How Far In Have You Gone ?

[TheNewCatfish]

A prospector friend of mine once told me the average hiker doesn't travel much more than 3 miles from a paved road. Few hikers with bush-whacking experience have traveled more than 10 miles off a marked trail. I sailed a 29 foot boat for more more than ten years, and i met far more sailboat owners who NEVER saw ANY blue water than those who actually made the crossing to Hawaii or the Bahamas. Some admitted they started out, but got scared and turned their 40 foot boat around and headed back for the yacht club. Mountaineering and bushwhacking is no less challenging than taking on the Ocean in a sailboat. How far is the farthest trip you've made in search of gold ? Three years ago, i put into the San Francisco River at Glenwood New Mexico and came out at Stanton, Arizona. It was quite an adventure. Complete with mountain lions and a forest fire in the Apache Sit Graves Natl. Forest that almost killed me. What's your greatest adventure so far ?

 

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[Clay Diggins]

That's quite the trip Catfish. Especially considering the San Francisco ends at the Gila and goes nowhere near Stanton. How much gold did you get?

 

[TheNewCatfish]

Yep. I left the river at the Martinez Ranch just below were the Blue River runs into the San Francisco. Three days earlier, my inflatable boat sank in some Class Five rapids. I know, you're gonna tell me there are NO CLASS 5 Rapids on the San Francisco. Normally you'd be right. But the drought that year had so narrowed and compressed the river that Class 4 became Class 5. There's a little used park on the river and a very rough atv trail that runs about 12 miles south to the highway, (but i'd hardly call that civilization). Looked pretty desolate to me. Took three days to limp down that trail with a busted leg. It was pretty rough. At the trailhead there's a posted warning sign that says, "ATV VEHICLES USING THIS TRAIL SHOULD TRAVEL IN CONVOYS TO AVOID THE DANGER OF BREAKDOWN". After reaching the highway I hitched the rest of the way to Stanton. When I said i "Came Out" at Stanton I meant that's where I reached "CIVILIZATION" and the comfort of eating my fill of convienience store chili dogs. As for the gold, i never reached the canyon on the Blue River where the gold was supposed to be waiting. Didn't seem worth losing a leg. A geologist working for the Morensey Mine said he used to visit the canyon and take an ounce of gold a day out with just a pan. But watch out for the mountain lions. The canyon is rotten with'em. That's what he said anyway.

 

[TheNewCatfish]

Oh yeah. When you put in at Glenwood, you'll need to get permission to float the first few miles. It's part of a Bighorn sheep preserve. You won't see that on Google Earth either. The old hippie lady at the hot springs who manages the preserve is really nice though. She'll send a forest ranger over to see you off and take down your personal information so they know where to send your remains when they recover the body. Don't worry. It's just a formality. The more direct route using the atv trail is also hard to see on Google Earth (as i discovered). In fact, Google Earth is a horrible way to scout ANY destination. First hand experience from the locals is the BEST information.

 

[KevinInColorado]

I canoed 50-60 miles of flat water and class 1 riffles on the green river thru Canyonlands national park without a guide over 5 nights/6 days. Awesome, beautiful trip. Life experience!

 

[707Dut]

I canoed 50-60 miles of flat water and class 1 riffles on the green river thru Canyonlands national park without a guide over 5 nights/6 days. Awesome, beautiful trip. Life experience!

Nice I was born in Moab and still have family that lives there.I just got back from my cousins wedding which was set on the bank of the green river just outside of Moab.Some beautiful and rugged country.

 

[63bkpkr]

I've only made say maybe15 to 18 miles in a day into some remote areas here in NorCal, never did find gold but found a 200' waterfall with some great trout at the bottom in the pools. Does Rappelling over a cliff to get to the waterfalls pools count for anything? Of course I started out at the bottom of a nifty 4x4 trail and that eliminates a few of the folks right there though when I only had a 2 wheel vehicle I walked the entire thing with my 2" dredge.

Breaking a leg 'out there' is no fun, been there done that but sure did add to the "adventure" of your trip gold or not!

 

[mrs.oroblanco]

The definition of an adventure: "A situation you get into that makes you wonder how the heck you will ever get out of"



Mrs.O

 

[Hoser John]

Rafted the grand canyon and heloed in to extremely remote spots. Ifn' ya wanna see some back country check out herbs-Bkpr63 post on this forum for pics of real boonies. Bad part a being far in is--in emergency also far to get out and can be deadly-John

 

[goldenIrishman]

Wasn't for prospecting but back in the summer of 1974 three friends and I did the Pacific Crest Trail form Washington to Mexico. We were a couple weeks late getting back for school but it was well worth it.

 

[TheNewCatfish]

How much do you plan and what resources do you rely on before going into the wild ? I found satellite pictures to be of almost NO VALUE whatsoever. They can't tell you how HIGH the canyon wall is. How deep the water is, or how fast the water is going to be running when you get there. Flow charts and statistics are almost as bad, because these are "Averages". An average flood, isn't what's going to kill you. Seven people were killed in a flash flood in Southern Arizona last year because they got caught in a canyon they couldn't get out of fast enough. They probably didn't know what they were looking at when they saw the dirt covered foam floating down the river. Probably never watched a video of a flash flood pushing boulders the size of a Volkswagon down a creek, or saw a oak tree toppeling end over end down the middle of a flooded river. Topo maps arn't all that great either. Looking at lines on a paper map and looking at a 100 foot high cliff infront of you are two DIFFERENT things.