The Grizzly Tales; Live from AU Colorado

[PurpleGold]

Crevicing does sound really fun. I've been thinking about it myself. Have you ever thought how rad it would be to spend a day on the rocks with a crow bar literally popping them apart and getting real deep in those cracks? I've wondered how far could I hike with a breaking bar.

 

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[Jeff95531]

I don't think there's such thing as a bad day digging in February! The weather is staying nice, and if it holds I'm thinking about switching it up this weekend and try my luck at crevicing up the canyon. I can't get crevicing out of my head so it's going down!
Too bad I botched my sample, the gold I found was really not great at all. Big bend, and Arapahoe bar have much better gold. Ended up with just .09 for the day. Again a big fat FAIL! I've got about a month until the dredge comes out, and I'm going to get my .5 gram day if I must dig a spot for 12 hours. Hopefully this Sunday there's a bunch of fat pickers waiting at the bottom of a crack. These cracks are only a few miles from the Dixie mine, which produced some of the coolest corn flake gold in Colorado, sure would like one for the collection!

.09 is a big fat fail Oh no my friend.



A big fat fail is when you collect .5 grams of fools gold in your first season and realize it's not gold when you watch it fly off the end of your Miller Table.

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Haha! I guess failing is all in context!! Lol!
And yezzir Purp! Crevicing can super fun. I've spent many a day with all kinds of metal implements busting cracks apart. Most cracks either "pinch" out, or have an impermeable layer. Getting down to this is key with picking cracks. I remember the Swift river in Maine was a perfect example of deep gold.
We worked a crack all day and found just 4 little flakes. As we were about to call it quits our crowbars hit a light brownish grayish clay. The next 2 pans of material gave us 9 pickers up to .25 grams. The key with cracks is understanding the material. Cracks fill back up every time they flood. Picking undug cracks is so very key to not being discouraged. As a side note, cracks as thin as a coat hanger can still hold crazy good gold as long as they are deeper than a few inches. And its those paper thin ones that are overlooked and an absolute nightmare to get material out of.
My favorite thing about crevicing is that rarely will you ever end up with more than a fraction of a bucket of material, so pans are all that's really necessary for processing.

 

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

Crevicing under/ above the water is by far my favorite and most profitable form of prospecting. All you need is: a crowbar (36" is my favorite due to it's lightweight but can still bust some cracks open), a spoon, butter knife, crevicing tools are always nice (19"), and a gold pan. You can also add a hammer and chisle if you really want to bust some bedrock.

Crevices are where most of those chunkie monkeys are chillin. Bust bedrock! When you think you've got all of the material out- keep on scrapin/bustin!! There's been many times someone has started working a crevice and I come along and keep working it, only to find some nice pickers someone had left behind. Have fun GG & PG, I by far prefer crevicing over breaking my back digging with a #2 all day. Just watch your hands as crevicing can be brutal to your fingers (broken bedrock, smashing hands with tools, etc.). A couple of weeks ago GoldenMojo cut a piece of his shirt off to tie around my severely cut finger... A good mining buddy or a first aid kit is always a smart move too.

 

[Jeff95531]

Haha! I guess failing is all in context!! Lol!
And yezzir Purp! Crevicing can super fun. I've spent many a day with all kinds of metal implements busting cracks apart. Most cracks either "pinch" out, or have an impermeable layer. Getting down to this is key with picking cracks. I remember the Swift river in Maine was a perfect example of deep gold.
We worked a crack all day and found just 4 little flakes. As we were about to call it quits our crowbars hit a light brownish grayish clay. The next 2 pans of material gave us 9 pickers up to .25 grams. The key with cracks is understanding the material. Cracks fill back up every time they flood. Picking undug cracks is so very key to not being discouraged. As a side note, cracks as thin as a coat hanger can still hold crazy good gold as long as they are deeper than a few inches. And its those paper thin ones that are overlooked and an absolute nightmare to get material out of.
My favorite thing about crevicing is that rarely will you ever end up with more than a fraction of a bucket of material, so pans are all that's really necessary for processing.

That's sum good chit right there.

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

So my itch to pick bedrock cracks is completely satisfied. I got out on Sunday and spent 2 hours on a 2' area. I was sure that this particular spot was not cleaned, and that granddaddy corn flake was a waitin for me. The gravels were packed well, and heavies were able to be seen as I picked. Samples were decent going down, and it was all over but the crying!!... And nuggets.
Now many crack pickers can tell you the same thing.. The absolutely SINKING feeling that comes when after busting knuckles and prying out rocks that couldn't physically fit down the crack, just to hit the sand.. Effing sand... After a crack has been picked, and the water level rises the first thing to fill the crack back in is sand. The lighter sands begin to wash in from surrounding aggregate until the flow becomes great enough to move larger material.
Needless to say if you hit a pure soft sand layer, you are not big daddy taking the cracks virginity.
I cleaned her out to the pinch point, and found one tiny little piece of gray clay left, and no nuggies. Very disappointing after busting it down to 2'.
Several of my samples from Denver this week were super poor as well. Guess I'm in a slump. Not for long though.
Sunday gold is going to be found, but never make it back home.
Again an open invite! Not sure where the spot is going to be, but all company is very welcome!
Pic is of my take from the crack.

 

[AugustMoose87]

Glad I stumbled on this... I've always wanted to get after som Bedrock.. If the invite stands, PM me some details please...

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Hey Moose, so I hit this spot because there was an ice bridge still solid across the river. Unfortunately this warm weather melted it out and there's no access until it freezes again or the rapids melt out enough to walk across.
I'm thinking about another day in the city, I think the south Platte is going to be dug, somewhere around big bend I'm thinking. If your still looking to shovel I'll pm you. I'm going to sample a few different bars before setting up tmw.

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Heading out now to Big Bend. Hope its warmer in Denver than in Conifer...

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Well the weather was great, but I can't say the same for the gold. I'm definitely in a slump. Spent a few hours digging at big bend, but it just wasn't in the cards for me I guess. I moved about a yard total, but my take was absolutely piss poor.
Its these discouraging digs that make or break a gold hound. As for me I know that if I just keep digging, just keep digging, just keep digging the color will follow. I'm not sure where next Sunday will take me, but if the temps stay up, and precip holds off I think cache creek is going to get a workout.

 

[brianc053]

GG, I Like - no LOVE - your determination, but I won't click "like" on your post this time because I don't want anyone to get confused and think that I like you being unhappy with your results. Keep at it. You said it: the color will follow.
And remember: you still got more gold today than those of us working at our day jobs!

- Brian

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Thanks for the encouragement Brian! I've said it before, but I'm Addicted to gold.
The bible says never to make gold your God.
I think I see it in a different cont

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Context. Being outside exercising, gaining geological education, and contemplating our physical world couldn't be a healthier religion! My brother always said that hounding gold IS a real church.
So again here's anotger open invite to the Church of Grizz!
Cache creek is out. Didn't notice the memorial day opening.
So the options come to Point Bar on the Arkansas river, or getting after the metro yellah. I've got a few clear creek samples to pan out, but I think Arapahoe Bar has the better gold in the metro. I'm going to be digging hard this month. I want 2 pennyweights of gold out of Denver before I start dredging. I need about a gram and a quarter to top off my 2 dwt vial.

 

[PurpleGold]

Hey Grizz, I've been shackled to my job lately but I mean to take you up sometime on one of your invites. The Church of Grizz sounds like a place I could share my faith in Au. With every shovel full that smoothly takes it ride through the sluice I can feel the sins from the prior week wash away. I feel renewed and cleansed as I play in the dirt.

 

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

Hey Grizz, I've been shackled to my job lately but I mean to take you up sometime on one of your invites. The Church of Grizz sounds like a place I could share my faith in Au. With every shovel full that smoothly takes it ride through the sluice I can feel the sins from the prior week wash away. I feel renewed and cleansed as I play in the dirt.

I feel you guys on that! I used to be real religious growing up but these days I get way more out of spending a day on the river. The sounds of nature, the water, the beauty that only the mountains can offer. Removing all of the noise from our fast-paced society and getting in touch with yourself are great take-aways from the outdoors.

 

[mytimetoshine]

I feel you guys on that! I used to be real religious growing up but these days I get way more out of spending a day on the river. The sounds of nature, the water, the beauty that only the mountains can offer. Removing all of the noise from our fast-paced society and getting in touch with yourself are great take-aways from the outdoors.

I agree

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Out of the slump! Going back to Arapahoe bar tomorrow with a teammate. If anyone else wants in it'll be a party we are showing up at 8 am.
I shoveled for 3 hours, in great material.

 

[GoldpannerDave]

[snip] I'm not sure where next Sunday will take me, but if the temps stay up, and precip holds off I think cache creek is going to get a workout.

Don't be fooled; I was when we had a winter like this, February with very little snow and relatively warm temps (for winter). So we went. Bad choice. The ground facing south was thawed--but only a few inches on the top. If it was facing north, still frozen. Some running water, but we used a wood maul to get a decent area to sluice and pan. It wasn't worth it; stay in Denver; try near Hwy 36 and Clear Creek; the top 6-8 inches have decent gold.

(This was before BLM.)

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Thanks for the sound advice Dave, the decision to stay in Denver metro paid off. We had a great day sluicing.
I had a friend this time who only digs when I show him a good clean out.
There was plenty of good material at A-bar. I sampled 4 spots, and had to take the second best because the best ground was already claimed up by a fellow sluicer. The bar was packed with diggers! I counted 9 people digging, and for good reason. The water is low, and every inch of the stream is accessible.
Having a partner I decided to do something different. I usually dig right into my sluice to process the most dirt that I can by myself.
I decided that we would load and classify buckets. I approach this type of digging a bit different. Most dig a bucket or two, and sluice it. That's great if you need the break to sit after digging, but that's not the most efficient way to sluice buckets.
I brought 15 five gallon buckets, and we took turns every 3 buckets classifying, and shoveling. We filled 10 buckets of -4 mesh and 5 buckets of -10 mesh. The other thing that keeps the process going fast is to have the person classifying working 2 buckets with a classifier on each. This way the digger never has to stop, and the person classifying switches from one to the other. It took us about 3.5 hours to load all 15 buckets.
Then we sluiced. We used a standard Keene 36". About an hour and 20 min to get it all through.
I must admit that the black mat was impressive. We were in flakey nice gold. The kind that's adds up in weight! Needless to say we got over a half gram. I haven't cleaned it up, but what a gorgeous sight!!
Next weekend I think it will be a repeat. There is one more stretch I want to hit before I get serious with the dredge. All are welcome to join again!

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Oh and 1 more thing. The rocks DO hold onto gold. I found this little flake first thing.