A few years back, I was prospecting the North Fork of the American River, down Yankee Jim's Road. The river was deep and rushing at the time, after a heavy spring snowmelt. I spent hours panning, digging, and moving large rocks aside. I was looking for enough color to begin a "dig", and found my way down the length of a large cobbley bar, upstream some several hundred yards, around a bend. This was the head of a large slick or 'quick pool' as I like to think of it, enough slack in the current to drop gold. The rock came up on both sides, as if heaved upwards by some tremendous force. It was rough and in places ran perpendicular to the river, forming many pockets and places for the gold to settle. Up and over some boulders, I scampered on to see what was around the next bend. As the boulders rose upward, I climbed, until I was very high above the river. Straight below me, almost invisible to anyone else, was a straight drop, almost 30 feet down, to a cave like spot on the river's edge. It was nestled up within the network of bedrock and boulders, some bigger than houses, and was just out of the way enough to trap gold as the upstream rock was opened on both sides, allowing for current and downstream sediments to become trapped. This was the inside of the bend, so my excitement turned quickly into adrenaline, as I pondered to myself how I could get down to the virgin sands below me.. I continued on upstream, then back down, this time precariously perched above the river by inches it seemed. The water was roaring by, deep, fast, and very cold. I hugged the cliffside and continued down, then suddenly out of nowhere the cave was before me. I slipped in, and perched myself on the sandly loam inside. Behind the upstream rock, I dug, scraped and pulled away the overburden. Quickly I hit stone on all sides, except for a pothole (about coffee can size) that went straight down behind the rock. I pulled some of the packed gravel out, and filled up several pans. My heart raced as I panned them down, and quickly they were both filled with black sands. As I approached the bottom, something gleamed at me. I dipped my pan once more and found the most beautiful nugget I have ever seen. A perfect 1/2 ounce American River nugget of beautiful size, well worn by the river, twisted and pounded into a very unique and beautiful shape. I put the nugget into a small sack and quickly finished the pans... Just two pans and I had so many small pieces it would have taken me an hour solid just to collect them all. I had hit a major paystreak on my first two pans!!! This is my secret spot. Everybody's got one. This is mine. I still mine my 'glory hole', every year, just after spring. It has never let me down. All in all I've gotten over 12 ounces of gold out of there, and it's gotten replenished just about every time I go home. Sometimes nature is amazing. I got lucky and found one of her secret places, a place where gold naturally occurs. Now it's my secret place too. Everybody's got one.. How about you? Thanks, Kevin Morrow (Alamo, California)
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