Random photos: Got anything interesting, unique, strange?

Among other things, I collect pressure lanterns. Mostly Coleman but anything from the early 1900s through the seventies. The weirder, the better. Below is a modified Coleman 242C, dated September 1944, that I found in Idaho Springs, CO earlier this week.

View attachment 274950

These were built for the military and many ended up in civilian use after WWII. This one has had the hand pump replaced with a Schrader valve for use with a tire pump. The correct pump for this is rarer than rocking horse poop, so I will leave it like it is.
I have the phone number for a very nice gent goes by the name of Patrick in NM that collects similar appliances if you would like it?
 
I have the phone number for a very nice gent goes by the name of Patrick in NM that collects similar appliances if you would like it?
Sure, PM me Patricks' number. The Grand Poobah of Coleman Collectors, Terry Marsh, lives near me. We do the occasional bicycle ride and camp out together besides playing with potential incendiary grenades. I wouldn't be surprised if they know each other.
 
Came across this little guy on our morning walk with the dog 🐶

835323F8-D3C2-42CB-9D79-AE77B659BF49.jpeg
 
went two tracking a few miles north of camp Grayling and a few miles east of Kalkaska today. came across a grasshopper, had no idea they were this big.. definitely look a hell of alot smaller when I see them out in the farm fields everywhere else. unfortunately it wasn't operating, would have liked to have seen it mechanically up close but surely a beast of a machine.
8AFA1032-4ABD-486C-87C6-FAAD2D649B66.jpeg


Also came across another bra tree in the woods later on.

7CEAAA7C-BBDF-4B86-B1BC-71F91A2008D4.jpeg
 
Last edited:
went two tracking a few miles north of camp Grayling and a few miles east of Kalkaska today. came across a grasshopper, had no idea they were this big.. definitely look a hell of alot smaller when I see them out in the farm fields everywhere else. unfortunately it wasn't operating, would have liked to have seen it mechanically up close but surely a beast of a machine.
View attachment 276384

Also came across another bra tree in the woods later on.

View attachment 276385
It looks very well supported lol
 
So today while killing time browsing some 3DEP maps of Michigan I come across a interesting site on a large parcel of state land which has around 100 or so Native American round earthworks in the soil. blew my mind they still exist! I found some on the maps elsewhere last year but was unable to access them (too publicly busy to wander around that area, dont want to draw attention to it). I enjoy Native American history so I found this fascinating.

this is what I was able to uncover by viewing the terrain with the 3dep map. sorry for the screenshot but the areas in question are circled in red. the vast majority of this area was untouched by farmers so it appears everything is intact.
I hopped in the jeep and went for a drive to walk and see.
IMG_2200.jpg


unfortunately I havent figured out a way to transfer gps coordinates to google maps or alike so once I found a parking spot it was time for a walk kinda referencing the 3dep image to points I could figure out on a map with very low cellular signal. the closest site I was able to search for was the bottom right circular enclosure as a storm was coming across the state and I didnt want to wander too far in the woods. luckily I didnt acquire a single tick and the woods were very forgiving for walkability with very very minimal undergrowth.

95% of my walking while locating looked like this today Fortunately there were some remains of a trail basically leading right towards the general direction. from what I understand deeply reading the history of this particular area of Michigan these were the footpaths between the sites natives would travel on.
IMG_2194.JPG


eventually after walking in circles and getting very very close to what Im assuming was the big one I come across marshy ground and phragmites so I turned around and kept wandering eventually stumbling upon a somewhat recently cleared section of the forest which made no sense, theres not any access for machinery. I initially walked around this because I didnt want to twist my ankle. so after climbing over piles of brush and logs I came to a very clean clearing in the center. all the cut brush was piled for some reason all around the outskirts of the clearing... odd but made it hard to get to and easily passable. walking in eventually coming down a hill about 8' tall I seen a 8' tall hill about 70' feet away in front of me but the ground was super flat compared to the surrounding areas ive been walking in..... I found it! I walked down the outer wall into the flat center and climbed up the middle and found a pocket inside of it. amazing.

standing atop the smaller center ring in this photo, perspective sucks.. should have brought my drone. but this was what I was searching for. from the center where im standing the center ring goes to the right so about center bottom of frame to the middle of the picture and curves right exiting the frame center right. can make out the ground slopes inward to the right and outward to the left.
IMG_2197.JPG


I felt pretty bad about walking up onto it but I was trying to confirm what I had seen earlier.
another photo after walking down and looking back at the center ring. again perspective sucks but when you walk it you understand. its too big to get in one photo and ground cover vegetation really mask it.
IMG_2198.jpg


anyhow I found it pretty fascinating and look forward to returning to explore some more. fortunately the weather is getting cooler and its pleasant weather to get back outdoors but unfortunately its hunting season and I gotta pick my battles on what time and when I can get back to where I enjoy being when people have been waiting all year to get out and hunt.
Im not a fan of designated walking trails, I prefer pushing my way through brush seeing things you wouldn't see walking on a trail. and unfortunately this is where the hunters go to get away from people out for a walk.
 
Last edited:
Found 3 baby squirrels hanging around my house. Kept an eye on them for a day and momma never showed up so I boxed them up and took them to the wildlife rescue nearby. They were approx 4 wks old so unable to fend for themselves as far as food and with the hawks, etc around here they would've had a difficult time surviving on their own even if they could find food.
1631532304987.jpeg
1631532378908.jpeg
1631532407270.jpeg


We're in storm prep here in Houston so I had to start moving HVA's into the hangars. Just used my Jeep to get around the flightline since I was doing my own thing and everyone else was spread all over the place doing theirs.
1631532619601.jpeg


Jacksonville Jaguars charter... Atlas 747-400. Still one amazing machine esp upclose.
1631532700044.jpeg
 
Well, yesterday I visited the Native American ring within a ring site since the weather had cleared up from the 3 days of rain we had. this time I had brought my pocket drone to get a physical aerial image, a birds eye of what I was walking on & holy wow! fascinating!

Look how plentiful they are, on nearly 2-3000 acres of 95% untouched state land!
IMG_2275.JPG


this is the one I was able to stumble across a few days prior and figured a drone view would be the ticket to make some real sense of it but had been waiting on the weather to participate.
RemoteMediaFile_6553616_0_2021_09_15_17_40_22.JPG


drone video footage I filmed circling it. never video shot with the drone before so excuse my lack of control

This visit I was more prepared for exploring with the 3dep maps on a particular application on my phone which allowed me to pinpoint myself with the gps rather than comparing a map online and referencing where I was on google maps aerial imagery. this software saved me tons of time and I was literally able to walk straight from one to another rather than walking in circles and guessing.
All in all, I managed to visit 7 circular rings and 3 small single rings before I had to head back to the jeep in the darkness. theres so many more to explore. last night though in order for me to access these I had to cross a marshy swamp. reminded me of a peat bog, lots of grass mounds to walk on but 1 misplacement of your foot and your going waist deep in muck.
I did happen to notice many of them had open center rings within the mound of dirt but a few had had haphazardly placed piles of dirt within. some were in excellent shape and others time and wear have wore them down a little. even though there was wear though they clearly stood out from the surrounding terrain.

like before most of my walking from one ring to another crossed a fairly clear opening through the woods that had no real direct line it was going it was fairly twisty. generally though I was walking through the brush on the left and right sides of the frame.
IMG_2260.JPG


an example of one of the centers of the ring formations buried out deep in the woods in the center bottom of the frame, the outside ring was too big to get in the picture.
IMG_2258.JPG


another center ring (the trees in the center of the frame are basically growing on the high point of the top of the mounded dirts ridge) this one was in rougher shape than the others.
IMG_2262.JPG


an unusual straight shaped mound of dirt which was about 40' long in length. this one runs from the bottom left of the frame to the top right.
IMG_2268.JPG


a purple mushroom I found walking. lots of strange colored mushrooms out here.
2950A205-92F3-46EF-A623-E3B7C1E7599A.jpeg



Ive been talking with my dad about this since I happened to stumble across this on this past Sunday. hes looking to get out there in person too to make a observation. its so difficult to understand how large these are without being there. ive always wanted to see something like this in the wild but have never lucked out until now. everything in general everywhere else has been lost to time and destroyed by farming.
 
Last edited:
Very interesting! Do you know who created these and when? What was their purpose?
The area I have come across is a historically very well known largely populated area for the native Americans. honestly im kinda limiting myself on what I say as this is a public forum, sharing things like this is kind of a bad thing as there are people who would gladly run in at night with a shovel and start destroying. there are many known areas in the state here but not many as far as I know that still exist and are accessible as this location is. to answer the question of which specific group/tribe may have created these vaguely, I believe I know based on the location within the state here, but it would pretty much pinpoint where I am visiting fairly easily to someone with the desire and time to research like myself... but they may be interested for detrimental reasons.

I dont have any hardcore background on who built them, when they were constructed or what exactly they are, there were several groups/tribes in Michigan. I have done alot of on and off research over the years and everything I come up with by your average historian/writer always seems to lead in the same direction of "we dont really know, but we assume" category. from what I have put together from reading about earthworks in my state.. and im honestly assuming, potentially the center ring may have been the earth support for poles to create a solid "dome" over top that bark could be placed over for shelter (potentially) the surrounding flat area within the outer ring though, I have no idea.. possibly farming? obviously there is a reason for the shape. I honestly have no clue.

I have read a few times in my searches though when interviewing historians of current active tribes still existing today that sometimes when asked about specific mounds, irregular shapes in the earth and such that it has been brought up that even they didnt know as some of these existed before themself. meaning there were things way back wen that they had found and didnt know what they were but knew enough to leave be.

I do have some very old highly detailed maps broken down by a few counties each per page showing spot on where burial sites, garden sites, traveling routes, mounds and mines among other things are located. but the majority of them are gone. there are current cities, subdivisions and farm lands plowed right over top of them.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: RMETeeJay
The area I have come across is a historically very well known largely populated area for the native Americans. honestly im kinda limiting myself on what I say as this is a public forum, sharing things like this is kind of a bad thing as there are people who would gladly run in at night with a shovel and start destroying. there are many known areas in the state here but not many as far as I know that still exist and are accessible as this location is. to answer the question of which specific group/tribe may have created these vaguely, I believe I know based on the location within the state here, but it would pretty much pinpoint where I am visiting fairly easily to someone with the desire and time to research like myself... but they may be interested for detrimental reasons.

I dont have any hardcore background on who built them, when they were constructed or what exactly they are, there were several groups/tribes in Michigan. I have done alot of on and off research over the years and everything I come up with by your average historian/writer always seems to lead in the same direction of "we dont really know, but we assume" category. from what I have put together from reading about earthworks in my state.. and im honestly assuming, potentially the center ring may have been the earth support for poles to create a solid "dome" over top that bark could be placed over for shelter (potentially) the surrounding flat area within the outer ring though, I have no idea.. possibly farming? obviously there is a reason for the shape. I honestly have no clue.

I have read a few times in my searches though when interviewing historians of current active tribes still existing today that sometimes when asked about specific mounds, irregular shapes in the earth and such that it has been brought up that even they didnt know as some of these existed before themself. meaning there were things way back wen that they had found and didnt know what they were but knew enough to leave be.

I do have some very old highly detailed maps broken down by a few counties each per page showing spot on where burial sites, garden sites, traveling routes, mounds and mines among other things are located. but the majority of them are gone. there are current cities, subdivisions and farm lands plowed right over top of them.
Thanks, I completely understand the sensitivity of the information. I was already aware of the mound-building cultures along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, but wasn't aware of these so I was curious.
 
  • Like
Reactions: reddvltj