Hi Doc.. it's an illusion. Here's the way to see for yourself. take a straight and lever 8' 2x4. float in in the stream.Place a 3' carpenters level in the middle. check the bubble.... the stream is indeed flowing downhill, but the surroundings "fake" your senses out. The baseball on the road only shows the actual pitch of that section of the roadbed. It has nothing to do with the stream. Another way... take a laser pointer. tape it level on a level. Set the level on the water with the laser pointing upstream. (do this at night) watch the beam disappear into the water, again showing the true slope. neat area, tho, isn't it? I never checked for gold tho.. not sure they'd appreciate it.. Phil