Results from Ballarat
DesertRat
Posts: 1,791 ✭
Well I got up at 4:00am Friday morning and was out the door by 5 as planned. I got to Ballarat right at sunrise and although quite cold, there was no wind and no people.
I have come to realize after this trip that this place is so full of trash that only the most patient of detectorist's will succeed in finding worthwhile relics. Every step you take reveals pieces of wire, bottlecaps, rifle and pistol casings, pull tops, tin cans, pieces of tin roofing, nails and every other type of assorted metallic trash you can think of (even puddles of melted lead). I started out determined to dig every hit but soon decided that I only had a few hours to dig and set my DFX to a modified relic program designed to discriminate all iron out of the picture.
The most interesting items I found were a handmade copper rivet of some type and some brass hardware from a desk or cabinet. The one item I dug that really amused me was a tiny sprocket or gear that looks to have come from a pocket watch or clock. It was down about 4" and I was surprised to see it is undamaged. Another interesting find that drove me crazy is a small rock that gives off a strong signal indicating a quarter. It wasn;t until I got the pinpointer out of my car that I realized that it was this rock and not an actual quarter that was driving me bonkers. It is a very lightweight rock and at a quick glance does not appear to be metallic although it might very well be silver ore since that was what was mined in the region.
I apologize for not having pics of my finds but I promise i will post them once i have had a chance to go through my pouch and see what all I got. In the meantime below are some photos I took that you might find interesting.
Some shots of the Ballarat cemetary
Seven of the graves belong to unamed children
Some of the headstones
These are the three monuments that mark the entrance to Ballarat/Panamint from the paved road. Ballarat is 3 1/2 miles across a dry lakebed. Panamint is only accessible by hiking several miles up a very inhospitable canyon.
I have come to realize after this trip that this place is so full of trash that only the most patient of detectorist's will succeed in finding worthwhile relics. Every step you take reveals pieces of wire, bottlecaps, rifle and pistol casings, pull tops, tin cans, pieces of tin roofing, nails and every other type of assorted metallic trash you can think of (even puddles of melted lead). I started out determined to dig every hit but soon decided that I only had a few hours to dig and set my DFX to a modified relic program designed to discriminate all iron out of the picture.
The most interesting items I found were a handmade copper rivet of some type and some brass hardware from a desk or cabinet. The one item I dug that really amused me was a tiny sprocket or gear that looks to have come from a pocket watch or clock. It was down about 4" and I was surprised to see it is undamaged. Another interesting find that drove me crazy is a small rock that gives off a strong signal indicating a quarter. It wasn;t until I got the pinpointer out of my car that I realized that it was this rock and not an actual quarter that was driving me bonkers. It is a very lightweight rock and at a quick glance does not appear to be metallic although it might very well be silver ore since that was what was mined in the region.
I apologize for not having pics of my finds but I promise i will post them once i have had a chance to go through my pouch and see what all I got. In the meantime below are some photos I took that you might find interesting.
Some shots of the Ballarat cemetary
Seven of the graves belong to unamed children
Some of the headstones
These are the three monuments that mark the entrance to Ballarat/Panamint from the paved road. Ballarat is 3 1/2 miles across a dry lakebed. Panamint is only accessible by hiking several miles up a very inhospitable canyon.
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Comments
"Seldom Seen Slim" seems to have a following!
So you found a "hot rock", huh?
Hey, I wonder if it's a meteorite. That would be a cool find. More likely some kind of earthly ore, though, as you mentioned.
Jerry
I think old, desert, cemetaries are cool. You can learn a lot about life from those headstones.
Al
<< <i>Are those coins on that headstone? If so, what is the significance of that ritual? >>
Google this: "coins on a grave"
Jerry
I then googled ghost town and was facisnated at the amount of them in the west. Can you detect in these towns?
Sounds like fun and an education about the wild west.
<< <i>I was facinated by your pictures and story about Ballarat. Do you need any special permission to MD the town.
I then googled ghost town and was facisnated at the amount of them in the west. Can you detect in these towns?
Sounds like fun and an education about the wild west. >>
Ballarat has no restrictions on metal detecting since it is privately owned. I always check in with the caretaker when I go just to make sure but he is always hospitable.
Each ghost town is going to be different depending on who owns the land so follow the golden rule and always check first.
The one thing I forgot to mention in the post above is that aside from the incredible amount of trash a Ballarat the collapsed walls of the former buildings have left several feet of adobe covering what used to be the streets and walkways of the old town. You can see in this photo of one of the few remaining walls that they were thick adobe walls and when they fell they covered the good hunting ground.
There were some 14 buildings in town which left a lot of debris on the ground. I think the next trip I will go outside the actual town site and see if I can find the campsites where miners would set camp if they didn't stay in one of the three hotels. I also want to find the site of the Brier party encampment from 1850 and sweep there. It might not be as full of trash as the town is.
One thing I find interesting is to think how these miners lived out there without all the comforts we take for granted. Temperatures at Ballarat reach 120 degrees regularly in summer and fall well below freezing in winter. No air conditioning, no electricity, no running water plumbing, fresh water is short supply with local springs being very alkaline, the food supply was scare as well with no large game in abundant supply. The winds through the valley can be brutal as is evident by the sandblast erosion on the tombstone for Michael Sherlock. It had to be one tough life up there and all lived in the constant pursuit of those elusive metals; gold and silver.
Just want to say thanks for being here. All of your posts are fricking amazing and you always have a good wealth of info
Thanks for posting, this forum and the OFR would be quite different without you
Awww shucks.....thanks
That sounds like a challenging site to detect... BUT at least you know that the required history is there and a really good find could pop up any moment...
And in any case you get a nice day out
<< <i> It wasn;t until I got the pinpointer out of my car that I realized that it was this rock and not an actual quarter that was driving me bonkers. >>
It works! Cool!
<< <i>Great story and pictures! I enjoyed the read a lot - thanks!
That sounds like a challenging site to detect... BUT at least you know that the required history is there and a really good find could pop up any moment...
And in any case you get a nice day out
Quite well thank you