I stumbled upon...

[Knuckle Dragger]

Post your stumbling upon something stories. Not a sale, search or procurement, but an unintended find. Stubbed your toe on a gold nugget in a river as you were hiking, pearl in a clam posing as an oyster or time capsule in a property you moved into, Grandads wooden chest buried in an attic long forgotten by generations. Maybe something unknown yet neat, post a pic and backstory so we can help.

I recently moved from a desert to Tennessee. I’m dealing with leaves everywhere, so I picked up a leaf blower and guess what? I see a couple green and black spotted gems. An oddly peculiar looking fruit or something. I pick it up and break through the thick hull and holy cannoli, I have some walnut trees in my backyard! I love walnuts and can’t wait to go harvest more this weekend and make some bread. Now can someone tell me what type of walnuts I have?

[KMDPB]

Those are nuts from a hickory tree, wouldn't advise eating them. They do look similar to walnuts, I can understand the confusion coming from the desert 😁

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[Knuckle Dragger]

Really? I’ve never seen a hickory nut, but I remember my uncle mentioning them as a treat to find when I was a kid. He was a wilderness guy, so maybe there’s a bitter variety similar to bitter almonds?

[Pyrate Jim]

Specifically, Shagbark hickory. Not really for consumption, unlike sweet hickory.
And don't park under them in the fall. Those things will dent your hood and roof.

[NONOBLITUS]

Those are Shagbark Hickory nuts. Delicious but a pain to get from the shell. You need to let them dry first so they are sweet not bitter.

[KingxSlinky666]

Found an old root cellar on my property up in the mountains when I was up there a few weeks back. Next time I'm up there I'm gonna see about cleaning it out and measure it for a new roof and door.

[Axel]

I'd buy a metal detector just for this. That cellar has got to be close to a house if not actually part of the same foundation. Who puts a root cellar in the middle of nowhere?

Also, what's the writing say? I can't quite make it out from the photos.

[KingxSlinky666]

A metal detector has crossed my mind several times, maybe once I'm actually able to stay there in more then a tent.

I'm not sure what the writing says, just snapped the picture, I'm gonna try and trace it on some paper though next time I'm up there. I'm real interested in any info I can find on the old property but don't know where to even start.

[Painthappy]

Root cellar? That's pretty cool

[KingxSlinky666]

Yeah its about 5 feet deep, dug right into the side of a steep slope just under a flat part of land. Really well hidden by vegetation and the elevation.

[Olsson]

While casually wandering around in a secluded forested area, I stumbled upon a quite dilapidated old wooden shack, the roof collapsed and whatnot. Out of curiosity I carefully entered to check out the insides, and lo and behold - an equally old box of dynamite sticks. What a blast of a find, so to say.

Well, I did the only responsible thing of course - i.e. I blew them up. The blast made the headlines, but this was in 1995. Nowadays no one would have batted an eye over an explosion in a secluded area.

[Seajay]

Was there any rock faces nearby? You might have been near an old mine of some sort, or other interesting old land project.

[Olsson]

Nope, nothing of the kind. The dynamite was really, really old - from the looks of it some 40-50 years old. I actually added some PETN to the load, just to make sure that all of the dynamite would be consumed in the blast.

[Tarsun2]

at my parents place my brother and i would go hiking in the woods across the street. It was a near vertical face on one side and a step-down orchard on the other. it was 10 or so steps before coming to an abrupt end at a corn field. (the corn was completely gone and the grass was probably neck high). leading up to the top, along the spine, was what looked like a Christmas tree farm. (each tree grew into the other which was amazing since the trees were pretty spaced out.) This entire area had been neglected and overgrown for decades. you have to look real hard to make out the orchard steps.
on the opposite side of the spine was a scrap pile of decent size. (old farmer using the woods to dispose of stuff is pretty common i suppose) lol.

the weird thing though, was that after walking up the hill past the xmas trees, along the spine, down the back side, past the orchard, into the filed, and to the very end on the other side of the field, at the tree line was an old 2 seater FIAT melting away. the engine was out, the doors were off, there was no glass left and it was hard to tell where the ground ended and the car began... I have never seen a FIAT in nj until the ABARTH came out.

youd never know it was there unless you made the trip across the field.

i can also imagine someone doing donuts in the field before blowing up the engine and pushing it into the nearest wooded area.

[Pyrate Jim]

Something I ran across but haven't investigated yet.
I'm living in Deerfield valley in Virginia, middle of the George Washington/Jefferson National Forest (big area about twice the size of Rhode Island with only three roads through it) west of the Blue Ridge and east of the Appalachian plateau. An area well fought over during the civil war, with an old confederate breastworks about five miles through the woods up a steep mountain.
Anyway, I'm hunting around the property and came across a pile of stones. Unusual in the middle of the woods. Then I realize the stones are pretty much in a perfect three foot by six foot rectangle.
I'm thinking a grave, but there's no headstone or other marker to indicate such.

Like I said, I haven't investigated further like going over it with a metal detector or digging it up but if it's what I think, it could date back to civil war or earlier.
resquiat en pace.

[Axel]

Fascinating! Would love to see this

[KingxSlinky666]

Unmarked and or marked graves are pretty common in the VA woods all over the state, we would find them constantly as kids. Its very possible it is indeed a grave.

[Axel]

I've crawled all over Gettysburg National Military Park, and there are some bits off the beaten path. Neglected stone earthworks all over Big Roundtop (no major fighting, so not as traveled as Little Roundtop), and a couple backward places where you can find the limestone has been quarried out for monuments. I once 'discovered' the remains of a bridge over one of the creeks at the north end, nothing left but the stone embankments rotted into the ground on each side. Nothing to write home about, but then, relic hunting is strictly forbidden anyway.

[Tarsun2]

the old rail trails in northern nj were like that. only the cement bases on either side of a bridge remain. (sometimes rock walls and foundations next to a little pond). Every once in awhile, you pass a fill station or signaling pole in the middle of nowhere. all rusted and rotted away.

[Tarsun2]

just to add to that, in northern nj (and im SURE in a lot of other places/states) there are rock walls in the woods. they are all over the place. most people dont give them a second look but most people have never attempted to hardscape lol
i cant help but wonder WHO built any given wall. that's ALLOT of work and someone realllllly wanted to build it, took the time to build it, busted their butt to build it. and theyre long too...

[NONOBLITUS]

I need to post up some finds here. This thread is up my alley as I am a land surveyor and find some really interesting things on a daily basis.

[Jonnydread]

Do it nerd

[NONOBLITUS]

Hahahahaha

[Axel]

Hahaha, Lol 😆

[Axel]

By the way, hickory nuts are delicious, and probably the only reason they aren't commercially harvested is that they're such a royal PIA to get out of the shell. My grandad has a special leveraged hand press for hickory and black walnuts made by one of the local Mennonites; your off-the-shelf kitchen drawer nutcracker ain't gonna get the job done

[NONOBLITUS]

Yup I use a framing hammer and tap them until finally they crack open. How do squirrels get them open so easy ????

[Axel]

It's a mystery, but that's why Willy Wonka uses them in his factory

[robertsr]

I stumbled across a complete, new old stock, set of Yard Darts. For those of you not old enough to remember growing up in the glorious 70's, Yard Darts are slightly over a foot long, finned, WEIGHTED, pointy projectiles that are thrown, horseshoes style, at a plastic ring. Of course, the other player standing behind the target ring is cautioned to be aware of the incoming death missile, and to pay attention so as not to be skewered. They are, in a word, AWESOME!!!

They have been banned in the US since '88, and in our Canadian hat since '89. I read once that the average impact pressure at the point was something like 23,000 psi. I found a pristine set in a junk shop in 2016, and paid the princely sum of $19.99 for them (about twice what they cost in 1976 when my brother and I would throw them straight up as hard as we could and then run for the hills hoping not to impale ourselves).

[bored383]

the Tod’s Workshop youtube channel tested them vs roman plumbata. the plumbata were a lot more dangerous

[un2xs]

And nobody posted the song?>

[Meleager7]

Brilliant song!