On later visits (I was single then and usually went every Saturday and Sunday) the ranch hand came to visit me a couple more times, then took pity on me and showed me a spot over the hill from where I was panning where I ended up finding gold in virtually every pan all the while limiting how much I could pan since I had to spill all the water from every pan onto the ground....I knew nothing then about production panning so that I could bring home some concentrates to pan properly. After a hiatus for marriage and kid raising I sadly found that those spots were off limits as it was locked up as private land...not sure if it was originally and they just did not care at the time (?). I wish I knew then what I know now and that I had had my drywasher....humping gear and a jerry can of water over a hill is not fun and pretty much undoable for me at my age now. The area is still my primary prospecting place but it is largely claimed. Other places I used to go nearer to the Mexican border are personally off limits due to the potential of encountering illegal alien traffickers. Really limiting for me and many others. My hope is that it will soon be safe due to the new administrations stricter enforcement of the laws and the proposed wall.
