Strange things found in the forest

[DrRod]

One summer a couple of clean, well-dressed guys on imported motorcycles drove by my place. They really looked out of place. The returned in about 15 minutes so we figured they couldn't have gone far. We went out for a walk down the road and saw where they had turned off in a narrow power line that runs down into our swamp. We started down the line and about a hundred yards in saw small patches surrounded by high chicken wire. You guessed it -- marijuana. Given the possibility of booby traps, we didn't go any further. The next week, the power company started their 20 cycle of replacing poles. The fences and patches were crushed under the heavy equipment. Those guys were 1 in 20 years unlucky.

 

[DrRod]

There are two interesting things on our place that I'm sure future generations will find strange.

One is a long neat pile of rocks tucked into the steep bank of a mountain stream just before it hit the creek. An old-timer told me that an early settler had made a dugout in there and finished it off with rocks. His name was Frankenberry [no cereal jokes please] and the steam was known as Frankenberry Run. I would suspect this was before 1840 when my family got here but I suppose he might have cohabitated with them. In 1840, this would have been a very remote place. I have always wanted to excavate this to see if there are any artifacts in it.

The other is a series of terraces dug into the side of the mountain, about halfway up, and curving around toward a ravine. You can still see the wagon road up to it. This was my great great grandfather's peach orchard. Having hunted in there, it became apparent that the site gets the very first rays of sunshine each day through a dip in the opposing mountain. This meant that he could grow peaches in this part of Pennsylvania where its not commonly possible. I suspect that unless someone explained this, no one would guess why someone would go to so much trouble. And given the scope if it, it was a lot of work.

 

[DFB]

I just don't see how that many deer got shot in that one spot. :confused3:

Interesting story Dan ...two observations come quick to my mind that either there were more than just one person shooting at some herded deer or they were dumped there (maybe after being poached) :scratchchin:

 

[Sprinklerman]

I was looking at a pile of dirt on the back corner of my property . About 6 ft high and 20 ft long . I kicked some dirt . And lucky me , I was the proud new owner of close to 200 tires , all bias ply , not a radial in the bunch . Our landfill takes them for free , but only 4 at a time . I am almost done .

 

[s219]

I occasionally find artifacts from when our land was logged many times over the last 100 years, before we owned it. Found some neat old fashioned whiskey bottles, as well as a vintage bottle of "Wolf's Head Brand" two-stroke oil. And then there are remnants of skidder trails that you don't know about until you stumble on them, and then it's obvious. One of these days I need to get a metal detector and poke around an area that seemed to be a logging camp.

When we were looking at this property, I came out to do a quick survey, and while walking down the middle of the lot, I darn near fell into what looked like an 8' deep 8' wide ditch. I traced the whole thing, and found it basically cut the rectangular property into two triangular shapes. Turns out it is an ephemeral stream that formed over thousands of years of erosion. Was not on any surveys because they only paid attention to the property lines, and the surveyor who did our site plan didn't believe me until he saw and measured it for himself. It's quite interesting. Always has a little trickle from what I assume is groundwater, but runs more after rainstorms.

 

[MossRoad]

There's an old railroad grade and bridge on one border of our property. It was a single track and bridge, but there was a siding on the south side of the bridge to allow trains to pass each other. I often find spikes, plates, and hooks along that trail. And lots of metal scraps, usually with my brush cutter. They seem to rise up out of the dirt every spring.

 

[Ed of all trades]

s219

When I was a kid and my dad and I would go hunting or be cutting firewood we would often find old pop and whiskey bottles. I said something to dad about them and this is what he said.
This whole area was logged back in the 30's and there was a lot of pine in here. The men cutting timber would get any old bottle they could find and fill it with coal oil and stuff a rag in the top. They used them to put a little coal oil on their cross cut saws and it would cut the pine tar so the saw would not drag so much. That may be why there are bottled in your woods. Ed

 

[MossRoad]

Or maybe the loggers liked to drink pop and whiskey.... :licking:

 

[Citydude]

My wife found a pile of Hamms beer cans on our forested place this summer. No evidence of coal oil but they were opened with a knife. Must have forgot the church key to open them that day.

 

[DrRod]

That is a strange find. I thought Hamms was only found in Chicago and Wisconsin.