Just a little walk in the mountains in NorCal

[63bkpkr]

The four walls got to me so after I installed the new alternator on the 'ole girl' I filled her up with what I felt was necessary gear and headed out into the very early morning, ~ 2:23 AM on Tuesday. Arrived in Auburn in time to be the first customer at Starbuck's, I needed something to keep my eyes open. Headed down across the new Modified bridge and got up to the switch back where one can receive a cell phone signal and made a few calls to let the sun come up over the edge of the earth.

I topped 7K' and dropped down to the entry road to be greeted by patches of snow in the shady areas and a frozen dirt road. Switched the hubs into lock, tranny into 4x4 and granny and headed in.
Drove carefully over the berms and turned to reach the first objective, a very large hunk of quartz outcropping that I wanted to wave the GMT over and around. Arrived at the fallen trees, the one's Hefty and I could not move, turned the Bronco around and stopped there.
I sifted through the items in my pack to take only what was needed while my SPOT messenger (orange thing on the hood) sent out a message that I was OK. I shouldered the pack and headed out to the cliff edge. On my way out there I noted some animal had walked out of the area I was going into, tracks in the snow. The ground cover is getting a good hold on messing up the hiking since the 2008 fire burned it all to the ground. Arriving at the cliff edge/ridge line that goes down into the canyon I stopped for a picture.
Just barely to the left side of the center of the picture is this tan color, that is the ridge line I was to walk down on, with frost heaves and ground still frozen. I went as far down as I could and no quartz outcropping. Crud! I looked back up at where I'd been and started the trudge back up. I'm glad I did not hike Hefty down here for nothing! On the way back up I happened to notice this unique looking rock/tree structure and considered it and the view to unique to not capture it Ma Nature sure knows how to make some beautiful sights! While I was there I thought I'd take a picture with the detector in it as there was no sense wasting carrying it all the way in for nothing From there I hiked pretty much back up to the cliff edge and decided to return by going around the point to look for that outcropping.
The snow covered ridge line is where I needed to hike back to but first I went straight through the burned trees and then angled to the left, still no outcropping. Once on the ridge I zig zagged back and forth hoping to come across that outcropping but no luck. Soon I caught up with my tracks as well as the tracks of the animal that had also walked up out of the canyon I believe it was a bear and every now and them I thought I could also see a cubs track within the larger animals track. Back at the Bronco I decided to go for the second large rock mountain top I wanted to scout out. I began the drive back to the main dirt road and quickly noticed that in the 2.5 hours I'd been away the sun had been out and the road was no longer frozen. The Bronco was squirming on the road especially on the uphill grades. Thinking about the steepness of the true jeep road I would need to go down and back up and that I was alone, no winch on the vehicle I decided to give up on the second goal. Darn again!

On the way back to the main road I was thinking about what to do next, make an early camp or go visit someone? So I found myself at 2cmorau's welcome mat where I was welcomed first by two Fine Black Labs and then a friendly handshake from the man himself. We hit it right off and talked into the night till neither of us could keep our eyes open. I took the back bedroom and zonked on the floor and he decided to check out the living room couch for awhile. In the morning I awoke to the aroma of good food cooking, what a great way to wake up AND I was even served a plate of it!! Then we headed out to one of his claims on the Yuba to 'work' for awhile. He'd previously found a spot that was showing some color and began to work that while I did a Lanny on the bedrock. 2c digging it out with Yuba close by

Classify and pan with intent observer

Now its really getting interesting! You'd think there was a hot dog in there.

And Gold, just like the man Promised. The GMT and I failed to sniff anything out but it was fun trying. Back to 2c's pad where I gathered my stuff, said my goodbyes to all and I headed back into the other mountains where I made camp in the dark. I woke early, got up later as the rumble of the lumber trucks just would not stop. They were taking logs out of the upper burn area and were hard at it before the weather closes in for the winter. Camp was comfy, the two man tent a luxury with tons of room for one but alas the serenity was marred by the trucks so around 1:30 PM on Thursday I packed it in and headed back to the city via a traffic jam before, during and after Sacramento.

I am glad I got out, it was good to meet 2c and the dogs, the hiking was good as always and the scenery marvelous. Summers coming!..........................63bkpkr

 

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[Goldwasher]

Nice trip, good you got out. You were technically only few canyons and some woods away from my stomping grounds. You make sure to let me know when your thinking about heading east again I have a place for you to run your Goldmaster, and wet your sluice and you will get color!(sluice at least)

 

[oldbrundogg]

Thanks for the ride along Mr bkpkr, great time line pics and no shoulder complaints. Not trying to keep you out of the hills but I hope that area fills up with snow soon. Glad you had a good time keep up the P. T. through the winter.

OBD

 

[Hoser John]

Great tag along Herb. The cold clutches of yet another winter have reached the higher altitudes but still rockn' the 70-80s here in Redding. NEED RAIN SNOW as dire fire warnings/restrictions still in place. Haven't seen it this dry up here since 88. Thanx again-John

 

[Jeff95531]

Herb! Great to hear you got out again. How is that shoulder doing anyway? The story and pics were great as always. Winter does have it's share of unique characteristics. Your frozen road turning to mud reminded me of a day hike I took in Anch AK with my then bro-in-law. We had a great time. Walked about 2 miles through sparse woods to the base of some hills. Then we went 2/3 of the way up one of those hills. Sunny with beautiful views. We had ski pants on and zoomed down a gully to get back to the base. Fun! Stood up and sank to our crotch. The sun being out all day softened the crust on 3 feet of snow. Stood up, sunk again. We tried to walk in shady spots, then found a ski trail that took us the wrong way and then disappeared. I decided it was too dangerous to walk after my foot sank and went into a downed tree that almost broke my shin. (You know the feeling...you feel it bend and you get sick to your stomach?) It was getting dark and we weren't prepared at all to wait for the snow to crust up again. Crawling was the only solution. Damm that was a long two miles.

 

[Fullpan]

Herb - GREAT travelog as usual. Hope you can share a little of what you discussed "into the night" with 2cmorau, in another thread perhaps. I know you are both passionate about the future of mining, and know that Frank feels pretty much alone in his area of the sierra.

 

[Hefty1]

Yea Herb...I got your spot messages and when I got that one from Franks house...I was like "What the h3ll is he doing way over there?" So I emailed Frank to tell you "Hello" but he got it after you left...He did say something about noisey neighbors. Then I get another SPOT and your back into the mtns where you where before. Quite the trip between them two.

 

[Fullpan]

Herb! Great to hear you got out again. How is that shoulder doing anyway? The story and pics were great as always. Winter does have it's share of unique characteristics. Your frozen road turning to mud reminded me of a day hike I took in Anch AK with my then bro-in-law. We had a great time. Walked about 2 miles through sparse woods to the base of some hills. Then we went 2/3 of the way up one of those hills. Sunny with beautiful views. We had ski pants on and zoomed down a gully to get back to the base. Fun! Stood up and sank to our crouch. The sun being out all day softened the crust on 3 feet of snow. Stood up, sunk again. We tried to walk in shady spots, then found a ski trail that took us the wrong way and then disappeared. I decided it was too dangerous to walk after my foot sank and went into a downed tree that almost broke my shin. (You know the feeling...you feel it bend and you get sick to your stomach?) It was getting dark and we weren't prepared at all to wait for the snow to crust up again. Crawling was the only solution. Damm that was a long two miles.

Jeff - "crawling was the only solution" - that reminded me of being caught with 2 buddies in springtime snowstorm at bottom of canyon in Nevada county one year. We were newbie prospectors all set up in camp riverside when the snow started. By next morning there was 2 inches around us, so fearing more snow
up top, we decided to run for it. We jerry-rigged some snowshoes and started up the 1,000 feet to highway. Greg, on top of other things got sick and was shaking with fever. We took turns breaking trail but the last 500 ft was spent crawling thru 4 feet of snow - it took twelve hours but we made it.

 

[DizzyDigger]

What a great way to spend some time in the outdoors...thanks for
sharing it all with us Herb!

Fullpan: "Greg, on top of other things got sick and was shaking with fever. We took
turns breaking trail but the last 500 ft was spent crawling thru 4 feet of snow - it took twelve
hours but we made it. "

Those springtime snowstorms can dump feet of that slippery white trash
in a hurry...probably good thing you bailed when you did. That last bit didn't
sound like much fun though, but it could have saved you from some real misery
had you been snowbound..

 

[63bkpkr]

Gentlemen, awesome recounting of your experiences in winter conditions and thank you for sharing them with us!

Yes winter is nothing to mess with as it immediately attacks anyone that makes a mistake! We used to go into the Kennedy Meadow Wilderness are, that's out back of Yosemite, the first weekend of November. During night hikes there with full packs in a drizzle the alkaline batteries would last 45 minutes and even then you were viewing life through a dull yellow haze towards the end of the time. One year we woke up to some good snow coming down and went further in. Dropped our packs at a creek and proceeded to climb the box canyon walls. On top we found a trail sign that pointed us in the direction of Sheep Camp. We turned our gaze back to the mountains around the box canyon to note very dark clouds rolling downwards into the canyon where our packs were. We opted to return to our packs and began setting up camp, rather quickly. Amazingly the storm halted so with the tents up we tried to gather camp fire materials. Some splinters from a broken tree helped, a military fuel tablet some small branches and bingo a small fire. We continued to feed the fire with more fuel and then noticed some pieces of logs and added them to the flames. Soon we were standing some 8' back from the flames warming ourselves. We became so warm we stripped of jackets and layers down to our t shirts and then went off for a snowball fight. Back at the fire to warm ourselves we noticed it was raining in camp, what odd weather. Then we realized the heat from the fire was melting the snow from the branches overhead. Nothing like a campfire to make a winter trip!

Of course back then none of us had much in the way of intelligence for anything let alone being stranded in the high Sierras in a snowstorm. The next day we had sunshine and easily hiked back to my 1956 Chevy Station Wagon, I may have had chains with me but we did not need to use them. I believe we were smiled upon as silly children that would not be punished at this time. Since then I've become more careful about winter trips but we did take up cross-country skiing with full packs and for many years enjoyed that with mixed results. Nothing like sinning in the winter, called sweating, and end up shaking badly from the cold the moment one stops generating body warmth from heavy exercise!!

I still love it out there!........................63bkpkr

 

[63bkpkr]

Hi Hefty,
Yes it was an interesting travel log type of trip bouncing widely from place to place. The moment the road went to snot my plans had to change and I was wondering what to do when Frank came to mind, I did not have Jay's phone # with me or I'd a called him as well. I'd never been in Yuba river country before so it was quite interesting and steep. I sure wish the logging trucks had not been running as I'd have stayed another day! Seems as campfire permits are still required and fire conditions were moderate...................63bkpkr/Herb

 

[Prospector70]

Nice Pics 63bkpkr! Great trip!

 

[63bkpkr]

Howdy oldbrundogg!

Yes large amounts of snow are needed and so is the continuation of the PT. I believe the last couple of years we've had heavy late spring snow storms that have kept the high trails closed till mid July with the rivers running high into August, these are not my preferred time frames! I like to start backpacking in early to mid June at the latest so I'm going to put my request in for more snow Now so we have more than usual snowfall by spring and then an early warm spring so the main runoff hits 50,000 cfs by early May and maybe lasting at that level for a good week or a little more, that should do it. Of course the debris dams like the Clementine are likely to fill up with sediment and trees that could spill over and choke off the shipping lanes in the bay. Then lets hear them complain about the Natural and Actual damage Ma Nature does to the rivers and such every spring.

I had a good time, winter is so pretty and turns the country side into a Fairy Tale Land with cross my cross country ski tracks here and there.
Hey, I need to get a Turkey soon!.........................63bkpkr {no not for backpacking}

 

[2cmorau]

great Pics 63
great time, glad ya showed up, broke up my time and the noise in my head with the crappy neighbors
the water was biting cold time to break the gloves out, get something going with the gray clay thats on bedrock, even with the screen just would not breakdown
HH

 

[Hoser John]

Herb don't ya wish ya still that ol'56 chevy....sure miss my 53---John

 

[63bkpkr]

Yes John, that ole 56 4 door 3 seater saw a lot of miles, rebuilt the engine myself three times, and many trips into the hills, great car and great memories. With the third seat out and the second seat laid down I could actually stretch out all the way in the back of it to sleep comfortably which I can not do in my Bronco unless I remove the passenger seat and I've done that. Yes a geat car!..................63bkpkr

 

[Gravelwasher]

Hello Herb,

Sounds like quite an adventure!! That's what it's all about, the adventure and good friends and good times, oh ya and some gold.

I was out cross the canyon from you near Auburn metal detecting. Had quite a successful metal detecting trip, racked up 20 pcs of lead and 12 others including a horse shoe and a 1974 penny..lol Don't let em sell you on a gold detector as there is no such thing, only metal, more accurate a junk detector and sometimes gold too. Just playing but its the truth too.

Stopped in a coin shop in Elk Grove today and the owner offered to spectrum analyze my gold for purity, mostly around 20k a couple 23k and a couple 17k, size range from 1 to 4 grams. Nice coin shop and a nice guy running the place too, had some real nice specimen nuggets for sale Hope I did not drool too much on the displays..lol

Thats cool you and Frank and the girls hit it off, girls=black labs Always fun prospecting with good people!!

 

[63bkpkr]

I would LOVE to go to that coin shop in Elk Grove with you to see that spectrum analyzer at work as I find that most intriguing. Ah to have the time for it all!!..............................63bkpkr/Herb

 

[2cmorau]

so GW when willllll it happen again, had a lot of fun last time. have ya heard orf the yuba gold fields, it would be a great place to hook up for all of us and mabe even more of tnet, since were all spread out, with all of the diff MDs we could learn a lot from cookfires, i have some knowledge of this place. just a thiought

so how is that drywasher working for you, how did the fix the sag? did ya get the screen from keene? more importantanly have ya use it
oh by the way since were using NAMES great find Herb, i know u don't want to brag about it, That Sunffer bottle had gold in it, thanks, dam shirt pockets
woohoo HH

 

[Gravelwasher]

Hey there 2cmorau,

Looks like I am heading out Sunday for a local hunt. Would like to get out to your area but you know how that goes with only one day a week to get out.

In a holding pattern right now on the dry washer, too much stuff going on, broken water pipes in the yard, bathroom remodel, etc.... Plus every free moment I am out detecting.

Keep the gold coming cant wait to see some more nugget pics.