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

[Oakview2]

Fire seems to be chasing me, came home yesterday and had 20 trucks two dozers and two planes fighting a grass fire just a eighth of a mile down the road. Kudos to the fireman, they got a handle on it quick and grass was the only thing to burn. Overloaded elect transformer.

 

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[EagleDown]

Fire seems to be chasing me, came home yesterday and had 20 trucks two dozers and two planes fighting a grass fire just a eighth of a mile down the road. Kudos to the fireman, they got a handle on it quick and grass was the only thing to burn. Overloaded elect transformer.

It was still dark when I got up this morning. Later, I realized that the sun wasn't very bright. I went outside to discover a total cloud cover of..........smoke!! I'm not sure if it's from Kings Canyon, or the latest, Millerton Lake/Friant. It's now about 5 hours since I first noticed, and we still have 100% coverage of smoke. Getting bad all over.

Glad your grass fire was contained so quickly!!

 

[CharlesP]

It was still dark when I got up this morning. Later, I realized that the sun wasn't very bright. I went outside to discover a total cloud cover of..........smoke!! I'm not sure if it's from Kings Canyon, or the latest, Millerton Lake/Friant. It's now about 5 hours since I first noticed, and we still have 100% coverage of smoke. Getting bad all over.

Glad your grass fire was contained so quickly!!

I went sniping today and found a nice flake of gold, but tre smoke in the morning was bad. It cleared up later in the day apparently blowing into coarse gold. Sorry eagle hope it clears up.

 

[EagleDown]

I went sniping today and found a nice flake of gold, but tre smoke in the morning was bad. It cleared up later in the day apparently blowing into coarse gold. Sorry eagle hope it clears up.

At least we only had a smoke/cloud cover. I went to Oakhurst about noon, and found it was so bad there, you could smell the smoke in the air. Not so in Coarsegold. Our "smoke cover" lasted 'til about 5pm, then gave way to partial clouds.

 

[Oakview2]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=taFsnTCaUlM#t=122

 

[EagleDown]

09/02/13

Acres Burned: 228,670 (357 square miles) Structures Threatened: 4,500
Containment: 60%

 

[dave sharky]

hello your story telling means a lot to me keep talking Im from NY moved to Florida now im in the Philppines i love your storys thanks.

 

[EagleDown]

hello your story telling means a lot to me keep talking Im from NY moved to Florida now im in the Philppines i love your storys thanks.

Halito My Friend, Thanks for the post!! It's always heart warming to find someone else enjoys my stories.

Don't be a stranger!!

Eagle

 

[EagleDown]

A simple sample sluice
Mainly for home use!!

For those (like me), who can’t afford to go out and buy a piece
of equipment to process the samples of alluvial that you might
bring home, here’s a simple, inexpensive way to solve that problem.

The great part is; it will only cost about $10 to $15 to build it. As a
matter of fact, this was my first sluice box.

Parts needed:

One “clean” 2X4 stud. (No knots or cracks).
Two lengths of “clean” 1x4 (Same length as 2x4)
8ft of ½ inch quarter round
1 can of flat-black rustoleum (spray or brush on)

Construction:

Nail the 1x4s down the sides of the 2x4, creating a trough.
Cut the ½ inch quarter round so that it fits across the 2x4 snugly,
between the 1X4 sides.
(You should get about 22 pieces of ¼ round out of the 8ft).

Cut a piece of 1x4 long enough to fit across the top end of the
sluice. (I’ll explain this below).

Now, starting at about 12 inches from the top end of the trough,
place the first piece of ¼ round with one flat side down and the
other flat side in the direction of the discharge end of the sluice.
(Use small finishing nails to tack it down securely).

Repeat the process with the ¼ round about every 3 inches, until
you run out of the ¼ round pieces.

Now, paint the inside heavily with the flat-black rustoleum. The
outside doesn’t need to be as heavily coated. Make sure to allow
it to dry completely before using.

When you feel you are ready to put it to use, place the discharge
end on the edge of a 5 gallon bucket. Then, prop up the top end
so that it is 3 or 4 inches higher than the discharge end.

Take a water hose and tie or wire it so that it is pointing toward
the barrier you put across the top end of the sluice. The reason
for this is; you don’t want the water flow from the hose to be
directed down the slope, as it would be too disruptive for the
gold and other heavies to settle behind your riffles. This way,
the water will hit the baffle causing it to spread out before it
starts down the slope.

You’ll have to experiment with the water flow and the slope of
the sluice to get the best out of it. I use to use a garden trowel to
feed the materials into the sluice. At least, it was a lot quicker
and easier than panning. (lol)

When you’ve finished running your materials, using a clean
bucket, just stand the sluice on end in the clean bucket and use
the water hose to wash the concentrates out of the sluice and
into the clean bucket. You’ll only have a small amount to pan.

 

[Sharp Rock Jerry]

Hey Eagle, Great set of plans! How are you?

Boy, can't wait for it to cool off a bit. I'm chomp'in at the bit to get out and detect!

Jerry

 

[EagleDown]

Hey Eagle, Great set of plans! How are you?

Boy, can't wait for it to cool off a bit. I'm chomp'in at the bit to get out and detect!

Jerry

I'm fine thank you!! Yeah, I'd planned on going out this morning, but, my car needs the thermostat replaced. So, I went out before it got too hot to do it. Unfortunately, I found that the belt tensioner has to be removed to get to the thermostat housing. My little 3/8 drive rachet isn't up to the job. I need a 1/2" drive "breaker bar" to remove the bolt. So, right now, I'm dead in the water. (lol)

If necessity is the Mother of invention,
Surely, laziness is the Father.

 

[EagleDown]

Another inexpicable mystery!

It was late Summer, back in the 1970s and there was an area between McCabe Flats and Cable Rock (use to be known as Cable Crossing) that I was curious about, as it looked like a good drop-out zone for gold. Probably due to the way that it was stacked up with
three to five hundred pound boulders.

So, I took my 5” dredge upriver and spent about two hours lowering all the disassembled components down a vertical bank to the river, about 25 feet below. Once there on the river bank, it probably took me another hour to reassemble the dredge. But, at last, I was ready to fire it up and test out my theory.

I anchored the dredge in what appeared to be the main flow of the channel and started to work.

I spent the balance of the day rolling boulders out of my way and very little time dredging.

The following day, I was starting to make progress in gaining some depth, when at about two foot down, I ran into a layer of rusty sand and small gravel. There were small nuggets scattered all over the rust, consequently, I was determined to go through the rusty
Sand and gravel and get to the almost unimaginable fortune that surely must be below it.

After about three or four inches, I broke through the rusted layer into………..nothing but fine silt. I sucked out an area about five feet in diameter and probably twelve or fourteen inches deep, of this fine silt. It was as loose as a goose, with absolutely no compacting. I mean it was so loose that it took no effort to stick my hand down into it.

When I had cleaned all of the fine silt out of the hole, what did I behold but another layer of sand, gravel and boulders? Unfortunately, there was no gold on top of this layer, even though it was well compacted.

I decided that it was too dangerous to try going deeper, with nothing but three or four inches of rusty crust supporting all of the boulders around me, so I decided to pull out and return down river to where I didn’t have to hurt my brain trying to figure things out. (lol)

To this day, I haven’t figured out how the rusty crust got deposited on top of this fine silt, and how that three or four inches of crust was able to support the boulders that I had to move out of the way to get to it.

Maybe you might have an idea about it.

 

[shepcal]

Eagle, most tensioners I've dealt with, pressure wasn't that much. An 18 1/4" piece of 1" pipe over the handle of the 3/8 rachet should do it ;-). I'll give you a holler next time I go down that way.

Shep

 

[EagleDown]

Eagle, most tensioners I've dealt with, pressure wasn't that much. An 18 1/4" piece of 1" pipe over the handle of the 3/8 rachet should do it ;-). I'll give you a holler next time I go down that way.

Shep

Thanks Brother! I decided to take a chance on breaking the rachet, day before yesterday and used a pipe extension. I got the bolt loose, then found a bigger problem. I have to remove the altenator AND the mount for the altenator. Then, I have to remove the tensioner AND the mount for the tensioner. All for 'one' of the three bolts that holds the thermostat housing on.

YEAH!! Ford has a better idea! (Maniacal laugh here).

Anyway, I found the radiator has a small leak also. A bottle of Bars-Leak took care of that. Now the temp. guage only goes up to mid-safe range, instead of almost to the red line. So, I can go to the store, or short distances, but I wouldn't want to try to drive up out of the river canyon.

Oh well, perhaps I can get it fixed next month.

 

[fowledup]

Eagle, thank you, thank you, thank you! I love this thread, I've spent the last three days trying to catch up to the present. This is a reader's, history buff's, and miners dream- a living, breathing, never ending novel/story. I cannot get enough. I've been in a very negative place lately when it comes to the world's current condition, the demise of my passions, health; second torn knee in a year requiring another operation and insurance refusal to replace it, along with another early ending to my mining season. Anywho your writing has given me a much needed boost in the life and perspective department. You've also added some clarity to some decisions I've been wrestling with, thank you again. You keep writing I'll keep reading!

 

[EagleDown]

More Fires

Getting a little scary around here.

I heard planes in the distance and went outside to take a look.
There's a fire over the ridge to the West of us, (The ridge in the backgound).
While I was watching the bombers going back and forth, I heard a helicopter
and found he is fighting a fire in the valley just below us. From the black smoke,
I'd guess a house fire that is spreading into the surrounding land.

Now that was crazy, I don't know why, but I wrote East when it was actually West.

 

[EagleDown]

Eagle, thank you, thank you, thank you! I love this thread, I've spent the last three days trying to catch up to the present. This is a reader's, history buff's, and miners dream- a living, breathing, never ending novel/story. I cannot get enough. I've been in a very negative place lately when it comes to the world's current condition, the demise of my passions, health; second torn knee in a year requiring another operation and insurance refusal to replace it, along with another early ending to my mining season. Anywho your writing has given me a much needed boost in the life and perspective department. You've also added some clarity to some decisions I've been wrestling with, thank you again. You keep writing I'll keep reading!

Thank you for your post!! It's always good for me to find that I've helped someone. It's also posts like this that encourages me to continue my writing.

Once again, Thank You!!

Eagle

 

[wagbert]

Hello Eagle Down,
I hope you are O.K.. We haven't had a post from you in a few days, and you showed the smoke from this Rimfire could be seen from your place. Now is not the time to be having vehicle problems. I say "make like a tree and leaf".
I like your plans for building the sampler sluice. That will be on my list of winter projects.
These big burn-offs have surely happened many times before. They are saying what started this one was a hunter was careless with his campfire. Lightning could be a natural trigger too. I guess there are other ways to start a forest fire. Do you remember something like this happening out there? If it burns the ground vegetation off, then there won't be much to hold the soil, and next time it rains it's going to get the streams muddy. Does this help the gold prospecting, or just make it harder to pull out the nuggets? It's a shame so many good folks are getting their stuff ruined. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crosses for all of you guys out there.
Good Luck!
wagbert

 

[EagleDown]

Hello Eagle Down,
I hope you are O.K.. We haven't had a post from you in a few days, and you showed the smoke from this Rimfire could be seen from your place. Now is not the time to be having vehicle problems. I say "make like a tree and leaf".
I like your plans for building the sampler sluice. That will be on my list of winter projects.
These big burn-offs have surely happened many times before. They are saying what started this one was a hunter was careless with his campfire. Lightning could be a natural trigger too. I guess there are other ways to start a forest fire. Do you remember something like this happening out there? If it burns the ground vegetation off, then there won't be much to hold the soil, and next time it rains it's going to get the streams muddy. Does this help the gold prospecting, or just make it harder to pull out the nuggets? It's a shame so many good folks are getting their stuff ruined. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crosses for all of you guys out there.
Good Luck!
wagbert

The local fires were out by late afternoon, so I'm hokay. (lol)

A large fire like the "Rim Fire" can be a mixed blessing. On the negative side; the ashes created by the fire can cause a metal detecter to go beserk for years afterward. (One of the reasons I have high hopes for the TDI). Also, the 'run-off' can cause rivers and streams to be so full of ashes that you can't see the bottom in 2 foot of water. (Much like the Merced 3 years ago).

On a positive note for the prospector; When the rainy season comes, the run-off can uncover areas that haven't been worked for a hundred and fifty years. (If ever). So, we will have over a quarter million acres to check out that we wouldn't have had before the fire.

 

[EagleDown]

Hokay, I just returned home from Mariposa, while there, I stopped in to see Fred at the mining equipment (right behind Subway) and found he is offering 25% off for this month. I just couldn't leave without spending some of my money. (lol)
I got a dynamite deal on a drywasher. If you need prospecting/mining equipment, better get in there while the deal lasts.