Went down to my claim (lots of pictures)

[oragonads]

So last week I went down to my claim. Last year there was a forest fire that went through it and a lot of trees fell over the trail. All the underbrush burnt up so I was worried about the condition of the trail. Luckily it didnt wash away too bad and the forest service sent a crew in and cleared the trees (not for us miners, but for the horseback riders). The fire started about 5 miles below my claim. I camp up creek about 2 miles from my claim on a buddies claim. They said they went and pulled there equipment out before the fire got too far up the canyon. They overheard the firefighters talking about purposefully planning on burning an old 100+ year old mining cabin on my claim. It was a historical land mark. My buddies also found out that they started a back burn fire about 2 miles above his claim (where we camp) and burnt it down all the way to my claim and burnt the cabin down. They started the back burn when the fire was still 3 miles below my claim, a total of 5 miles up creek from the main fire. Thats not the first time they burnt historical cabins down in my area either. Where i camp there used to be a half a dozen mining cabins that they burnt down a few years back.

Anyway, i took a ton of pictures. I will post them when they are all uploaded on photobucket. I was wondering what you guys think of the area from what you can tell from the pictures.

 

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[oragonads]

Okay Boys, First batch of photos, 3rd photo from the bottom. Look at the very bottom of the photo, just a little to the right of center. Perfect face, with limb horns sticking out. Study the face, it is very clear, once you find it.

Nice looking Black Lab, but he too looked sad in his photo. Were some of those puncture hole done with intent. It sure looks fishy in the photos, just don't understand the hatred for our love of hunting gold.

At first I thought someone shot up my dredge but those are the only 2 holes besides the oil and starting fluid. The oil, starting fluid and that other stuff laying around on the ground by it were all in that bucket but the bear or whatever dumped it out. If someone purposefully shot my dredge I'd think they would at least have shot more important parts such as the pontoons. I've heard a lot of stories around here about bears getting in there stuff and going after the weird things such as gas cans.

Also, my lab had a great time down there. I think he wasn't happy there because I stopped to take the pictures and he wanted to keep going.

 

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[oragonads]

Oh, and he is half German shepherd and half lab.

 

[russau]

Oh, and he is half German shepherd and half lab.

and a part of the family for sure!!

 

[Astrobouncer]

That bottom quartz vein in the gneiss with the iron stains is what I would check out. In fact, if you look just above it closely, you can see some yellow in there.

See here:

 

[prospectordamon]

GOLD!!! man you guys have some good eyes!

 

[oragonads]

Okay Boys, First batch of photos, 3rd photo from the bottom. Look at the very bottom of the photo, just a little to the right of center. Perfect face, with limb horns sticking out. Study the face, it is very clear, once you find it.

Nice looking Black Lab, but he too looked sad in his photo. Were some of those puncture hole done with intent. It sure looks fishy in the photos, just don't understand the hatred for our love of hunting gold.

I looked at that photo for about an hour and couldnt find anything that even resembled what you described.

But then it found it , its actually the 2nd batch of photos, or i found a different one...

It is pretty darn creepy looking though

 

[oragonads]

Thanks for all the great comments guys. I really cant wait to get back down there and find some of the yellow stuff. Im planning to take the my new dredge down there at the end of this month and stay until the end of the season if all goes as planned.

I think this picture is really cool. When I came across this boulder it really made my heart jump. That boulder is about 6' long. It really shows how boulders like these create enough of a dead zone in the current that lighter material falls out of suspension and hang back behind it. I have a feeling there is a 1 ounce nugget waiting under there for me . What that photo doesnt show is that all that material behind it is actually built up about a foot and a half above the rest of the stream bed.

Man I cant wait to start sucking some gravel.

 

[oragonads]

That bottom quartz vein in the gneiss with the iron stains is what I would check out. In fact, if you look just above it closely, you can see some yellow in there.

See here:

Im not that lucky

 

[oragonads]

Unless your talking this spot. I quickly looked it over while I was there but I wouldnt be surprised if I missed something. Its very interesting

 

[GrayCloud]

The second batch has four, with one looking like a gorilla head. Getting a little too creepy and I ain't a gonna look for any more. Just keep in mind, the woods have eyes on you.
The quartz vein seems to have four possible pickers/flakes. But we all know, eyes on the ground are far more accurate than on a photo.

 

[Klondikeike]

Klondike here...

As we all know gold is where you find it........and we all know that gold is closely associated with quartz veins..... and most likely the conditions that created the gold and quartz veins may differ from location to location...

In my experience... and I am not a geologist.. just experience of working underground ...working and talking with seasoned underground miners...and searching and following signs for gold....

The quartz that usually contains gold will be the quarts veins that lay between 2 different types of rocks.... it's called a "contact zone".... and when there is gold in quartz, usually you'll see the different rocks.... something I don't see in the pictures... but remember..gold is where you find it....and it could be there... you don't know for sure until you explore it...

In a contact zone.... there will be 2 different ...usually ...different colored rock and when examining the grains and fractures of these rocks...usually they will be opposing each other...rarely running the same direction and angle....on one side the fractures are running in an upward direction...the other side will be running downward...but at much different angles... or they they have the same angle.. but both running up or down..like a chevron...

So when you see some greenish or greyish or redish rocks on one side of a quartz vein and a darker brown or tan or yellowish rock on the other side... you have discovered a contact zone...and sometimes different combinations of these colors....

And remember, this is just a rule of thumb...you're likely to find nearly anything out there in natures world..

Here are some real examples....

In the Trinity Alps of north western California.... the contact is almost always Limestone and Granite.... In the Sierra County area of Eastern California is almost always Serpentine and Dolomite.... In and around Placerville and Eldorado areas... the contact is Limestone and Granite and sometimes Limestone and Dolomite and sometimes Granite and Dolomite....

I am most familiar with Sierra County, California...besides the contact between Serpentine and Dolomite..there will be a usually thin layer of very fine mud layer...we call it Talcum..it is so fine....it's like talcum powder.... When the talcum is on the Serpentine side of the contact... the quartz will usually be void of any gold... but when the talcum is on the dolomite side... then there you will usually find the quartz has some gold of various amounts....

I hope this helps when you are out there prospecting.... it is always good to check out quartz veins.. just remember the conditions had to be just right for gold to form along the contact zone with quartz...

Good luck and successful prospecting...

Klondike...