East fork Nov 13th.

[mellowyellow]

Sounds like there's a few people going hunting that week. I will be east fork by cattle creek bridge, or just up river from it. Just sluicing.. Hope to find a few flakes. Come say hi if anyone is there.

Be well,

Mellow...

 

[GoldHunter24k]

Here's a little map I made. I've been studying footage of floods recently and i've marked the most likely locations that I think the drop out zones are. The white lines are flood trailings and or old streams maybe. What do you guys think?

 

[Aurabbit79er]

Thanks for the pictures that helps a lot. What kind of glue did you use? So it sucks dirt up and dumps it into the hub trap?

What is the black thing below the handle on the plug pipe?

The pipe body cap that guides the piston.
ABS Glue for the Black ABS, and PVC glue for the White PVC.

After you pull the piston a few times and fill the trap lift the dredge level and position the tip over the bucket or sluice and flip it 180º
tip up and shake. In case of a plug up at the tip, pull the piston out and dump out the back end.
I didn't put a one way valve in so I could dump out the tip.

 

[amulbunny79]

Thanks for the kind words about my confrontation with the USDA-FS LEO. He was a kid, a veteran from the over the sands conflict, and I think he thought I was a scared little lady who'd cave in. Little did he know. As aurabbit79er said, I stood my ground. As we were ending the conversation he noticed my 11 lb guard dog in the cab of the coach, I'm surprised he didn't ask me to to show him his license. I asked for a business card, always good to know who you are talking to and challenging on laws. Shock of shocks, he didn't have one. And he wouldn't tell me his name either, that's a big Bozo NoNo in the field of law enforcement (unless you're TSA and hide your bag underneath your SIDA ID).

What pissed me off firstly is that he used the bullhorn to get me out of the coach like I was doing something wrong just sitting with my Kindle and reading a book. Then he he asked me for my name, what was I doing, why was the coach on blocks== (I like my toilet to flush properly and my stove to be level), where was my husband and what was he doing? I asked why the 30 questions? There are no signs prohibiting anything I/we were doing.

I'm not much for digging in the dirt or in the water. Had the weather been nicer I'd have trucked the dog and the lawnchair down to where the spousal unit was playing in the water and given amused commentary.

Peace.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

That's My Girl.
I want her on all my mining adventures.
The dog can come too.

 

[CT8620]

GH - Au's hand dredge looks like a far more capable tool. I'd say go for building something like that and skip the $50 pre-built one, especially you become a dedicated crack hunter. Wait, that didn't sound right...

Those all look like good places. We've been working just north of your #3 spot, I believe. We did some testing on Wednesday right in between your "Check this rock" and directly
west across to the "Good spot to check" marker. We checked along the bank of the stream and there was a bit of a hanging channel up about 20 feet from there, checked that too and got exactly nothing. As we know, just another inch down or foot over might have yielded different results, but in the couple buckets we pulled, nothing. I really need to get an MD, spot checking the places away from the water with an MD would be much easier. ~CT

 

[GoldHunter24k]

Ohh ok i get it now. thanks for clearing that up. Dont think I have time to built it before tomorrow morning but I'll work on it for next round and maybe then we can meet up.

Thanks for the reply Amulbunny79. It seems like this kind of thing is happening more and more. What are they trying to prove? Anyways it's good to know your rights.

CT: Yeah i was thinking the same thing. I am going to be in the market for a MD pretty soon as well. Not sure if I want to get a waterproof one or not though. Would be good because It seems like the deep spots are the most untouched in that area. Id like to take a Tesoro LST or a Goldmaster to the desert as well and shoot for nugs.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

View attachment 701851

Here's a little map I made. I've been studying footage of floods recently and i've marked the most likely locations that I think the drop out zones are. The white lines are flood trailings and or old streams maybe. What do you guys think?

Pretty good, the inside bend is the best bet.
The hill trail has stories too. Folks have found exposed nuggets on the trails and around the Heaton Flats area, including my Mom when she was 13, fishing with her Dad.
Spot #4 is a narrow bedrock cut. Water piles up there during the floods and blows out the river bottom there at 75 miles an hour, and sends it to the bend.
That's why that bridge was destroyed there.
Back in the 80s' a group of guys got a dredge permit for that spot and went down to bedrock, I herd about 20 feet, and found several hundred oz. in nuggets.
I worked across and up 40 yards from there. Very good flakes and pickers.

The spot in the middle west side is good too. I brought the Boy Scouts (6 Scouts including my Son) to that spot to mine and they hit a 1/4 oz pocket under a truck size rock there.
I had 3 Dads with me and we were totally amazed.
It was divided equally between the 6.
A day they will never forget.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

When it comes to metal detectors it was explained to me like this.

Finding gold is like a race, and to win a race you need a race car, so get the best race car you can.
My crappy little Bounty Hunter($125.00 in 1996) can find a BB at 2" deep, a bullet case at 4", a large coin at 6"
I found a train track spike about 10" deep once.
The new MDs can find stuff down 2'
If you can send more you find more.

 

[GoldHunter24k]

wow really? Every time i've passed the bridge ive seen lots of people digging so i try to stay away from them as to not walk on anyone's toes or anything. Last time i saw a few guys with looong beards diggin about 40 yards past the bridge. I had picked that spot out before but there were a few people there already. Going early this time.

How deep do you guys dig when you sample? How much dirt do you sample at a time?

 

[goldog]

For the adventure pass, buy two. Only 5 bucks more.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

What I look for and how I normally proceed.
From 10' to 30' on the west side of the river.
As I dig down I look for big rock tops and dig down the down river side.
The top 2' tend to have not much gold anywhere along the river.
If the rock is giant I focus on a center line down, working to a 4' dia. wide dig.
The water table is often about 1' or 2' below the river water level near by.
about 6" to 1' above the water level in the hole is a rusty deposit layer if the bench is in a good area.
If there is no rusty layer when you reach the water table dig deeper under water.
I also then dig towards the hillside.
If you are classifying every bucket you should be seeing 3 or more pieces of gold in your sluice per bucket'
That means you are on the gold.
This is 2003 before the river washed all the trees down, 100' passed the bedrock, above Heaton Flats.

 

[GoldHunter24k]

Nice setup Rich, i like how youre channeling water with a pvc tube to make a sort of makeshift highbanker. Great pics I might try something like that in the future.

Thx for the digging tips too. What do you use to dig? Just a pick an shovel?

Im going early so all of those places are going to be closed for an adventure pass. Does the Walmart in Covina sell them?

 

[Aurabbit79er]

I am always working on easier and better ways to mine without upsetting "The Man".
5' crowbar, pick, shovel, and a special hoe welded.
The Green Hopper was a fertilizer spreader I converted to fit my 52A.
The bottom is 1/8"x 3/4" expanded metal.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

The 1 thing about the adventure pass I did like was that if you don't have one and you get a ticket, you just buy one later and mail it in with the ticket and it's done. That is if you get a ticket, some don't get one.

 

[CT8620]

And from what I'm told, the ticket is $5, the cost of the day pass. I forgot to hang my year pass from my mirror last Wednesday and didn't get a ticket. Wouldn't recommend it as a habit though, it gives "The Man" one more thing to hang over your head. Although many contest having to pay for the pass at all, I don't mind.

 

[GoldHunter24k]

Yeah both times I went it was around noon and I didn't know where else to get a pass so we just parked and never got a ticket. Probably because it was mid-week. Arriving early this time though so i guess i'm just going to have to risk it. Thanks for the info

 

[CT8620]

The days are so short now getting there at noon isn't gonna give you much time to dig. We're not morning people, but we're working on getting there earlier and earlier each time. I think we will be there tomorrow, probably in the upper Heaton area. Unless we decide to keep walking northward ....

 

[GoldHunter24k]

You'll see my gf and I in the Heaton Flats area in the morning. On 2 bikes, with a sluice flare sticking out the top of my frame-pack Probably around the bend if it isn't occupied already.

 

[CT8620]

I'll be the one with the blue "Leave No Trace" shirt on sporting the neon green Le Trap with the blonde female partner in prospecting crime... I expect we'll be there around 10:30am ish.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

May you all have a blessed day.
When I forgot to put up my annual pass I made a copy of it and mailed it with the ticket. They accepted it.
I wish I was going with Yall.
Have fun. Weather should be perfect.