Going South..

[DizzyDigger]

Packing up to leave Sunday morning on a 10 day trip down to So. Cal.,
and will be working a private claim plus a couple club claims out by
Coolgardie.

My buddy that lives there has been working an area that he's now claimed,
and it's been producing quite well for him these last few months. Nothing
to get over-excited about, but he's averaging 1-2 grams a day in just a
few hours of dry washing.

Easy drive, really, as it's about 1250 miles straight down I-5, switching
to I-15 to get to his place in Hesperia. I could take Hwy. 99 down from
Sacramento but don't care much for that road, so instead I'll just
stay on I-5 all the way down to Hwy. 58, then across the Tehachapies
to 395.

Weather is going to be nice and warm....30's and 40's here, so anywhere
in the 60's is a heat wave..lol.

Might have a few extra days on the trip home, and would love to do some
nugget shooting up in Nor. Cal., but would most definitely need a guide
along to point me in the right direction.

 

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[425jesse]

That awesome Mike! Have a blast!

 

[goldenIrishman]

Hey Mike!
If you haven't been to Hesperia before you'll like it. It's right on the edge of the "High Desert" so it can get both windy and cold at night so bring some warm stuff to wear. I used to go packing near there at Deep Creek before they closed that area off to overnight camping. I haven't worked that area but know a lot of guys that have and they always had pretty good reports when they got back.

There's an area near there that I always wanted to prospect but it's right in the middle of Ft. Irwin. The formations and geology are begging to be tested but with my luck I'd hit some unexploded ammo and blow myself ta smithereens!

 

[AzViper]

Mike enjoy your next 10 days of mining and be safe. Hope you have a good time and you end up with heavy pans...

 

[DizzyDigger]

Hey Mike!
If you haven't been to Hesperia before you'll like it. It's right on the edge of the "High Desert" so it
can get both windy and cold at night so bring some warm stuff to wear. I used to go packing near
there at Deep Creek before they closed that area off to overnight camping. I haven't worked that
area but know a lot of guys that have and they always had pretty good reports when they got back.

There's an area near there that I always wanted to prospect but it's right in the middle of Ft. Irwin.
The formations and geology are begging to be tested but with my luck I'd hit some unexploded ammo
and blow myself ta smithereens!

I agree...Ft. Irwin might take a dim view of your prospecting around their unexploded ordinance..

Know the area well around Hesperia, as I grew up in what used to be a small
town called Yorba Linda. Now I hear it's a booming metropolis. Hunted all over the
desert areas of Ca., Az and Nev. for a bunch of years, and then moved up here to
the Pac. NW in '87. Ken actually lives in Oak Hills (right at the top of Cajon Pass),
but I reference Hesperia as it's the closest town of any size.

Hopefully, I'll be bringing a dry washer of my own back home with me. Been wanting
to get the smaller sized Royal, and Ken will be stopping at the Royal factory next
Monday (before I arrive, of course..). Now, whether I come home with
his current DW (Bowleg) or the Royal is yet to be determined.

Az: Plan to bring home a few buckets of con's to keep me (and the table) busy for a
bit. Most of the gold he's finding is #20-#30 mesh size, so I'll pan some and run the
rest on the miller table.

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

Hope it a great trip! Keep us updated and show of some pictures...

 

[goldenIrishman]

Yeah... I know both Yorba Linda and Oak Hills. I spent a lot of time out there with my great Uncle when I was a kid. He lived in San Berdoo but was a major desert rat. While I was in the Army, they sent us out to Ft. Irwin from Ft Hood for three months of desert warfare training. I loved it out there even if the actual base was so small if ya blinked ya missed it. I've heard that it's grown a lot since they made it into the National Training Center. I can think of several ridges that you wouldn't (or maybe SHOULDN'T) need to be EOD qualified to prospect. Still the Army is rather picky about civilians playing on their turf. Even if you are a vet.

Good luck out there and bring back some nice nuggies!

 

[DizzyDigger]

Most nights I'll be staying at Ken's place, as we'll be going hard at it
from early till late. I'm packing the Nikon and tripod, and should have
time to shoot a few pics each day, and then I can post them to the
site from my laptop.

I've worked very hard, and for many years just to scrape up the small
amount of gold I have (about a gram), but then the gold is so small
and fine up here it takes a lot of it to amount to anything. The flakes
he's getting appear to have some mass to them, and I'll be watching
for that first picker to pop up! Don't know about nuggets as I'm still
looking for my first real picker, but to find a nice gram+ nugget would
make my year..

Hardest part now is just staying busy till I leave on Sunday. Knowing
how I like to travel, there won't be many naps taken along the way. 24 hrs.
of driving should put me into his place about noon on Monday, and by Tues.
morning we'll be ripping it up out on his claim...

 

[DizzyDigger]

The damn anticipation is driving me nuts..feel like I need to get on the road!

When I went down there earlier this year, I came home skunked. Well, that's
not gonna happen this time around! We'll be running two drywashers, side by
side, and if the digging is as easy as Ken says it is, we should be able to keep
a constant flow of classified material rolling across both units.

the old Toyota 4x4 is all tuned up and ready to go, gear is packed (and repacked)
and now I'm running out of YouTube drywashing video's to watch. Sunday can't
come soon enough!