Kenmitch
Sr. Member
Being 53 and spending the majority of my life deep in the concrete jungles of Southern CA doing the usual eat, sleep, work thingy I somewhat feel like I've had enough. Last September I did a test run up to the Motherlode area too see what it was like and if I'd like to return at some point in time. It was more of a sight seeing adventure, visiting mining related areas, museums, etc. I did very little of the prospecting aspect of things. Spent a day at a creek to see what sluicing and panning was like. Most of the time was spent inspecting every rock for traces of gold. Wound up with about .28 grams or so with the majority of it being tainted by mercury....The trip was awesome in the end.
This year I plan on taking 2 trips back with the possibility of 3. Gong into these adventures I mainly just want to do some panning and play around with my metal detector. Guess some fishing to relax is always an options. Not sure if I'll even buy a sluice yet. Probably just do some test panning, classifying, and take a few 5 gallon buckets of material home to get me thru till the next trip.
1st trip I'm looking at is most likely going to be from March 17-25 as my birthday is on the 21st.
2nd trip is still up in the air as far as dates go....Thinking late May to Early June.
3rd trip most likely in September with dates still up in the air.
On my initial trip in September I went it alone. Was somewhat nice to just be alone in the outdoors with the option to do what I want when I wanted. Not having another person with me at times was kinda sucky....At least for the scenic photo ops that I missed out on if nothing else.
Most likely I'll be doing solo trips as I really can't get a firm commitment from friends or family so far. I guess if I can give enough advance notice my brother might be down for the adventure. Guess it would really depend on the where part of the adventure. He's into camping, fishing, but has never dabbled in the prospecting aspect of things. Going prospecting mode while solo seems a little scary as safety in numbers come into play. Seems like the adventure would still be there but would at the same time limit my opportunities as far as the prospecting adventure goes.
I'm currently debating joining AMRA or another mining club/group for a year. Seems like the easiest approach to get my feet more wet in prospecting and possibly safety in numbers at the same time.
1st trip....Using average historical temps it looks like I'd probably want to stick to lower elevations. Of course with the unpredictable weather it's really a unknown this early in time. Might have to shift plans on the fly for this trip. AMRA membership looks to be more enticing on this first trip.
2nd trip....This one has a stronger possibility of getting a firm commitment from friend or family. I'm kind of leaning towards just going somewhere like Roaring Camp Mining Co as it would eliminate the alone factor and put me in a decent starting point location while taking care of the place to stay at the same time.
3rd trip....Still up in the air at this point. Guess it would depend on the outcome of the 1st and 2nd trips as far as where I'd want to go.
If I wanted to join a mining club/group would the AMRA be the best one?
Is there some other group that has decent claims spread around that would kind of allow the shift on the fly based on weather at the time?
State wise probably would prefer to stay in CA but I guess Arizona, Nevada, Oregon are still options. Would really love to make a trip to Colorado and give Toad the birdy but it seems a little too far.
Do you guys ever have any member get together events? Or know of any groups/clubs that are planning ones in my time frames?
Thanks for any input.
This year I plan on taking 2 trips back with the possibility of 3. Gong into these adventures I mainly just want to do some panning and play around with my metal detector. Guess some fishing to relax is always an options. Not sure if I'll even buy a sluice yet. Probably just do some test panning, classifying, and take a few 5 gallon buckets of material home to get me thru till the next trip.
1st trip I'm looking at is most likely going to be from March 17-25 as my birthday is on the 21st.
2nd trip is still up in the air as far as dates go....Thinking late May to Early June.
3rd trip most likely in September with dates still up in the air.
On my initial trip in September I went it alone. Was somewhat nice to just be alone in the outdoors with the option to do what I want when I wanted. Not having another person with me at times was kinda sucky....At least for the scenic photo ops that I missed out on if nothing else.
Most likely I'll be doing solo trips as I really can't get a firm commitment from friends or family so far. I guess if I can give enough advance notice my brother might be down for the adventure. Guess it would really depend on the where part of the adventure. He's into camping, fishing, but has never dabbled in the prospecting aspect of things. Going prospecting mode while solo seems a little scary as safety in numbers come into play. Seems like the adventure would still be there but would at the same time limit my opportunities as far as the prospecting adventure goes.
I'm currently debating joining AMRA or another mining club/group for a year. Seems like the easiest approach to get my feet more wet in prospecting and possibly safety in numbers at the same time.
1st trip....Using average historical temps it looks like I'd probably want to stick to lower elevations. Of course with the unpredictable weather it's really a unknown this early in time. Might have to shift plans on the fly for this trip. AMRA membership looks to be more enticing on this first trip.
2nd trip....This one has a stronger possibility of getting a firm commitment from friend or family. I'm kind of leaning towards just going somewhere like Roaring Camp Mining Co as it would eliminate the alone factor and put me in a decent starting point location while taking care of the place to stay at the same time.
3rd trip....Still up in the air at this point. Guess it would depend on the outcome of the 1st and 2nd trips as far as where I'd want to go.
If I wanted to join a mining club/group would the AMRA be the best one?
Is there some other group that has decent claims spread around that would kind of allow the shift on the fly based on weather at the time?
State wise probably would prefer to stay in CA but I guess Arizona, Nevada, Oregon are still options. Would really love to make a trip to Colorado and give Toad the birdy but it seems a little too far.
Do you guys ever have any member get together events? Or know of any groups/clubs that are planning ones in my time frames?
Thanks for any input.
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