Long trip.... and worth every mile!

[DizzyDigger]

Days 1 thru 3...

Took off from home the afternoon of Sunday the 28th, made a quick stop about
100 miles south at my brothers place and then headed straight down I-5. Knowing
it was 1200+ miles to Ken's house down in Calif., the plan was to run as hard
as I could till fatigue stepped in and I had to have a short nap, then get going again.

Ran all night, and the first rest stop was in Dunnigan, CA. at what used to be one of
the best, old-time truck stops in Calif. It’s a Pilot Truck Stop now, but it used to be known
as “Pantyhose Junction”. The waitresses there wore shorter skirts (in today’s world ladies
commonly wear much shorter skirts..lol), the food was always lousy but the conversation
was good. Only thing the cooks couldn’t screw up were eggs and biscuits with gravy..and
they sold a lot of both!

This time I just bought gas there, and was feeling a bit sad at seeing “what was” be no more.

After a 2 hr. nap I took off again, got into Sacramento and then headed down Hwy. 99. Made
a stop in Fresno for lunch and shot down towards Bakersfield, taking the turn-off for Hwy. 58
and the run over the Tehachapi Mtns. My ’87 Toyota 4x4 is no powerhouse, and the 4-banger
(22R-E motor) was working hard pulling up some of the grades, but over we went and soon
I was at Hwy. 58 (aka: Kramer Jct.) My friends lived close to where 395 runs into I-15, and within
an hour was in Oak Hills, relaxing on Ken’s back porch with a cold beer and waiting for he and his wife
to get home from work.

Plenty of pizza, beer and memories of old times that night, but we called it an early night so we
could head out early enough to get a days work in on one of the GPAA claims.

Ken and I had both recently joined the GPAA, so before I ever left home we had selected 3 GPAA
claim locations we wanted to prospect.

Tuesday - Day 3
After loading my gear into Ken’s Blazer, we headed out for the Lytle Creek area. Unfortunately, we
were only 2 miles from it when Ken’s truck took a dump on us, and refused to restart. We finally
got it going again by using some starting fluid, and headed straight back to his house for my truck.
His Blazer was continuously stalling, and it took us about 3 hrs. to make the 30 min. drive back to
his place; quick swap of the gear to my Toyota. a stop at MickeyD’s for lunch and we got back into
the prospecting area by about 2:30.

Ken had never used a sluice, so we carried my Keene A51 down to the small creek running through
the valley. Most of the creek area looked like good material to me, so we just picked a spot and set
up the sluice so I could give Ken some tips.



Huge riverbed there, and in most spots it was at least 100 yds. wide. Took a few test pans and found
a few little flypoop specks, so we decided to take material from a dozen different spots and just run it
through the sluice. Unfortunately, at the end of the day we ended up with only the few specks I found in
the test pans, and nothing of visible size in the sluice concentrates. There is bound to be some good
gold left in this canyon, and now that he understands sluicing a bit he plans to go back and spend a few
days just prospecting the area in hopes of finding a pocket or two.

Snow was on the way when I left home, and 2 days later I’m working outside in nearly 90F.

Pretty much exhausted from both the long drive and the heat, I hit the sack just after sundown.

...to be continued

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[vpnavy]

Super story - looking forward to the next chapter DizzyDigger!

 

[Jeff95531]

just goes to show, it's not the destination, it's the journey. Great story & looking forward to part two.

When you consider all we learn, the challenge is to apply it all. Not easy as starting out on a new spot still makes me feel like a kid at Christmas. It's all soooo good, where do I begin? Getting socks never made me give up on Christmas either

 

[DizzyDigger]

just goes to show, it's not the destination, it's the journey. Great story & looking forward to part two.

Ain't that the truth!

There are places on Earth that seem to call out to us, and then call us back when
we've been away for too long; central and northern Nevada will never let me go.

There is something about that country that is just...special. Can't say
if it's the wide open plains and sage, high mountains covered in scrub pine, rocky
canyons, or maybe even the whole package. Whatever it is, it got in my blood about
40 years ago and has never let go.

The stop in Calif. was to see some old friends, and any gold we found would just be
a bonus for the day. Ken and I grew up together, and have always kept in touch no
matter where in the world we were, or what was going on in life at the time. We went
through that "boys to men" phase together, and had an incredible time along the way.
I moved to Washington when I was 28 (after a divorce from wife #1), so opportunities
to get together over the past 25 years have been tough...seems life just got in the
way all the time.

I get writers cramps just thinking about putting down the particulars of even a few of the
escapades we were involved in through those earlier years. It still amazes me how two guys
could have caused so much trouble, but never actually got into trouble..

Believe I was on my third marriage when Ken finally got taken down...and by a librarian!
Now, ya gotta understand that this guy looked like Tom Selleck in his earlier days, plus
he had the "gift of gab" that would make any Welshman proud. Keep in mind this was
in the 70's, and we lived in Orange County not far from Newport Beach, so we'd hunt
coyotes out by Needles all night Friday night, spend all day raising hell in the casino's
down in Searchlight and Laughlin, and then scoot back to OC by nightfall so we could
clean up (as in wash off the smell of rabbit whiz..lol), toss on some snazzy duds and
go out perusing the local clubs for friendly gals. Now, keep in mind that was back when
sex was safe and jumping out of airplanes was considered dangerous. Perhaps there was
more than one occasion where we might have drank a dram or two too much, and woke up
in that most uncomfortable of situations...one that requires asking three simple questions...
..."Who are you?, Where am I?,... and...... Did you have a good time?"

In those situations Ken only asked two questions: "Where am I?, and "What's for breakfast?"

Yep, when Lauriel made him an honest man there were hearts breaking all over So. Cal., and
they do make a great couple. It was a real treat to spend time with them at their beautiful home,
and other than being married to a great gal he hasn't changed a bit.

Couple more pics from Day 3:


This is what the bed of the dry wash looked like, and this was just one
of about a dozen channels flowing in the same dry bed.


Ken checking for a trail of some type that would lead us back to the
draw on the right. Shrubs were so thick we weren't going to chance
the snakes that were sure to be lurking around, plus the terrain
was too difficult for me to try and navigate. The stream was running
along that edge also, and there's exposed bedrock in 2 of the small
ravines back on the right.

 

[Fullpan]

AHH, Nevada - what I like is the outback part seems to get LESS populated as time goes by. And with some experience, you can walk in the footsteps of
paleo man out there - petroglyphs, artifacts going back 10-12,000 years. The enviro types show up on the Black Rock playa once a year (60,000 strong) with the Burning Man festival, but
then go away and leave us alone for the most part.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Wednesday - Day 4

Wednesday - Day 4

Wednesday day started out earlier, and with a lot more promise than the previous days. Today
we were headed for a large GPAA claim up Lake Silverwood. We had reviewed the area
on the way home the previous evening, and had high hopes to get some gold into Ken's
drywasher.

First thing was a complete re-pack of the gear, as the sluices would not be needed and I
had to make room for Ken's drywasher along with all my camping and prospecting gear.
Got 'er done, and after another trip to MickyD's, we headed out about 0800. Weather promised
to be warmer than the day before, so today I slathered on some good 'ol sunscrean 1000 just
to insure my already nice sunburn didn't get any worse. I do have a good percentage of Yaqui
blood in my, so I knew the sunburn wouldn't last more than a day before it turned into a tan.
Tan or not though, skin cancer runs in my family so I erred on the side of caution. Up where
I live the sun isn't a huge concern, as we rarely see it, and even in mid-summer the temp. rarely
gets over 85F.

Back to McDonald's...

I do think Ken should make a TV show, as I've never seen anyone consume so much "junk food"
and still be healthy at 54. Gotta be some weird kind of evolution that allows a human to thrive
on this stuff. Del Taco, McDonald's and several other chains would certainly take a financial hit if he
ever started eating home cooked food!

This is the area we were headed into:







Clearly, there had been a lot of work done in this area, as holes and tailings from other
drywashers were spread throughout the washes. Ken headed on down into the wash while
I got the gear ready, and then we packed it down and got ready to get to work. Ken did all
the hard work of setting up while I did some sample pans in hopes of finding a good spot to
dig. Ran a couple pans, found a few flypoops which were enough to get Ken excited, so we
went to work right there. My lightweight trommel did a superb job for us, and the material
flowing through the screens was at most 1/4-.

His drywasher is nothing to write home about, as he bought it from a local dealer who makes
them himself. Although I had -0- drywashing experience, I do know a decently constructed piece
of gear when I see it, and IMO this was built pretty poorly. Unstable on it's base, the feed did not
work worth damn and had to be constantly tended when running material. Connectors and fittings
were all made for electrical conduit, and while the thing did work, I certainly had my reservations on
it's ability to catch gold, and especially finer gold. Ken, OTOH, had confidence in it's abilities, but
that was based on what the builder told him.

My attitude was "we'll see". Here's a shot of Ken tending the feed, with my trommel set up
in the background.







Later, I took the Gold Bug Pro and did some detecting along the wash, and also working
the sheer walls of the washes. Came up with lots of birdshot, a few bits of .22 bullets and
some wire bits. Still, it was fun to get out and use the GBPro and learn more about it's
performance.

Towards evening, I found this beautiful little cactus that was blooming:



It was a hard days work for us both. Ken was in good shape and Mike was... NOT!

End of the day? We got bupkis...

My test pans showed there was small gold where we were digging, however
I'm afraid none of it stayed in the drywasher. That, or the flypoops I saw were
just on the surface area, and as I hadn't sampled any deeper that might have
been all that was there.

No matter, really, as I had a great time back in the desert once again, and
although we put in the effort the results were not so critical. Would be nice
to find some gold though!

Another stop by Del Taco, and as we headed home Ken inhaled 4 burritos
and a couple tacos. I had 1 burrito when we got back to his place, took a
shower and headed for a comfortable bed with dreams of the next days
trip up near Randsburg.

.....

Day 5 to follow soon!

 

[Jeff95531]

Thanks for the ride along. I'm on voluntary confinement awaiting a FedEx MD delivery that don't look like it's gonna make it. Anyways, thanks for the trip "outside" and better gold next time!

 

[DizzyDigger]

Thursday - Day 5

Time to get this caught up!

After two fruitless days of digging (Tue., Wed.) we headed back to Ken and his wife's beautiful home
that just happens to sit right on top of Cajon Pass. Had a steak and a couple cold ones, and then
started making firm plans for the next day. We decided to go up to the Randsbug area as the GPAA
has several claims around the Garlock area, and I've always head good things about them.

Thurs. morning we were up early, repacked the truck with Ken's drywasher, my trommel plus plenty
of digging gear (trench wrenches!) and off we went.

Couple hrs. drive and we were up near the first claims we planned to hit (GPAA's First Chance
and Close One) and before we even made it to the claim a Park Ranger stopped us and advised
us that the GPAA no longer holds lease on those claims, and we would have been give a
citation if we had already started prospecting. These claims showed as ACTIVE in the GPAA
book, and shouldn't.

Fortunately, there were other GPAA claims in the area, so we headed over to find one called
"6 Feet Under". As we drove back into the canyon for this claim I was thrilled to see all the
exposed bedrock, but we also saw that it had been worked very hard over the years. We
picked a spot that looked good, did a test pan and found a couple flypoops, so we trommeled
up a load and started running material in the drywasher.



Ken was comfortable in the heat, but even after 4 days down in the desert I'm still not
acclimated to the higher temps. Tried to do some nugget shooting but the heat got to me
soon after I started, so I headed back to help Ken with with drywasher.

Not long after, another of my old friends showed up at the claim! Hadn't seen Fred in over
35 years (since he was 18...he's pushing 50 now!), and not only did he take the time to
drive out to where we were, he also brought along some very cold, refreshing . It didn't
last long once we got to chatting and catching up on the long hiatus...

Ken and Fred standing in the canyon:



This area looked to hold a lot of color, and from the past diggings we could see that many people
have spent many hours working this area. We had high hopes!

There is also an existing hard rock shaft on the claim. Once we determined that
it was safe to enter, we all donned our headlamps and proceeded to walk the length of the
shaft all the way back to the face. It has been worked very hard, and try as I might there
was very little to scrape out of any crevice or crack throughout it's length. Total shaft length
was about 250' (my guess), and we opted for a few pics inside the shaft:

Ken and Fred:



Fred and I:



It was getting late, so we packed up the gear and drove down to Kramer Jct. and had
a bite of dinner together. Back in the late 70's, the three of us together had some
incredible adventures, and other than age not a one of has has changed a bit..

Made a few plans for the future, and then unfortunately Fred had to head home, and
we headed back for Ken's place.

I know this isn't the most exciting prospecting trip you've read about, as we certainly
haven't loaded up on AU, but seeing Ken and Fred again was worth far more than
gold to me. Good friends are far more valuable!

Tomorrow I'm heading out solo for Nevada and "parts unknown"...to be continued!

 

[Fullpan]

Hey Dizzy - waiting for the rest of the story!

 

[soupfreak]

Great stories. I had been to the claim up in the Silverwood Lake area a few weeks ago. Sadly it's lousy pickings up there. Also, there was a case of USFS harassing prospectors on that claim, saying it's "Primitive land" or some such nonsense. Honestly not even worth it.

I'm heading up to the one of the claims WAAAAAAY deep in no man's land on Saturday. Hopefully I'll see some good results.

And I did read there was an issue with Red Rock Canyon absorbing those claims. I swear the park service is out of control.

 

[Jeff95531]

Old AND good friends, cold beer, fast food, sunny days in beautiful open country all to yourselves, a shaft in good enuf shape to explore and live to tell about it, no injuries or breakdowns, no rattlers, no citations....saw gold but none recovered. Oh darn, guess you'll just have to go again!

It reminds me of a nine day fly in trip where we caught 20"+ inch rainbows about every third cast. Our pilot got weathered in for an extra 5 days and not only we were AWOL at work, we had to fish to eat. Oh darn!

 

[DizzyDigger]

Hey Dizzy - waiting for the rest of the story!

Sorry Fullpan, figured my writing was boring as hell, and didn't think anyone was following
the thread...

Lately had more bad days than good ones, and have only been able to be on-site for short periods.
I got the pics done as of this morning, and will get this caught up asap. Lots of pics to post along
with the story, so I'm hoping it won't put everyone to sleep as they read..

 

[Fullpan]

No way is it boring! - besides, you're heading for the "big empty" parts of NV. where its always fun to ride along.

hope you get to feeling better.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Hey Dizzy - waiting for the rest of the story!

Friday - Day 7

Off to Nevada!

Left out early Fri. morning from Ken's place, and as I drove up Hwy. 395 towards
Bishop I was again amazed at the amount of growth this area has had in the past
30 years. The stoplights seemed endless until I finally got far enough out of
town, and I was saddened that some of my best coyote hunting ground in the 80's
has now become shopping malls, tracts of homes with endless lines of cars coming and going
from them, and every one seemed to be filled with people in a big hurry to get somewhere.

It was easy driving once I got past Kramer Jct., and the further I got the better the landscape
looked. Passed by a little known place called "Little Lake", which isn't too far north of Inyokern.
There's hardly anything left now, but back in the early days of film there was a fine hotel there
that many of the big celebrities of the day used as a getaway resort. There was also a dirt
road that headed west from right behind the hotel, and it quickly heads up into the local hills,
and many, many winter nights were spent hunting those canyons, and in an average year I would
take 6-7 Bobcats from the area. Year after year there was always a healthy Bobcat population to
greet me the next Winter, and no doubt relatives of those cats are up living up in those boulder-filled
canyons right now. Felt good knowing that at least this precious resource had not become yet another
victim of the urban sprawl, and my sincere hope is that those cats will still be scampering around those
rocky hills a few hundred years from now.

After a quick stop for gas and lunch in Bishop, I took the Hwy 6 cutoff and headed for the
Nevada border. Hard to explain really, but there is something special about Nevada, and as I headed up
Montgomery Pass there was a definite feeling of excitement/anticipation about returning again to
a place that time and progress seems to have simply ignored. Vast open spaces, endless boulder filled
canyons, mountain peaks..Nevada's got it all.

Gave a nod towards the former site of Janie's as I went by, and headed for Tonopah. It didn't seem to
take long and I was in Tonopah before 3:00pm. Here I had planned to buy the food, etc. I would need
while camping the next few days, so I headed straight for the local supermarket and got the groceries
taken care of, tanked up on go-juice and headed out of town East on Hwy. 6, then a quick turn on to
Hwy 376, and still another turn at the Belmont/Manhattan cutoff.

Finally...back on the dirt!

Had driven only a few miles when I had the pleasure of seeing a monster of a Pronghorn Antelope
just standing in the road, and he took off like a batoutahell when I got too close. Wanted to get a
pic of him, but had the wrong lens on the camera and before I could get the 300mm on he was
history. Next time I'll be ready!

My initial plan was to head up the Monitor Valley, but I had -0- cell service and needed to check in
with the wife to let her know where I was headed. Decided to take the Manhattan cutoff, and drove
through some beautiful high country for quite a ways before Manhattan showed up. What an awesome
old mining town this is! Total population is about 60, and after a quick stop at the local pub (yep, they
got one, and it's run by the Postmaster!) I learned there was a road/trail heading right out the back of
town, and it went straight into some of the best historical gold bearing areas in the state. Quick change
of plans was made, and instead of heading up the valley I decided to spend my time in the mountains
just east of Manhattan.

Local folks there said that there were many claims in the area, and that the road/trail went nearly
35 miles back into the hills. Told them I would watch for the claim markers, paid for a beer I drank
half of, and off I went.

It was getting late in the afternoon, and the going was very slow up the trail. First mile was OK,
but after that the trail degraded into a 4WD/ORV trail, and I've honestly never covered so much
ground in 4WD-low. It wasn't impassable, just steep, tilted and narrow. A full sized truck would
really have a hard time due to the tightness of the corners and the threat for high-centering
was everywhere, but my '87 Toy 4x4 never skipped a beat.

The terrain and geology of the area was incredible! Bedrock seemed to be everywhere, and
the ground was littered with all manner of different materials, including a great deal of sign
left by prospectors of the past. Tailing piles and hundreds of old rusty tin cans covered one
small area, and looked as if left untouched for a hundred years.

Was starting to get towards evening, and I needed to get a camp set up asap as my stomach
was growling, plus it had been a long day on the road. Turned one particularly nasty corner,
dropped down through yet another bedrock bottomed wash and as I climbed the hill there was
a nice flat area off of the next turn.



This spot was situated right at the joining point of two lengthy washes, so before it got dark I hiked
back behind camp about 300yds just to check out the area. Didn't take long before I was drooling over
the amount of exposed bedrock and the potential for finding some decent gold.

Also noticed the tracks of a few local critters, as deer, elk, rabbit and other small critter tracks
were everywhere, and there was another set that I didn't care to see...rather fresh lion tracks
heading back the same direction I was going. Followed them for about 50 yds, and this had to
be a male cat based on the massive size of the track, and how it wandered up the wash, stopping
and marking it's turf as it went.

Decided to set-up my bed in the truck bed rather than use the tent. Bit more cramped for space,
but it beats the hell out of having a 200lb. hungry kitty wandering in when I'm in mid-snore!

Cooked up some burgers and beans for supper, and then sat there enjoying the sounds of the
wilderness and watching the billions of visible stars. Half a dozen globular clusters and the
Andromeda Galaxy were clearly visible naked-eye.

GPS showed that I was at 7800', and before it got too cold out I called it a night. Knowing I
would be prospecting this incredible area tomorrow kept me awake for awhile (along with an
owl that wouldn't shut up), but I finally dozed off, having dreams of riches beyond compare!

Here's a few pics of the area surrounding my camp. Whattaya think of the country?






(this was one of the BETTER sections of trail!)



....to be continued..

 

[matthews1026]

Great story! Can't wait to read the rest..thanks for sharing.

 

[Jeff95531]

Wow. Great pics and even better story. Hope you find some serious gold to go along with you're incredible journey. Thanks for taking us!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Keep the installments coming, great reading!

 

[Fullpan]

Here's some pics of Manhattan, NV

manhattan nv gold mine - Yahoo! Image Search Results

 

[doc-d]

Thanks for the great stories.........write more when you can....

 

[OKIE]

DizzyDigger

I don't normally read long winded stories, if they can't get my attention in the first paragraph I'm done!
I almost done the same thing to this thread but you had me hooked at the 1200+mile part. It was a joy to read, keep it up!!
You cant beat good friends and good times
I drive from NC to OK a few times a year and its 1276 miles to my moms house and I do non stop other than gas stops. 18 hours. If my wife is with me on these trips to OK it takes me 2 days to get there...LOL.
I drive 532 miles from Greenville NC to Dalton GA on every Sunday and back home to NC every Friday.

Good luck, good gold and God bless