posting. Always a great read.

Re: Oregon Hunt

Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2020 5:28 pm
by Scott
Rusty;

Sorry you did not hit it big. Early March is much too soon to get anywhere in the high country. Even now much of it can't be reached.

Detroit lake was dammed in the mid 1950's so you won't find anything earlier than that in the mud. There is a submerged 30's camp somewhere in the middle of it. Was your burned up camp north of Sisters? If so we did it about ten years ago and did not find anything. There was no way to get a feel for where things used to be so we gave up and left. I'm pretty sure I dug that pit of Oly tabs a few years ago and put them back. If not, I've done 100's of other pits just like it. Some of those other areas look pretty familiar as well so it is easy to figure out where you went. Hopefully you did not dig on the Warm Springs reservation between Madras and Mt. Hood although I see you drove through there. That's a good way to get into a whole lot of trouble.

There are worse ways to spend a day then poking around the wilds of scenic central and western Oregon.

Re: Oregon Hunt

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2020 9:35 pm
by Rusty Jonesin
Thanks Guys,
I appreciate the comments.

Scott, That burned out camp has to be the same place, we got the same feeling and left.
and we knew better than to dig on the reservation.
In your experience out there, have you ever got a nice signal and when you dig it it's just a bunch of hardware cloth.(wire mesh) Found this at several camps. thought maybe it was something they did out there, put this hardware cloth over the trash before burying it to keep the animals out. We never kept going, we would give up once we hit the wire. They were usually big targets.
Hardware cloth
Hardware cloth
and also have you seen a blue Rainier Club before? Is this a common thing that happens to that black paint?
This can was found in a cabin pit.
Blue
Blue

Re: Oregon Hunt

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2020 6:19 am
by Lovegun
Some beautiful scenery in God's country and good company will always make for good times! Thanks for the pictures Steve!

Re: Oregon Hunt

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2020 1:06 pm
by Scott
Rusty;

I've seen Rainier Club flats do that before but not as drastic as yours. I found some once that just had small patches of discoloration like that here and there. I'm aware it's generally taboo but I saw no harm in hitting those places with a black sharpie before tossing them in a dollar box.

Those screens are not something we typically see. With not having any rust my guess is they are galvanized or coated in some manner and not that old. You could spend an hour digging it out and maybe find some Shasta tabs underneath. On the older pits they usually topped them off with large rocks to keep the critters out.

Re: Oregon Hunt

Posted: Mon May 11, 2020 9:05 am
by canaddict
It was awesome to get out digging again with Rusty and Angry Gary! So, we didn't hit a home run on this one, more like reached base on an error. However, it was not for a lack of effort. In 3 days, we probably hit 40 different targets, all of which looked like they were beer can central. Unfortunately, most of the targets were 100% completely clean, not even a bottle cap. Most of the campground targets we hit were closed to camping, even the really big ones, so we had most of the targets completely to ourselves.

Anyway, we kept coming back to the old saying, that if it were easy, everyone would be doing this. We were rejected trying to get to the higher elevation targets, so had to work with the cards we were dealt. Still a great time getting out. We stayed in a resort property with a hot tub on the deck, which was much better than the typical wet and cold tent camping that I am used to. Getting soft in our old age!

Here is what I ended up with. Unfortunately the Town Club got damaged in transit because I did not pack it well enough and has a hole in the face. Another lesson learned! I am off again this coming Friday for another full week Rocky Mountain adventure with Regan. Wish us luck!
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