Historic Mines, 4th of July and the Olympic Trials in Eugene

During our last 4 day stint in the field in Battle Mountain, the snapshots of life in the early 1900's at this historic mine finally came together. My crew got to witness something that most archaeological crews never get to see...the whole picture.

During these 2 sessions, we have found numerous garbage dumps and structures. On our last 2 days, we found an old track that was used to send ore down the valley. We followed this track about a mile and came across a structure that was used to (or at least what we think) process the ore.

In essence, we put all the pieces together to find that this area was used by unaffiliated individuals who were mining in the same area and sharing the equipment to process their ore.

This is very exciting and I was so happy that all this was uncovered on the last day.

session 2

I spent the 4th with Darby, making the journey from Reno to Veneta once again. The trip is only about 425 miles. It is a gorgeous drive. I camped at Eagle Lake on my way up to save money. No one was camping this year...

We attended a small festival in Eugene on the 4th but left before the fireworks. On the 5th we celebrated my belated 30th birthday. We ate food, got drunk and danced. It was fun.

To top off my trip, we attended the finals for the Olympic Trials for Track and Field. It was incredibly exciting. Watching it on TV doesn't show you how fast these athletes are. What I found the most amazing were the pole vaulters. The amount of strength it takes to hurl yourself over a pole at 16 ft, is astonishing.

I am adding some pictures of Darby's new house. It is huge. They have a 5 acer plot that many deer and wild turkeys frequent. It will look amazing for their wedding.

Darby's house