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M & M Mining the Northern Sierras

We're off to Meat Creek this morning, same Memorial weekend crew. For the next four days, I'll be basking in the 100 degree sun and soaking in the 45 degree creek. No better way to balance the temps. Beer, check. Food, yup got some. Water for coffee, creek full of it. Even got the stuff I notoriously forget like tent, chair, camera and brain, etc..

As I always say, "Film at 11"
 

It was a pretty good weekend with Rockguy and Adam and his friend Ian. The gold was pretty OK too. I started out Friday afternoon on the gravels near camp but wasn't making any headway and not finding much gold so by Sunday morning, I relocated to the bedrock that Rockguy was showing good color. I found while removing the hoses that one of the orings was missing and it was pulling air and not holding pressure as well as it should. This required some redneck engineering to fix the air leak, but we must have sucked up a piece of plastic or something into the pump causing it to lose it's pressure.

This was getting started:






And more redneck repairs:



We ended up pulling the 1 1/2" out of the water and going old school with just the redneck highbanker and hand dredge.

With the high threat of fires, the forest restrictions on campfires is still in effect so we always have a back up campfire plan:



Here's a few pics of the weekend with some gold porn:

DSCF1439.webp DSCF1442.webp DSCF1443.webp DSCF1446.webp DSCF1447.webp
 

Nice Ian didn't annoy you too much? lol
 

If it wasn't for bad luck, I don't think I'd have any luck at all. My truck is always loaded with mining gear, well the little stuff like pans, shovels, rock bars, etc.. Last Wednesday after work, I stopped to do a little shopping at Wally World then across the street for a carton of smokes. I was in getting them less then 15 minutes and came outside to no truck. That's right, my ready to go dig mining truck was stolen leaving me stranded in North Reno, 25 miles from home. After making a call to arrange a ride home, I called Reno PD, waited over an hour, filed the stolen vehicle report and arranged a ride to work.

Now I'm in a very nice, but expensive rental car, and going to town to buy a beater AWD Subaru that needs a little work. It would have been a nice mining weekend....
 

That's horrible! I hope they catch the SOB who stole your truck. It would be nice if they gave you a few minutes alone with the fella.
 

Dang Mike thats sucks big time. I hope they catch the jerk

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 

The nightmare begins... So I jumped on a hot deal for new (TO ME) ride. Turns out the guy sold me a Subaru Legacy with a title that didn't match the vehicle. In fact, that title was to a junked Ru of the same make and year. Now, I have to jump through extra hoops at the DMV to get it legal to drive. First hoop cleared. They said I needed CHP to do a VIN verification. I called the Quincy CHP, and they had an officer call me back. He called within 15 minutes and arranged to meet him at my locked gate. From call to verified in under an hour. I'm on my way back to DMV this morning to get the temporary registration. Then the rental car can get dropped of after work today. I had already ordered the parts needed for the car and they are waiting at the Reno Subaru dealership. Instead of mining this weekend, I'll make the ride more road worthy, and continue the DMV process for getting this car legally in my name.

I still have had no word from Reno police on the status of my truck....
 

My truck was recovered last week. Unbelievably, everything was still in it except the beer, and they drank half case of soda. It started right up, but wouldn't roll. They blew out the clutch. That has been changed and I'm mobile again. Now I wish I wasn't working 12 hours a day and seven days a week. Meat Creek is calling me.....
 

Hey! You got your truck back, that doesnt suck too bad. Nice.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 

Down to working six 12 hour days, but so far down the list of winterizing chores, there's just no time for digging. And now Mother Nature has thrown in the first real storm of the upcoming winter season. Mining season may have come to an end. I guess I'll be running cons through the blue bowl, and working on the 3" "Redneck" gravity dredge for the next few months. If anybody has a lead on a cheap used wet/dry suit that fits a 150 pound old dude, I'm in the market for one.
 

Check local thrift stores for the wetsuits. Locally, I can find full suits for between $15-25. Goodwill will have them in the halloween costumes between august and october. Have to do a weekly thrift run till you find what you want.
 

What kind of pipe/hose do you plan on using?
 

How long? I'm sorry about all the questions I have been thinking about doing a 4" at my spot.
 

The last year was pretty miserable, gold wise, and life wise. When things were looking up, there has always been major setbacks. For the gold, it started out looking like a banner year. We uncovered our biggest Meat Creek nugget to date. Then the hole dried up. After moving around the creek for a few weeks, finally settled on a spot with some promise. Then some idiot set our forest on fire. We were locked out for six weeks while they battled the blaze. We were finally allowed back on the claim and I suffered equipment issues, not to mention a brain fart or two. Then in the planning of my next weekend trip, some UNR POS decided to take my truck for a week long joy ride. During that week, I bought a vehicle that I thought only needed some minor work. Well, that was a nightmare in itself. It had a bad title, linkage fix turned into a transmission, can't register it without a valid title, and can't even sell it or even give it to a junk yard. I got my truck back, with a shot clutch. All this time I'm working 12 hours a day seven days a week and have no time to fix the truck. With no help (other than all the armchair mechanics) and only two hours of daylight to work with, the clutch was done in eight stinkin' days. I stayed in a motel so I could get to work every day. Then two months later, the engine temp started to climb. Then there was chocolate milk on the dipstick. Not good. I replaced the head gasket in a day, but ran out of warmth and daylight, then Mother Nature had to mess with me too. Buried my parts in a snow drift. It was two weeks before I could identify which parts were what parts. By then I plain forgot how it all went back together. All this time, I'm still working 10 hour days, have no light to work with, and suffering from CRS, and driving a rental car. There's still issues with the truck, and it's keeping me from my redneck build for the upcoming season. I'm still in a rental car, and sometimes staying in a motel. I'm praying for this string of crap to end, but I know not to hold my breath.

So here it is, almost February, I still have a broken truck, still have black sand cons to go through, still have the creek powered gravel washer to build, and a buttload of other stuff that should have been done by now. So, I'll have a beer and get to stuff when I can.
 

After two excruciating long months, the truck started today. I had jury duty and it was cancelled this morning. I had already decided to take a PTO day anyway, so everything I did last weekend, I did again today. And today the punk fired up. Anytime you just RTV the crap out of old gaskets, they are gonna leak. As is the case today. But, it started and ran for an hour. I still need to get the right distributor tooth lined up, but it's a big step in the right direction.
 

Registered, insured, and I've driven the truck all week. Th only hiccup is no heat. I guess the one thing I should have changed back in December when I did the head gasket was the thermostat. Those fail safe t-stats are designed to lock open when the motor overheats. I found out just how hard it is to drive in a blizzard with ice on the inside of the windshield. I'll install the new t-stat as soon as the snow melts off my tools. In the meantime, I knew I could find a use for that box the head gasket set came in. The box, folded over and a bungee cord to hold it in place covers 2/3rds of the radiator and I have heat in the cab.

The best thing is I'm no longer spending all my money on the rental car. Soon I'm shifting gears and setting up the blue bowl and running the black sand cons from the past couple seasons, and building the Redneck Creek Powered Rock and Gravel Washer (find dredge in that name).
 

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