Well it's a nice drive down to OPSF at 7am on a Sunday morning. Not much in the way of traffic.
Got to the creek and Boy! I have never seen water levels so low in the 11 years I have been going down there. So I dug out my panning tub and some basic gear. Walked up to my spot I used to always hammer on back in 2001-2002 and get decent color. All I got was black sand and lead. Lots and lots of lead !!
I tried dowsing and got some hot hits under a giant slab of bedrock but without tools to move it, it is futile to attempt. Maybe another day.
Got to the creek and Boy! I have never seen water levels so low in the 11 years I have been going down there. So I dug out my panning tub and some basic gear. Walked up to my spot I used to always hammer on back in 2001-2002 and get decent color. All I got was black sand and lead. Lots and lots of lead !!
I tried dowsing and got some hot hits under a giant slab of bedrock but without tools to move it, it is futile to attempt. Maybe another day.
The new picture in the Photo Gallery of the deep wide cracked bedrock, is where the gold came from in 2010. This crack is about 14 ft long, "V" shaped taper and about 12 in. deep. I was hoping more gold had gotten trapped there but I found nothing but leaves, black sand and lead.
I'm going to build a sucker device to work it again later.
Crawling around on that rock is hard on the arthritis in my knees.
There's always next time !!
I'm going to build a sucker device to work it again later.
Crawling around on that rock is hard on the arthritis in my knees.
There's always next time !!
Here is the gold that came out of that crack in November 2010. It was a slow process but I got it done. I worked from Friday around noon to Saturday dusk. I think the pay off was worth the effort. I have another spot that produces similar sized gold on that creek but the water has always been too high to really work it. With the water level being low, I might make another attempt at that spot.
That's it for this update. Stay tuned for more fun and photos.
Heavy Pans,
That's it for this update. Stay tuned for more fun and photos.
Heavy Pans,