So, there the winter have arrived with full force. Everything is covered with snow and ice and the ground is frozen solid. A biting - 8 degree Celsius makes perfect weather for starting to clean the pile of rust gathered this season.
​ It was a great ride with some awesome little finds, and some new interesting land to search. It will probably be some months without any digging now, but I might bring the camera along and go visit some museums and bunkers during the winter so stay tuned. I`ll also post updates on finds I made and some updates from the workbench :) 

Today was an exhausting day! Most of the time I`ve been stuck in a dumping pit, trying to clear a small part of it. I started in the usual way, wandering around looking for any signals, but this morning I went over the same little area as yesterday. With the good finds from the dumping pit I cleared then I had to make sure I hadn`t missed anything thrown around it. I only found a few nails, a piece of chain, a part of a M24 grenade and four horseshoes, but now I am sure there is nothing else in that patch of the forest, at least nothing the Fisher can pick up.
Then it was the large dumping pit. There is some timber lying across it so I moved a few logs to have some space to work, then I chose a corner to start with. The top layers of soil was a breeze to remove, I love digging in sand, and then I struck metal. It was a large sheet of corrugated metal, stuck like a wall from one side to the other of the pit. It was impossible to move it so I started digging the side of it towards the edge of the dump, about a meter across. I spent alot of time getting out some long metal rods and parts of chimney pipes and a large piece I m still not sure what is. When I was able to then remove more of the sand I dug out a large zink bucket full of horse shoes and a pick axe and some other small bits. I concentrated on trying to clear the corner and soon there was something large there again. Having cleared away some more sand I could see it was a wheel for a wagon. Large and made of wood, and it is stuck under a couple of rods and the corrugated sheet. By now it started to get dark so in the small part of the corner I had cleared I threw the scrap metal and rocks and filled back the sand over the wheel and sheet metal so it is quick and easy to get the pit started again next time.
I think this dumping pit will be real hard to dig so I am unsure if I will make it before the winter now. The weather report is not looking very good and if it is correct I only have a few days left of the season. Still, it will be frustrating to wait until mid May to find out whats down there, so I guess I am back there tomorrow.

I am starting to feel the effect of digging every day for two weeks now. It feels really good. My face feel fresh, muscles is getting harder and since I also swapped tobacco for a E-Cig the lungs is happier. Although I could do with a day just resting, and maybe cleaning some of the relics, not to mention the sandy floors, I just had to get out there again today.
I went to the area I found a dumping pit yesterday and turned on the Fisher.  First I searched the whole area around the dumping pit. It was a fair amount of hits, but except a Puma knife it was mostly trash, and a few more dumping pits for another day.

When I had checked the area I started on the dumping pit I left last afternoon. First I had to remove all the soil and rust from it that I took out,and filled back yesterday, Then I widened it so I could sit in it and work the walls before finding the bottom of it.  No roots or rocks here so it was bliss to dig it. At first I found a "pocket"in the wall full of the square bakelit boxes for Losantin tablets, I counted around 50 of them in the end, all in very nice condition. It was quite a lot of food tins and cans and one can was half full of rubber muzzle caps for k98 and Mp40 and by the end of the day I had filled the can to the brim. A bunch of beer, wine and champagne bottles and then a K98 bolt fell into my hand. That was very interesting to find here. Maybe I am getting near the place I ve been looking for all these years..
 When I had cleared the walls around the pit I began the work on the bottom. I was pretty deep by now but since it was only sand the job went fast. The bottom was also full of rust and relics. More of the above mentioned items and then I found a speed loader for the MP40 ! An awesome find. A few moments later I had a Mg34 bolt in my hand, also a great find. The rest of the items I am not really sure what is, but I put them in my bag to give them a clean and then try to figure out what they are.
With those last finds I really need to reconsider my plan to have a day of rest. Seems like I need to check the next pit tomorrow :D

Earlier than normal I was awake and brewing my coffee. The new site I had been searching yesterday had stayed in my mind. I had to get back there asap. The rain had stopped and the temp was back up to +7 degree Celsius, but I noticed that the snow on the tops had crept even further down towards the valley. 
 Today I took my time and checked every signal as I walked to the dumping pit. The amount of Iron and Mixed signal was staggering and I walked more on my knees than on my feet. 99% of the signals was rubbish. Nails, bits of fence wire, barbed wire and just pieces of metal, it drove me a little bit insane. 
I dug out alot of the dumping pit, after getting through the roots it was easy, just rocky and sandy soil. It looks like the corner I dug yesterday held the more interesting things on this side of the pit, coz today I got out mostly lenghts of wire and tons of food tins. A nice tent peg almost on the bottom of the pit made the job worth it though.

After backfilling the pit I wandered around again, but I got tired of the fence bits so I decided to go into another part of the forest. A good choice it prooved as here the surface was full of relics and after a while I found another dumping pit which I opened up. It was fairly deep and as dusk fell some interesting bits started to pop out, so this one I need to go back and finish up tomorrow. The first item in it was a pioneer axe head and a rusted rifle cleaning kit box, and between a bunch of food canisters was a mini-hoard of rubber muzzle caps, both for the K98 and a couple for MP40. 
​Now, come dawn so I can get out there again :)

Last year on this date it was impossible to dig, the ground had already been frozen for two weeks then so it was with a big grin I drove towards the forest again this morning. Today I wanted to check a forested area I still hadn`t searched. It was a great choice. I soon was so busy that I completely forgot about my camera until it was time to head back home. I got signals all over the place, and I found god knows how many dumping pits. I used a few hours just mapping the place and digging a single signal sometimes. When I had a bit of an overview of the area I opened up a corner of a dumping pit and relics just poured out. The pit was next to a tree so some large roots made the digging really difficult but around dusk I had cleaned the corner, just a very small part of the pit. Of the stuff found was some nice bottles and a porcelain dish, a few flares, a bunch of K98 casings, part of a binocular and a steel WH belt buckle. While I was walking to the car I checked every signal and one of them was really interesting. A bottle full of 7.92 rounds, all in a very nice condition, someone had to have been bored at some point taking the time to fill them into the bottle. I promise I`ll remember to take more pics next time I go there :)
​

When I woke up today I smiled. I smiled because I heard the sound of rain. I felt an inner struggle against feeling joy over rain, but, rain means no frost. I emptied a litre of coffee, got some food and threw on my digger clothes.
 In the forest I started where I left yesterday. For the first hour I dug only rubbish and those annoying bits of fence wires. One signal was very good and removing some moss it looked like I had a nice metal box or crate. I was very disappointed to find it was no box but just a rubbish metal part. Then the Fisher told me about a bunch of rusted stuff beneath a pile of branches. I got the wood cleared away and tore open the soil. A deep layer of rocks with strong signals under was a really good sign. A dumping pit for sure, but what could be in it??
The first thing to see daylight again was a sharp jagged piece of glass so here I had to be careful. It took until dusk to empty the pit and I made it without any bleeding fingers. There was mostly rusted food tins and alot of broken bottles to find. Also hundreds of parts for the M24 stick handgrenade. The part on top of the wooden shaft to attach the grenade itself, lots of the screw caps and a few porcelain balls. When I had made sure the hole was empty I filled it back and covered it.

Since last evening the temperatures had dropped 4 degrees. When I parked the car in the forest it showed 0.9 degree Celsius and the forest floor felt stiff and frozen. It is depressing to know it will all soon be frozen hard as concrete. I was a bit late today so I only had three hours before dusk. Around 15.46 - 16.00 it is already too dark to dig.  I started off next to yesterdays dumping pit and continued a systematic search. I was not as lucky as yesterday, there were signals everywhere and I tried to dig them all, but it was mostly rubbish to find. I couldn`t find any dumping pits only single objects and lots of wire. The last half hour I made a few finds that was put in my bag, some flares and a small part from a handgrenade, so at least I have some stuff to clean tonight.

This morning it was a few degrees colder than the last days. I also saw fresh snow on the mountain tops. Not a minute to loose so I threw my equipment in the back of the car and rushed to the forests. I started in a patch of forest I never searched before. There was some British trenches and there had been a small skirmish around them in the invasion days of May 1940. I found the positions and searched them and the forest thoroughly. Not one single signal. I wondered a few times if my detector had broken down again, but checking it prooved it was working. In the very last dug out I searched I had two signals, a sink bucket and a shovel.

I still had a few hours to go before dusk so I found back to the car and drove to the large area where it had been a Org.Todt/WH camp with stables and workshops, which I have searched many times. At the first sweep with the Fisher I had a mixed signal and I could see rust sticking out of the ground, had to be a dumping pit I thought. And right I was. The area had to look like a lunar landscape in the autumn of 1945 when they razed and bulldozed the camp. I have lost count of how many dumping pits I ve found here.
It wasn`t a large pit, but I spent a couple of hours on it before it was empty. For once there were no bottles in it, just one broken, but still I dug carefully as you never know when you get your hand sliced. There was a lot of buckles from horse equipment, some tools, a karbid lamp and two larger parts which turned out to be parts for a Gebirgsjager pack saddle, I thought they were RSO sprockets when I saw the first glimpse of them. A few forks and a knife which might be a Puma close combat knife. Also two axe heads, one standard and one pioneer axe. 
As dusk fell I had completed the pit and with a heavy bag I walked the few meters back to the car and drove home :)

Soon after breakfast and coffee I went back to yesterdays site to do some digging. I found the large dumping pit and went to work. Some 30 cm down I found evidence that the pit had been set on fire. It was a thick layer with destroyed pieces of rust, charcoal, bits of wood and whatnot. It was far between items not having been destroyed by the fire, but as most times I managed to find a few items to bring back. I also put aside any pieces of aluminium as there sometimes is stuff engraved on them.
​The days up here is getting shorter and when it started to get dark I had checked almost half the pit. Could be I am lucky to get it done before the snow comes,or worse,the cold. Back home I had dinner and then began cleaning the stuff I had brought. Of the little pile of 7 or 8 alu pieces two of them had engravings, one had some patterns to it, could be it had been part of a cigarette casing destroyed and thrown away, the other one surprised me. It was a "homemade" POW dog tag, "Stalag 2 H 13530" and some decorations on the other side. A very interesting little piece.
Hopefully there will be some new interesting finds tomorrow:)

The meterologists must have heard my prayers for rain, coz the last day and night it have been pouring down. This is great as the soil taws and makes it possible to dig. I drove to a site I ve been doing some searching on, a german camp. During the war it was around 150 soldiers stationed here, and they had a workshop for vehicles in a corner of the camp. The area is full of signals and I had set out to dig them all. I did not have much luck with the finds today, but at least I have cleared away a fair amount of rusted trash and I did locate four rather big dumping pits. One of them was "modern" trash, but it held a pretty kool find, a coke bottle dated 1956, happy with that one.
 I started digging the largest one of the world war two era dumping pits. I opened the soil in one of the corners of it and dug until it started getting dark and hopefully I can continue it tomorrow.