Prospecting and Other Adventures in NFAR Country - 63bkpkr

[63bkpkr]

Hi Mytimetoshine,
Thank you for sharing that data and yes March was full of winter though it looks like sunshine and 55 degree temps for about a week. Ma nature is likely to dump on the Sierras again this season though plenty of snow has fallen to keep the state from drought conditions. Be safe out there!...........63bkpkr

 

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[63bkpkr]

WELL CRUD !!

Crud as a physical or psychological material comes in a variety of sizes, colors and odors and collects in our brains or on our shoes and in general is not helpful to our lives activities. Just recently I was visited by a quantity of crud in the form of a pulled leg muscle though I was working through and past it with exercises and stretches. Early this week the crud reached back out in the form of some heavy pain in the knee. As I Must be able to Count on my physical fitness to get me in and out of the back country I love I've postponed an early July trip into the Sierra Mountains. Tomorrow 29 June I have a visit with my Orthopedic Surgeon where I will explain to him this new issue (the shoulder surgery PT is going well) and I hope to leave his office for an MRI appointment for the same day.

I could use some good wishes and prayers that there is nothing wrong in there or if there is that the Ortho Doc can get in there right away to repair it. Thanks for your kind thoughts...........................63bkpkr

 

[mytimetoshine]

Prayers 63! I know how bad you want to be out there. But you have reminded us all, that there needs to be a focus on safety and I agree. The gold is great but its not worth your safety or worse! I had things go sideways on me last weekend alone. I was lucky but a reality check indeed

 

[delnorter]

All the best to you Herb. Keep the positive thoughts.Mike

 

[Asmbandits]

Hope all goes well for you buddy, wishing you wellness and much gold!

 

[63bkpkr]

Update on Crud

Thanks to all for the well wishes! I thought the knee was on the mend and I'd even put together plan #2 for a Sierra trip then at the end of this week the knee went back into serious pain. It is odd as the MRI showed nothing was really wrong. I will not make it out this year, Crud!

I sure hope everyone else has a really good time "Out There", find a few nuggets while thinking kinds thoughts for whatever is wrong with my knee.........................63 bkpkr

 

[HMiller]

That stinks. Been there in the past, knee cartilage here. All better now in that knee but the other one is acting up at times. Rest it and get better.

 

[63bkpkr]

I'm going Nuts here in the city, I could really use some NorCal mountain time. The shoulder surgery has leftovers that I've not gotten over yet including sore muscles & headaches. A dear friend died last week so I will be going up north to attend a Celebration of Life for him, least I can do! Could try a little mountain time then? Even reading "out there" would be better than being in the city. Thank you for the well wishes & prayers!..............63bkpkr

NOT a friend coming into camp

 

[Asmbandits]

Herb, Eric (mytimetoshine) and me and a group of 6 guys hiked up the North fork american for a gold trip recently and it was so perfect.. From the weather to the gold it was just paradise.. We spoke of you and said how much you would love it and how we need to get you out there one off these days..

We're going to try and do this sane trip again every August so possibly next year you can join us. I can't wait to get back up there and i just left!

 

[63bkpkr]

Asmbandits,
That is one heck of a big gravel bar! Thanks for thinking of me out on the NFAR! I've sent a PM to you along with my cell phone #.

Dredgers sharing a look see at some of their take at Pickering Bar circa 1973

After having floated from Euchre Bar Trail bridge to the second bridge below Colfax, all on the NFAR.

This is one of the places we rafted through that was fun!

 

[63bkpkr]

An Outing Above the NFAR Sept 9 to 17, 2018

September 08, 2018 63bkpkr Treasurenet Forum

I attended my Dear Friends Memorial Service this morning, I am so glad I came up from SoCal to do this as I learned even more about why this man was a friend to all especially all the service (care, love, kindness, goodness) he had given to SO Many others including to me. This added input (service, lunch, talking with Don’s family and friends, looking at all the photo’s of his life) confirmed that this trip would be forever known as” Don’s Camping Trip”. After the service ended I changed clothes at the Chapel building into my ‘driving dud’s’ and hit the road for the final drive up to Auburn and into the hills and set up temporary camp #1.

[September 19, 2018

[So I’ve been back in SoCal since 5:45 AM on the 18[SUP]th[/SUP], having been up since ~ 7:00 AM on the 17[SUP]th[/SUP] and then hiking a full day including cutting more brush with a $40.00 side shear lopper that literally “was not cutting it”, returning to camp and shutting it down and driving out to Auburn to return the lopper (after showing picture of why it was being returned). From there I began driving to SoCal. So up at 7 AM on the 17[SUP]th[/SUP] hike/work all day, drive all night to arrive in SoCal and then be up all day on the 18[SUP]th[/SUP] (tried to sleep several times but just could not do it) so I am now still very tired but I slept for ~ 12 hours last night. The Crowning Glory of the 18[SUP]th[/SUP] was the shower, oh man was I dirty, dusty road trips are like that then couple that to only simple wet paper towel wipe downs at night after days of dusty hiking & brush busting for days and you should have an idea of just how grimy I was. Nuff said!]

Smoke from North Fire "Road?" coming in with Hydraulicing Scars on the hills

The morning of Sept 9[SUP]th[/SUP] I woke from a rough nights sleep, you know setting up a tent in the dark trying to judge if the spot is level never works out, so of course the spot had at least two severe dips to it making a good nights sleep not likely. I finish the drive out to Sailor Flat, turn the hubs to Lock, drop the Bronco’s transfer case into compound low
4 x 4 drive, shift into first gear and begin the trip down the first dusty road.

Finding my turn off still there I spun the steering wheel into the less traveled trail and began the final part of the drive. Lot’s of fire ravaged dead fall downed trees along the way, most I could get past w/o doing much to the Bronco (many extra bush scratches in the paint and only bent the exhaust pipe tip a little well some and a have a new angle to the exhaust pipe itself). The bushes indicate that this is becoming a really less traveled trail (unless of course one is just Crazy or a deer, bear, quail or grouse hunter) and speaking of that, I was just completing the last up hill section of bouncing, brush busting, tire spinning when I came upon one of those types. I continued past him a little bit and then I just had to stop to apologize for ruining his morning stalk & hunt.

So I met up with my new next friend Kyle. Since hunting was over we talked for about an hour well that is after his face came out of that Odd twisted look he first had when I reached out to shake his hand. After sharing with him some of what I knew of the area, like there is an animal drinking hole just down the hill from your current stand, sharing my 454 Casull with him, talking about the fishing and hiking on all the trails around and the like he was really happily smiling. We exchanged phone numbers and parted company.

Now to finish the short drive into where I wanted to make my final camp for the trip,
Uh-Oh another dead fall right across the road. Well it is Sunday and I am going to take it easy so I set up temporary camp #2.

Sept 10: Get up when I feel like it and switch into road clearing mode, dig out the duffle bag full of “what if tools” from, of course, the bottom of the pile. Let’s see the saw(hand saw), freshly sharpened hatchet and the somewhat light weight steel cable with slip hooks on both ends. First, modify the shape of the dead fall by removing all limbs now before they: stop the log from rolling, catch/hang up on every bush they can including the unlikely ones and clear the likely bushes out of the way (no I don’t need to cut that bush as the end of the log will never get that far up). Stuff cut tree branches under the log to keep it from digging into the places I want it to slide over and I will put this one right here so the tree spins on it, ok good attach the cable to the tree and to the Bronco and lets get this done. Oops that end of the tree was not supposed to go up that high and it did snag on that bush, darn. More cutting, log placing, cable breaking, more attachment methods and finally the 20’ x 28” dia. log is pulled way out of the way. Did you know that knots can be tied into a steel cable and they actually hold allowing a log to be pulled out of the way, it worked! On to camp!

Obstacle removed

Campsite confirmed, established and now for some food. An MRE is chosen for dinner (Note to Self: MRE’s are the pits don’t ever bother with them again).



Sept 11 Tues: Skipping breakfast I will take a little hike to see if I can locate the lopper I left out here last year. Nope its not there and I really thought it would be though it is obvious from the dropped Pepsi bottle that someone did find my newly cut trail. Why do they come out to this beautiful area and leave their trash?? I pull the offending Pepsi bottle and return to camp. Relax at camp for the rest of the day, those foldout recliner chairs are quite comfy once a sleeping pad has been placed on it. Note: I’ve never camped anywhere before where the gophers (yes those burrow digging furry little things that ruin lawns) get together at night and squeak at each other likely right at the roots of the plants they are eating, this chatter can wake a person in the middle of the night.

Down in there is where I want to go Bear Scat


12 Sept Morning rituals completed time to take a hike “out there”. The trail out there (that I cut late last year) also shows signs of someone having been on it as many of my trail markers are down. I arrive at the spot where I took the picture last year that might show where the quartz deposit is at. [About 10 years ago I was out in these hills (when the bushes were just young and easy to walk past/around) and I came upon this Quartz deposit; 40’ to 60’ long by 3’ to 6’ wide with lots of other potential protrusions of more of it showing on the hillside.] It would seem that I Will need a new lopper before I venture towards it, darn but not unexpected. On my way back to camp I loose the up hill trail and plow forward through brush for a lazy end of the day! I need a lopper!!

13 Sept. Thurs: Begin Communicating with Jerry/Asmbandits about a meet up in Coloma on Friday. An easy day in camp.

14 Sept: Purchase a lopper for $40. Head for meet up with Jerry in Coloma. (Note: Coloma is quaint, picturesque, lots of history sort of little town and is a Tourist Trap on par with the best of TT’s!! It is all planned out — Squeeze money from anyone that stops there as even parking costs money “in the Tourist section” the Mill site, mining, old houses etc. The Coloma Café where the meet up was to take place was outside of the TT area and was therefore pleasant, priced reasonable and I spent a few hours there on my own going over pictures and plotting my next trip into the bush.

Jerry arrives on time with Kayak in the back of his rig, he’s just finished a run down the river with his brother. Our first ever meeting goes very nicely, lot of talking and sharing. After about a half hour or so a new guest arrives, Goldwasher (aka Jarrod). Hellos go around and we settle in for some more talking. After awhile the second guest pulls out this squat little glass jar and the meeting shifts into high gear. In the jar is this ‘Specimen’ that he has been acid treating and is now being rinsed in water. The Specimen is released from the jar and is passed around, what a jaw dropping joy this thing is! The gold, to me, looks crystalline and sparkles like the jewel it is. The Quartz is white and the presentation of the gold is just so Dynamic, an absolutely Gorgeous piece!! Jarrod highly recommends the purchase of a Minelab 7000! About this time another acquaintance, Jeff, happens upon our group and joins us. Jeff’s work cancelled on him so he’s been off riding on some sort of motorized cycle checking out “stuff” in the mountains. After a very nice dinner it is time for all of us to go do our thing. The meeting is adjourned with hand shakes and smiles all around. Now the drive back and down the dirt road at night!

Locking Hubs Tent goes up each night


Sept. 15 Saturday With new lopper in hand I head back out my trail with a somewhat weighty pack, ~ 40 lbs. I cut as needed (dead falls have collapsed bushes so they are now in the way) and apply new trail markers. I arrive at the picture perfect site and head across the terrain carefully to the top of the rock outcropping. Careful foot placement is required as this is steep, dusty, slippery broken rock pieces covered country and of course a few bushes are trimmed as reaquired. Nope, for certain it is not the Quartz deposit! I take pictures and estimate just how I will come down from this solid piece of rock to the sloping, brush plagued area below it. Now shall I return the way I came or should I just go straight up hill till I intersect my trail? Straight up hill it is! This is a type of ‘dance’ around bushes hike up and fairly quickly I see one of my trail markers waving at me, good choice to go straight up. Once again the sun sets at a touch after 6 PM and it gets Cold and NO camp fires are allowed so its off to bed after a quick but necessary wipe off of the daily grime.

On non-Quartz outcrop The area The Black Hole

Sept. 16 Another easy day in camp. So why so many easy days in camp? I’ve two bad knees, the left is bone on bone and the right has splits in the cartilage on both sides. To add to this the left shoulder surgery is only 6.5 months new and not right yet. The right shoulder surgery was performed in 2013 by “Our Friends” at Workmans Comp Insurance so it is a third world type of patch up that is not expected to last type of thing. Then of course I am Not in great physical condition (for me) so I’m trying to be reasonable (on this trip) in what I make my body do. I mean I’ve had Past years where I came in with a pack weighing 115 lbs BUT I was in top shape so it never bothered me!! Like the younger fellow with me could not outlast me! So this trip I really was being careful with what I was doing. Oh really, what about the drive home??!

Lovely moment in camp

Sept. 17 Monday In high spirits I arise at 7 AM, eat a warm breakfast (oatmeal & raisins with Dark Brown Sugar) and prepare to leave camp. I take my shortcut
(short cut)

down to the rock and traverse around it on the right side and hit dense brush! I drop the pack, pull out the lopper and start cutting/fighting with cutting the bushes. Manzanita no problem but the ¼” stuff not working well. The cutting is very tiring and of course this day of all days is actually flaming hot! I cut till almost noon moving forward about 40’.

(40' of trail looking back the way I came in)

I stop for lunch and lots of water. After the rest I start cutting again, after awhile I’m about 60’ from the “Black Hole” rock,

(Black Hole Rock behind tree)

the cutting is bad and I can perceive that I might be getting close to an edge of something that I can not tell a thing about but I’m pretty sure that it goes down. How much down or where can I safely step and how should I handle myself are all unknown. It’s after 1 PM, the heat and lopper lack of proper cutting have really worn me out. The trip is coming close to an end and I need a rest day as the hike in really Overworked the right calf muscle. Also I must obtain a new lopper which requires a drive back to Auburn which also means I must purchase more gasoline and then drive back in. I’m just not up to it! I do not want to rush the end of the trip and in doing so put myself at more risk than I already have just by being out here. Out here is rough country! No mistakes allowed! Yes I have my SPOT Messenger on and with me but breaking a leg is not what I want to do especially as when I return to civilization I need to locate a new job.

So, I ended the trip there and then. That channel between the two ridges was 60’ from me but I knew I had to give it up. From its color the rock making up the black hole was likely loaded with iron.

(hiking out, looking back)

What would my GMT detector have told me when I waved it over that ground? Close, so Close, kinda like the movie Romancing The Stone. So I hiked out to the Bronco Camp for the last time (the new trail markers kept me on track), packed it all up, returned the lopper (good thing I took the picture of how it was not cutting as after showing that there was no question with the return) -

I hit Costco up for gasoline and a whole combo Pizza and got on the road back to San Diego. The next morning I noticed the right rear tire was low on air, a nail right next to the side wall. Costco will replace the tire w/o charge, it has 4,000 miles on it. (when did I pick up the nail, I thought I noticed the tire was maybe low at camp)

Will I ever get back there? Will I ever learn what might be waiting for me there? Was it worth leaving without learning the answers to these questions, Yes! Will it bother me, YES!!! Maybe to be continued but do not hold your breath.

It was a good trip, I enjoyed being out there. I enjoyed testing my body to see what I could do with it. I learned it needs to be worked on. However as long as I was careful with it, I did what I wanted to do. I have a Love Affair going on with this NFAR river canyon country. It haunts me. I want to be there all the time. I've become a man while hiking, fishing, climbing, rafting, prospecting, and taking chances in this Lovely place!

Be wise my friends, be safe and Enjoy being out there!

 

[Asmbandits]

Very nice post Herb, looks just like I had imagined it would as you described it when we met. Thanks for meeting up with Jarrod and myself, it was the perfect capper to a perfect day in gold country! I'm glad you made it in and out safe and with the intentions of once again returning. Possibly next time you make it out we can all meet up out there on the NF somewhere

 

[A2coins]

Freakin amazing post

 

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

Looks like that was a great trip Herb. It inspires me that theres still some good stuff out there, just gotta have the cahones to get out there and look!

 

[63bkpkr]

A2coins & SchoolOfHardRocks - In early February of 1963 was the first time I hiked into this area only down a portion of the Green Valley Trail. It was snowing at my 1949 Willys 4 x 4 pickup truck and raining from about mid way down to the bottom. The river was Wall to Wall and Roaring, the river water was Milk Chocolate Brown, huge pine trees were swiftly moving down river, boulders were bouncing on the river bedrock and as I stood there on the cliff overlooking the river and the majestic mountain on the other side what I did not realize was that I was forever hooked on hiking this canyon. I've now hiked in here for over 50 years and have spent spell bound hours looking at amazing scenery, deer & bears and a Few Rattlesnakes, spent many a fine hour in the crystal clear water, have eaten more than my fair share of Rainbow Trout, shared this place with my three children and other friends and simply have not had enough! Thank you for your kind comments...................63bkpkr

View attachment 1636149 Coming out of Sailor Flat to the two wheel drive parking area, I'm on the left

View attachment Dredging.bmp Back when it was legal And I had a dredge permit!!

Chilly Camping in a superb modern tent

Currently what I carry in my left arm pit and I do not mean the rope

 

[Goldwasher]

Great to meet you in person Herb. Glad you had a good trip bummer it sounds like you cut it shorter than you mentioned at the café.

Next time your up we will get out together..

 

[mytimetoshine]

Another great post Herb. Makes me feel like im out there and seeing it too when i read it.

 

[63bkpkr]

Thank you mytimetoshine! And what an interesting comment, interesting as I've heard it before and I guess I'm starting to believe it. I love the experiences I've had "out there" and I also love to share them as i suppose I get to relive them during the sharing, possibly that is why people feel drawn into these sharing sessions. Interesting!...................63bkpkr

 

[Nitric]

Same here! I love reading your posts and seeing the pictures. I'm a dreamer and haven't made it out anywhere real yet. 20 some years ago I said I was going to go Backpacking when I graduated High School. A friend and I were going west and going to just wander around. Before we graduated we got into other thing,jobs,partying,girls,cars, etc...We never went. time goes so fast too!

When I see your posts and read them it makes me think....This guy is doing what I dreamed of doing...I'm only 42, but not sure I'll make it at this point. I haven't given up completely yet!!! Some of you guys have some very cool adventures that some of us only dream about! I like reading about those!

 

[63bkpkr]

Good Morning Nitric, and as well thank you for your kind comments. I'm glad to be able to share my adventures with others and they are Adventures! I slowly came out west from the Detroit area of Michigan at the age of 12 1/2 yrs and added slowly added new items to my Michigan fishing and camping with my family. In 1961 I teamed up with a fellow from Indiana having met him in High School in Redwood City California. Also in 1961 I had an adventure shared with me about this wild river canyon up north. One trip into that river and I was hooked.

What helped me was having had little nibbles of adventures like friday and saturday night camp outs in back of my buddies house, the family fishing and hunting outings (nothing fancy here!) and of course lots and lots of Ice Skating and playing in the snow. All of these combined gave me some comfort with being in the outdoors.

My first ever backpacking trip was stupid! I was way over tired and after hiking into "The Canyon" I camped in an open sunlit area and Cooked myself. I hiked out the same day. I do not recommend repeating either of those two mistakes as psychologically you are at a significant disadvantage to deal with being "out there". My next trip in I was well rested and everything was spectacular, clear clean water, great fishing, no animal issues, great sunsets, a nice campfire evening spent watching a sky full of stars and a great nights sleep. Each day I would go fishing/exploring along the riverbed where my eyes and brain devoured every twist and turn in the river to where I was excited, and still am, to see what was around the next turn. Simple trips that would build on each other as I explored and tested my abilities. Camping with friends made being in there even more special and then I learned about bringing in a pair of diving goggles to explore the river underwater, even more fun.

Start by being in reasonable physical condition "all over your body", go on simple trips after doing some reading up on car camping, limit the equipment as too much stuff just gets in the way (like my last trip). Go to have fun and learn about the place you are camping at and do what you like to do or do something you've never done before. Keep it simple and have fun! A word of caution - many years ago after marriage had settled in and the first two children were still quite young I took us on a family camping trip. While traveling on this dirt back country road I had a flat tire. Stopping to repair it I found I had TWO flat tires and only one spare. You might consider having two spare tires and good tires on the ground.

Have fun reading about being out there and then have fun being out there!.................63bkpkr