Bedrock and Gold: The mysteries . . .

[delnorter]

It's always great to hear you folks tell of gold and other life's stories. I thought I'd share one particular time concerning bees and such.

I worked for many years for a land surveying and aerial mapping company throughout the northwest USA based here in Crescent City, California.

In the land survey side of the business we performed many retracement surveys of the original cadastral surveys separating public and private land and often had encounters with our local hot shot bees, the yellow jacket. One such survey was a very large project over in the Happy Camp, California area.

This particular job, in very rugged country, often required us to hike long distances to begin the next days work where we left off the previous day. Towards the end of one hot summer day, (Happy Camp can be a real hot place in the summer) the "boss", owner of the company, was with us and was operating the total station (survey instrument) when he disturbed a nest of yellow jackets right next to the setup.

In our typical survey crew at the time, there was generally a lead chainman (rod man)pioneering the next setup, a rear chainman setting a backsight, the instrument man and one or more machete or chain saw men. The lead chainman had already gone by this spot without annoying the little buggers and the boss then completed setting up the tripod and instrument without bothering them. This was late in the afternoon and was to be the last setup of the day. We would occupy this point, bush out as far as we could within sight of the instrument and set the first point to be occupied the next day.

These types of surveys for the federal government required us to clear a path roughly 4' wide, on the true boundary line, of everything to ground level, smaller than, if I remember right, 6" in diameter. We then chopped a particular series of blazes on trees within an arms length of line, painted them bright red (so the forest service wouldn't get lost) and set the appropriate monuments at the corners. A lot of chopping, sawing and general commotion. If yellow jackets were around they found us.

Yellow jackets seem to take a dislike to certain people more than others. I don't know if it's a persons odor or what but some guys just got stung more than others. We also noticed if one guy was being chased by a heard of YJs you could often just step off the line we had cleared and they would chase only the original guy running. Another curious thing seamed to be the wearing of bright colors. We wore bright orange vests. These are often used for safety in more urban areas, but out in the woods it was more to see each other over long distances or through thick brush and timber. The guys running the chain saws or machete would sometimes take off their vests because of the heat. The "bees" would usually go after the guys wearing the bright orange vests.

Well, on this particular summer day, the lead chainman found a good spot and set a hub for the next days starting point and headed back to the rest of us for the hike out. We generally left all of the equipment, except for the total station, in the woods for the night. If possible we would use a rope to lift the tripod, cans of red spray paint, saw gas and bar oil up a tree to prevent bears from chewing the hell out of everything. By the way, do you know, bears think bar oil is honey? Then there is the cans of bright red spray paint. What a mess if the bear got one of them. Red paint everywhere and a bright trail where they ran off with it. I never did see one of these red phase bears. I imagine it was kind of like racing stripes along each side from the mouth back.

Any way, lead chainman returns, every one is loading their backpacks for the hike out and the boss heads over to take the instrument off the tripod and load it into a pack. All hell breaks out. A ground nest of yellow jackets explodes and stings everyone as recall. The boss is next to the tripod and instrument doing the fandango, brushing yellow jacket off. This was a lot of bees and they were really po'd. Back down the line a ways we group up, brushed off the remaining bees and decided to head back to camp, leaving everything but a couple backpacks where it was, including the instrument still on the tripod.

Well that night the boss seems to recall that yellow jackets don't become active below a certain temperature. I don't recall what temperature, but I think it was 47 ' F. To make matters worse the boss has lost his rather expensive wrist watch in all the chaos.

The mornings are sometimes quite cool in the mountains, so we all head out early the next day for the hike back in. It's a few degrees under whatever this activity level was and arrive with a degree or so to go. The plan is to sneak up and pour saw gas down the hole to the underground nest. Gas does them in if you get it in the hole.

Well, this was the bosses bright idea so it's him who gets the honor of administering the gas. Being still cool, we all get within seeing distance of the "hole". It's a thing of beauty, the bosses watch is perfectly surrounding the "hole". Behind the boss we are all smiling and quietly giving a few elbows to each other. He turns around and we are all serious and sympathetic.

In the older days you generally had a thermometer along to record temperatures for making later adjustments to long distance measurements. The boss takes a quick look at the thermometer, still a degree to go. He makes the sneak on the "hole", raises the gas can for the pour and Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! He got the living daylights stung out of him. Like someone said, it's probably not nice to laugh at another guys misery but this was a something to see. A real demonstration of how a man can move. He came up dancing the fandango, slapping and swatting. He starts to take off running but bumps the tripod tipping it over with the instrument still on it. We know this is not going to be good if the instrument hits the ground, we are serious now, and through all the pain the boss knows it too. He takes a second or two stabilizing the tripod (a good man) and takes off down the line. The instrument is saved and we being well learned students of yellow jackets just step off the line.

Stomp, jump, slap and Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, right by us. None of us could recall the boss making a sound or moving that fast before. I don't think it's manly to holler, scream or cry in this situation. This may be a boss thing. The bees eventually went back to their hole, quite a few keeping watch just outside for any more problems. It's actually pretty nice and quiet while we take a break. Morning in the mountains can be real nice.


Well, what to do now. If the yellow jackets are not taken care of, no work, no pay. The boss is petty roughed up and he's not going back in. We have a relatively new young guy on the crew that can run a chain saw in one hand and a machete in the other. He can carry a pretty heavy load too. With a little pressure from his coworkers, a few promises of food and the assurance that the boss would be forever grateful he heads in with the gas. He walks right up to the hole, pours the gas in the hole, grabs the bosses watch, brushes off a few of the bees stinging him and walks back to us, a hero.


Many times after this experience there was the occasional remark on cool work mornings about the temperature and at what degree yellow jackets become active. For a long time the boss didn't think this was very funny but he came around with time. They say time heals all wounds, even all the stings of a large yellow jacket nest I guess.


Remember I said bears think bar oil is honey? Yep, in all the chaos, that days remaining gas and bar oil was left on the ground. Brother bear came in the night and had saw gas for dinner and honey for desert. Our brave young coworker poured all the saw gas we brought in that morning down the bee hole. It was a long day of machete work but ya, it was worth it. Boy could that kid work a machete.


Mike
Joe?s Cabin Vacation Rental in the heart of Redwood Country

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[Lanny in AB]

Thanks Terry!

All the best,

Lanny

[Lanny in AB]

Mike,

That's a great little story. I really enjoyed it. I've had quite a few run-ins with the bears over the years, and they'll eat just about anything, or chew on it first to check it out. Your story was an interesting, fun read. Nicely done.

All the best,

Lanny

[Lanny in AB]

Out of the slump.

A buddy of mine has a wonderful claim that is quite unique. Nuggets can be found right on the surface, genuine sunbakers, or down in irregular pay layers; however, what makes this ground unique is the way Nature deposited the gold. Those sassy nuggets were blown out in a huge glacial gush from a massive natural dam created by the Ice Age. Moreover, when the cataclysm occurred, gigantic boulders tore downstream with the explosion of ice, rock and water, and after the turmoil was over, the gold came to rest among the jumble of boulders, and huge sections of bedrock torn loose from bedrock rims far upstream.

Now, in the old days, the sourdoughs worked that ground the best they could, but there were very few places where it was shallow to bedrock, on exposed rims only, as most of the deposition occurred where it was deep down to bedrock, never mind the complications of sometimes room-sized boulders that barred the way.

In the ‘30’s, some enterprising miners brought in a steam shovel and windrowed their way through the rocks. They mined strips between the behemoths wherever navigation was possible, but they were far from able to work all of the pay. In fact, when people first began detecting the area, numerous nuggets rested on the tops of the boulders, cradled there since the dim past when state-sized glaciers ruled the land, before they’d retreated back to the safety of the Arctic’s arms.

Gold seekers have electronically hammered the ground for the last thirty plus years with gold detectors and retrieved pounds of gold. Moreover, small wash-plants are still in use today, and when patches of gravel can be found among the titanic mess generated by the Ice Age, the steam shovel, and numerous large-scale placering operations, good pay is still the reward for the hard work of toiling around the boulders.

On a different note, years ago, when I first started detecting with the Minelab 2100, I went to visit my buddy. He’s the generous kind of person every gold hunter wishes they’d have the opportunity to meet. He loves chasing the gold, and he is genuine and sincere in his desire to see others find gold on his claim. So, after swapping gold tales for a couple of hours, he told me to head out and give it a try wherever I wished.

Well, several lazy summer hours after I started I got a screaming signal on a roadway where he’d been transporting dirt from his workings dug with a backhoe high on a side hill.

Of course, this signal was only detected after I’d spent hours digging an entire pouch of trash (can-slaw, bits of lead, square nails, round nails, small BB sized pieces of native iron, copper and iron sections of wire—all the normal trash left in disturbed ground that’s been worked on and off since the 1860’s). Nonetheless, the signal was a screamer, yet its tone was disappointing, as it sounded exactly like a round nail.

I was hot. I was tired. My thirst was a thick, nagging urge. The sun, a sky-hooked brass furnace was roasting the back of my neck.

I passed the coil over the signal again. It was the perfect signature of a round nail. That sound was scrimshawed on my brain from the many disappointing signals I’d already dug that day.

It was almost as if I was in some kind of lethargic metal detecting trance. I look back on it today and realize that I was simply too hot, too tired, and too thirsty—undoubtedly I should have hauled my carcass into the shade, had a drink of some icy mountain water and refreshed myself. Nevertheless—I hadn’t.

I swung the coil again, and this time my miniaturized, fatigued brain forced me to pay attention, take some action, and make a decision. “Dig it or leave it” was the looped recording playing in the message center of my brain. Of course my every instinct was to walk down the road to the shade and the cool, refreshing waters.

That is not what I did.

Mechanically I pulled my pick from the hip mount, dug around the wide perimeter of the signal, drug a pile of dirt from the surface of the encompassed ground, and then scanned the pile. No signal. So, I went back to the circular-shaped excavation of disturbed soil. I swept the ground. The signal was still there.

I carefully dug down several inches and drug the gravel and clay out of the hole. The signal was now in the pile. I sawed the super-magnet through the pay dirt—no contact whatsoever—nothing jumped to its rare-earthed body.

I started the process of scooping and scanning, slightly more animated this time. In the back of my prospecting brain, a flicker of hope fanned itself into a hopeful flame. However, I perfectly remembered the lead and other nonferrous targets I’d dug that day, and this tempered my enthusiasm. Nonetheless, I went back to using the plastic scoop.

At last, the target was trapped in it.

Well, after quartering the material in the scoop and dropping it on to the surface of the Joey, I heard that electronic “whap” and growl of a target landing on the coil—that blood pumping sound that never gets old.

I shook the small pile of dirt off of the Joey's surface, back into the secure confines of the scoop. I slid the contents across the surface of the coil—the sound made a happy, sharp bark in my Gray Ghosts. With my thumb, I slid small portions of the dirt back on to the surface of the coil, and then I passed the scoop over the coil until there was only a tablespoon or so of material left in the scoop. For you see, the target had been nudged to the edge and was now reading right on the tip of the scoop. I gently blew the powdery clay away and there, with a sassy grin on its golden face, was a gorgeous nugget, half the size of my thumbnail. That ancient beauty just lay there sun-tanning itself in the scoop, winking at me with the crystal clear message that is was not just another rotten round nail.

Of course, I adopted that lonely orphan right there on the spot, and with no court process or judge present for convenient use, I gave it an excellent home. I’d finally struck gold on that claim.

Now, I find that due to my rambling in telling this story, I’ve totally missed my original focus which was to tell you of the adventure of what I found this, the summer of 2012, when I went back for a return visit with the 5000 to that same claim. But, I guess that’ll have to be a tale for another day, as I’ve burned through every minute of writing time I’d set aside to tell you this one.

Until then, and as always my friends, all the best,

Lanny



You'll notice this is not the Joey, but I'd used this coil earlier in the day before I switched to the Joey.

[gold nuggets]

Thanks for retelling that gold prospecting adventure Lannie.....Can't hardly
wait for your next one. Gold Nuggets

[63bkpkr]

You Tease ! I recognize it and I love it! .....I am also looking forward to the next one.....63bkpkr

[Lanny in AB]

Thanks for retelling that gold prospecting adventure Lannie.....Can't hardly
wait for your next one. Gold Nuggets

Thanks so much for being so kind to tell me you like the story.

All the best,

Lanny

[Fullpan]

Hey Lanny - Hows the book coming? Just curious about assays. There has been several questions about both placer (blue lead) and hard rock ore samples
on this forum recently. I'm betting you had assays performed over the years. How would you characterize the experience - good, bad, too expensive?

[Lanny in AB]

Hey Lanny - Hows the book coming? Just curious about assays. There has been several questions about both placer (blue lead) and hard rock ore samples
on this forum recently. I'm betting you had assays performed over the years. How would you characterize the experience - good, bad, too expensive?

I've never done any hard-rocking in earnest--so I've never sent off any assays. I've spent almost all of my time chasing placer. Maybe I should try hardrock sometime, but as for now, I'm still chasing the nuggets..

If I could work on the book full-time, it would be coming along faster; however, I'm still getting to it as I have time. Thanks for asking.

All the best,

Lanny

[Hefty1]

Hey Lanny
Been a bit posting here...As far as I am concerned...You have a number "1BEST SELLER" right here in these 57 pages and 1130 posts.

As far as hard-rocking...chasing the placer Ted Nugents is tough enough.

Kinda been busy writing my own book on mining laws and learning what the FS is "suppose to do" by their own manuals and handbooks. 63 can testify to the stacks of paperwork I have by my desk.

Anyways Great Reading your thread.

Hefty

[63bkpkr]

YUP!!! STACKS & STACKS!!!!!..........63bkpk

[leenie]

hello lanny. i like your great stories and the pictures of canada. i wish you a happy thanksgiving. are you whistling in your sleep yet. thanks dave

[Lanny in AB]

Hey Lanny
Been a bit posting here...As far as I am concerned...You have a number "1BEST SELLER" right here in these 57 pages and 1130 posts.

As far as hard-rocking...chasing the placer Ted Nugents is tough enough.

Kinda been busy writing my own book on mining laws and learning what the FS is "suppose to do" by their own manuals and handbooks. 63 can testify to the stacks of paperwork I have by my desk.

Anyways Great Reading your thread.

Hefty

Hefty,

So great to hear from you again. And, as to your ongoing saga--I certainly hope that you will be able to hold the FS to task for what they have done. Herb says you have stacks and stacks of papers building up on the issue.

Thanks for your humor about the Ted Nugent Hard-Rock allusion, and many thanks for your kind words about the thread and the stories.

All the best,

Lanny

[Lanny in AB]

YUP!!! STACKS & STACKS!!!!!..........63bkpk

Herb--it's nice you've got Hefty's back--from all I hear, you sound like a great guy.

All the best,

Lanny

[Lanny in AB]

hello lanny. i like your great stories and the pictures of canada. i wish you a happy thanksgiving. are you whistling in your sleep yet. thanks dave

Dave--thanks for dropping in, and thanks for the compliment! And, no, I haven't had to whistle in my sleep for a while now, and I'm enjoying that a lot as it means I get a lot more sleep.

All the best, and one of these days I'll get that next story written,

Lanny

[63bkpkr]

Welcome back Lanny,

Your comments are appreciated and are always kind. Friends need friends besides he's kinda crazy like me so we do well together as friends. By now Canada should be quite cold and even white, is this the case? If it is then you are mostly shut down for the winter. Do you have any other work you do? I'm just curious about what professional prospectors do in their 'off time'.
Enjoy........63bkpkr

[nuggy]

Hi Lanny, Hefty, 63 and all - I finally got my new, home built pump finished - it's a beast with it's 70 hp Ford industrial loader motor, extra large diameter impeller. Can't think what the specs are any more, but it will pump a pretty decent creek up a 100 foot hill - no problem. The skids mean I can tow it around a site with my Landcruiser even though it weighs over a ton. Had a bad run with some of the bolt on parts as I had to get a new starter motor, and get the injector pump rebuilt , these old Ford diesels though generally go on almost forever.

Upside down and off to one side you can see a bright yellow hopper - this is the only finished part of my washplant. In the background my old Hitachi digger is undergoing some rust treatments.

The other half is not too happy about the look of our lawn at the moment lol.

Good luck guys Nuggy

[NeoTokyo]

Very nice Nuggy.

The only thing that I could think of that would make that more awesome is nothing short of tank tracks and a seat to control from.

Awesome worksmanship!

[63bkpkr]

Wow Nuggy,
That is one awesome piece of construction/engineering and a plain beauty of a beast! It will be awesome to see it working.
The best of good success to you. When might you try it out?.......63bkpkr

P.S. - when you are riding your solid gold lawn mower trimming the lawn your good wife will have quite a smile on her face.

[nuggy]

Thanks for the compliment NeoTokyo, glad you like it, I am rather pleased with it too, at least looks and motor running wise. The Hitachi in the background provides both the tracks and control seat you mention, it also has a couple of other handy features .


Thanks 63bkpkr, it is quite good looking. Construction was a long arduous task, and even though I got bits from every scrap yard nearby - it still cost quite a lot, and I totally lost track of the hours I put in.
I should be running it in serious work by our autumn your spring, ( I can work through the winter here). Just got the rest of the washplant to finish off now - if my finances can take the pressure .
Think of a slightly smaller and semi portable version of what the gold rush Alaska boys used, and that's my current construction project. It will weigh about 4 tons when completed. This project and my regular work is why I don't get out fossicking more, there's only so many hours in a week. Will put some more photos on here when there is something more complete to look at.
As far as mowing goes - I hate it, as a former school grounds keeper, I have spent way too much time mowing grass. As soon as possible that job gets farmed out to a contractor.

Best luck to you both, Nuggy