Call Ray at MyGoldFinder for lost items 571.258.7217 www.mygoldfinder.com
I received a text from Trevor this past week about a ring he lost on the outskirts of the Shenandoah National Forest park at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Shenandoah National Park extends along the Blue Ridge Mountains in the U.S. state of Virginia. The Skyline Drive runs its length, and a vast network of trails includes a section of the long-distance Appalachian Trail. Mostly forested, the park features wetlands, waterfalls and rocky peaks like Hawks bill and Old Rag mountains. Shenandoah is home to many bird species, plus deer, squirrels and the elusive black bear.
Trevor explained he was at the park with friends hiking in the area and at the end of the hike they had been playing around near a stream close to the parking area. He was skipping rocks across a small pool of water when his Texas A&M ring went flying off his hand. This is a very remote area with little to no human traffic. I explained I could absolutely work with him on coming out to search fore the ring, however since it may or may not actually be on National Forrest property so I’d have to ensure permissions was received to metal detect.
I made several calls to the National Parks organization, including the Main Parks office, the Lost & Found division and then finally to the Deputy Superintendent, who was very professional, listened to what I had to say, asked a bunch of questions. Actually they were all great to talk to and were hopeful the ring could be found. At first I though this was going to go in the wrong direction after the Deputy Superintendent said he’d have to go to his boss, check on the water impact, environmental and wildlife impacts, etc etc and I thought this is going to either be a long process or a complete denial to search in this area. As we all know, state parks are all typically off limits to metal detecting. Fortunately, Trevor had provided me with the exact GPS coordinates, which once provided it was determined the parking area and about a 1/4 mile in each direction is not part of the State park, but is in fact leased from a lodge company by the State Parks to allow parking for the hikers. I contacted the folks at Grave Lodge and receive permission to conduct the search, WooHoo!!!
Trevor and I coordinated to be at the park location during the week. It was about a 2 hours drive thorugh very scenic and remote roads to the area. I arrived shortly before Trevor and immediately got to work, as the water was ice cold, not deep, but very cold so I donned by wetsuit and put on my gloves, grabbed the Equinox 800 and started to scan various areas of the creek and embankments. Once Trevor arrived shortly afterwards we talked about how he lost the ring and their (girlfriend and other friends) thoughts on which direction it may have gone. I got back to going through the creek, gridding in some fashion and also checked several areas of the embankments, no luck yet. After about 2 hours I asked Trevor to skip some rocks for me again and as he did I watched his right hand very closely to determine the possible path the ring would have gone…. and this was the key clue that lead to the find…I immediately went to the far side of the creek to our left, went into a shallow pool area next to the large bolder, then worked my way back, up and down along the embankment for about 20 feet… and there I got the hit! At the base of the embankment, scattered across the edge, a line of some 5-10 pound rocks with heavy moss and in between one rock and the sediment the ring was already about 1/4 to 1/2 deep in the sediment (similar to fish tank gravel). I’ll have to say I was little surprised that in only 2-3 days the ring had already settled down this far, though it is a heavy ring. I’m so glad Trevor contacted me and I was able to recover his Texas A&M ring, otherwise I truly believe that due to the remoteness of the area, the sediment type and soon to be high levels of current within the stream, this ring would have been lost to time, if not forever!
Congratulations Trevor and God Bless.
Keep on Hunting!!
