Seven members of the Jefferson State Insulator Club spent a Saturday in July last summer hiking steep mountain terrain searching for insulator treasures. 

Club members were pursuing tales of an abandoned power line that towered straight up mountain bluffs, with glass insulators rumored to still be on the poles. 

Our mountain road intersected the line just a couple of miles out, and expectations of steep, rugged terrain were fully met. In places the poles were still standing, but the insulators were virtually all destroyed by whomever salvaged the wire and hardware. (The insulators were cemented to the pins, so it was easier to destroy the insulators than remove them.)

Looking down the line as it drops into a canyon. 
The insulators on the pole are broken M-4325's.

Ken Kline (left) and Bill Ostrander (right) show off 
the only unbroken find of the day, a Locke M-4325.

The line contained primarily porcelain M-4325 Locke and Pittsburg insulators. Many of the Pittsburg pieces bore production dates ranging from 1913 to 1915. 

Only one unbroken insulator was found, a Locke M-4325. But club members only had time to hike short sections of the line so there is hope for future discoveries.

Carl Scott sizes up one of the poles.

Carl cuts two cast iron Lee pins out of a crossarm, 
both embossed Locke Insulator Company.

Carl Scott frees an insulator back to the wild.
 The side peg on a tree in our campground was 
empty when we came, but not when we left!

The Jefferson State Insulator Club awarded "Hunt Master"
 plaques to Ken Kline and Howard Banks for taking 
members on many hunting adventures.

Club members show off the day's finds. Left to right: 
Ken Kline, Scott Morrell, Howard Banks, Christa Banks, 
Carl Scott, Mike Doyle and Bill Ostrander.

What about the glass insulators? We drove 22 miles up mountains and down canyons before we ran out of daylight...and the line continued over yet another ridge. I guess we won't find out if there is any glass... until the next hunt.

The line's exact location? A club secret. But, you can join the JSIC and come along on all our hunts. For information, phone 541-479-8348 or E-mail: hbanks@grantspass.com