Prepping in the outdoors now that spring has sprung.
Spring has sprung. This is the time when preppers can get outdoors and practice their skills. Mud season has dried up enough that Lucy and I can get back outside and enjoy the San Luis Valley countryside.
Part of how the guys at ML Mines survives comes from prospecting and seeing what the land has to offer in the way of buried treasures. CH is big into metal detecting around long time established properties and hunting for coins circa 1800’s.
Rock hounding is a big pastime
My brothers Jethro and Paco along with Chico are rock hounds who like to go digging in the Antero Mountains. We enjoy hunting for gold, silver and precious stones like smokey quartz, Agate, and Aqura Marine
I like to get out and work on my land navigation and orienteering skills. Skills learned from You Tube’s Far North Bushcrafting, Survival Russia and Shawn of the Wild. I also spend a lot of time looking for evidence of Native America past activity like arrowheads.
Trespassing is a Big No
First most important thing is to have Permission to be on the mining claim or property that your at. I emphasize this because this is the most common complaint I hear from people. In this neck of the woods and they will Prosecute you for Trespassing. Most of the time you will probably be armed so the trespassing charge will be a Felony.
I normally take Lucy Tdog as my eyes and ears to alert me in case of approaching trouble. I also and carry a Smith Wesson .38 revolver in my pocket should trouble arrive. The first two rounds are snake shot.
Prior preparation for a local trip around the base camp we research pending and future weather conditions, pack a light snack, water and appropriate clothing. Weather changes pretty quick out here so It pays to plan ahead.
The Colorado Geological website provides description and history of the arrowheads made by Native Americans providing pictures so you can see what what you are looking for.
Arrowheads are common finds
Typical arrowheads were made out of Jasper, Goethite and chalcedony materials with the maker selecting a suitable stone and then striking a harder material like deer antlers against the stone to flake away excess material and make a cutting edge.
Its cool when Chico finds an old coin or rifle cartridge from the 1800’s but the neat thing about hunting for arrowheads is learning about the Paleolithic Period and realizing the person who made, used the arrowhead you found has not been around for over several thousand years years. Most of the points I have found were used for small game hunting
Finding something that has survived the elements native craftsmanship the would make any prepper proud. Now that spring has sprung, get back out side with your water purification bottle and a granola bar and start exploring the New World like the original inhabitants did you will enjoy the experience.
As always be safe and healthy my friends.
Ralph Tcat.
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