Winter gold in Washington

kikinit247

Jr. Member
Dec 20, 2013
33
50
Western Washington
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
After driving an hour to get to the trailhead, that leads to the bushwhack, that will eventually lead to my favorite gravel bar, I came to the sudden realization that I forgot all of my buckets at home. Doh! I quickly took stock of my available supplies to see if I could still salvage the day and get some color with my new Bazooka Prospector. I managed to find some heavy duty plastic ziplock style bags jammed in my pack and took off down the trail. As I walked I decided that the strategy of the day would be to find color near the only place I knew that would run the Prospector adequately and shovel directly into it. Originally I was going to go to the same place and use BUCKETS to haul material 40 yds from a spot I already know has gold, but instead I spent some time sampling near the sluice site. All the results came back the same. Zero gold. Ok. Time to move on. I embarked downriver to find another site to run the bazooka. Two riffles later I think I have found some moving water with enough drop. As a bonus my sampling turned up a nice +20 flake too. Fast forward 90 minutes. Bazooka is still not running properly. Not enough flow. Not enough drop. Starting to get frustrated as my limited time is being wasted. So I walked back up river and set up the bazooka in the only place it will work. I go to the spot I originally wanted to dig and start shoveling into my 14” pan. Once full I make the 80yrd round trip to the sluice and back. I did this 15-20 times. As the day was coming to a close I visually saw a flake of gold in the hole. I pulled it out and inspected it before adding it to the pan. On the next shovel full I saw another flake sitting in the hole. Now I am digging overtime trying to haul as many pans to the bazooka as possible, but after two I decided it was time to clean out and get out. I emptied the Prospector into my pan. Then I poured the concentrates into a plastic bag to process at home. After I was done with that I went and panned one pan from the hole before filling it in to see what I was leaving behind. Three +20 flakes and some smaller stuff. For a day that I thought was going to be a bust I am pleasantly surprised. I should note that its been rather chilly in these parts and the river was very low. This would be the reason I was so limited in suitable locations for the Prospector. I have a keen a51, but I really wanted to use my new toy.
goldpic1.jpg
The results of my sampling from the snuffer bottle.
goldpic2.jpg
Plastic bag of concentrates
goldpic3.jpg
Total for the day

I went back to this site a week later(Friday). I even remembered to bring buckets! The weather had warmed up and it had been raining raising the river. My hole had been sanded in, but was above water so I dug it out. I managed to get about 3 hrs of digging/sluicing in before calling it quits.
goldpic4.jpg
Here is my take for day 2.
 

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KevinInColorado

Gold Member
Jan 9, 2012
7,037
11,369
Summit County, Colorado
Detector(s) used
Grizzly Goldtrap Explorer & Motherlode, Gold Cube with trommel or Banker on top, Angus Mackirk Expedition, Gold-n-Sand Xtream Hand pump
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Looking good! What about building a dam to get the drop you crave?
 

OP
OP
K

kikinit247

Jr. Member
Dec 20, 2013
33
50
Western Washington
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
et1955, I am on a river north of you. Not necessarily a secret, but I would prefer to keep the crowds non-existent. PM sent.

Kevin, Washington regulations state, "You may not place structures within the wetted perimeter to check or divert the water flow".
 

KevinInColorado

Gold Member
Jan 9, 2012
7,037
11,369
Summit County, Colorado
Detector(s) used
Grizzly Goldtrap Explorer & Motherlode, Gold Cube with trommel or Banker on top, Angus Mackirk Expedition, Gold-n-Sand Xtream Hand pump
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
et1955, I am on a river north of you. Not necessarily a secret, but I would prefer to keep the crowds non-existent. PM sent.

Kevin, Washington regulations state, "You may not place structures within the wetted perimeter to check or divert the water flow".

Oh. Darn.
 

Lanny in AB

Gold Member
Apr 2, 2003
5,651
6,342
Alberta
Detector(s) used
Various Minelabs(5000, 2100, X-Terra 705, Equinox 800, Gold Monster), Falcon MD20, Tesoro Sand Shark, Gold Bug Pro, Makro Gold Racer.
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Nice warm, golden gold to heat things up on a cold winter's day.

All the best, and congratulations on braving the elements,

Lanny
 

Jeff95531

Silver Member
Feb 10, 2013
2,625
4,094
Deep in the redwoods of the TRUE Northern CA
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Alpha 2000
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
et1955, I am on a river north of you. Not necessarily a secret, but I would prefer to keep the crowds non-existent. PM sent.

Kevin, Washington regulations state, "You may not place structures within the wetted perimeter to check or divert the water flow".

OH....MY...Gawd! So...is a rock a structure? Or is it the dam you create with them?
 

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