looking for some help gold panning

[utah_ty]

I live in vernal,UT and want to start panning for gold. I am completely new to this so any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, also looking for someone in the area to help if possible.

 

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[KevinInColorado]

Fun read!
As it happens, I am a patent holder in the US and in Australia...but for computer software

Since I sold my house last spring and downsized, I don't have a workshop right now. As a result physical inventing/experimenting is off the plan for a while. I'm focused on writing a book to go along with my website (which is www.findingGOLDinColorado.com )

That said, I do get to SLC several times a year to see family and would love to meet for coffee sometime to hear more of your stories!

 

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[stephen583]

Again. This information is for the newbies. Digging in dirt and messing around in creeks can attract bears. They associate this kind of activity with scavenging for food. So keep your head on a swivel and stay alert while you are working. Also be mindful of where you camp. DO NOT camp anywhere near dens, or ravines containing elk and deer skeletal remains. Don't camp in public camp sites where dirty grills smelling of cooked meat are around. Do not camp in the vicinity of bathroom facilities, or dumpsters (even if they are bear proofed, they may still attract bears). I prefer clean virgin camp sites. NEVER cook where you sleep! Your cook site should be located at least 100 feet from your sleeping quarters for safety. Every couple of days, survey the surrounding area for new bear tracks. This strategy is called "situational awareness".

If you are awakened in the night by a huge thump on the ground nearby.. get up, you have company. Bears often climb trees, or stand up on their hind legs to their full height to survey the area and look over the top of brush, especially when they are trying to pinpoint something they smell. I call this behavior "periscoping". The THUMP is the bear returning to the ground. You may also hear a "clicking" noise. When a bear feels anxious, it sometimes snaps it's jaws reflexively.

I don't recommend cowering in your tent at this stage of the game. Get whatever bear deterrent you have at the ready, and exit the tent quickly. Throw more firewood on the campfire. A big static camp fire won't deter a bear (that's a myth) but it will allow you to see around the perimeter of your camp better. Bears are afraid of "moving" fire, so light a torch and wave it around. If you don't have a gun, keep your can of WD-40 at the ready !

 

[stephen583]

Two years ago I was camping in the La Plata Mountains above the town of Durango Colorado. I knew there were lots of bears in the area, the Forestry Department told me there where in excess of four hundred bears in the valley and the surrounding foothills of the mountains. One day I saw bear tracks that measured about eight inches across leading into the woods just above the cemetery. I knew two guys who routinely slept there and made a point of finding them in the park down by the river where they spent most days drinking beer. They were likeable enough rogues, who always greeted people with a smile and a handshake. One was a Spanish fella called "Mike" and the other was a tall Indian fella who went by the nickname "Chief". I warned them about what I had seen.

Three nights later, Mike was pulled from his sleeping bag by a large brown bear accompanied by two cubs. Chief said he was awakened by a sound like someone stepping on a bag of potato chips. Mike was killed instantly as the bear clamped down on his head and crushed his skull. Chief threw the sleeping bag onto the campfire and used it as a weapon. The bear took off, and Chief carried Mike's body down to main street where EMT's where summoned.

There never was any report of the attack in the Durango newspaper. The national media didn't pick up the story either. There was no attempt to hunt the killer bear down. Apparently, killer bear stories are very bad for tourism.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Good advice and an amazing/horrific story. Thanks!

 

[stephen583]

About three weeks later, I was making my weekly trek down to town in broad daylight to fetch drinking water. My backpack was full of empty 1 gallon water jugs, as were both of my hands. Suddenly the brush 25 feet behind me erupted with an explosion of snapping branches. The large brown bear was in a full on charge and would be on me in two seconds. I didn't have time to reach for anything. So I dived off a seventy foot cliff on the side of the trail and landed at the bottom of a ravine.

I have no recollection of the trip down, but it must have been pretty violent, bouncing off boulders and such.

That's where I lay for three days and nights gravely injured. When a mountain biker spotted my body and the paramedics arrived, they later said I was already suffering from septic shock, extreme exposure and my heart was in the process of permanently shutting down. I had almost no pulse. I was helicoptered to Denver where I underwent eight surgeries and six months of physical rehabilitation.

I assume this was the same bear that killed Mike. My story didn't make it into the local paper either. So yes. I take the threat of bears very seriously. As should anyone camping in the wilds. Don't rely on Forestry officials, or the locals to tell you the truth about the danger of bear attacks in a tourist area, because they won't.

 

[stephen583]

In case anyone does any prospecting in the Apache Sit Graves National Forest in Arizona, the place is rotten with mountain lions.. and I mean rotten. You better have a shotgun over watch while you are digging. In addition, even though this is a National Park.. the Apache Indians still regard the San Francisco and Blue River as their sacred grounds. A Forestry officer warned me before I went in, not to be surprised if I ended up being "scalped" for prospecting on the Blue River. He claimed a number of prospectors have gone into the Sit Graves over the years and were never seen again. The Forest Ranger was serious enough about this warning, he took my I.D. information and asked if I had a "next of kin" to contact in the event I disappeared.

So this would be another warning to newbies about prospecting on traditional Indian ground, even though it may technically now be public land. Certain Indians do not hold to such distinctions about what is and what isn't technically and "legally" theirs. If you doubt that, just take a look at what's happening right now with the Dakota pipeline. That pipeline doesn't even cross reservation land, and yet to the Sioux Indians, the river the pipeline will cross under is part of their ancestral land, and they are spiritually obliged to protect it against any harm, or desecration.

Am I serious ? Well all I can tell you is while I was prospecting on the Blue River, every time I heard a dove cooing, or a crow caw, I nearly jumped right out of my skin. As far as adventure goes, it doesn't get much better than that.

BTW. You will find some color on the Blue River just opposite the Martinez ranch where it runs into the San Francisco River, but don't stop there. Keep to the Eastern side of the Blue River and work your way north, keep a look out for a ravine with black sand running through the walls of a shallow canyon. That's where to dig.

 

[stephen583]

From the highway twelve miles to the south to the Martinez ranch, there is an ATV/FWD trail. There's a warning sign at the beginning of the trail that says, "Vehicles using this trail are cautioned to travel in convoys", although few people heed the warning. It's a pretty rough trail in some places, but most of it is drivable at low speed. Give yourself 2, or 3 hours to reach the river park near the ranch, that's where you'll have to leave your vehicle. It's all on foot from there on out.

I would Google Earth the entire trek so you have a preview of just how rugged and remote the Blue River area is.

 

[stephen583]

I guess the bottom line is, no matter where you prospect, you're probably going to be "rattling someone's cage". I had a lunatic pull a ,38 pistol on me at Bear Creek in the Silver City's National Park and scream at me, "We're tired of you tourists coming into New Mexico and stealing our gold" ! Naturally I reported the nutcase to the Forestry Service Park office, but they were local guys too, and knew the guy well. They said, "He's not dangerous", "At least he hasn't shot anyone yet", "And anyways, he lives here" !

That's another warning for newbies, don't expect any back-up from BLM officers, or National Park Forest Rangers.. They're all locals themselves, and you're just an "out of state" interloper.

The only two places I've come across in thirty years, where you can prospect in peace are Cache Creek Colorado, and Rose Creek Arizona.

 

[Kenmitch]

@ stephen583

You like to type and im pretty sure many many members would enjoy reading your memoirs. Have you thought about creating a thread in the prospecting journals section. I'd imagine it would make some interesting readings.

 

[utah mason]

I guess the bottom line is, no matter where you prospect, you're probably going to be "rattling someone's cage". I had a lunatic pull a ,38 pistol on me at Bear Creek in the Silver City's National Park and scream at me, "We're tired of you tourists coming into New Mexico and stealing our gold" ! Naturally I reported the nutcase to the Forestry Service Park office, but they were local guys too, and knew the guy well. They said, "He's not dangerous", "At least he hasn't shot anyone yet", "And anyways, he lives here" !

That's another warning for newbies, don't expect any back-up from BLM officers, or National Park Forest Rangers.. They're all locals themselves, and you're just an "out of state" interloper.

The only two places I've come across in thirty years, where you can prospect in peace are Cache Creek Colorado, and Rose Creek Arizona.

Stephen
Have you had any problems here locally at American fork canyon?

 

[stephen583]

I haven't done any prospecting in Utah yet. I just moved to SLC earlier this year. I hear a lot from locals American Fork is the prime destination for serious diggers. Don't know how soon it will be before anyone will be able to get up there though. The whole state is experiencing something of a biblical flood right now. There's flooding in Cache County in places that haven't flooded for generations. Elko is under voluntary evacuation. Roads are impassable in some places due to high water and mudslides have taken out other roads. Seven communities have been flooded so far.

The same thing appears to be happening across Nevada and California as well. No doubt a tremendous amount of dirt is being displaced by this 100 year flood event, especially on the back end of a five year drought here in Utah. The drought in California may have lasted even longer than that. From a prospecting standpoint, it's the opportunity of a lifetime.

Don't mean to sound callous about all the suffering and destruction, but I lived in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina.. which directly killed over 1,500 people from drowning, as well as thousands more who died of respiratory disease caused by black mold and the clean-up after the flood. After Katrina the death rate from respiratory disease increased in New Orleans by 250 percent.

 

[stephen583]

I'm just piddling around on TreasureNet a bit till the flooding subsides. I've already written three books, and I don't think I have a fourth one in me. Thanks anyway though.

 

[stephen583]

Hey Kevin ! Forgot to ask earlier. Are the two wolves still visiting Cache Creek occasionally ? While I was there you could hear them howling almost every night up on the mountain. A guy who cuts timber up there told me they've been around Cache Creek for years, and he sees them pretty regularly.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Hey Kevin ! Forgot to ask earlier. Are the two wolves still visiting Cache Creek occasionally ? While I was there you could hear them howling almost every night up on the mountain. A guy who cuts timber up there told me they've been around Cache Creek for years, and he sees them pretty regularly.

Good question. I was only there for the day so it's no surprise I didn't see or hear them. It's only an hour drive from home for me

 

[KevinInColorado]

I'm just piddling around on TreasureNet a bit till the flooding subsides. I've already written three books, and I don't think I have a fourth one in me. Thanks anyway though.

Books? Can I still find them somewhere?

 

[utah mason]

I haven't done any prospecting in Utah yet. I just moved to SLC earlier this year. I hear a lot from locals American Fork is the prime destination for serious diggers. Don't know how soon it will be before anyone will be able to get up there though. The whole state is experiencing something of a biblical flood right now. There's flooding in Cache County in places that haven't flooded for generations. Elko is under voluntary evacuation. Roads are impassable in some places due to high water and mudslides have taken out other roads. Seven communities have been flooded so far.

The same thing appears to be happening across Nevada and California as well. No doubt a tremendous amount of dirt is being displaced by this 100 year flood event, especially on the back end of a five year drought here in Utah. The drought in California may have lasted even longer than that. From a prospecting standpoint, it's the opportunity of a lifetime.

Don't mean to sound callous about all the suffering and destruction, but I lived in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina.. which directly killed over 1,500 people from drowning, as well as thousands more who died of respiratory disease caused by black mold and the clean-up after the flood. After Katrina the death rate from respiratory disease increased in New Orleans by 250 percent.

The river up American fork runs all year. With plenty of spots to access the water. The best spots are up higher and won't be accessible until spring. Last year I managed to get up there a few times every month. This year I've only made it up there once, on super bowl Sunday. There are some pics and a video on my prospecting page from that trip.

 

[stephen583]

I sure hope no one has killed the wolves at Cache Creek. I certainly enjoyed listening to their primordial howling up on the mountain at night. It reminded me of the Ole' West, the days of fur trappers and wild Indians. One old prospector at Cache Creek told me the real color was up on that mountainside in the creeks on the South east end. I never got up that way to check it out though.

Another old fella mentioned there being good color in the creeks around a place near Cache Creek called "Twin Lakes". Have you ever heard of that place ? How far from Cache Creek is it ? I never made it over there either.

Darn it ! I wish I had the time to go back and check out some of these tips ! Colorado gold sure is pretty.

 

[KevinInColorado]

I sure hope no one has killed the wolves at Cache Creek. I certainly enjoyed listening to their primordial howling up on the mountain at night. It reminded me of the Ole' West, the days of fur trappers and wild Indians. One old prospector at Cache Creek told me the real color was up on that mountainside in the creeks on the South east end. I never got up that way to check it out though.

Another old fella mentioned there being good color in the creeks around a place near Cache Creek called "Twin Lakes". Have you ever heard of that place ? How far from Cache Creek is it ? I never made it over there either.

Darn it ! I wish I had the time to go back and check out some of these tips ! Colorado gold sure is pretty.

I've heard that about the SE too, will have to check the land status to see if it's open to sampling.

Twin Lakes is very close to Cache Creek...just a few miles

 

[stephen583]

Maybe on one of your excursions up there, you can check out the Twin Lakes and the creeks on the SE side of the mountain. There must be forestry roads up there on the mountain. This ole guy I talked to seemed like he knew the area pretty well. He wasn't claiming anyone was going to get rich, he just suggested the color was a little better than at the Cache Creek BLM site.

I did notice you have to dig an awful lot of dirt at Cache Creek for what seems like too little gold. There were days I shoveled 40 five gallon buckets of dirt into a sluice and ended up with little to show for it.

People have done very well there though. I was there when they got lucky and hit a pocket now and then. I noticed sometimes they found old metal bands in the dirt where they were digging when they found good color. I suspect these old corroded metal bands probably were used to hold together ole' timey plank sluices back in the day. Sometimes old iron nails with squared off heads were found in the same spot as well.

I suspect the gold they found was spillage, or tailings from a large scale sluice operation. Might be worthwhile to poke around a bit in the vicinity with a metal detector and try to locate some of those old sluice locations at Cache Creek.

 

[stephen583]

Actually I prefer high banking creeks. Not just anywhere, but where large boulders sit on the edge of creeks. I'm talking about shopping cart sized boulders. or larger. "Google Earth" is great for surveying an area for this purpose. You can see boulders as small as soccer balls by viewing satellite pictures on Google Earth.

Once I've located the boulders I want to visit, It's simply a matter of waiting for the seasonal floods to subside. Imagine the torrent of water flowing between a large boulder and the high bank on a swollen creek. As the flood subsides, the velocity of the water passing around the high side of the boulder becomes less and less. Gold doesn't like to go uphill, it's lazy. It falls back against the base of the boulder, or gets imbedded in the bank on the high side of the boulder.

I begin my attack by "crevassing" the base of the boulder on the high bank-upstream side. Breaking the ground out with a heavy screwdriver sharpened to a point and bent over at 90 degrees. Using a hammer when necessary, I dig down about 3 or 4 inches. All the material is swept into a garden trowel with a whisk broom and deposited in a bucket. Then I'm off to the creek to classify and pan.

If I find no color, I simply move on to the next boulder. If I find some color, I stay and attack the high bank just above the boulder. If there's gold around the base of the boulder, there's probably gold imbedded in the high bank as well. Digging there is way easier than digging in a rocky gravel strewn creek bed. How far do I dig in ? Usually about 3 feet, depending on how high I figure the creek got.

I learned this technique from watching a teenage kid in Arizona one weekend. He systematically moved from one boulder to the next along the creek filling his vials with gold. I was immediately impressed with his knowledge of how hydro-dynamics work and his minimalist technique for locating gold.

Just goes to show, an old dog can learn new tricks.