Prospecting and Other Adventures in NFAR Country - 63bkpkr

[63bkpkr]

To start this off, finally, I will insert the photos and then add some descriptions as time allows. I've explored and enjoyed the North Fork of the American River (aka NFAR) since 1963 though I am far from finished with my adventures there! I hope you enjoy............63bkpkr

Along the NFAR





13 Jan 2017 Continuation

After I park my 92 Bronco at the end of the Jeep road, my prospecting comes after dropping down the canyon wall to the river valley ~ 3000 vertical feet below. "Many Years Ago" I purchased a Kelty brand external frame backpack, the model is a Sherpa, and the model name should give you an idea about the volume of the pack. My typical pack weight at the top of the trail at the start of most trips is about 85 light pounds though once when I was in really good shape I carried in a 115 pound pack, not bad for a guy who's about 5' 10" tall weighing at that time ~ 155 lbs. Anyway here are a couple of pictures of the pack on two trips.
Just touching down from the hike in right on the riverbed. This was the first time the A52 was tried out and it worked even though I had no clue of how to set it up, purchased at 49er in Auburn CA.


Still at the apartment in Fremont CA - the blue thing to the left of the picture is my BGT waiting for its first outing, I am certain it was disappointed with me as I did not put any gold through it. And yes I do wear that knee brace and yes the black thing to the right of the picture is my 6' 6" hiking staff and yes that is a Mountain Bike Handle Grip glued to the top of it. The orange thing on the front of the pack is a "SPOT Messenger", the same one that likely saved my life.

Camps - where would any trip be without a camp:
the start of a camp in a tight side canyon.

The 1" O.D. cables were strung across this little stream for chain falls to run on for lifting boulders up, moving them over a little and then working the sample that was underneath the boulder. The chain falls were very large and very heavy, how they go them in there is anybody's guess but a lot of sweat was part of the journey from the top to the bottom of the canyon.

This camp is downhill from a hard rock gold mine. The gold vein went right across where a creek was running and eventually it cut through the rock exposing the vein allowing pieces to drop into the creek that carried then down to a larger creek, the one flowing into that lovely swimming hole.


Note, Insurance Policy



So, I'm minding my own business hiking down this sidewall into a very rugged and remote area when I look up and see that the clouds are closing in on me. I pop out of a section of 'Mountain Misery plants' to find sort of an opening on the hillside, I figure it is time for me to kick out a "flat spot" and put up my tent. I just had the tent up, all my gear inside the tent and it starts to rain. Well, no steak and potato that night. I wake up in the morning and I can see my breath, it is still raining but I feel that something is not right. I unzip the tent and fly and look out across the canyon to see that the top 5th of the 8000' mountain on the Other side of the canyon is WHITE! I am prepared for rain but not snow so the trip is over except for hiking my self and ALL my gear for a two week stay back out. I wait till noon, as that is when the rain will stop, it does, so I pack up all my wet gear and make it back up to the next level of forest and note that the clouds are massing again so I set up camp again. It starts raining before I have all my stuff in the tent, grumble. I was able to finally get a fire going and cook my steak and spud, enjoyably eat them and it starts to rain again.
I kicked out this flatish spot for my tent and quickly got it setup




this is a picture of the trail I came in on, what you can't see it!

side canyon the tent is pitched on
view from my tent the next morning and why I hiked out
tent pitch on my way out very wet!
Steak cooking fire
The next morning trying to dry things out before packing them up.

Going back in the history files of simple tent years -
late summer not summer!

So TNET is telling me I can have only 40 pics per post so I guess that means I need to start a second post for this long tale of adventures, As The World Turns!....................63bkpkr

 

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[Hunt4gold]

That looks like an incredible area for gold and fishing - enjoy! Looking forward to seeing your prospecting stories from there.

 

[Goldfleks]

Beautiful

 

[63bkpkr]

Prospecting and Other Adventures in NFAR Country part II

and one last camp picture of Early Early simple tent days, father and son, though some camps are better than others! One Sept/Oct. holiday trip we came in from Virginia, we setup camp Way up river towards the end of the trip I noticed the clouds were starting to come in so we moved camp back down river to the bottom of the trail and re-pitched our tarp tents. I had brought one large tarp with me, like the above picture, and had found a second in the canyon. I strung my rope between two trees placed the first tarp on the rope and then overlapped the second tarp to the first by say a 20" long overlap and tied both tarps out with a third on the ground underneath the two tarps overhead. Now THAT was a five star hotel if I've ever stayed in one!!!! Cozy dry and warm regardless of how hard it rained, NICE!!

The early days, first three are ~ 1965 in Green Valley
first version of backpacking insurance policy .44 mag
My brother and I still had hair on the top of our heads

~ 1970 Doug and I coming out of Sailor Flat and yes I am Really Dumb at this time (not even a waist strap on that Alice Pack which was carrying my two drawer tackle box from Michigan, I mean really DUMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and of course that fishing rod container only grabbed hold of about 74.372% of the trees and bushes. Go Ahead and Laugh as I am!

View attachment Dredging.bmp about 1993, sorry no gold to show, I was still too inexperienced to understand how to setup the dredge. Note, I even had a permit for dredging!! Carried in ~ 200 lbs of gear by myself in three trips up and down the mountain.

Ahh, the warm glow! prospecting in background


Making the tummy feel right

This beauty came from a high mountain pool up in No Man's Land and it was an all day affair going up to, getting into the box canyon and then getting back to camp down on the river. Oh, and there was a bear waiting for us on our return!! And yes this was a medium sized rainbow as the pool's were filled with a lot of 18" to 24" trout as well......that's a Mepps in its mouth!

me ~ 1975 out from Barstow Jeep Run ~2008 NFAR
~ 2010 NFAR A little Rental home on Whidbey Island Washington state 2003

One November I thought it would be a good time to do some hard core exploring, the weather was not severe and also of importance the day time temperatures were mild and for what I had in mind the mild temps would be a blessing.

At the top of the canyon and an easy drive in.
Fall colors at 6000'+ sort of a camp
Just getting into the thick of it

Telephoto shot Side angle

Trees are bent from snow load Ditch between side walls

It was indeed rough country I saw a couple of places to go back and explore further


Out & About in higher country, up side canyons, back in the back of back country and the like:

Ropes are handy Lobe from 10 stamp mill

Natural Pyramids Looking over/past hydraulic workings and into the NFAR canyon

Nice valley meadow Top Side View


Its up there! Up there, creek at the drop off

180 from drop off Avalanche Country More up and back

Continued in next post!

 

[63bkpkr]

Continued Back Country:

On top
Ravaged forest
time to retire

So my backing buddy says to me "Hey why don't we raft it", Oh OK! 1972 first run down the NFAR from Euchre bar to 1st Colfax bridge (we'd intended to go all the way to Clementine Dam, low water kept us from completing that mission)

put in at Euchre In Lovers Leap Gorge

Shortly after put in and we still had the bottom of the raft with us!! Not long after this pic the bottom was gone!! 92 CFS water flow and we portaged a lot. This subject will be taken up in another post of just rafting but we have made it all the way to the second Colfax bridge takeout! Some rough running and a few dangerous spots, we've had four trips down the NFAR with no lives lost, very few injuries (bruised heads, two stitches & one helicopter rescue - its interesting!) The river is nothing to be fooled with when unprepared, trust me I know!! The typical "Rubber Duckie Yellow Rafts" can be prepared to make them much better and the paddles they come with should be thrown out as they become dangerous as the blades become sharper/rougher from fending off the rocks. Life jackets and simple helmets are a must as well as heavy duty sun protection.......63bkpkr

 

[mytimetoshine]

Absolutely amazing pictures Herb! Thank you for sharing! I lived in Fremont for 35 years now up in el dorado county. Thanks again for sharing the knowledge

 

[63bkpkr]

NFAR Country even under water

mytimetoshine,
You are quite welcome for the information and thank you for the fine comment! I "Love" this country and sharing it with others is a real pleasure even if only by past photos, there are a lot more to come though I'm finding it hard to find the time to add them to this blog as work is still sucking up a lot of my time and energy. Stay tuned as I will continue this.

There are surprises all along the NFAR like a small Buick engine with transmission and a capstan type winch mounted to the output of the tranny, a few sluiceboxes here and there, a few cabins still exist and miles and miles of just beautiful country to explore!!


Natural altar The deer beds are at the base of the trees in the foreground (right, dumb animals)

Son and I with black hole. In the black hole is a box canyon with a 200' waterfall and in the pools there are lots of 18" to 24" Rainbows.

Father & Son at the base of the 200' waterfall

Mans Best Friend "Abner" a Kuvasz ~ 115 lbs

That's many miles of country to explore and just a small portion of the NFAR area. The sandy looking bald spots are hydraulic Monitor workings, ~ 7000' elevation. Gold is where you find it!

And some side canyons:

My son Hard Rock Gold Mine
on left out of picture
Dinner cooking in bucket 500' Waterfall

500' waterfall upper right I want to rappel down to the
pool
Diving weights, old sluicebox and other signs of activity

Then there is "stuff"

What the fish were biting on at that moment

Scenic look at some rocks even one floating in there

I left over from the past in the blacksmiths work area

Those are old patent dates on a drilling machine for making holes for dynamite
work in a hard rock mine out in the middle of no where

Natural Color

Sifting out some of the raw sample, that sifter came from Bed Bath & Beyond

~ 2008 From the left clockwise: .22 slug, 30 cal slug, magnetic rock, dime for size, three more magnetic rocks and in the center some yellow junk

In the back of the large boulder on the right is where the lead and yellow junk came from

2nd trip total take, the twins on the dime were rusted together so check the rust rings on rocks

Now if I'd only had it set up properly, maybe I would not have lost the 1/4" diameter
flake that shot right out over the riffles! It was an amazing experience.

The third and final take from in back of that large boulder

The big boulder is on the right of this picture, I filled in the trench I had dug and I figure this will be a natural sifter for any gold that drops out of the water flow over the top of that boulder!

This is the total take including the Limonite Crystal, about 1/4 oz. troy on top of a silver half dollar

This flake of gold was under about 8" of 'solid' Bedrock, found with a GMT

Other types of Gold found "out there"

The total take of searching for gold IN 'solid bedrock', look for the tiny cracks

A different time for "Other Gold"

Looking at a tree from a unique angle

 

[63bkpkr]

Virgin Tools and Used

It is quite likely we all have tools that we enjoy using and then those new tools that we hope work out well, here are three of mine that meet those standards.

My BGT that I purchased while I was in Texas so it is still Virgin, I am glad I purchased it when I did even though I knew I would not be using it any time soon!!

My recent purchase of the Gold Claw pan with many large, medium, fine and very fine riffles and if one does not look close they will miss seeing the very fine riffles on one of the two pinched side walls.

Then there is my tested and reliable Batpan with its integrated ~ 3/8" sifter, the heavies just drop right to the center of the pan, go figure!

Sigh, someday soon I hope to be out there!!!............................63bkpkr

 

[63bkpkr]

Vehicles

Top of the NFAR
just for grins & giggles though they still use these
Father & Son at start of another trip


Look close at the left corner in the trees = Bronco

2 wheel drive
really 2 wheel drive

 

[Kenmitch]

Sweet....Gold comes and goes, but the memories of the adventures will last a lifetime! In digital form possibly forever!

On another note it appears you've been exploring the NFAR my whole life....Born in 63.

 

[63bkpkr]

Good Morning Kenmitch,
Yes I dropped into the NFAR canyon for the first time in February of 1963 when I was 19. I am still looking forward to many more years of hiking that country! I've a trip planned for the 4th of July weekend though the snow must be all gone before the trip date to make the trip possible and of course my Bronco must do the round trip to and from San Diego............63bkpkr

 

[mytimetoshine]

Good Morning Kenmitch,
Yes I dropped into the NFAR canyon for the first time in February of 1963 when I was 19. I am still looking forward to many more years of hiking that country! I've a trip planned for the 4th of July weekend though the snow must be all gone before the trip date to make the trip possible and of course my Bronco must do the round trip to and from San Diego............63bkpkr

If that trip happens. I would love to tag along.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[63bkpkr]

mtts, sent you a pm.........63bkpkr

 

[Kenmitch]

Good Morning Kenmitch,
Yes I dropped into the NFAR canyon for the first time in February of 1963 when I was 19. I am still looking forward to many more years of hiking that country! I've a trip planned for the 4th of July weekend though the snow must be all gone before the trip date to make the trip possible and of course my Bronco must do the round trip to and from San Diego............63bkpkr

Silly how things we really need can sometimes get in the way of things we want to do....In reference to the hopefully drought ending weather we've been getting.

The areas shown do look really nice, peaceful, relaxing, while packed with lot's of adventures! Good luck on your trip! 4th of July is a ways away still so it's possible there will be no snow left. Broncos are built Ford Tuff!

 

[63bkpkr]

Broncos "built Ford Tuff" - Yup this old girl is certinally that though she is looking a bit rough but then I really do not worry about it being stolen as it simply looks rough. And yes, I have had a vehicle stolen once while parked on a mountain side in NFAR country. Not a fun experience as we'd just spent three days in the rain, hiked out in the rain and needed that car to be there with dry clothes, etc. It was snowing when we got to where the car had been, I changed out the snake loads for all solids in the revolver and headed for the paved road. Should I have seen my car driving around I would have fired at the driver! The theives were never found though the car was, they had used it for robberies in the area and then dumped it in a remote area. They came very close to allowing us to die in bad weather on top of a ridge line with heavy winds and snow coming down. The question of what to do is still very prominent in my mind, any similar situation would certinally be met with the "Fight response"!.........................63bkpkr

 

[utah mason]

Broncos "built Ford Tuff" - Yup this old girl is certinally that though she is looking a bit rough but then I really do not worry about it being stolen as it simply looks rough. And yes, I have had a vehicle stolen once while parked on a mountain side in NFAR country. Not a fun experience as we'd just spent three days in the rain, hiked out in the rain and needed that car to be there with dry clothes, etc. It was snowing when we got to where the car had been, I changed out the snake loads for all solids in the revolver and headed for the paved road. Should I have seen my car driving around I would have fired at the driver! The theives were never found though the car was, they had used it for robberies in the area and then dumped it in a remote area. They came very close to allowing us to die in bad weather on top of a ridge line with heavy winds and snow coming down. The question of what to do is still very prominent in my mind, any similar situation would certinally be met with the "Fight response"!.........................63bkpkr

Dang that sucks. I couldn't imagine hiking out to no vehicle. It's not very often I even unload the tools out of my truck. I've never in 20 + years of hiking and backpacking had any thing stolen out of my truck, let alone the truck itself. I guess that's the one upside in living in a area with a bunch of highly religious people.They may judge you, but at least they won't Rob you.

 

[Johnnybravo300]

Wow that's beautiful country and awesome gold. I love Colorado but California sure has something too.
Can you prospect during the winter there or is there snow?

 

[63bkpkr]

UM,
In fifty years of being "out there" and returning to my vehicle only twice has it been molested, once stolen and once had a window broken where they took the water bottle out of my cooler and left lots of other things alone. I suspect the broken window/stolen water bottle was from a couple who'd come in there with a little baby and needed water when they got to the top, my 56 Chevy Wagon bore the brunt of that as well as my pocket book to have the window replaced. Ignorant people and thieves just want to share their issues and do not care about what harm they do to others.

I've had bears partially remove the rubber strip that holds the windows onto the vehicle. This was stopped by powdering all the windows with pepper just before I hike into the canyon.

Johnny,
"Where I go" is covered by many feet of snow in the winter so only summer time prospecting. In mid June of 2011 the paved road was plowed but the jeep road had six foot of snow on it, the snow on the jeep road was higher than the top of my Bronco.

Yes, beautiful country...................63bkpkr

 

[63bkpkr]

Here's some photos back in ~ 1965

On the left we have Giant Gap aka Lovers Leap Gorge on the North Fork and the critter on the right is my 1949 Willys 4x4, slung a lot of mud with that ole girl!

 

[63bkpkr]

Replenishing The "Supply"

Well this is not exactly a picture Buttttt, it gives one an idea of what drives yearly prospecting efforts.

I can so picture in my mind the torrent that went through the canyon and the possibilities it created as it moved so much around putting new material into the river as well as re-depositing old placer deposits to new sites. And, Winter is not even over yet!! Time to get in some exercise to drop a few pounds and muscle up from the top of my little bald head to the bottoms of my sissy feet!.....................63bkpkr Dream on, plan now!