The Many Lost Treasures of Mariposa, CA (Photos Added)

[EagleDown]

The "Rim Fire" is now at 125,000 acres. Approx. 5% contained and moving into Yosemite Park.

Latest updates:
Rim Fire Map 2013 Latest Yosemite Update Today Prompts New Concerns

 

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[calisdad]

It's a monster. Here's a zoomable map. We live midway between Pine Mtn Lake and Hwy 120: ENPLAN Wildfire Viewer

Here's a cool video. These guys saved us. Watch for the lead plane. He pops smoke where he wants the drop:

We are currently watching it move into the headwaters of the North Fork of the Merced. Really smokey.

 

[Nugget_Dreaming_OZ]

Thanks for the post Brother!! I had forgot about Laseter's reef. Yeah, I first read about it in the late 50's and was very intrigued at the possibilities. In about 1964, I even asked for and recieved information from the Australian Embassy about the requirements for immigrating to Australia. Unfortunately, I found I would need at least $10,000 USD + a place to stay, and a way to earn a living. Plus other requirements which I don't remember. Needless to say, in 1964, $10,000 was a princely sum, especially when average wages here was about $75.00 weekly. In other words; If you could afford to move to Australia, that meant you were well off enough that there would be little reason to immigrate to there. (lol)

Hehehe I should have guessed... lol... You've had this bug a while...

I'm back for another fix of your great stories.

$50 Gold Slugs stood out as a favorite of mine.

I am on page 30 and wondering if some stories you had put on the back burner will come up again, I'll have to read on...

Thanks again brother

 

[EagleDown]

Hehehe I should have guessed... lol... You've had this bug a while...

I'm back for another fix of your great stories.

$50 Gold Slugs stood out as a favorite of mine.

I am on page 30 and wondering if some stories you had put on the back burner will come up again, I'll have to read on...

Thanks again brother

As Jimmy Durante use to say: "What a co-ink-a-dink". I'm also on page 30. I'm in the process of 'transcribing' all of the stories into a book format while looking for mention of stories that I've "put on the back-burner".

As far as that miserable "Gold Bug", while on the medicine path, I've managed to aquire enough herbal and other types of cures, to rid the world of most of mankinds ailments, BUT, the cure for the bite of the "Gold Bug" still eludes me!! (lol)

Yes, there will be more stories, but I have a lot of things going on right now, so it's difficult for me to concentrate on writing, until I get some of it cleared up. I guess, like Lanny in AB, http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/metal-detecting-gold/69-bedrock-gold-mysteries.html I do my best writing during the winter months.

 

[EagleDown]

Just a little story of an incident that happened about a year ago: I had taken mgb to a spot on the Agua Fria to show him around. I noticed 2 little nodules of bedrock sticking up out of the overburden and told him there should be a nugget there. So, he took his MineLab 3500 over and within a couple of minutes, found a nugget weighing a little less than 1 gram, about an inch deep in one of the nodules.

In the meantime, I was detecting under the roots of an old oak on the edge of the embankment. I had a faint signal, apparently in the bedrock. So, I spent about 30 minutes moving the rocks and head-sized boulders out of the way. But, after all of my work, even though I was a lot closer to the bedrock, the signal had disappeared. I decided that since I only had the large 12.5" coil for my MXT, I had been getting a faint signal from a "hot rock", and gave up.

A few days after I went home (back down South), mgb wrote and said he had gone back out to the Agua Fria and found another, but larger, nugget. (He posted a photo of it) I don't recall the weight offhand, but, I believe it was over 5 grams. (I just spent over an hour searching for his post, turns out the nugget was 3.61 grams).
Still, a fine addition to anyones collection.

Anyway, the next time I was up here, we went out to the Agua Fria and he showed me where he found the large nugget. Yep, you guessed right. He found it under the tree roots where I had removed all of the rocks. He said that it was just laying there on top of the bedrock.

What I believe happened was; as I remove the rocks so that I could detect the bedrock, I was (unknowingly) getting further away from the nugget, as it wasn't on the bedrock, it was above, in the tree roots. Sometime after we left, the nugget broke loose and fell down onto the bedrock, and laid there long enough for him to return and find it.

The moral of this little story is; If your signal disappears, don't give up until you check in all directions to see if you can pick it up again.

 

[EagleDown]

"Rim Fire" is still going strong. As of 10 hours ago, 160,980 acres. InciWeb the Incident Information System: Rim Fire 2:50pm; Now almost 180,000 acres.

The sad part is that a very few years ago, Forestry had about 80 Boron Bombers at their disposal, now, they only have about 9. Another case of Gov. mismanagement??


Oakview, Did you make it up to check your equiptment?? Hope it is in better condition than you expected.

 

[calisdad]

Forest Closure Directive and Map. Notice forest is closed about 3 miles upriver from Briceburg: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5433469.pdf

 

[Oakview2]

Every piece burned to the ground At least I have a house to come back to. God speed to everyone on that side of the hill.

Just a little story of an incident that happened about a year ago: I had taken mgb to a spot on the Agua Fria to show him around. I noticed 2 little nodules of bedrock sticking up out of the overburden and told him there should be a nugget there. So, he took his MineLab 3500 over and within a couple of minutes, found a nugget weighing a little less than 1 gram, about an inch deep in one of the nodules.

In the meantime, I was detecting under the roots of an old oak on the edge of the embankment. I had a faint signal, apparently in the bedrock. So, I spent about 30 minutes moving the rocks and head-sized boulders out of the way. But, after all of my work, even though I was a lot closer to the bedrock, the signal had disappeared. I decided that since I only had the large 12.5" coil for my MXT, I had been getting a faint signal from a "hot rock", and gave up.

A few days after I went home (back down South), mgb wrote and said he had gone back out to the Agua Fria and found another, but larger, nugget. (He posted a photo of it) I don't recall the weight offhand, but, I believe it was over 5 grams. (I just spent over an hour searching for his post, turns out the nugget was 3.61 grams).
Still, a fine addition to anyones collection.

Anyway, the next time I was up here, we went out to the Agua Fria and he showed me where he found the large nugget. Yep, you guessed right. He found it under the tree roots where I had removed all of the rocks. He said that it was just laying there on top of the bedrock.

What I believe happened was; as I remove the rocks so that I could detect the bedrock, I was (unknowingly) getting further away from the nugget, as it wasn't on the bedrock, it was above, in the tree roots. Sometime after we left, the nugget broke loose and fell down onto the bedrock, and laid there long enough for him to return and find it.

The moral of this little story is; If your signal disappears, don't give up until you check in all directions to see if you can pick it up again.

 

[calisdad]

Every piece burned to the ground At least I have a house to come back to. God speed to everyone on that side of the hill.

Wow- sorry Oakview2. What watershed was it located?

 

[EagleDown]

Wow- sorry Oakview2. What watershed was it located?

Sorry for your loss Brother!!

 

[Oakview2]

It was over in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, up over 5000'

 

[CharlesP]

It was over in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, up over 5000'

Dang oak you got alot of gold irons in the prospecting fire. Sorry to hear another forest fire wiped y'all out.

 

[Oakview2]

We are trying to get in this weekend to work a lode claim, but the Rim fire killed that..

 

[EagleDown]

We are trying to get in this weekend to work a lode claim, but the Rim fire killed that..

Yeah, the Rim Fire kinda messed up my weekend too.

 

[CharlesP]

Well I'm going sniping at briceburg either sat or Sunday. If anyone knows any sniping spots above briceburg along 140 pm me. Thanks. Have a good weekend y'all. May the mariposa gold gods shine down on us all.

 

[calisdad]

Yeah, the Rim Fire kinda messed up my weekend too.

Is the smoke getting down there. Awful here (100 yard visibility right now) but I thought most of it was going north, north east.

 

[EagleDown]

Is the smoke getting down there. Awful here (100 yard visibility right now) but I thought most of it was going north, north east.

No, actually the sky is clear here. I was just planning on going up "Burma Road" to check out a couple of places where I found gold years ago. Unfortunately, I didn't bother developing them because of the low price of gold, and the long drive up the mountain.

 

[calisdad]

No, actually the sky is clear here. I was just planning on going up "Burma Road" to check out a couple of places where I found gold years ago. Unfortunately, I didn't bother developing them because of the low price of gold, and the long drive up the mountain.

Good thing you didn't go. You may have run into the Devil Himself:


This was at 3pm today. We've watched Pilot Ridge burn unabated for quite some time now. Depressing. This is Scott Creek drainage and the headwaters of the North Fork of the Merced. At least the sky clears in the afternoon.

 

[wagbert]

Hello EagleDown & Fellow Readers,
I tried looking on several on-line California maps to find the actual location of this fire. There are a couple of news videos that show the horrific burning. I hope you, EagleDown, and all the other guys are safe and sound. Sorry to learn that Oakview2 lost some property. I see Oakview2's resilience though. He said right away, "At least I have a house that I could still go to". It is a very serious situation. No forest fires out here in Ohio lately, but I got caught in a field fire many years ago. It is true what they say about the speed those fires can travel. When I saw the wind change, I hauled A**. The fire passed me up and shot up the fence line, probably twice as fast as I was running. I fell back, ran across a burned area and made it to the road. It was plenty hot, but nothing like what has been going on out West. God Bless and keep all of you California gold and treasure hunters!
Sincerely,
wagbert

 

[EagleDown]

Hello EagleDown & Fellow Readers,
I tried looking on several on-line California maps to find the actual location of this fire. There are a couple of news videos that show the horrific burning. I hope you, EagleDown, and all the other guys are safe and sound. Sorry to learn that Oakview2 lost some property. I see Oakview2's resilience though. He said right away, "At least I have a house that I could still go to". It is a very serious situation. No forest fires out here in Ohio lately, but I got caught in a field fire many years ago. It is true what they say about the speed those fires can travel. When I saw the wind change, I hauled A**. The fire passed me up and shot up the fence line, probably twice as fast as I was running. I fell back, ran across a burned area and made it to the road. It was plenty hot, but nothing like what has been going on out West. God Bless and keep all of you California gold and treasure hunters!
Sincerely,
wagbert

Here is an official link where you can keep up with the progress of the fire fighters, God bless them!!


InciWeb the Incident Information System: Rim Fire