First dredge trip of 14

[omnicron]

First dredge trip of '14

Sorry for anyone who has been waiting. I was in pretty bad shape from my trip. I came down with a sinus infection that moved into my left eye, on going issue for me.
Soooo...here it goes.

I planned on leaving Friday but didn't make it till Saturday...that happened to be my six year wedding anniversary... but my wife was encouraging me to go and make some money. So I went. My target was a canyon on a well known creek. I had found a very small part that didn't have a active claim but access was not going to be fun...
So off I went, with my Camper and trailer all loaded up. I ended up missing my turn on this very old wagon trail of a goat track. I drove a few more miles knowing that there was another way into the canyon. I did make that turn, drove into this pasture about 1/4 of a mile only to find a shut gate. So I parked and walked down that road looking for the canyon and to make sure I had a place to turn around as I found out I didn't have any turning radias with my trailer due to the camper overhang.

After about a mile or so I turned back deciding to go back to my first choice, the missed turn. Apon clearing the tree line I could tell something was wrong with how my truck was sitting. My rear tires sank into the ground to the axle! Oh #$%$! but then I was ok, I have a 4x4 no problem. I dug in front of the tires to give little ramps. Nope, every shovel full of dirt I took out was replaced by water! I tried to drive out...only to be buried deeper. I cut some scrub brush to try to lay down for traction, it worked for a second then next thing I know both front and rear tires are now sunk in the mud. The front tires about 6" and the read to the axle. Long story short, 5 1/2 hours of being stuck I was finally able to get most of the mud dug out (which by now was to my bumper) but still could not move. My trailer was also buried to it's axle. I walked back to the main road and put my Dewalt drill there and scratched help in the dirt. Finally someone came by ( If you are reading this, join this site and I'll hook you up as promised) and was able to pull me out! I have a really nasty blister on my right hand but I'm finally un-stuck!

So as I said, I'm now heading back to the other missed road. I make the turn and drive back a few miles till I come to a fork in the road. Unsure which way to go, I get out and walk. After about 20 minutes of walking I find the canyon but this fork wasn't a viable way to get down. I walk back and drive down the other one till I come to what looks like the one. Knowing my lack of turning radias, I walk down it to the very bottom to make sure I can turn around. Yup I can but now I have to walk back up 3 miles and about 8% or so grade. Holy crap I'm very tired by now after digging mud and all the hiking I did. I have to give it to the old timers some koodos, they cut this road into the side of this rocky mountain.

I make it back to the top and off I go. I put it in 4 low and first gear and drive down this narrow rocky road, ready to bail out the door any second if things go wrong. But I made it and finally see whats at the bottom.







So I set up camp, partially put together my dredge and go to sleep.
I get up the next morning and finish assembly. I put her in the water, load up what tools I might need and proceed to float it down stream about 1/4 mile to the spot with no claim.
This creek was running high, fast and muddy. I ended up dredging for only a few hours as I could not see due to muddy water and I had countless plug ups. I was always stopping and clearing rock jams or rocks off the sluice that were not clearing. After most of the day I decided to take my jet off and remove all the restrictions from the tubes. My pressure drops but I have much more flow across the box and rocks are clearing. My heater is working good and I'm toasty warm. I did have other problems, like hoses poping off, foot valves sticking and a bad pump seal. Over all I had only 2 -3 hours of nozzle time. The sun was going down behind the mountain and I was tired.

Monday morning...I wake up to find everything is frozen. My pumps, water heater and lines...all froze solid! After several hours, I finally get everything unfroze and start dredging. I ended up dredging for about 1 hour before I called it quits. The water was colder, deeper, muddier and all around miserable. The day before I could see a little at 12" but closer was better. Now I couldn't see anything unless my nose was right there. I had so many plug ups that I gave up!

So I had to pull my dredge back up creek as there is no other way to get it unless it grew wings... I think this is where I hurt my right knee...it's been stiff and swollen since Monday. I finally get it back to this valley and umm..my stomach is kind of feeling funny...I run back to camp and try to get out of my wet suit as fast as possible......................................................
Get it off and start putting my sweat pans on when my bowls let go, no matter how hard I clenched my butt cheeks! Yup I #$%$ my pants! To make it worse, I had to get into this freezing cold water to wash off!

So here is what I got in gold for all my problems and effort, .3 grams (point three)...and my tailing pile, maybe 1 yard?. See how dirty the water is? Don't know if I'm going to go back based on hours ran and gold recovered.



Well hopefully you get a laugh or two, for me, the trip sucked.

 

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[Campngolf]

With that trip I say you've earned a spot on Todd Hoffman's crew.

Too bad about all your troubles. But you get an A+ for the effort.

 

[omnicron]

With that trip I say you've earned a spot on Todd Hoffman's crew.

Too bad about all your troubles. But you get an A+ for the effort.

Who's Todd Hoffman?
Last year with my 4" dredge my average clean out was 3 grams a day...but it was good ground and I could see what I was doing!

Can anyone guess how old that trommel is?

 

[Hoser John]

#1 rule a dredging KAKA HAPPENS. To ease them being stuck blues simply carry some carpet rements to slide under wheels for traction and NEVER STUCK AGAIN. They lay flat or between items to prevent rubbing and take up no room but great traction in all instances. Never dredge muddy water with head under as you are now paying the price. Utilize a 50%-mix of rubbing alcohol and white vinegar drops in your ears everyday to protect against infections. Mild salt water(sterile) snorted will fix those infections also,keep it simple as antibiotics kill off all the good with the bad and NO SUN allowed in many cases/types. Better luck next time-John

 

[principedeleon]

Its best; a day before going out dredging going taking a look at the road, river, weather and equipment. Like this you know what to expect and be ready for it ahead of time and not lose out on limited time out. I learned it the hard way. By the way if you never sampled the area before and this is what you pulled out the first day i believe is good. You are are trapping the fines; try dredging more up stream and looking for the bigger gold. I dredged once more then a mile sampling looking for my own deposit. I end up going from nothing to very fine gold and i end up quiting. i found a old miner who knew a spot upstream from where i was at like 200-300 feet. And there it was a paystreak which we only got to take out about 15 grams with nuggets of even 2grams. Now when i find a good signal even if is fine gold ima sample as needed to know i aint leaving nothing behind.

 

[bill-costa rica]

hate to admit it but i lahghed my ass off, not at you. i have had too many simulars days,weeks and months. would not trade the memories. never have crapped my pants , real close a couple times. in the late 70's up in Alaska dredging the 40 mile had my camp set up. the wife and kids with me. me floated down river about 7 miles. I brought with me a folding toilet seat. thought I was so smart. no more squatting over a log. I could sit in comfort. after about a week there was getting to be a pretty good pile, I was going to need to move my portable toilet. no big deal. well duty called after coffee and I went to the john. my great idea that I was so proud of….. the same one I told my family how smart I was had a very large failure. the collapse was fast and total. I must have drawn a bit of attention yelling screaming and cussing because there is the wife and kids staring at me. the kids can’t even stand up they were laughing so hard. wife turned her back and walked away, I knew she was laughing also. the river was about 50 feet away. had to duck walk with my pant at my ankles to make it to the river. at least Omni you didn’t have a audience.

bill/cr

 

[omnicron]

P... I think what happened was when I pulled into the meadow the ground was frozen... With the sun up it thawed out. We haven't had rain in like over a week. Plus only place that wasn't claimed... Won't jump a claim.

Bill can't say at the time I wanted the memory...lol. When I told my wife she laughed her azz off.

John thanks for the tips!

 

[principedeleon]

Here im used to just go any where in the river i want.. So that might be the difference .

I have dredged in murky water but it sure is scary when you can only feel the boulders moving and you aint seeing them. It sure is risky when you put yourself in that kind of situation.

So you camp on your own? It should be tough going out on your own and plus now owning a bigger dredge since you need to suction , tend the box, unplug plugups and cook.

 

[omnicron]

P, yup all on my own. I do everything. Set up camp, cook, clean, dredge, clear plug ups, tend the box...I work my butt off. Occasionally my wife may go and she'll cook unless its on the grill then that's my realm. It's that American work ethic that make us the world leader! But seriously, I think it's just I don't play well with others....lol. Also I'm not worried about being robbed or anything like that, I carry a 9mm, have a automatic shotgun in camp, I served in the military, have pulled the trigger before against others and will do so again if needed. No remorse no regrets.

I originally thought I floated my dredge down and pulled it up 1/4 or so of a mile...after looking at the map again it was more like a mile or more. That was the hardest part (pulling up stream) next to digging out my truck.

 

[principedeleon]

Atleast you are lucky enough to float the thing to good ground.. I have never done so because the rivers i been to are small and with lots of water falls and rocks. If i had a river in which i can just float the thing around i would give it try. Plus dredging while you are underwater you dont know if someone is outside looking at you or taking something from you. Even your own weapons, i dont think you take them underwater with you or do you?

 

[omnicron]

P, 99% of the people here won't mess with you or your stuff. I carry for the 1% that will but mostly carry for the wild animals... Bears, cougars and such. I know 9mm will only piss a bear off unless you can hit his eyes and I normally have 3 mags with 11 rounds each to get the job done.

 

[panningjack]

Had trips like that before. No fun and seriously wears you out, physically and mentally. Should have met up with me before you went. I have been prospecting up and down that steam for over 3 years. No problem sharing knowledge of turn arounds, areas already worked and claim boundaries. Do you have a pulley on your dredge? It sure makes pulling it around a lot easier. From the looks of how muddy the stream was, you were probably there for the worst part of the season. It's not usually anywhere near that dirty.
You're right, folks in Idaho won't mess with you or your stuff. I carry a 9mm as well, mostly for the animals. I'm headed up to ss the 25th for the weekend. If you plan on going as well I'll be up there to lend a hand if needed.

 

[principedeleon]

Luckly i dont have dangerous animals here or people so far where i have been dredging that could cause any danger.. But ill be sure buying a shotgun though just for in case anyone finds out you are finding gold and want to steal it from you.

 

[Timberdoodle]

Sorry to hear you had such a hard time on this outing Omni. Hopefully the next time out you hit some paydirt. Maybe someday in the future you can look back and have a memory and a story that's as good as gold. Thanks for sharing, wish I didn't have to wait for June to dredge.

 

[omnicron]

Well its a great story to tell now, at the time I was not enjoying it.

Going to try to go back in May but this time it may be on a claim, we got a deal working out for one, and a possible % deal for another.
The first one, we just need to grow wings to get to as they say it's only accessible with a quad, 2 miles from the closest road. May go up and scout before May but maybe not...Going to sample first before we buy.

 

[omnicron]

Robert, I would like to go but not sure if I'll make it. With the water running high and muddy and the fact I didn't recover much gold, I may have to wait. We're going to the first week of May to test a claim also.

 

[Hoser John]

Test test and test more-buying claims sucks as if there really was gold they'd keep'm or the rangers have given the a hastle and your next. I give'm away or just let'm go as a zillion open areas now that rental bs/association claims costs have skyrocketed/ enviro bs/ranger bs. Wish ya all the luck in the world .Take a good GB,goldbug2 or Tesoro lobo Supertraq with ya as then your checking a cubic foot a ground every 1 1/2 seconds with no pumps and hastles,pan and light sluice to go. John

 

[Armchair prospector]

How does anyone sell a claim when the price of gold is where it is? Unless it is a mining widow. Remember always take a friend with you in case you get into trouble. We've seen a few stories in the last year of some that didn't make it out alive. Anything that can go wrong, will. Use common sense, it's everything. Do you think that the dredging moratorium in CA. is in place because we identify as the 1%? Hmm.

 

[omnicron]

The owner is allowing us to test with a dredge. It's only 10 acres, 330 feet of creek but looks to have potential. Cash out on the claim is a grand or two ounces to let us work it and pay later. I'm thinking of flooding the area so we can suck up that gravel bar with a dredge. The owner lives in Utah, has another claim way up stream and may let us dredge on a % deal... All I know is I need to make 30 ounces by Oct...Don't know if this claim will do that but hopefully it'll get a start.