Jerry the Prospectors Adventures of Color County

[Jeff95531]

What a great trip and report. Made my day Amsbandit! And YES! That was a BIG fish in a little pool! Reminded me of endless days bush camping and catching Rainbows and Lake trout in AK from June 8-20 for 6 years straight. Sigh.

 

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[Asmbandits]

Nice Gold Jerry! Happy Father's Day!

Thanks Erick, same to you bud!

 

[Asmbandits]

What a great trip and report. Made my day Amsbandit! And YES! That was a BIG fish in a little pool! Reminded me of endless days bush camping and catching Rainbows and Lake trout in AK from June 8-20 for 6 years straight. Sigh.

Glad you enjoyed it Jeff, you know its funny we were at this spot about a month ago and my other brother was there and fished his heart out and not even a bite! My dad shows up using the same stuff just drifting salmon eggs and catches a few.. Im wondering if he was using too thick of line or something, or possibly that just the way it is sometimes!

 

[Jeff95531]

Well, you know what they say...fish are where you find them.

 

[Aufisher]

Looks like a great time was had!

 

[Asmbandits]

Looks like a great time was had!

Very much so, was one of the best all round trips I've had out in a while. My dad enjoyed it so much he has already made reservations nearby in July to camp with his trailer and do some more exploring!

 

[Jeff95531]

I'm picturing a gold pan with fat trout and stout pickers in it. It's the first step in makin it happen ya know.

 

[Asmbandits]

Weekend before last I made it out to Yankee Jims with Mytimetoshine for the day and it was a beautiful, not too hot or crowded and we got decent gold. We went with the intentions of doing some serious sniping but it didn't quite pan out that way. Finding exposed bedrock where we were wasn't as easy as we thought and everything we could find was hit pretty hard already. I gave up after about an hour being in the water with no luck. Erick stuck it out and moved a bunch of overburden to expose areas and ended up finding a couple of pieces. I had brought a huge bar that I used to move some large rocks with ok results. Working up high we did the best but it was hard on the body scaling the terrain to get material down to the water. Erick decided to check out the other side of the river where he found decent easy gold while I searched around with little luck. Im sure he came home with more gold than I did but I cant help search for that bigger stuff that ends up being few and farther between pans. We spent the whole day there, got there at about 8 am and didn't leave till around 4 pm. I was beat when I got home! I did almost exactly what I thought Id have, almost a 1/4 gram and I'm guessing Erick probably ended up with a half. Found an area that would be good to run the bazooka though so maybe will go that route next time. In all was a great day and good times working with Erick.

 

[Asmbandits]

I had a good time this past weekend exploring gold country on the Harley, rode into Auburn for lunch then made my way down 49 to Coloma where I met up with Goldwasher and checked out his new prospecting store. Hes got a good setup there and a nice area out front setup for panning, you could bring yourself or the little ones and purchase a kit that includes a pan and vial and a few other things and some pay dirt with gold priced very fair! You could play with a detector out back before you purchase to get the feel for it and rent or buy all kinds of outdoor gear. Hes even taking folks out on guided trips to show them the ropes! He should do great and I wish him the best of luck with his en devour. After we parted ways I stopped at the Coloma club for dinner and a cold one, then made my way up to The Hitch -n-Post In Gold Run near where my dad has his trailer setup as our base camp for the next few months. Met some really nice people and talked prospecting and motorcycles and watched the Giants game while having a cold one. After that I made my way to camp where my dad was sitting out chatting with a neighbor waiting for my arrival. I really like this spot, tons of pluses, close to the highway, close to food and fuel and central to lots of prospecting areas and lakes and trails. I woke up the next day and decided to check out a nearby creek within walking distance and to my surprise I found color in every pan! I was only there for 2 1/2 hours but from what I found it seems to be one of the richest creeks Ive ever been on. Mostly flour but I'm thinking if I bring the bazooka and spent some time there I could probably do pretty good. For sure am going to be back and put some work in..

Heres what I found in 2 1/2 hours of sample panning

 

[Goldwasher]

Great to finally meet you in person Jerry. we'll go out and do some exploring once the season winds down and my hours change.

Let me know if you need anything.Thanks for the kind words about my store.

 

[Asmbandits]

Great to finally meet you in person Jerry. we'll go out and do some exploring once the season winds down and my hours change.

Let me know if you need anything.Thanks for the kind words about my store.

It was awesome to meet you as well Jarrod, we need to get together for sure and pull some gold from somewhere! Im headed out next weekend to check out an area ive been researching and hopefully might really be something great, if its what I think it is, might be a great get together location.

 

[Asmbandits]

Well its been a while to say the least, given some events on the forum in the past I was hesitant to continue posting and looks like others were as well. It is a shame, I haven't seen mytimetoshine post since, I think he has had enough bs. He will be missed and his posts were enjoyable and he always seemed to post some good gold which is a huge bonus.

I have been busy with work and b days and camping trips in August, We stayed up at PiPi campground on the consumes river and it was a really fun trip. I did do some prospecting and found a couple flakes but it was very hard work and I was there with my family so spent most of the time with them. I wish I would have taken some photos but I guess I was caught up in the moment and forgot. I had this feeling while there that the campground was once a big mining operation as in some campsites it looked like large tailing piles, then on the last day I took my oldest daughter fishing and we went hunting for a place to dig worms. I ended up finding a small trickle of water coming from a ravine so we followed it up and it opened up into mountain after mountain of tailings! I don't know if Ive ever seen tailing piles that big in such a small area. we found a good spot to dig for worms and it was loaded with them, but in the end the fish just didn't bite.

Another trip I took with a long time friend of mine landed us at a very pretty area of the North for American. This friend had just recently purchased a ca plated xr250 and was itching to ride and I had just the place I wanted to check out. Turns out its one heck of a location, I originally planned to try and claim this spot but then learned the land is all wild and scenic river. It doesn't seem to stop people as there are many people living and working down there. This spot is pretty hard to get to and off the beaten path, another one where you need a dirtbike or jeep to get down to. We were blow away with the beauty of this place, we found a swimming hole like no other and spent half the time cooling off in the river between pans. Got some decent gold but had to work hard for it as this particular areas features weren't very good for gold concentration and it was ridiculously hot out so it was the only area with any shade. We did have a blast and ended up nicknaming the location "paradise".

We plan on heading back up in the future to do some camping and more exploring, both of us cant wait to get back up there. Below are some photos of that trip.

 

[EriktheProspector]

Quick gold shot, My large flake/nugget all cleaned up and a vial of chunkies from the claim. View attachment 1227910

Awesome nugget Jerry! When did you get that one? Doesn't look like the crepe-looking one from the photo, but I could be wrong. Happy to see you're getting some nice gold!

 

[Asmbandits]

With summer season coming to an end and lots to do around the house before next season I will most likely not get out much until next spring I have been busy with organizing the garage and also been doing quite a bit of riding the Harley since I own it and never seem to ride it much anymore. The late Indian summer time is great riding weather and I have been having a blast exploring new areas on a hand full of rides.

I have been on a few prospecting and claim work trips since then, I just haven't sat down until now to post anything.

Early Sept My buddy Cibb and I returned to "Paradise" on the north fork on the bikes packed up with quite a bit of gear to be as comfortable as possible for the weekend. We carefully made our way down to the water as we were carrying so much that our bikes were bottoming out most of the way, but we wanted to be comfortable since we could I guess. This trip we did a decent amount of prospecting but spent more time just enjoying the area and exploring and relaxing. It was hot as hell this weekend and we mostly ended up in the shade as much as possible. We ate and drank good, swam around a lot and I was able to pull some fine gold for the first time underwater sniping. We had a family of three otters around the camp in the mornings and at night as well, spooking us a couple of times. We found some old diggings also that was really quite something. was a great trip and cant wait to do it again next year. Didn't get much gold as it seemed hard to come by at this stretch of the river and we weren't working as hard as we would normally. We did find playing around close to camp with the metal detector a strange capsule that we couldn't identify and had some stuff rattling around inside! We kinda had to destroy it to get it open and there was just corrosion and what looked like gun powder or something inside. This thing was made of brass and domed on one end and had some type of screw on like cap on the other. We still have no idea what it is

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Next trip was up to the county and BLM office to re file and clean up some legitimacy issues the guy I purchased it from had created. All went smoothly and now I have everything as it should be. Also made and put up a real legitimate discovery monument in place of the rock pile I had, with updated location document. The paperwork is inside of a pvc tube on the monument along with a aluminum placard stamped with info as well. Also put up some new metal signage and remove old out of date ones. Did a little messing around while I was there, mostly metal detecting and didn't find much but a nice axe that looks like the forest service most likely forgot out on the hillside where some trees had not been downed for a while now. I also followed some quartz float up a hill and very old trail that ended at a few diggings and I got a good solid signal from a quartz outcrop with a purple/red streak in it. I broke off what I could until the signal was gone then took it down to the water where I crushed it up on a large bolder and panned it out but not a spec of color. I'm wondering if its some type of sulfide or possibly copper? Will have to do some future exploring of that area. Did some trail clearing and removal of hanging branches on the way out with the axe.



About two weeks ago I went up to a private claim with Erik the prospector and his new buddy Erick, the claim was up from the mouth of where the north fork of the middle fork American meets the middle fork American. The three of us hiked up and across multiple river crossings to get to it. I was told there is a big cat in the area that has been spotted more than once up close and had that on my mind the whole day. At one crossing on the way in I noticed about 10 feet near the water on two large boulders there was some wet spots that looked as if someone peed on them. As we got closer the distinct smell of cat urine hit me and I really was on edge at that point. We didn't see any cats or tracks or bears which have also been seen a lot in this area but did see some new area and some huge tailing piles from the old timers. We worked long and hard ad dug some amazing looking crevices but the gold just wasn't there. We did ok but not what I was expecting from the looks of the digs. Was a great time though and saw some new area and met another great prospector as well. The photo below is what I pulled that day.

 

[EriktheProspector]

Hey Jerry,

You got some decent color that day. Better than us! Gold has been garbage there for us for a while. Gotta get in the water and really move things around to try and get better color at this point, but water is getting even colder and higher fast. It's also important to note to those reading, that this area Jerry describes is claimed, including the areas we spent the majority of our day. We know the claim owners and have exclusive access.

Regarding that cat, it had been encountered about 6 times by the claim owners. It had approached them one of the times and came within about 12 feet, and was un deterred by yelling. Fast forward, we go to the area several times through the same trail, and this time our trail we created into its territory was well marked on large rocks with obvious cat urine across the trail. The next cat evidence was when we were way up river, and I had a deer lumbar vertebra in my classifier - with a bite mark out of it.. Just as I was examining it, up on the hillside above the diggins I heard movement of something large, but moving slowly. Every time I looked up it went quiet, and I felt like I was being watched, and when I panned I again heard the movement. We know this isn't typical Cali black bear behavior. I'm going to make a special trip to meet that cat, and also to try and find the vertebra I somehow misplaced that was so cool. Bummer

I'm planning on maybe squeezing out a detecting day next week, and will also be doing more detecting before years end. MUST find good gold before year's end! Been a horrible prospecting year for me, and this must change. If you can get out there gimme a heads up and we'll hit it.

Wishing you and your family the best in the mean time.
Ttyl bud,
Erik

 

[Asmbandits]

Erik, that last spot is where just about all of that gold came from, and if it weren't for the vac I wouldn't have gotten much as the broken bedrock I was chipping at was breaking away so jagged you couldn't get much or it out any other way. I was really tripping about lions while over there solo, kept thinking something was watching be from above.. I'm sure I'll head out during the fall/winter but mostly if not all detecting. I wanna go back up to the claim soon also and pull some samples from a spot and bring them hope to get checked out, I have a feeling there's something there possibly not gold but someone was once up there poking around at something. I'll let you know next time I'm free to get out. Hope all is well with you also and that you get some good gold before the end of the year to make up for the summer

 

[DizzyDigger]

Jerry, Eric: Bring a dog along with you and you won't have to worry about that cat.
Just tie him/her up to a nearby tree, and the dog will let you know, big time,
if that cat's around. When you're bent over in the creek, you look just like prey
to that cat, so that pooch can save you a world of trouble just by barking his arse off.

Cougar (especially males) tend to have rather large territories, so the cat won't
always be in residence when you visit the location.

 

[EriktheProspector]

Jerry, Eric: Bring a dog along with you and you won't have to worry about that cat.
Just tie him/her up to a nearby tree, and the dog will let you know, big time,
if that cat's around. When you're bent over in the creek, you look just like prey
to that cat, so that pooch can save you a world of trouble just by barking his arse off.

Cougar (especially males) tend to have rather large territories, so the cat won't
always be in residence when you visit the location.

I appreciate the advice but it's not a dog friendly trek. Furthermore, I'm not afraid of the cat, and actually welcome the encounter. It's not designed to take me, or you down, and should it make the fateful mistake to attack me, I'm equipped with a pry bar, mining hammer, back backs for shields, and bear spray - at all times. I'm going to find that cat by myself, and take it's picture, and let it know that it needs to fear people. It's been too bold lately, getting within about 12 feet of the claim owners in the area. Someone needs to let the cat know it needs to fear us. Shall it attack me, then I deserve it, but I LOVE mountain lions. They're my favorite animal and I'd never want one to be shot because they become too close to people and comfortable. They, and the bears, must continue to fear us, and it's our duty to make sure they don't get comfortable with people.
Best to you, and don't let the cougars bite, rarrr :P
E

 

[EriktheProspector]

Funny you say that, because where we were across the way, is where the lions Southern end of the territory is. It's got a few good perches above where you were, but even better above where Eric and I were. It had approached a claim owner right above us one of the encounters.

Good gold man!

 

[DizzyDigger]

I appreciate the advice but it's not a dog friendly trek. Furthermore, I'm not afraid of the cat, and actually welcome the encounter. It's not designed to take me, or you down, and should it make the fateful mistake to attack me, I'm equipped with a pry bar, mining hammer, back backs for shields, and bear spray - at all times. I'm going to find that cat by myself, and take it's picture, and let it know that it needs to fear people. It's been too bold lately, getting within about 12 feet of the claim owners in the area. Someone needs to let the cat know it needs to fear us. Shall it attack me, then I deserve it, but I LOVE mountain lions. They're my favorite animal and I'd never want one to be shot because they become too close to people and comfortable. They, and the bears, must continue to fear us, and it's our duty to make sure they don't get comfortable with people. Best to you, and don't let the cougars bite.

Erik, While I certainly respect how much you love big cats (me too), but I urge
you to reconsider your approach to this one.

If that cat decides to attack you, you'll never see it coming.

Granted, you are armed with a couple of mining implements, but I'm
concerned that you don't realize just how powerful, or how fast 150-200
pounds of cougar can be. If it's "hand to paw" fighting, you don't stand
much of a chance...it's going to win (or at the very least cause serious trauma)
and you're too far away from help.

If he confronts you on the trail, then you can back him down by making a hell of a
lot of noise, accompanied by holding a shovel (or long weapon of some kind) and
letting him know you are to be feared, and not his food. He's got to know you're
a bigger Bad Ass than he is, and then he might leave your area.

Either way, be careful out there and hoping you'll have many heavy pans!