Coolest Find While Hiking

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Wentzl
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Re: Coolest Find While Hiking

Post by Wentzl »

Ice axe on Sneffels several years ago. Oakley sunglasses near rock of ages this past summer. Happy to return if anyone can identify.
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BColo
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Re: Coolest Find While Hiking

Post by BColo »

In August I was descending from the CDT to Iceberg Lakes, then toward Clayton Lake when I found this door. I'm not exactly sure what crash this was from, best guess is the Beechcraft C35 that went down 8 mi west of Rollinsville in August of 2010. Very sad that three lives were lost in the crash. When I saw this I paused and paid my respects.
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Scott P
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Re: Coolest Find While Hiking

Post by Scott P »

On a peak in Utah, found an old register dating back to 1910 and 1911. There were no other signatures since then.

I also found an old lantern near where the logging was done for the transcontinental railroad in the 1860's.

In the San Rafael Swell my bother and I as kids found some cool flat rocks that we took home. Years later one was accidentally broke open and showed a perfectly preserved fish.

On Duffy Mountain in Colorado I found a fossil of a sea animal. I didn't know what kind of animal it was from so I sent it to the University of Utah paleaontological department. They didn't know what it was and sent photos of it all over the place. Last I heard no one was able to identify it, but I haven't heard or followed up in a while.
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Re: Coolest Find While Hiking

Post by bking14ers »

I thought this was a cool find/discovery. My friend and I were hiking up the trail to climb Mt. Sopris last fall and as we approached Thomas Lake we could here a slurping sound near the edge of the water. I went over and investigated what was causing it. There was and old wooden water pipe that water was flowing into and going somewhere. The slurping sound was caused by a hole in the pipe and the lake was very low. I've seen pipe like this before on display in museums and its from the 1800's. I figured Thomas Lake may have been a water supply for a town near Mt. Sopris. Does anyone know if there was one near there?
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Beekman
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Re: Coolest Find While Hiking

Post by Beekman »

1991 - San Juan Mountains - found a nice sitting rock on a hillside that was used to knapp flint. There was a stash of flakes and broken arrow heads at the base of the rock

1993 - San Juan Mountains off trail found a wallet with $1,700 in it. Long story short we found out it had fallen from a helicopter, the owner was deceased and we got to keep the money.

1996 - Dinosaur National Monument - I was present when the forest rangers found an intact native american head dress.

2011 - Montezuma Road - found a shelter used for rituals including a bleeding table and animal carcasses
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LURE
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Re: Coolest Find While Hiking

Post by LURE »

bking14ers wrote:I thought this was a cool find/discovery. My friend and I were hiking up the trail to climb Mt. Sopris last fall and as we approached Thomas Lake we could here a slurping sound near the edge of the water. I went over and investigated what was causing it. There was and old wooden water pipe that water was flowing into and going somewhere. The slurping sound was caused by a hole in the pipe and the lake was very low. I've seen pipe like this before on display in museums and its from the 1800's. I figured Thomas Lake may have been a water supply for a town near Mt. Sopris. Does anyone know if there was one near there?
Hmm that's interesting. Thomas Lake(s) doesn't seem to have any irrigation or supply water rights associated with it. That pipe probably shouldn't be there, especially as there are environmental water rights associated with Thomas Lakes. Probably just an old miners structure that got overlooked? Either that or someone is currently using it. In either case, I'm pretty confident it shouldn't be there.

Was it by chance taking water between the lakes?
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Re: Coolest Find While Hiking

Post by wildlobo71 »

I'm sure others have spotted this but this block is on the ridge west of Humboldt saddle hiking towards Obstruction Peak and Columbia Point.
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Re: Coolest Find While Hiking

Post by kaiman »

bking14ers wrote:I thought this was a cool find/discovery. My friend and I were hiking up the trail to climb Mt. Sopris last fall and as we approached Thomas Lake we could here a slurping sound near the edge of the water. I went over and investigated what was causing it. There was and old wooden water pipe that water was flowing into and going somewhere. The slurping sound was caused by a hole in the pipe and the lake was very low. I've seen pipe like this before on display in museums and its from the 1800's. I figured Thomas Lake may have been a water supply for a town near Mt. Sopris. Does anyone know if there was one near there?
I believe this was a water system set up by prospectors a century ago and possibly also used later by ranchers running cattle along East Sopris Creek and out towards the Haypark/Capitol Creek drainages. Much of the current Thomas Lakes Trail follows an old wagon road to the base of Mount Sopris, and if you look closely in the areas between lower and upper Thomas Lakes, there are remnants of miners cabins still visible in the trees. Over the years, I've also come across old tin cans, and other small metal objects etc. from that era while camped up there. They also did a bunch of logging at the top of Haypark at the turn of the century and could have possibly used that water to power a sawmill or other equipment, although it is more probable that they used some of the streams further east for any of those kinds of activities.

Kai
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RhodoRose
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Re: Coolest Find While Hiking

Post by RhodoRose »

Toss-up between an assortment of fossil shells and a piece of a crinoid stem (near Hartsel, CO); or some gorgeous 4-6" smoky quartz crystals literally laying on the ground at my feet (Lost Creek Wilderness). Both very cool! :-D
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Re: Coolest Find While Hiking

Post by Eli Boardman »

Secrets.

Of the land, of myself...
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Re: Coolest Find While Hiking

Post by bking14ers »

kaiman wrote:
bking14ers wrote:I thought this was a cool find/discovery. My friend and I were hiking up the trail to climb Mt. Sopris last fall and as we approached Thomas Lake we could here a slurping sound near the edge of the water. I went over and investigated what was causing it. There was and old wooden water pipe that water was flowing into and going somewhere. The slurping sound was caused by a hole in the pipe and the lake was very low. I've seen pipe like this before on display in museums and its from the 1800's. I figured Thomas Lake may have been a water supply for a town near Mt. Sopris. Does anyone know if there was one near there?
I believe this was a water system set up by prospectors a century ago and possibly also used later by ranchers running cattle along East Sopris Creek and out towards the Haypark/Capitol Creek drainages. Much of the current Thomas Lakes Trail follows an old wagon road to the base of Mount Sopris, and if you look closely in the areas between lower and upper Thomas Lakes, there are remnants of miners cabins still visible in the trees. Over the years, I've also come across old tin cans, and other small metal objects etc. from that era while camped up there. They also did a bunch of logging at the top of Haypark at the turn of the century and could have possibly used that water to power a sawmill or other equipment, although it is more probable that they used some of the streams further east for any of those kinds of activities.

Kai
I was wondering if it was used for a mining operation in that area years ago. That water pipe would have been state-of-the-art back in the 1800's, and very expensive for a small mining operation or ranch to get hold of. I think it's incredible that after well over 100 years its still doing its job that it was made for, carrying water to someplace.
Everything you want in life is on the other side of fear. -- Margaret T.
You'll never have a better chance to climb that mountain than you do today. -- Dave C.
Dude! I knew you would cave-in once we got up there. -- Dean G.
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Re: Coolest Find While Hiking

Post by bking14ers »

LURE wrote:
bking14ers wrote:I thought this was a cool find/discovery. My friend and I were hiking up the trail to climb Mt. Sopris last fall and as we approached Thomas Lake we could here a slurping sound near the edge of the water. I went over and investigated what was causing it. There was and old wooden water pipe that water was flowing into and going somewhere. The slurping sound was caused by a hole in the pipe and the lake was very low. I've seen pipe like this before on display in museums and its from the 1800's. I figured Thomas Lake may have been a water supply for a town near Mt. Sopris. Does anyone know if there was one near there?
Hmm that's interesting. Thomas Lake(s) doesn't seem to have any irrigation or supply water rights associated with it. That pipe probably shouldn't be there, especially as there are environmental water rights associated with Thomas Lakes. Probably just an old miners structure that got overlooked? Either that or someone is currently using it. In either case, I'm pretty confident it shouldn't be there.

Was it by chance taking water between the lakes?
I guess its possible to have been placed there to take water to some other lake, if that's what they used to do years ago. I really don't think its being used for anything anymore. Normally it would have been covered over by a higher water level and out of sight. But for me (a water guy) I thought it was cool.
Everything you want in life is on the other side of fear. -- Margaret T.
You'll never have a better chance to climb that mountain than you do today. -- Dave C.
Dude! I knew you would cave-in once we got up there. -- Dean G.
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