MF AR nightmare

NuggetN8

Hero Member
Mar 13, 2012
618
416
Northern California
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SDC 2300
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Today me and a friend decided to go to the MF AR to do some sniping. We didn't go the route that most people go. We dumped over from the top of the canyon on the foresthill side to the bottom. It was about 8-10 miles round trip. But anyways.. We got down to the river and decided to go upstream and find a nice spot to begin sniping. We sat out backpacks, shoes, shirts on the shore because we saw a spot across the river that we wanted to check out. We staggered our way across the river nearly falling and going for a little ride a few times. We made it across and found the place we wanted to work. There was a huge rock jammed in a crevice not too far from the shore. It took us about 15mins to get the thing out of there because we didn't have the tools to just pry it out. After we rolled it aside as the water cleared we saw a layer of muck that was glistening with little pickers. I worked the area for a while as my friend waited. (He didn't know how to do any kind of prospecting he was just along for the hike) As the gold kept popping up I was sucking them up with my sniffer bottle. A few times I had to unscrew it to plop the pickers in because they were to big to suck up. I finished up in that spot and climbed up out of the water. We were about ready to cross back over when we saw something black floating in the water going downstream and around the corner. Right then I remembered that the water level comes up at a certain time of day because they open oxbow reservoir. We made our way to where we crossed as quickly as we could and stumbled, tripped, splashed, slid, staggered around in the ice cold water until we were across. The water had come up at least a foot which made it more difficult to get across. We got to where we had set our gear and of all things... His shoes were gone... All that he had left was his socks and backpack. Luckily my stuff was fine which was pretty important because my car keys were in one of my shoes. We walked back to where we had come down and he found one of his shoes in the water along the shore. The other one was nowhere to be found. On top of that, I looked up and saw my sniffer bottle floating down the river... That was very disappointing but I wasn't too worried about it. Somebody will be very happy when they find that bottle of gold. I was more worried about how we were going to hike out of the canyon when he only had one shoe. He took his shirt off wrapped it around his foot put a plastic baggy around that then I found a bungie cord for him to hold it all together. We made it out and had a good time. That's all that really matters. Made a good story too. Hope you all enjoy it lol. =] (Sorry if theres spelling errors.. I typed this on my iPhone.. Darn autocorrect!)
 

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Bummer about your gold. Sounds like a good spot to hit again!
 

Bummer about your gold. Sounds like a good spot to hit again!

Yep! I'll be going back there some time. I'll probably wait until summer time though.. That water is freezing! Not that it's all that much warmer in the summer..
 

Good times on the American River....I have lost a few snuffer bottles and it sux...Just be careful swimming back and forth on the river..Alot more danger's then one might expect exspecially when carrying/swimming with equipment..I just recently broke my toe in a shallow section of the NF American just becouse it looked easy and I didn't want to take the time to put on my swimming shoes so I did it Barefoot... And low and behold I step on a rock it flipped and broke my toe..That what I get for beining lazy!! Anyway glad the gold is treatin ya well stay safe on your trips! Be carefull of the waterline as it can change your crossing conditions...
 

Good times on the American River....I have lost a few snuffer bottles and it sux...Just be careful swimming back and forth on the river..Alot more danger's then one might expect exspecially when carrying/swimming with equipment..I just recently broke my toe in a shallow section of the NF American just becouse it looked easy and I didn't want to take the time to put on my swimming shoes so I did it Barefoot... And low and behold I step on a rock it flipped and broke my toe..That what I get for beining lazy!! Anyway glad the gold is treatin ya well stay safe on your trips! Be carefull of the waterline as it can change your crossing conditions...

That's another thing I need to get.. Water shoes. I was crossing the middle fork barefoot. Luckily the rocks in that river are mostly rounded. I'd imagine the north fork is a lot less dangerous since the water is warmer and the water level doesn't change so quickly. I hope to try sniping on the NF some time soon I just don't know what area is good.
 

The NF used to be 72 degrees by noon but in the late 70's something happened and it is now 54 degrees all summer long. Maybe the extra low water this year will cause it to warm up IF we have enough sunshine...................63bkpkr
 

The NF used to be 72 degrees by noon but in the late 70's something happened and it is now 54 degrees all summer long. Maybe the extra low water this year will cause it to warm up IF we have enough sunshine...................63bkpkr

Hmm last time I went down to the NF it was really really warm. That was last summer. It wasn't up higher on the NF though just down by ponderosa. You were right about the flow dropping fast! I looked at the charts and its dropped 149cfs in a week if I'm reading that correctly.
 

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