Got my new pans and put away my MD

[tapoutking]

So I decided that with all my backpacking that it would be easier and just as fun to carry my pans and pan while out hiking instead of hauling my MD. I live in Southern California and close to some great gold bearing areas. Im about 30 minutes from Ojai and Santa Clarita and do alot of packing up in the Sespe. I was excited to start panning so on my lunch I went up into the Santa Monica mountains off Kanan to an old streambed I know of (look up Lake Enchanto) and dug some gravel up and half filled a bucket. I don't know if there is gold there but it will be good practice. I'll post any pics of color if I find anything.

 

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[Hoser John]

A gold pan processes a cup or so in 5 minutes and a detector checks a cubic foot of gravels a second and the golden rule for 1,000's a years is simply-THE MORE YA RUN THE MORE YA FIND so I'n NEVER put that md away-John

 

[tapoutking]

Just to clarify, I meant on my backpacking trips. Lots of gold bearing streambeds and its more economical to pan than to MD the streams. Plus its easier to carry.

 

[63bkpkr]

Hi Tapoutking,
What brand pans do you have? I purchased a Batpan late last year and found it to be useful, the real test will come later this year. What detector are you leaving at home when you go out into the "wild"?

Last year I found a section of river bed with a pay streak. Even though I found the first nugget with a gold pan I used my GMT for locating
batches of raw sample with gold in them. The samples the detector did not zip zip at I did not have to pan. The detector was a great time saver as panning takes TIME. This year I will bring the GMT on every trip and with what I learned last year I expect to have it pay for itself possibly several times over this year.

With the detector this gold was much easier to come by. Also, a sluice box is a much better way to go and the drop riffle types, Angus McKirk or California Sluices, work well. Read pvillehunters recent post with pics about using a McKirk.

Good Luck and be safe out there, 63bkpkr