Will it EVER end ???

[Hitndahed]

I am so ready for Winter to be gone.
Much rather mow the yard,,, that's a no-brainer. And I have a 3 acre yard to maintain.

South-Central Pa,,, in line for another round of the white stuff,, maybe actually a few more days of it.

I ,,, as many here.. have digging to do,,, maps to follow and things to track down,,, and ALL of it is now under a pile of snow with barely an end in sight.

Even have some prospecting to do based on something I found while on a hike last summer. I just wish I had taken pictures when I found it.

I was at a very small stream,,, deep in the mountains of South-Central Pa and I came across a small stream. Always intrigued by what's "around the next bend" I kept following it then noticed something strange.

There was hand hewn SQUARE logs imbedded on each side of the stream,,, with what looked to be a rotted bottom that was between those logs. Yep,,, looked like an old time sluice.
Now the question is,,, why go through that much trouble,, unless something was found there? Pennsylvania is hardly noted for gold ,,, in any natural form. So to come across this,,, in the location that it is in,,,has really got my interest.
So needless to say I will be all over it as soon as the weather warms. And this may be a while actually as this location is in a pretty steep sided valley / ravine that recieves little sun,, even in the summer.

Ahh yes,,,, visions of paydirt..something to look forward to after the cold but necessary dregs of the winter months.

Hit

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

It ends about every six months and then starts over.

 

[Higgy]

Right now I am not sure whether I'd rather deal with snow and cold or humidity and mosquitos.

 

[mikeraydj]

Getting cabin fever here. Have to wait till April to hunt and ground to thaw. Gets discouraging watching others in the warmer climates post their finds daily. Sorta like being at the prom sitting on the sidelines. Or so I have heard. You can only do so many air tests, equipment cleaning, and research. I need to dig.

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

Awww man, guys & gals, I so feel for ya'll's.
That's why I'm not gonna posts my brutal s. fla. bikini pic, again.......
Ya'll all just be ready for power failures and try to keep warm.
Check ya roofs, I hear there's suppose to be a bunch, come down. GL everyone!
Higgy, you keep chasing that cat, you'll catch it, one day!

See, my winter beachfront treasure hunters apartment/condo idea, I was trying to get together for all yous guys/gals/kiddies, woulda come in handy, right about now for ya'll. (I gotta rethink and retackle that goal.......)

 

[pa plateau hiker]

It's winter, we all know it's going to snow. What you found may be what is called a plank road. Some areas of Pa used such roads to haul logs out on wagons with oxen or horses.

 

[Hitndahed]

Thanks Hiker,,,,

And EVERYONE who replied so far.

Hiker,, I never knew of such a thing,, but the place where it is ,, is VERY steep on both sides and there does NOT appear to be any "trail" going in or out of that spot. Still way back when,,, There MAY have been somewhat different terrain also.

More to ponder.

Hit

 

[pa plateau hiker]

Hitndahed. In my area, in the late 1800s, they would lay full gage rr tracks in the narrowest, steepest hollows, not all the way to the top. Almost always, they would follow the creek bottoms. Over the years, high water would wash these roads out. In my hikings, I have followed the remains of these rr grades, only to lose them and and then come across them further up the hollow. Incidentally, all these rr grades were dug by hand.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Sometimes called a "corduroy road"

Gets you over the wet spots without sinking in.

 

[Hitndahed]

Got it now,,,

Speaking of narrow guage railroads,,, Have you (Hiker) been to the one in the Tuscarora Forest,,in Perry County?
It was dug to connect Perry and Cumberland counties,, but never finished.
Those huge Hemlocks are a sight to behold. Hard to imagine them covering the state and the size would have been much larger too,,, before it was all logged off.

Hit

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

Ya'll all be be safe!
I hear ya'll are going to have a snow hurricane, possibly up to 80mph winds.
All them trees, all them power lines...... at least if you lose power, you won't have to worry about freezer/fridge stuff spoiling.
Just make sure, ya'll got an alternative for cooking, bottle ya up some water, too. No power, no water treatment/pumping gonna happen.
GL all!

It'll be cool to see your creek road find, once you can get back there, get some pics.

 

[GMD52]

Hey Pat....lately we have beaten you in Fla with the Hurricane....yet we have decided to throw in temps in the teens and 2 plus feet of snow...at least when you lose power your still warm......Gary

 

[pa plateau hiker]

Hitindahed,I've been through Perry county,but not the area of the big trees. In my part of the woods, there were very few narrow gauge tracks. I read of one guy that lost money, because of the extra cost to transfer logs from a narrow gauge to standard gauge. I occasionally come across standard gauge tracks laying miles back in the woods.
Ha, I just realized what hitndahed means.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Ya all this snow putting our treasure hunting on hold is a real bummer!
Even if the logs are a road people were there building it and may have dropped or hidden something, and you never know there may be valuable metals there, good luck when you get back in there!

Wood burning stove and the water pumping stations have back up generators, we're good. It's kinda like being forced to be lazy for two days, then reality hits and you have to shovel! Now where did I put that fire breathing dragon ?

 

[Professor of Engineering]

We are getting a lot of snow here in Massachusetts over 2 feet! Used the snow blower earlier today and will go out one more time around 8:00 pm to remove the other 6+ inches! We didn't loose power, so all is great!