MA/VT/NH Panning

[dvdtharaldson]

Hi ,

This is the first time I have posted on this website. I live in Western MA and am planning a trip during the last few days of September to Vermont to try my luck panning. I was going to try Buffalo Brook and Five Corners in the Bridgewater area. Does anybody know how far down you ordinarily have to dig to hit black sands in those areas? Any comments on whether you have to dig deep or just stay on the surface? I was thinking Irene probably deposited alot of flood gold on the surface. Does anybody know if some of the small brooks high up in the mts. north of Bridgewater contain gold? All I ever hear is Buffalo Brook and Five Corners. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. As you probably could tell I am new to panning for gold.

Thanks,

David

 

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[GrizzlyGremlin]

Hey DVD, so its interesting and revealing that the bedrock has not proved out at all for you. My experience in NH mostly on the baker and wild am was quite different. Were you mostly hitting Vermont? Vermont was actually fairly heavily placer mined and they Scoured the bedrock! The clay hardpans were irregularly shaped hiding pockets of still virgin and breccia conglomerate type hardpans also held onto a layer. Most of the granitic slab, and slate shale types were easy easy pickins. What's revealing is that if there's gold in the overburden, and not stacked in crevices or on bedrock then its fresh!! And coming from somewhere near by! One of my biggest pieces from NH came from a little pocket of bedrock on the path from the parking lot to the stream under 1" of water. 100s of prospectors must have stepped on it! Once we figured that out we pulled 6 pickers out of the stupidest little coat hanger cracks you can imagine. The toughest part is as you mentioned NOT digging into veg. I'm betting you got some great gold nearby!

 

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[dvdtharaldson]

Hey Grizz,
Nice to hear from you again. I am not sure if I would rather be talking to you about gold or trout. Since this is tnet, I guess we will talk colors. I have been exclusively prospecting in Vermont. The spot that I was referring to had exposed bedrock on the slack side of the stream covered in blondes. I dug down about 18 inches to the bedrock and sampled what was on top of it. The bedrock had nice traps in it, but had very little black sand and no colors.

I went over to the strong side of the stream and found lots of colors in the top 8 inches. A fare share were in the plus 30 range. When we went back a few weeks later I dug in the same hole that produced so well for me, I almost got skunked. Very little black sands and just a few colors. That pattern got repeated for all holes I prospected. Almost nothing below a foot or so. It seemed to me that as soon as we hit the water level of the stream the colors vanished. After digging down about 20 inches in one spot and not finding anything I gave up going deeper. Its tough to continue digging in an arid hole when your partner is finding nice colors a foot or two away.

We also sampled some slate bedrock on the strong side of the stream about 300 yards downstream of my honey hole. Broke it up with crowbars and found nothing. Needless to say I was really shocked. The cobble piles (benches) above the water line were where it was at, on this particular stream.

Like you said this was a very heavily mined stream in the past. Anyhow, that pattern has been repeating itself on the streams and rivers I have been prospecting in Vermont.

There are a couple of places I wanted your opinion on in NH. I will pm you later on.

David

 

[motohed]

I have to say , this thread has been an awesome read , lots of great information . I need to do some research into reading the geological maps , wow , I had'nt realized how much I could'nt remember after my accident in 2003 . I would really like to thank you all , for these posts , a lot of good information . I will be spending a good portion of the summer in NH this coming summer . It would be nice to hookup with some of you for some prospecting this summer .

 

[triple d]

I don"t believe there are many prospectors. From N.H I think there mostly from out of state. If there are you never here from them. Most of the ones that prospect the wild am. Stay at the campground. So Im guessing there from out of state. I belong to the central maine prospectors. I don"t know of any other members that are from n.h. So Im guessing there not many.

 

[lisfisher]

just curious, as I know nothing about panning, what would a beginner look for after locating a stream? Black sand deposits?

 

[triple d]

Low pressure areas in streams. Behind boulders and inside bends. Just above clay layers or hardpan gravels. Blacksands and garnets. Before you try it learn to pan. And do a lot of research. You can find just about anything on the Net. Or just ask questions on here. There a wealth of info just ask the questions. And if you give it a try best of luck.

 

[nh.nugget]

Now TRIPP, I'm a native I stay stay the campground! But your right not many NH. prospectors on here their mostly on I think New England or North east Prospectors

 

[triple d]

I thought I might stir up something. And get a few to chime in. It would be nice to know if theres a few more around.

 

[motohed]

I know it's early , but I'm itching for my first adventure in the spring . I was wondering if anyone has been out this month , January 2016

 

[Adventure_Time]

I know it's early , but I'm itching for my first adventure in the spring . I was wondering if anyone has been out this month , January 2016

I was out on tunnel brook on of the last freak warm days we had, I run into ALOT of prospectors there. It was close to the holidays still so I'm sure that had alot to do with it. Gold was pretty good without hitting bedrock.

 

[dvdtharaldson]

Four prospecting trips ago was supposed to be the last time. But after that came the "last" last time, after that came the final "last" last time and yesterday was the "final" final "last" last time, or it could be considered the first time of a new 2016 season, you can choose.

Anyhow the suspense of having a brand new zook was to much to bear. I wanted to get my 30 inch prospector into a stream. WMG made the mistake of calling to ask "how things were going" and I soon had him talked into mining the frozen streams of the northland of Massachusetts.

Set up was quick and easy and the zook was very forgiving. The set up wasn't perfect but it still caught gold. After hacking through the frozen surface we found some pay dirt. Lucky for me I have a mining partner who likes to dig, and then after that, he likes to dig some more. Even in wintertime, WMG still has the ability to put his magic shovel on the gold. I spent most of my time sniping on the banks and playing with the sluice.

We ended up with 24 colors, some in the #80 range and the rest in the #120 range. If your game is moving lots of sediment the zook is the way to go.

Best Colors,
David

 

[KevinInColorado]

I knew you two were my kind of people! It's January? Who cares, let's go dig!!!

 

[BrotherJoseph]

Hi ,

This is the first time I have posted on this website. I live in Western MA and am planning a trip during the last few days of September to Vermont to try my luck panning. I was going to try Buffalo Brook and Five Corners in the Bridgewater area. Does anybody know how far down you ordinarily have to dig to hit black sands in those areas? Any comments on whether you have to dig deep or just stay on the surface? I was thinking Irene probably deposited alot of flood gold on the surface. Does anybody know if some of the small brooks high up in the mts. north of Bridgewater contain gold? All I ever hear is Buffalo Brook and Five Corners. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. As you probably could tell I am new to panning for gold.

Thanks,

David

Hi David, Brother Joseph here. Did you make it to Vermont? I am guessing you did by the question you had asked me about the covered bridge on Cold River.
Hope this message goes this time!

 

[BrotherJoseph]

Maybe I needed to reply this way! Never been on this site before!
Bro Joe...
P.S. I bought new equipment and dreaming of warm weather to really give it a try. X-Stream Hybrid Pro & the Boomer Box from Gold-N-Sand.com

 

[BrotherJoseph]

Tunnel Brook! Near the Wild Am in Bath NH.? I was there for the first time last summer. I was stuck under the bridge due to a bad storm. When it broke, I headed down to the campground and dug in the Wild Am in Bath.
Just went the other day in my area itching to try out my new X-Stream Hybrid Pro with the Boomer Box for my sluice. Found 10 colors after chopping ice. Only worked for a little over an hour. I am in the Rutland VT. area and work the Cold River mostly.

 

[dvdtharaldson]

Bro Jo,
Welcome to the thread. I definitely am interested in what you have to say about the Cold River. I wasn't going to mention it by name unless you did first. I didn't want to compromise any of your spots. I have found a couple of colors in some of tribs but never tried by the bridge. The last time I was there I wanted to hike down to the confluence but the bridge was out and the workers wouldn't let me pass do to the inherent danger.

I usually visit the Rutland area a couple of times a year and hope to make it to that spot next year. Is there anything you can tell me about access to the river, other than the path to the bridge? What type of success/failure have you had in the area?
Best Colors,
David

 

[BrotherJoseph]

Hi triple d,

When I was young a stupid aka still getting into trouble, I lived in Lisbon NH. I was pretty much booted out of town but, in a good way. Wish I knew then what I know now, the wisdom of life and the gold as well.
My parents live in Lunenburg VT. so, I plan on making trips into NH. for some more prospecting. My Mother actually wants to go and see how it's done! When I was there last year, I didn't have much time and only one day so, I didn't find only but a little fine stuff.

 

[triple d]

That is mostly what you will fine. In the Wild Am and tunnel brook. You will also find gold coated with Mercury.A silver coating. If its heavy like gold and stays in the pan. Usually can fine gold at the campground. Let us know how you make out.

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Hey D, so I know your obsession with native trout and promised a pic of the rare gems of the high west. Here is a Rio Grande Cutthroat from Mendano Creek in the Sangre de Christo mountains.
These fish look fake when you first see them. Like painted with a neon sharpie set.

 

[dvdtharaldson]

Wow! What a beautiful fish. Colorado has it all. Excellent Pic. Thanks for responding to my PM so quickly.

Best Colors to You,
dvdt