Back from Sierra County

[Caminochaos]

I am back from our cabin in Sierra County. A very small town called Forest City. As the crow flies it is just north of Alleghany. The cabin was built sometime between the late 1800's and early 1900's by one of my Great, Great, Great Grandfathers.

Sorry about the fuzzy picture. It is a picture of a picture that my wife has on her camera that is currently on it's way to a Tim McGraw concert.

Directly behind the cabin is the South Fork of the Oregon Creek. I did a little prospecting there but the creek was roaring and cold as hell. found a few specs in the couple hours but nothing worth bragging about.

The next day we went to a portion of Oregon creek a few miles Southeast of the cabin down this muddy dirt road. Again the water was high and any prospecting in the creek would have been impossible.

I wanted to get across the creek where I have found some nice pickers in the past but as you can see it was running about a 1' over the old steel bridge crossing the creek.

So we ended collecting well over 50 gallons of material and took it back to the cabin to sluice it and pan it there. We found alot of fines but no pickers. I did get a great lesson from my mom on using mercury to collect gold. We found an old antique bottle of it in the cabin. I will burn it off at the end of the season when I get more black sand.

At the end it was a fun trip and I manage to find a few things at the cabin that I brought home for future prospecting endevours.

The backpack will be for carring my equipment. It will be a lot better than using the old diaper bag I've been using.

Also the sucker was made by my Dad and is never used. I really needed one on my last trip to Martinez Creek.

Last is a Suction nozzle and water pump. I will probably build a high banker and or dredge. It is a small pump and it has been used for a dredge with the same nozzle and a hodge podge of 1" tubing. It work great for small crevices. I'll start surfing the net for some ideas and perhaps get some ideas from you guys.

 

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[SCBUZZ]

Thanks for the post. Your lucky to have grandparents who have left you with such a great place.

 

[strickman]

nice cabin,maybe next time the water will be down.coll prospecting gear.should make a good crevice cleaner. 8)

 

[Astrobouncer]

Thanks for the pictures and the story. You got a real gem of a spot there. Nice equipment and good luck on the shine!

 

[Caminochaos]

Thanks for the pictures and the story. You got a real gem of a spot there. Nice equipment and good luck on the shine!

Thanks. The place means a lot to me knowing it has been in the family for 6 or 7 generations. I will give you more photos next time I'm up there.

I am thinking of doing a high banker set up with the pump. I just have to rig up a "Hillbilly" set up do to money so any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Caminochaos]

More on Forest City:

http://www.ghosttownexplorers.org/california/forestcity/forestcity.htm

http://www.ghosttowngallery.com/htme/forest.htm

 

[maui]

thanks much for the link's for the ghost towns, very nice.
take care and be safe out there. ron

 

[Hoser John]

OMG a tiny antique tanaka pump. 1 1/2- 2" max and barely run a tiny HBr. Fantastic area and a righteous cabin. Color yourself extremely fortunate and plenty a water too-pure bonus-tons a au 2 u 2 -John

 

[TerryC]

That old home is making me salivate!! The gold may be in the yard in the form of rings&things. I wanna go! I wanna go! TTC

 

[Caminochaos]

That old home is making me salivate!! The gold may be in the yard in the form of rings&things. I wanna go! I wanna go! TTC

The unfortunate thing is the area is on the historical registry therefore digging for antiques and jewlery can get you into trouble. You are not allowed to remove artifacts from the area.

 

[AU Seeker]

Does your family own this land that the cabin is on, or is it a mineral claim?

Thanks for posting very interesting!


Skip

 

[Caminochaos]

Does your family own this land that the cabin is on, or is it a mineral claim?

Thanks for posting very interesting!


Skip

No the cabin is on Forest Service land with a 99 year lease. It's a long story. The surrounding area littered with claims so you have to be careful where you prospect.

 

[Hoser John]

DANGER--DANGER--WILL ROBINSON--loose your equipment,get a monster fine,and the VEHICLE that brought you,jail time and public service time the last time I saw folks busted for this. Strange thing is the BLM blew up General John Freemonts(father of california) all rock cabin with leftover dynamite from another search and destroy project just prior to national Historical Registry had it listed-I'd a gone to jail forever,my claims,my cabin,but bureauratz operate with extreme immunity for assinine actions-John

 

[bedrock bubba]

There are reasons Forest is usually deserted.

The area is loaded with marauding rogue bears, as a garbage dump is nearby, and Yosemite Park dumps its dangerous rogue bears in that area!

Years ago, me and two buddies were accosted by 3 outlaw bikers with shotguns, who were threatening us, on Oregon Creek...I had a minor heart attack from that...scary!

The whole area has a very bad history of bodies showing up, murders, etc. Hauntings at some old mines too. I know some of the people who have claims around there and Aleghany. Not the kind of folks you would enjoy running into.

Hoser is right about what he says.

Great photo album, tho!

 

[chkn]

Nice place and I would definitely take advantage of it!!!

 

[Goldwasher]

i call it adventure....the woods are only as scary as you let them be.Bears, bikers, haunted mines,sounds like fun,backwoods claim owners who are jerks typical....i stay out of their way and if they mess with me im ready.sure beats goin to the city if ya ask me.....Camino has been goin to this area for years as its been in his family forever....he as as much of a right to be pokin around up there as anyone, i know the guy he,ll be just fine.

 

[Caminochaos]

There are reasons Forest is usually deserted.

The area is loaded with marauding rogue bears, as a garbage dump is nearby, and Yosemite Park dumps its dangerous rogue bears in that area!

Years ago, me and two buddies were accosted by 3 outlaw bikers with shotguns, who were threatening us, on Oregon Creek...I had a minor heart attack from that...scary!

The whole area has a very bad history of bodies showing up, murders, etc. Hauntings at some old mines too. I know some of the people who have claims around there and Aleghany. Not the kind of folks you would enjoy running into.

Hoser is right about what he says.

Great photo album, tho!

This is true. We've had a few encounters when I lived up there years ago and one of them involved a gun and all we were doing is fishing. With that being said, you need to really know what areas are not claimed or know the people who have the claim. In Forest City itself everything is claimed. You need to drive 15 minutes outside the area to find a unclaimed land or like I said before know someone. I personally wouldn't come to Forest City for JUST prospecting but just for the history the town holds.

Anyways I just arrived yet again from our cabin up there and it was beautiful. I was able to do lots of prospecting and enjoy the outdoors. The first day I went to a unclaimed part of Oregon Creek. A fifteen minute drive from my cabin. I was working the bedrock where I once found a nugget so I thought I'd try there again. I found color but nothing big. It was a relaxing day of prospecting and kids playing. After a few hours the kids were getting cranking and ready for a nap.

The next day we went to the same spot except further downstream. I wanted to go to this spot the day before because it has a nice little beach for the kids to play on. but somebody was there. I found a nice crevice in the bedrock next to pretty well worked area. It layed about 20' up the bank and looked like a good spot but if the surrounding area was any indication of what I might fine I'd probably get skunked. Area has been heavily dredged and the banks were pretty chewed up. I decided to work it anyways because I got to hangout next to the kids and prospect at the same time. Setting up my sluice was a pain due to the water not moving swift enough. It turned out to be just enough to push out the fluff but that's about it. I had quickly realized that the surrounding area was an indication. There was not much in the crevice. Again we left back to the cabin for the kids nap.

After the kids had gone down I'd thought I do a little panning in the creek behind the house. It's the South Fork of Oregon Creek and I never find anything there. It's just convenient and relaxing. I unearthed a horseshoe and the remains of an old boot. In my pan I ended up with two small specs and the nails from the old boot. Shortly after my dad and brother arrived at the cabin. We quickly started drinking beers and talking about the days events. We decided to walk down to the old Main Street and talk to fellow that owns a house in Forest City. He has been in the area for years and come to find out owns a claim on another creek next to my cabin. After a little agreement he allowed me to work on his claim. Of coarse the is a small fee. Anything larger than dime he gets. Seeings how I've never found a nugget that big I quickly agreed.

Saturday rolled around and I was excited as hell to work this claim because it's a great spot and is never worked. We loaded all the kids, parents, siblings and dogs in two vehicles and headed for the claim. After a short 5 minute drive we were there. I drooled. 1500' of untouched land. Fogged by the thought of hitting Eureka I realized something. It was feast time for the mosquitoes and my legs were the feast. No beach for the kids. No sun for the wives to soak up. The wives quickly made the decision to leave back to the beach we were the day before. Bummer but the right move. We proceeded to Oregon Creek again. With grandma there I was able to venture off a little further from the kids. I went across the creek where the bedrock was breaking apart. After hours of snipping the results were far better than the crevice. At the end of the day my day took me down stream where there was a beautifully cleaned crevice in the bedrock. However the top of the bedrock had not been touched. With the wives and kids getting anxious to leave I quickly filled up a bucket of material to pan it at home. It payed off nothing big but LOTS of color. To my suprise my Uncle was there from Grass Valley panning material from another creek as well. We quickly compared pans. I won.

We finished the weekend with some heavy drinking and listening to music. It was a wonderful weekend. We will be going back up there in 3 weeks for my dad's 60th birthday. I will have more manpower, be better equipped and have no kids to look after. On top of that have access to a good claim.