Ok Ok OK  I know I've neglected this site for sometime but hell that does not mean that I have stopped my quest for the GOLD!  Ken, Beth, and I have been traveling around the country side checking out some of our old haunts just to be sure we did not miss anything.. Hey sometimes you just have to go back because it will bother you forever. We have been planning and researching our Heaven's Gate Claim for we would hate to be bothered by Ranger Rick and his Possee. Things are looking great but now we have to wait till July 1st to put the dredge in. (Hate that law)  On our last outing Ken put on his wet suit and braved the cold waters and was rewarded with about 7 small nuggets and one thumbnail size gold pancake. These where all stuck into the bedrock in about 4 feet of water. This my friends is where we will drop the dredge in!  So until then may all your dreams be golden.

Can you recall your first Gold? Well, I sure can. I see it in my friends' eyes and face every time they see theirs. Just that little flake or small nugget can turn a crappy day into a beautiful day full of  sunshine and excitement. Nature took millions of years in the making, carving, moving and depositing that glowing piece of metal in such a vast part of earth just so you can discover it. Your first gold will always have a a certain comment attached to it. My comment was "OMG, it's a monster!" Scotsman's was "Ya gotta see this, Greg!" and Scotwoman's was "YAAAAHOOOO". But just recently I was introduced to another saying by my friend Gold Digger and that was----you ready?----"Ohhhhh, it's so cute!".. Hummm, I guess to each his/her own when the mood strikes you. I've posted the picture below just to point out the physical signs to look for. Notice the posture is stiff with excitement. Then there is the pointing of the finger (just in case nobody can see it). Then of course the ever present eyes laughing, teeth showing, and face-cracking smile. This effect is present in all of us, big or small, young or old, rich or poor. So get used to it, because you will remember it for the rest of your life.

May your Gold glow like a summer sunset.

Nightrider

Don't have much to report except we put in the dredge to warm it up for this summer. Found some gold and a couple of small nuggets for our effort. We are planning many outings for this season and we have done our homework and  researched the areas. This will be a great season!!!!!!


Nightrider, Gold Digger, and Scotswoman spending a day in the golden sun.

Felix Paydirt is giving out free samples of concentrates/samples. Thanks Felix!

http://felixpaydirt.com/     I received my packet yesterday and found two pickers! Check it out before he gets overwhelmed with orders. This did not cost me a cent! Not even a postage stamp! Enjoy and Merry Christmas to all.  

It's foggy as hell as I drove home from work at 2:00 am. Why, why, why, do I do this?! Lets see, I will be home at 3:00 am, sleep for 4 hours, then grab my gear and head up to Scotsman's place, which is one hour away, to meet up with his wife and our new friend, Rezonate. Well, the excitement and the unknown will probably get me through this one I hope.

Ok, so I was 30 minutes late, but everyone else was ready to go, and go we did. Off to check out some more of the La Grange area with our metal detectors. We checked out an opening to one shaft that had opened up by cave in. Looks like they were following a placer run down a small run-off or creek and there was a lot of old style foundations. There was also another person swinging his detector.

This area was pretty well picked over, so we turned our attention to the hillside and its hidden tailings. Thanks to Rezonate's knowledge on minerals, we determined that they were mining serpentine--hummm maybe that's why we were following Serpentine Road -- Go figure, huh? Having our fill of lead and cans, we then took our outfits to an area that the hill floods have ripped the creeks to bedrock. The fury of nature when it is outraged is always amazing to me, for this creek was ripped to bedrock and clean of debris! Just getting concentrates was a chore in itself. Having found some old coins and more lead, we called it a day and beat feet out of there before nightfall crashed down on us. Finding information and meeting a new friend was my lucky find for the day, so with our tired old bodies back in our trucks, we said farewell till next time. 

What do you do on a day off without your dredge? Ya go prospecting for new places! The weather was oh so perfect and the trip was....well fantastic! Jimmy, who is my daughter's boyfriend, arrived with his white 4X4 to give me a little tour of the surrounding sites. I'm damned glad he did for some of the areas would have punked out my little CRV. His information about the mining history of this area was absorbed and filed away for my winter trips.  Our first stop was the Serpentine Loop off of Red Rock Road. The mine we visited was a shallow one with the opening slightly obstructed with layers of garbage, old garbage (hummmmmm). You could see were these old miners were following an old creek bed probably for placer gold. From this area, I could see other mines on the hillside with huge tailings of quartz rocks jutting out of the hillside like snow patches in the summer. I felt my Spectrum Detector start to quiver in my hands, but decided I would learn more from this cowboy guide before I disappeared before his eyes. We drove to another site about 5 miles down the road and my guide pointed out a dirt road explaining to me that it cuts through the five hills surrounding the area.  Well, that did it! Poof! I was gone and hiked in there after saying goodbye to Jimmy. Being that it was late, only samples were taken and a quick scout of a creek bed that was torn down to bedrock due to flash floods. I noticed that all the creeks in that area ended way on the bottom of the valley, so I am making plans to visit that spot soon. Pictures up on my site under La Grange.

 

I'm back from vacation after a week of fishing. Nothing like Mexico to calm you down and lift your spirits. It turned into an adventure when we got hit by Hurricane Norbert. Damn, I wish I had brought along my metal detector for the beaches were torn up! Now I'm back and can't wait to get back into the hills. Too much sun and not enough trees seem to make me feel ......lost. To be able to climb a mountain or drink out of a cold stream makes this mountain man smile. Funny how the stress of work can fade but really never goes away. The vacation always ends too soon and your job seems forever. You look forward to this interruption all year, and then it's over in a flash.

Now, prospecting or exploring is in a different class of its own. There are always the weekends to look forward to all year long (when you're not working them) even if it's just one day. When you're in the mountains looking for gold, it does not matter if you find it or not, because just seeing the sun rise above the mountain peaks with the morning breeze carrying the music of nature just waking up...Hell, that's the best treasure anybody could find! Don't get me wrong, vacations are great, but that is just one or two weeks out of the year. Now, when you're a prospector, you can count on 52 weekends a year, with some of those weekends lasting for three days! Damn, that figures out to be over 104 days in a year that you can plan a mini-vacation doing what you love. Crap, I'm feeling pretty good right about now...how about you?

Day or night, gold always shines.
nightrider




      Son Delando fighting Hurricane Norbert 

Getting back to the hills seems to be getting harder and harder, but with a forgotten day off ( I forgot that I put in for it), we soon were back in and away from everything man made.
This adventure was created by an excited call from Scotswoman, aka Beth, telling me that Scotsman, aka Ken, was too excited to drive and talk at the same time.  Beth informed me of a glorious new place they had stumbled upon. Thirty seconds later, I could hear the brakes locking up as Ken could not take it any more and took possession of the phone. Man, was he fired up about this place. The vision I received was of a valley river with rough exposed bedrock, lined with green stunted flood ravaged trees forgotten by civilization. It did not take much to convince me that I should commence to packing my gear and head out.
Morning came late for me, but I arrived with sleep still in my eyes and the truck was loaded and ready to go. Scotswoman would not be joining us today, but with a great smile, she handed me my cup of coffee and a packed lunch. She then gave us a slap on the butt and sent these two happy miners on their way.
The trip seemed short when we arrived at our turn off, and the comfort of pavement ended with a bone numbing jolt. Now it was 4x4 time and Ken's truck powered through it without even a gasp.
Arriving, we jumped out and I stood in awe at the site before us. Damn, if he didn't describe this place to a tee and the only thing he left out was the Pearly Gates to Heaven. 
We took our time unpacking the dredge and equipment, for it was only 30 feet to the water, but as soon as the wet suits came on, it turned into a mad dash to get underwater. Finding bedrock in 10 minutes and spotting gold in another 5 made us giddy with energy. The water was semi-cold, but running crystal clear. We discovered beautiful white veins of quartz and large cavities of silver fools gold. Our underwater dances pleased our audience of large steelhead trout that wanted to join in on our fun. The day ended very quickly for us due to late the start, but the vision of finding visible gold in the box made it more than worth it.
The trip ended at Ken's house with a special dinner prepared by Beth.  -GOD BLESS THAT WOMAN-  and a quick view of the program GGGGGGGGOOOOOOOld Fever. The clock read 10:30 so it was off to bed for these two old mountain men for work comes early for both of us.   

When you think you have found all the gold in a certain spot, then STOP! Re-check that area! Like the 49'ers, you will always overlook that one small placer deposit or that one piece of bedrock that may be loaded with GOLD! That's why we returned to our hot spot and I'm glad we did. More small nuggets were to be had along with a good placer deposit. Sure, it was a lot of work but it was the kind of work that makes your adrenaline rush thru your veins like a river gone wild. The excitement seems to jump from one person to another faster than a lightning strike on a stormy night. Just the sight of color in the pan will make an old man feel young again. Your hands shake, your mouth will go dry, your head itches, and your muscles seem to spasm in just a matter of nano-seconds. The feelings that gold produces is unlike anything you have ever experienced and unlike other experiences in life, it will last for a long, long, long, time. Next time someone shares his tale of gold, watch his eyes, listen to his voice, notice their breathing, and watch his hands, for all togethe,r they will re-enact that special moment in time when he found his gold. It's funny when you look into your vials, see one of your nuggets,you are able to recall that experience like it was now. The packing in with your equipment, the kind of day it was, the sound of nature all around you, the sudden rush of excitement. Yes, it all comes back to you in a rush! Unlike trying to remember your first solo car drive or your first kiss, the memories of Gold Fever never dim. If you have friends with you, and together you find gold, then get ready, for they not only become your best friends but they also become your partners. You've heard the old mountain saying of "He's man enough to ride the river with". That statement was made in times where their was danger and hardships around every bend. Nowadays, we do not have to worry about getting our hair lifted or banditios robbing our possibles, but we do rely on eachother's skills, experience, and wisdom when it comes to safety and planning an adventure. So for the new prospectors out there, keep on prospecting and someday soon you too shall do the miners jig while you hold your first nugget in your fist and scream YAAAHOOOOOOOO!


 

What has 4 legs, can withstand 110 degree heat, and does not die? That would be Ken and I on our last prospecting trip. So we thought. We traveled over 7 miles on dry stream beds, climbing boulders, and hiking up and down the hillsides, just because we where curious about the way the 49'ers used to live. We found their small dugout foundations where they lived for years at a time in their endless quest for gold. Some dug into the earth as others combed the riverbanks spiking rocks and panning gravel. Being that most claims were only 18 square feet, they as a group worked together becoming family, running flumes, diverting streams, and sinking holes. Living conditions were at there worst.  When available, supply wagons and hunters kept these miners fed (for those that could pay), but during the summer months, the rivers/creeks (like the one we explored) became dry and what little water remained became stagnant and full of disease. Bad water, unhealthy eating, and the constant exposure to the elements allowed Cholera to rage through these boom camps. What was once a thriving gold camp for years, now became death camps overnight. It did not discriminate. Your neighbors, your family, and your friends fell to this disease. It became known as THE SCROUNGE OF THE MINERS. The  miners that survived this onslaught soon succumbed to scurvy and malaria. To battle these epidemics, the camps were burned to the ground and abandoned.  The lucky ones moved on only to spread these diseases elsewhere.  So, when you're out prospecting and you get a couple bug bites, maybe some poison oak, and you're not finding much gold, stop and look around, for the greatest treasure you can find is all around you: it's called history. With your mind's eye, you can almost hear the striking of steel on rock, the loud murmur of thousands of miners working the gravel, and when a nugget was found, the occasional excited yell "YIPPEE!!" that echoed up and down the crowded camps.  Now, take a big breath and do like I do -  just pack up everything into your truck, turn on some tunes, and be home in bed  in a matter of hours with an ice cold glass of water. Slowly close your eyes and dream the dream that every 49'er dreamt. GOLD!
 
So, reflecting on what they endured day in and day out for years and years, this little hiking trip we made yesterday seems so ---- feeble.