Swede coming to Cali/Idaho!

[HappySwede]

Hi all,

I'm a 29 year old prospector from the city of Stockholm, Sweden. Despite my urban residence, I try to get away and prospect for gold as much as I can. Due to lack of a proper own location to mine, I try to visit as many new countries to prospect in instead.

So far, I found gold in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Scotland, France, Serbia, Czech Republic and Poland. And as of right now, Im waiting for my VISA to be done for finally visiting the US.

I intend to book a flight for 9th of october or a week later, traveling alone and staying some 11 days. I will be landing in San Francisco.

For unknown reasons, Im kinda in love with Idaho since a few years back and the goal is to visit that place and do some prospecting, probably in the mountains above Boise.

I've however been recommended to try panning in Cali aswell, and Heard about some public free-panning location on the Bear River. Where excatly is this one, or are there several locations?

-What does the law say about light prospecting with a shovel and pan only? If I find a Creek in the middle of nowhere, is it free to pan in both Idaho and Cali, or am I most likely intruding on someones land?

-If so, are there claims where the public can pay to pan? Im willing to do so for decent gold rather than getting in trouble or not finding anything.

-Other input, anything else I should know, or visit or do...?

 

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[Jim in Idaho]

Just keep your food sealed up so the bears can't get a whiff of it. They won't bother you. I've spent a huge part of my life in the outdoors, and have only seen a few bears
Jim

 

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[HappySwede]

Whops, looks like the weather is turning for the worse in Central Idaho in 10 days. Temperatures well below freezing and downfall of all kinds.

This means....NO MOSQUITOS! Woho! Couldnt have picked any better time of the year

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Here in northern California it's 30° F to 40°F in the AM and 60° to 70°F in the afternoon.

Love this time of year! Frost in the morning and sweating in the afternoon.

Looks like the weekend of the 14th will be similar weather, just slightly cooler.

 

[calsierra-Dan]

Yep some good weather to get out in Nor cal , lots of cool places to check out , there is lots of claims here and there , but a lot of folks are cool to take people out to prospect ! Gold Luck out there!

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Yup...you can get anything from -10 to +85 in Idaho during October. Two thing you quickly learn when you move to Idaho....never leave the windows in your pickup down, and never leave home without a coat!
Jim

 

[rodoconnor]

Yes sir. You'll wear a coat out just carrying it around with you

 

[HappySwede]

Hmmm, further freezing forecasted in the Elk City Area. I've made the mistake to force mining in these conditions before, on the other hand I dont want to miss out on Idaho either.

Some drama might even be good for me. Except for a handful harmless teddybears, we don't have too much around here to worry about. Doesn't get too cold, too warm, too dry, too wet, too windy...no snakes to worry about, no malaria, no tornados. And thankfully so - but I think a little bit of struggling now and then helps us keeping it real the rest of the time.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

It's pretty nice here right now. 41 this morning, light breeze, and clear. There's a front coming through tonight, but supposed to be sunny, and mid-50's next week.
Just typical seasonal weather.
Jim

 

[HappySwede]

All right, I must ask about them bears again...reason I freak is that everywhere I went in Sweden this year, there was fresh bear spilling and especially along the waterways. It feels like they are all around me and yet they are rare and kind over here, despite having a bear kill just weeks ago.

Now, my idea is to roam the hills in central Idaho by myself and bears are more plentyful and agressive, hence the need of bear spray that we dont even have around here.

How common are these encounters? Am I overthinking this or should I really avoid prospecting by myself at all cost? Bear spray wont be of much use if im jumped from behind while panning...

How hard is it to pick up a local to follow you out? Small towns around the world are usually filled with old guys longing for someone to take them out on a trip...

 

[Jim in Idaho]

I'd be amazed if you even saw one.
Jim

 

[arizau]

I'd be amazed if you even saw one.
Jim

I agree and probably some of the best advice has already been given and that is to make noise often and loud when you are on a wooded trail or bushwhacking along a creek. That is the main thing our guides always told us to do while fishing in Katmai in Alaska (major brown bear/coastal grizzly population and we observed many of them). Bad experiences can and do sometimes occur when bears are startled by chance encounters and making noise is one way to perhaps ensure that doesn't happen. Camping encounters is a whole different subject but I assume you will not be camping.

 

[HappySwede]

Guess I've been watching too many semi-reality shows on Discovery...looks like warmer weather will come in over Elk City next week, looking forward to trying my luck a few Days out there.

And the vortex mat is packed, I would like to show you how it works in Snake River and Salt Lake City

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Just let me know when you're going to be here....a few days in advance, and I'll be happy to take you down to the Bonanza Bar vicinity. It's only about 75 miles from my home.
jim

 

[HappySwede]

SO WHAT ABOUT MOUNTAIN LIONS, SHOULD I BE....?

Nah just kidding, I'll stay in touch

 

[HappySwede]

After some 13 hours in a plane, that felt like 285 hours, Im finally here and this GMC yukon XL indeed has a spare wheel.

This young american girl next to me on the flight asked about my journey and I explained Im gonna hike all over the place. She looked at me as if I were lunatic and told me about them bears being everywhere ”you know our bears are more crazier than your european ones?”

I said yea, but Ill get me some bear spray and that will be it. She then explained most people dont know how to use that thing and still get messed up by the bear, so guess I might gonna get eaten after all lol.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

LOL....these "experts" have about 1 or 2 days in the actual wild, if that many. It always amazes me the stories that get spread around. I would imagine that more people die from carelessness than bears, by a wide margin. If you're alone, and I almost always am, you have to constantly be aware of everything going on around you. You have to watch where you put your feet, where you put your hands, etc. No matter what you're doing, you have to take a moment, every few minutes, to scan the area around you. It's a discipline that seasoned outdoorsmen learn. Never walk right up to people in the outdoors, without watching them for awhile first. Never assume anything. The outdoors kills people every year, and many of the deaths could have easily been prevented by diligence.
Jim

 

[HappySwede]

First day of prospecting, a little of flood gold everywhere but nothing bigger than that.

Btw, bear spray works on bigfoot too?

 

[N-Lionberger]

No bear spray will not work on bigfoot.

 

[arizau]

View attachment 1504118

First day of prospecting, a little of flood gold everywhere but nothing bigger than that.

Btw, bear spray works on bigfoot too?

Finding some gold is better than finding no gold which has happened to me and others a lot. Glad the weather seems to cooperating for you so far...us desert rats don't do well in the snow and cold. A jaguar is known to be in the vicinity of where I prospect. Will bear spray work for them too?

 

[Obsessive]

A ranger once told me a story about some misguided campers that thought bear spray worked like bug spray... Just spray it on and it keeps the bears away.