Heavy Rain All Night - Walk-about Time

[Scorpion68]

We had a Toad-stranglin' rain all night last night and there was no way I was gonna pass up a hunt after all that rain. I could hear the waterfall from my back porch and it's almost 1/8th mile away.

These are pics of the creek that feeds the falls and the falls from the very top.

While I was there, I decided to climb down to the rockhouse under the falls. You can see the area I was digging in and the sifter frames I made. Didn't find anything. A n d - I didn't find anything on my walk-about. We had tremendous washout but nothing significant, darnit. Well, there's always tomorrow. ...Chuck

[BabaORiley]

Chuck those are some great pics man...there have to be some points rolling outta those hills...

[Scorpion68]

Baba - I have a sneaky suspicion that some of them are washing out, down the logging road and into that creek. Not sure if they'd survive that fall over the cliff onto the rocks below but maybe come spring, I'll start doing some creek walking like Luke does. Might have to roll over some rocks tho.

[p kurt]

I love the scenery, you live in very perty place.

[CoachG]

I'd say that was a treacherous, muddy, and slippery walk with all the rain we got.

[Scorpion68]

Coach - I usually rope my way down just to be safe. The rocks do get slippery with all the wet leaves and moss that grows on them.

[sailorjoe]

Hi Chuck. Just a tip for consideration. When looking for artifacts in conjunction with overhanging rock ledges (rockhouses), caves, little waterfowls such as the one you are showing then remember that the top of the ledge that you see now is not the way it was several thousand years ago. Waterfalls erode upstream, rock ledges usually erode and fall. You can expect to find artifacts many feet in front of the present ledge but they are buried deeper. To find those then one has to dig deeper and sometimes remove large rocks in the process. But if the hill is steep down from the ledge and the creek forms a ravine then it may never have been used as a "rockhouse". Do you think that the more level area that I see at the top of the falls is an area of an old habitation site? If so, then it may be productive to make a test pit away from the water on level ground. Just some random thoughts of mine. You probably already thought about all this. This area may have been logged over so many times that the ground around there may be very disturbed. A test hole about three or four feet square going down through the topsoil a couple of inches at a time might answer all those questions. Shut up, Joe. LOL

[Scorpion68]

Joe - I kinda figured that the overhang was about 20 - 30 feet further out as there are some really big rocks lying in that creek. I never did consider digging up on top. I have noticed that there is an inordinate amount of flakes and chips on the ground and that was up from the ground just to the right of the creek up top and the ground is relatively level. I always figured that the NA's would knap their tools/points up top to keep the sharp debris out of the living area but maybe I'm overthinking it. Mayhaps I'll give the test pit a try just for grins and giggles but I got this sneaking feeling it's gonna be a tough dig cause there's some pretty big rocks on this hill.

[JoshinMO]

I have heard from many to start in front then work your way into a shelter/overhang. Still Beautiful out there Course it looks kind of wet to have done that then.

[Scorpion68]

That overhang is only about 12 feet in front of where I'm digging. There are some huge boulders in that creek that probably used to be part of the overhang further out back a few thousand years. I just figured I'd pick a spot and give it a try. Have only gotten about 8 - 10 inches deep and that ground is packed like cement. Have to almost hack it with a pick axe to get started.

[SDhunter]

You have lots of cool places to hunt. Thanks for sharing the pics.

[gregszybala]

How did I miss this. You live in some beautiful country, thanks for sharing again.

[Havenhunter]

Two days of steady rain has ended and I'll hit the beach this afternoon. Good luck!