Bedrock and Gold: The mysteries . . .

[Lanny in AB]

Do you love to chase the gold? Please join me--lots of gold hunting tips, stories of finds (successful and not), and prospecting poetry.

Nugget in the bedrock tip:

I had a visit with a mining buddy this past weekend, and he told me of an epic battle to get a nugget out of the bedrock, and of what he learned from the experience. I thought some of you might like to learn from his mistake.

While out detecting one day, he came across a large sheet of bare bedrock. The bedrock was exposed because the area had been blasted off with a water cannon (a monitor), by the old-timers! It was not fractured bedrock, in fact it was totally smooth.

He was not optimistic at all of the prospects of a nugget. But, for some reason (we've all been there) he decided to swing his detector over that bedrock. After a long time, just as he was about to give up on his crazy hunch, he got a signal, right out of that smooth bedrock.

There was no crevice, no sign of a crevice, nada! So, he had to go all the way back to camp to get a small sledge and a chisel. The signal in the rock intrigued him, but he still wasn't overly optimistic. For those of you that have chased signals in a similar situation, sometimes there's a patch of hot mineralization in the bedrock that sounds off, but this spot, according to him, was sharp and clear right in the middle of the signal, not just a general increase of the threshold like you get when you pass over a hot spot in the bedrock.

Anyway, he made it back to the spot and started to chisel his way into the bedrock. If any of you have tried this, it's an awful job, and you usually wind up with cut knuckles--at the least! Regardless, he kept fighting his way down, busting out chunks of bedrock. He kept checking the hole, and the signal remained very strong.

This only puzzled him all the more as he could clearly see that it was solid bedrock with no sign of any crevice. He finally quit at the end of the day, at a depth of about a foot, but still, nothing in the hole.

An experienced nugget shooting friend dropped by the next morning to see him, and asked him how the hunt was going. My buddy related his tale of the mysterious hole in the bedrock, and told the friend to go over and check it out, and see if he could solve the riddle.

Later in the day, the other nugget hunter returned. In his hand was a fine, fat, sassy nugget. It weighed in at about an ounce and a quarter! After my friend returned his eyeballs to their sockets and zapped his heart to start it again, he asked where the nugget had come from.

Imagine his surprise when he heard it came from the mystery hole!! He asked how deep the other guy had gone into the bedrock to get it. "Well, no deeper" was his reply.

So, here's the rest of the story as to what happened. When the successful nugget hunter got to the bedrock, he scanned the surface got the same strong signal as my buddy. He widened out the hole and scanned again. Still a solid tone. He widened the hole some more so he could get his coil in, and here's the key and the lesson in this story, he got a strong signal off the side of the hole, about six inches down, but set back another inch into the side of the bedrock!!

My unlucky friend, the true discoverer of the gorgeous nugget's resting place had gone deep past the signal while digging his hole!!

Now, of course, a good pinpointer would easily solve this problem. The problem was, my buddy didn't have one, so why would he widen the hole, right? Well, the other guy was the one with more experience, and that's why he did. It was a lot more work, but what a payoff!

So, my buddy's butt is still black and blue from where he kicked himself for the next week or so for having lost such an incredible prize.

Some nugget hunting lessons are harder than others to learn. . . .

All the best,

Lanny


P.S. When in gold country--check the bedrock, regardless of whether it looks likely or not! Mother Nature likes to play games sometimes.

 

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[Lanny in AB]

" The Island.

" The island itself consisted of one small section of bedrock that stood a couple of feet higher than the surrounding bedrock I've mentioned all drowned in icy water issuing from springs somewhere deep in the mountain."

That is so close to home Lanny. I also have a little island that is a couple of feet above low water. In the following picture it is hard to see but on the left side the steep hill side has a lot of bedrock. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there may be some exposed bedrock on the island to work. I will find out soon when all the snow is gone.

Great story and I just had to share my island.....

View attachment 1277602

Thanks for sharing your island, and if there's coarse gold in the area, you should have a crack at it, yet if it's flakes and fines and the bedrock has the right surface to trap gold, you should have a good shot at recovering it as well.

All the best, and good luck when you get a chance to chase gold on your island,

Lanny

 

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[seascene]

Thanks for stopping in to say thanks for the story and the information. It's good to hear from you again.

I'm glad to know you've benefitted from the two detector strategy, and I'm right there with you when it comes to swinging a lighter detector whenever it's possible as it really is a lot more enjoyable way to get after the gold when the VLF technology will handle the conditions. As well, you really can cover a lot more ground in a day with far less energy expended because of a VLF's light weight status.

What you say about the GPX finding all/any/every target is what it does very well, but when there's even tiny trash to be found, it finds it too so anyone nugget shooting is constantly digging every target and with the weight of the unit, it's a recipe for getting cranky when the hot summer sun is beating down.

The nice thing about the machine's capabilities is that when the coil gets over a patch, the 5000 will certainly sniff out the good stuff that's trying to hide. So, it comes down to the plus and minus factor. Of course, the plus of the 5000 is its ability to handle crazy ground through its timings and its broad access to many different coils. The minus is its dead weight that gets old in a hurry when it's hot or when it's necessary to detect up a steep section of ground, extremely variable topography, etc.

Yes, there's all kinds of attachments to relieve its weight to redistribute it (thank heavens), and attaching the light batteries to the side helps as well, so when it's essential to use the GPX (as conditions demand), it does the job beautifully, but it's a hassle to get detached from it when it's time to dig a signal that demands a lot of pick work and repeated scanning. Having said that, I've found lots of gold with the heavy Minelabs (not just the 5000) that would still be in the ground without their exceptional pulse technology, but the weight and the attachment factor are definitely a hindrance, and the 7000 rings in at about two pounds heavier I'm told. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Minelab could package their pulse machines in a lighter configuration somehow? Maybe that's the next big thing down the road (and hopefully some excellent discrimination capability?!).

So, the weight ain't great on their two best nugget machines, but the technology is amazing. The lightness of the Gold Bug Pro keeps you swinging all day without ever getting tired, but it only works when the conditions allow it to, but when the conditions allow both machines to function, that's when they team up for a lethal one-two punch to clean the gold out when working a bedrock opportunity.

All the best, and thanks again for your perceptive comments,

Lanny

Nice discussion on the GBP and Minelab. I have a Whites TDI Pro mostly dusty and unused. As per my previous posts, I liveaboard my sailboat and cruise coastal BC from about Rupert to mid Vancouver Island spring to fall. My interest is the old sea otter trade from about late 1700s to 1820 (near extinction of sea otters) and all of the detritus artifacts left behind. However, there are uncountable creeks threading through to the sea from this wilderness. I have panned a few with no luck and have been told coastal mountains are "new" not known for gold. So, reading your posts I thought I would have another go and get out my TDI. Terrain here is rugged rock and shallow soils. Just wondering if I should sell the TDI and pick up a Gold Bug Pro which may be a better bet for this coastal geography (and lighter). Thanks in advance...

Winter.... a great time to write some poetry. I met an old prospector nearing the final puck drop. Impressed with his great sense of himself...simple life, helpful to anyone who might happen by

Met a Gentleman Today

He is long in his years
And he rolls his own smokes
In his mind he wants to quit the rough and pained watch
He feels surprised but chuckles that it is really no such
That his new days find him sometimes laid low
His bandages and braces
Stained fingers sense only dully those smoldering smokes
And most nights they too frequently hold his pillow
Seagrams VO
And despite an ample harvest of years
Friends are many but very few does he call true
And not any by chance
Some yearly by trail or on trap line route seen
A few others on gravel bar creeks panning for gold
Or copper or agate perhaps
No Mondays, Fridays, Sundays in the sun risings and sets
Years vanished, time clawed more soul than he’d wished
Drained away a bit of the money and he admits some joy too
Time’s motherload is the collector of men’s dreams
But the season is anew
And at the edge of the stream
His heart is washed clean
Cariboo’s creeks sweep by his pained knees
All but forgotten as new gravel bars
And promises call, endless every year new

 

[Lanny in AB]

Nice discussion on the GBP and Minelab. I have a Whites TDI Pro mostly dusty and unused. As per my previous posts, I liveaboard my sailboat and cruise coastal BC from about Rupert to mid Vancouver Island spring to fall. My interest is the old sea otter trade from about late 1700s to 1820 (near extinction of sea otters) and all of the detritus artifacts left behind. However, there are uncountable creeks threading through to the sea from this wilderness. I have panned a few with no luck and have been told coastal mountains are "new" not known for gold. So, reading your posts I thought I would have another go and get out my TDI. Terrain here is rugged rock and shallow soils. Just wondering if I should sell the TDI and pick up a Gold Bug Pro which may be a better bet for this coastal geography (and lighter). Thanks in advance...

Winter.... a great time to write some poetry. I met an old prospector nearing the final puck drop. Impressed with his great sense of himself...simple life, helpful to anyone who might happen by

Met a Gentleman Today

He is long in his years
And he rolls his own smokes
In his mind he wants to quit the rough and pained watch
He feels surprised but chuckles that it is really no such
That his new days find him sometimes laid low
His bandages and braces
Stained fingers sense only dully those smoldering smokes
And most nights they too frequently hold his pillow
Seagrams VO
And despite an ample harvest of years
Friends are many but very few does he call true
And not any by chance
Some yearly by trail or on trap line route seen
A few others on gravel bar creeks panning for gold
Or copper or agate perhaps
No Mondays, Fridays, Sundays in the sun risings and sets
Years vanished, time clawed more soul than he’d wished
Drained away a bit of the money and he admits some joy too
Time’s motherload is the collector of men’s dreams
But the season is anew
And at the edge of the stream
His heart is washed clean
Cariboo’s creeks sweep by his pained knees
All but forgotten as new gravel bars
And promises call, endless every year new

Wow! That's a real poem, not just one that spins a yarn. Nicely done!

As for your question about the detector, the Gold Bug Pro probably won't find the gold any better than the detector you currently have, but that it is lighter is true.

I'd do some research on those mountains along your passage routes and see if you can scare up any information on any gold deposits/coarse gold deposits. If you're in areas that are that infrequently travelled, you may chance upon some nice finds if the geology or glaciers were friendly to gold.

It's hard for me to tell people what to do with choosing, selling, or trading detectors, but the thing to remember is that if there's little to no chance of finding big enough gold for the detector to find, there's not much point in changing detectors.

Close to where I live the gold is all micron gold/flour gold, so buying a detector for finding glacial gold for me was never a consideration as the black sand streaks are very easy to see in stream depositions behind obstacles at low water levels or to see the black streaks on the sandy banks of suction eddies. The flour gold is mostly in the top six inches of the bars with fist-sized or larger rocks as indicators, so a detector for finding that type of gold was not an option.

So, if you can't find any information on detectable gold through research, you'll probably have just as much of a chance to find a stray nugget with the machine you currently have.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Terry Soloman]

....... Winter.... a great time to write some poetry. I met an old prospector nearing the final puck drop. Impressed with his great sense of himself...simple life, helpful to anyone who might happen by

Met a Gentleman Today

He is long in his years
And he rolls his own smokes
In his mind he wants to quit the rough and pained watch
He feels surprised but chuckles that it is really no such
That his new days find him sometimes laid low
His bandages and braces
Stained fingers sense only dully those smoldering smokes
And most nights they too frequently hold his pillow
Seagrams VO
And despite an ample harvest of years
Friends are many but very few does he call true
And not any by chance
Some yearly by trail or on trap line route seen
A few others on gravel bar creeks panning for gold
Or copper or agate perhaps
No Mondays, Fridays, Sundays in the sun risings and sets
Years vanished, time clawed more soul than he’d wished
Drained away a bit of the money and he admits some joy too
Time’s motherload is the collector of men’s dreams
But the season is anew
And at the edge of the stream
His heart is washed clean
Cariboo’s creeks sweep by his pained knees
All but forgotten as new gravel bars
And promises call, endless every year new

...

 

[seascene]

"If you're in areas that are that infrequently travelled, you may chance upon some nice finds if the geology or glaciers were friendly to gold."

Exactly Lanny, a vast area and then in behind the tideline and up and in reasonable range of a light pack, spatterings of freshwater lakes, creeks galore... and somewhere in all of that wild.... "sassy"

 

[OwenT]

This is my first post to this thread. Over the last 3 months I've been catching up from page 1 and loving it. I finally have finished reading/skimming (I read your longer installments carefully and just kind of skim the rest) today! I just realized today too that you've been writing this for nearly 13 years, wow! Thanks for writing all this Lanny. I've really learned a lot.

 

[Lanny in AB]

This is my first post to this thread. Over the last 3 months I've been catching up from page 1 and loving it. I finally have finished reading/skimming (I read your longer installments carefully and just kind of skim the rest) today! I just realized today too that you've been writing this for nearly 13 years, wow! Thanks for writing all this Lanny. I've really learned a lot.

Well, you are most welcome, and I really appreciate you taking the time to leave me such nice comments as writing the stories takes a lot of time, so it's comments from people like you that make it worth it.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[seascene]

"So, if you can't find any information on detectable gold through research, you'll probably have just as much of a chance to find a stray nugget with the machine you currently have.

All the best,

Lanny"

Regarding my TDI PRO gathering dust and thinking about selling for a GB ...well, thanks to this post by Jim Hemmingway ... my TDI is going to get a new lease on life. Thanks JH

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/m...n-ontario-silver-country-revised-edition.html

 

[Lanny in AB]

Ancient Troughs:

The day was warm, but the sizzling, dog-days of summer were long gone. It had taken until around eleven in the morning to get rid of the chill in the shade of the pine-covered slopes. The butterflies were long gone, the songbirds too, and only a solitary crow or the occasional hawk drifted across the cobalt blue sky of the mountain fastness that framed my view.

This late in the mining year, I finally had the green light to work some bedrock I’d wanted to get at all season. A lot of the bedrock was now covered in water, but there was one pie-shaped piece that was mostly dry. But before I relate the main part of my story, I need to back up a bit and say that I’d already had a shot at the surrounding area. The bedrock sat down in a sort of oblong bowl with steep walls on two sides. As seepage from the mountainside was steadily adding more water to drown the bedrock, I was eager to get detecting before the entire area turned into a duck pond, but I’d only got permission to detect around the rim of the bowl, not the base. Well, I’d found a few small nuggets on the rim, nothing over two grams in size, and the rest of the targets were the usual suspects: sharp shavings from excavator buckets. Oh, and I did find the tip of an old pick where an old working from the 1800’s intersected the modern-day dig. Those old boys had sunk a shaft down to bedrock through some nasty boulders, then tunneled about thirty feet along the bedrock before quitting. Moreover, as there was no evidence of a bedrock drain in the exposed excavation, they must have quit due to water problems, the same problem that was threatening to deny me a chance at working the bedrock I wanted to get at.

Well, as I’ve said, I finally had permission to detect the pie-shaped piece of bedrock. Most of it was a reddish color, with some tan to whitish colored bands running through it, and man was that bedrock hard. The bedrock was really torn up in some places where it would break, but in other spots, the bucket’s teeth had just skipped over and scraped the mother rock the best they could.

In spots like this you either get lucky, or you get almost nothing it seems. So, not knowing what to expect, I fired-up the Gold Bug Pro. I’d also packed in my Minelab 5000, but I left it in the bag to check the bedrock later after I’d worked it with the pro.

Off to side of the bedrock pie, I saw a little pocket that was half filled with water and thought I’d try that first. Immediately I got a signal. The pocket was about twice the size of my boot sole, so I was shocked to have got a tone so soon. The meter read iron, but that bedrock had ironstone all over the place, so that wasn’t out of the ordinary. I fished around in the hole with my wand-magnet, and it came out looking like a steel porcupine! I scanned again, but there was still a signal. I hit it again with the wand and this time some chunks of magnetite were on the magnet, but no more steel. So, I scanned again, and the signal still rang.

Well, I don’t know if you’ve chased targets in the water or not, but anything heavy drops as soon as you disturb it, so I decided that I’d build myself a little dam of sticky, heavy clay to stop the seepage from getting into that little pocket, and finding clay for that purpose was no problem. I got some nice gooey stuff and packed it all around the pocket, then I went to work with my scoop bailing out the water. I got the tip of the coil in the pocket and the meter jumped straight up in the 40 range. Well, it was something conductive, with a good chance of being gold. I scanned again and the reading on the meter held rock solid, no movement at all. Now, some hot rocks will ring up in that range, but they’ll often bounce around a bit when you scan back and forth or across the target from a different angle, but this target pinned that meter steady. I rooted around with the scoop and scanned the contents under the coil. There was a nice, solid sound and the meter still loved it too. It didn’t take long to isolate the target, a nugget that was just over a gram.

Because of that early success, I kept at that same spot for a while. It was where the bedrock had been broken, but it had left lots of little pockets that water was working its way into. I’d scan the pockets and if I got a signal, I’d build my clay dams and go to work bailing out the water so I wouldn’t have to worry about a target dropping deeper when I tried to dig it out. I spent close to an hour doing this and wound up with a nice catch of small nuggets in my bottle. I swirled the bottle close to my ear and heard the golden rumble of coarse gold.

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I worked some places that were under about six inches of water as well and found a few more small ones that I added to the bottle. Next, I went to work the part that was above water that ran back in a pie shape to the rim of the cut. This part was different from the broken bedrock. This bedrock was iron hard and there were bits of steel everywhere left as the bucket had scraped and skipped its way across the bedrock.

However, what interested me were the places where I could still see some clay. In most of these spots where the clay was visible, there were little troughs running anywhere from a foot to three feet in length. They were cupped and rounded, and some of them still had river stones in them. The top run of boulders and river run had been ripped off with as much bedrock as would fracture and sluff, but the troughs (from two to three inches deep, maybe three to four inches wide at maximum, with a maximum of five inches of depth in one spot) had escaped the efforts of the excavator buckets. (Maybe an ancient run under the looser, later-era bedrock?) I started to run my detector along one good looking trough but got nothing but bucket shavings that had been worked or transported into the mix.

I spotted another trough that ran at close to a 45-degree angle across one spot and decided I’d try it next. The first pass produced a broad signal. Now if you’ve read my earlier stories involving broad signals on bedrock, this detector effect got my interest mighty quick. I took out my light pick and carefully started to loosen every bit of material in the trough where the broad signal was. I scraped up every bit of material and put it in my gold pan. I scanned the pan and got a nice signal, so off I went to pan it out. What a great sight! Sassy, coarse gold in the pan!! The broad signal came from a family of pickers with several gram nuggets thrown in for fun. I couldn’t believe it. I scanned the trough where I’d removed the material and got a faint signal. I took my pick and bar and worked my way down. I scanned again and the signal was louder. I was finally able to break off a chunk of bedrock and it exposed a little pocket filled with clay and small river stones. I put everything in the pan and headed for water. Once again, coarse gold in the pan! I kept working the troughs, finding broad signals from time to time until the sun dropped behind the mountain. By that time, I could no longer get any signals with the Gold Bug Pro.

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So, before it got too dark to see, I fired up the GPX 5000 with a small sniper coil and went to work. Booyahh! Deeper gold in some troughs that the Gold Bug couldn’t see. My little bottle was heavy! I’ve got the data stripped from the pictures of that gold (that's why I can post them now), and it was the best day I’ve had in a long time, but the deal I made with the miners had me promise not to tell the weight of the gold, and I am happily living with that publication ban. Well, when I reported to the miners what I’d found, they put on a ripper tooth and took another three feet of bedrock, and they did very well indeed. Let’s just say it was worth it to them to tear their equipment up some . . .

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Terry Soloman]

Love these stories!

 

[Lanny in AB]

Jim,

Sorry this took so long, but if you go back up to my story "The Island" you'll see a shot of the extendable wand with the supermagnet on the end that I use when I'm cleaning bedrock.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[63bkpkr]

Mr. Lanny,
Your 'sniffing' adventures are always a fine read and then the pictures, either the gold or the country, make my heart skip a beat or two! Thanks a bunch for the enjoyment.................63bkpkr

PS - I am now in San Diego working hard at work and will be for some time to come.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Mr. Lanny,
Your 'sniffing' adventures are always a fine read and then the pictures, either the gold or the country, make my heart skip a beat or two! Thanks a bunch for the enjoyment.................63bkpkr

PS - I am now in San Diego working hard at work and will be for some time to come.

Holy jumpin' dynamite! You're back in California!! Back in the storied land of gold without a doubt you are.

I'm looking forward to hearing of some new golden adventures as you tramp back in those hills to chase some more of the sassy gold The 49'er's left behind.

Great to hear from you, and all the best,

Lanny

 

[Hoser John]

Herb have you been to House of Treasure hunters yet as they have the skinny on local gold/gems/minerals in the area. Out in San Harbison Canyon we used to pan gold in Grandpas farm across from the nudist camp hahaha hard to keep childish eyes on the gold. John

 

[bcfromfl]

Well, it took several weeks of reading to reach here, but what an amazing thread! (I’m reading Eagle’s thread at the same time, and just learned a few pages back the sad news. May he rest in peace.)

After reading about all the great nugget-shooting possibilities in western Canada, I’m almost ready to sell everything and move…were it not for your reminder about the black flies! I grew up in upstate NY, and spent the first 35 years of my life in the Adirondacks. That tiny insect is the primary reason why the region isn’t overrun with vacationers, at least until June or so when the summer heat begins to burn them off. It seems one of their favorite spots is behind the ears, and I remember vividly the black, crusty scabs from the little demons.

I really appreciate not only your talent as a writer, Lanny, but your generosity in taking so much time to share your experiences with others. What you’ve done here is no small feat, and I’ve learned so much from your efforts. I’ve been planning an expedition of my own for several months, but el Nino has sidelined my plans for the time being, until the rivers in northern California settle down a bit. But not all is lost, as reading here has given me more ideas for when I go.

I enjoy your attention to the smallest details! The hummingbirds, the croak of the ravens (miss those guys!), the smell of the pines — nothing seems to miss your attention! During my first gold prospecting adventure, in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1983, I was introduced to the unusual smell of the Ponderosa pine tree…reminiscent of vanilla, and different from the balsam and fir and Tamarack I was used to. The details you add to your stories not only adds to the enjoyment of the reader, but sometimes those details are crucial in understanding a point you’re making. I admire your ability to recall and work those ideas into wonderfully coherent and instructive posts.

I don’t know how I missed TNet all these years, but I’m so glad to have found this great spot for like-minded folk. Thank you again, and may 2016 offer you and your family many blessings (and bonanzas!).

 

[Jeff95531]

bcfromfl (FL Been there done that...the fact you are missing the gold fields here means you get it.. but just like they used to say...it ain't easy.) My goal for 2016 was to re-read this thread as I am certain I would pick up more since my first read in 2014. Life objected so I wait to employ what Lanny has preached to me so far but I can tell you his methods (in spite of my rookie status) has paid off. I will get out soon too...my site is found, there and waiting for me to prove myself.

 

[bcfromfl]

Hi Jeff -- yeah, it's a frustrating wait. I mapped all my locations, and features I want to investigate, using Google Earth, but most of those images were taken in July of 2014. So the river levels...and the bedrock I'm expecting to see...are all under water right now. Not to mention the fact that my crossing points using an inflatable raft would be somewhat tenuous!

I've got spreadsheets and watch daily the weather, water depth, trends, etc., etc. Probably more to feel like I'm doing something at this point. Can't pull the trigger on airline and car reservations until I can make a reasonable prediction that the water will be where I need it to be.

Glad to hear you're having success!

 

[Jeff95531]

I definitely want to get out now and observe as foliage is minimal and higher levels in the river now share their secret drop zones.

 

[A Sasquatch]

Hi Lanny
I picked up a GPZ in February and March has been quite warm. So I took it out for a run. There was only about a football field worth of open ground but the detecting was great. Can't wait for all the snow to go! Minelab has outdone themselves!
All the best!
b
Sasquatch

 

[Lanny in AB]

Well, it took several weeks of reading to reach here, but what an amazing thread! (I’m reading Eagle’s thread at the same time, and just learned a few pages back the sad news. May he rest in peace.)

After reading about all the great nugget-shooting possibilities in western Canada, I’m almost ready to sell everything and move…were it not for your reminder about the black flies! I grew up in upstate NY, and spent the first 35 years of my life in the Adirondacks. That tiny insect is the primary reason why the region isn’t overrun with vacationers, at least until June or so when the summer heat begins to burn them off. It seems one of their favorite spots is behind the ears, and I remember vividly the black, crusty scabs from the little demons.

I really appreciate not only your talent as a writer, Lanny, but your generosity in taking so much time to share your experiences with others. What you’ve done here is no small feat, and I’ve learned so much from your efforts. I’ve been planning an expedition of my own for several months, but el Nino has sidelined my plans for the time being, until the rivers in northern California settle down a bit. But not all is lost, as reading here has given me more ideas for when I go.

I enjoy your attention to the smallest details! The hummingbirds, the croak of the ravens (miss those guys!), the smell of the pines — nothing seems to miss your attention! During my first gold prospecting adventure, in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1983, I was introduced to the unusual smell of the Ponderosa pine tree…reminiscent of vanilla, and different from the balsam and fir and Tamarack I was used to. The details you add to your stories not only adds to the enjoyment of the reader, but sometimes those details are crucial in understanding a point you’re making. I admire your ability to recall and work those ideas into wonderfully coherent and instructive posts.

I don’t know how I missed TNet all these years, but I’m so glad to have found this great spot for like-minded folk. Thank you again, and may 2016 offer you and your family many blessings (and bonanzas!).

I truly enjoyed your response! Thanks for taking the time to post it, and to say the kind things you said. I'm glad that maybe you've found a few things to use, and I'm happy you've enjoyed that way it's been written. It's been a bit of a journey putting it together, and my goodness but it takes some serious time to get through the whole thing, and if I had a medal to reward you with for tenacity or resolve for making it to the end of the thread, you'd get it for sure.

All the best, and once again, thanks for the compliments,

Lanny