The Many Lost Treasures of Mariposa, CA (Photos Added)

[EagleDown]

Eagle, glad to see you are still flying.
I am alive and returning to well after a bit of a battle. I will be around, and I am planning some trips for next spring. Getting to your neck of the woods is high on the list. We bought a new 5th wheel RV, decided t was time to begin living the dreams before time runs out.

Halito Sam 8,
Glad to hear you're on the mend. I've been worried, but didn't want to bother you. Sure hope you can make it, but I hope it's in time! I just read that they're going to start trying to remove the spent rods from the nuclear reactor in Japan. They're already warning to be prepared to evacuate the West coast. Heck, I'm about ready to do that anyway. (lol)

 

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[GarretDiggingAz]

Congratulations on your power sluice!! As for the car, that's why I do the light work myself. I replaced both front calipers, brake pads and one rotor. Cost?? Less than $125. And, it took me a whole hour to do. Well, actually, mgb did most of the work. Removing and replacing the wheels is pretty heavy work at my age. (lol) But, I figure I saved about $300 from what a shop would have charged.

I would've done it myself teaching the kids how to do the brakes. But I honestly haven't done them in years and didn't feel like the hassle. Pure laziness on my part, but also dealing with the pain and then doing that. Nooooo. My patience is gone. Good for mechanics bad for me. Lol.

On good note. I did the first run on the sluice. Took a bit to set up. Couldn't use the stand that came with it. So I put it on top of two saw horses that can go up and down. It's great because there's no guess work. They've got the height on the horses as I raise them up. The reason is because I didn't have a small tub big enough to hold water and the sludge. I normally use a bucket with a classifier for my highbanker. So I used the same method but used a tote and drilled holes in a bucket about 3/4 the way up. So the water would flow into the tote. The bucket holds the sludge. Then I take the classifier out as I need to.
So now I can do a 5 gallon bucket in 11 minutes instead of an hour. Wuwho!!! Then after all of this, I got the biggest flake yet from my hole I've been working. So now I'll be getting ready to go up north this weekend with 2 of my boys and my daughters boyfriend.
Can't wait. Now I get to train two new greenhorns. Maybe my youngest boy will help teach the older ones. Lol

 

[Sam 8]

Halito Sam 8,
Glad to hear you're on the mend. I've been worried, but didn't want to bother you. Sure hope you can make it, but I hope it's in time! I just read that they're going to start trying to remove the spent rods from the nuclear reactor in Japan. They're already warning to be prepared to evacuate the West coast. Heck, I'm about ready to do that anyway. (lol)

I am just as worried about the mess in Japan as you are. I to hope we have time...but it is best to be ready for the worst, ain't it. Will stay in touch, my friend.

 

[EagleDown]

Rare, but not unknown!!

I thought I'd address this to our Brothers "down under", since our weather service is using Australia as a way to justify this "Rare" occurence. I guess it is "Rare", in my entire 76 years, (almost 77), and hundreds of thunderstorms, not only have I never seen this, I've never even heard of it!! How about my Brothers and Sisters out there??
http://www.accuweather.com/en/features/trend/video_wild_roll_cloud_tumbles/20110791

 

[calisdad]

You've probably seen this one tho- right? :

 

[EagleDown]

You've probably seen this one tho- right? :

View attachment 902762

Heck, I'm not even sure I'd believe it if I did see it. (lol)

Right now, I'm looking for another metal detecting partner. mgb is still 'out of state' helping his dad recover from chemotherapy. Might not be back for months (or even a year or so).

Pity, I've been a "Lone Wolf" all of my life, but I guess age has taught me that companionship in the field is enjoyable. (Maybe even essential). (lol)

 

[angelus2k5]

Heck, I'm not even sure I'd believe it if I did see it. (lol)

Right now, I'm looking for another metal detecting partner. mgb is still 'out of state' helping his dad recover from chemotherapy. Might not be back for months (or even a year or so).

Pity, I've been a "Lone Wolf" all of my life, but I guess age has taught me that companionship in the field is enjoyable. (Maybe even essential). (lol)

theres only two things stopping me from joining you for some coil swinging, 1. no MD and 2. the distance. id love to get out there and detect one day. i remember seeing videos last night on the news about mud slides and couldnt help but remember the stories you have shared about the guy that found some diamonds in nevada (at least i think it was nevada) at the site of a recent mud slide. gotta love how the rain tends to bring things down that can also bring the bank roll up lol.

 

[chupacabra]

Well, thank God!! I thought I was all alone with my thoughts. (lol)

Brother eagle your never alone, only by yourself we're watching over you

 

[EagleDown]

theres only two things stopping me from joining you for some coil swinging, 1. no MD and 2. the distance. id love to get out there and detect one day. i remember seeing videos last night on the news about mud slides and couldnt help but remember the stories you have shared about the guy that found some diamonds in nevada (at least i think it was nevada) at the site of a recent mud slide. gotta love how the rain tends to bring things down that can also bring the bank roll up lol.

Here is how you can tell that a man is serious about getting gold. What's up with this? I didn't know they allowed us to dig for gold in the Garden of Eden.

 

[geezerdb]

That was a great video you posted EagleDown! As we enter winter up in my neck of the woods, it gives me gold fever and makes me wish it was spring!

 

[EagleDown]

That was a great video you posted EagleDown! As we enter winter up in my neck of the woods, it gives me gold fever and makes me wish it was spring!

I know what you mean Brother. Last night was our first night below freezing, (31 degrees), and I'm already wondering if Spring will ever get here. (lol)

Glad you enjoyed the video.

 

[shepcal]

Eagle made a little jaunt down below Bagby yesterday. A friend was there last weekend and wanted company this weekend. According to Minecache the area is called Fremont Placers. A lot of work was done there, but by what? Rock piles almost looked like done with a bucket dredge. Maybe hydraulicing and stacking from sluice boxes? Bedrock and caliche layer not deep, but miners were way trashy. It wasn't an hour before I started cherry picking my dig targets (and I hate doing that), just going for quiet deep signals. Sinkers galore!
Anyway curious if you knew anything about it?
Thanks, Shep

 

[EagleDown]

Eagle made a little jaunt down below Bagby yesterday. A friend was there last weekend and wanted company this weekend. According to Minecache the area is called Fremont Placers. A lot of work was done there, but by what? Rock piles almost looked like done with a bucket dredge. Maybe hydraulicing and stacking from sluice boxes? Bedrock and caliche layer not deep, but miners were way trashy. It wasn't an hour before I started cherry picking my dig targets (and I hate doing that), just going for quiet deep signals. Sinkers galore!
Anyway curious if you knew anything about it?
Thanks, Shep

Not really, when I prospected the Bagby area, I was only interested in dredging. I knew of the Fremont Placers, but never explored it. Of course, I didn't have a metal detector in the 60s. (lol)

I would guess that they did much like Railroad Flats area, and most of the rocks were stacked by use of a "block and tackle" and by hand.

I once forgot to put the hand-brake on in my pickup. It rolled down and across the road at Goods Gulch and ended up "high centered" on top of one of the concrete pillars that supported the RR trestle. A friend brought a "block and tackle" down and pulled the pu off of the pillar and back up the hill to my camp near the road. I was totally amazed the wooden pullies and rope was able to do that.

Since that time, I've had a respect for what the "Old Timers" were able to do with 'primative' tools. (lol)

 

[shepcal]

You got that right about the ol timers! Had a good ol friend who lived near Twain on the Feather River. My partner and I dredged by Peasoup Bar which was loaded with stacked rock piles 10' high. This ol friend's father back during the depression moved these piles searching for virgin ground under them. He did this pretty much by himself with a gin pole. Rocks he couldn't move, he'd build a fire under for a few days, then spray with a Sears (Hudson type) sprayer till they cracked and could be moved. He supported his wife and seven or eight kids thru that period this way. After moving these rocks day after day, don't know where he got the energy to produce 7-8 kids, but did. Guess the ol timers were really tough! ;-)
Shep

 

[EagleDown]

You got that right about the ol timers! Had a good ol friend who lived near Twain on the Feather River. My partner and I dredged by Peasoup Bar which was loaded with stacked rock piles 10' high. This ol friend's father back during the depression moved these piles searching for virgin ground under them. He did this pretty much by himself with a gin pole. Rocks he couldn't move, he'd build a fire under for a few days, then spray with a Sears (Hudson type) sprayer till they cracked and could be moved. He supported his wife and seven or eight kids thru that period this way. After moving these rocks day after day, don't know where he got the energy to produce 7-8 kids, but did. Guess the ol timers were really tough! ;-)
Shep

Gin pole? Haven't heard that name in years. I think it was Archimedes(spelling?) who said: "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum large enough, and I could move the world". When I was a kid, I wondered where the heck he'd stand while he "moved the world". (lol)

 

[Handcannon]

Rare, but not unknown!!

I thought I'd address this to our Brothers "down under", since our weather service is using Australia as a way to justify this "Rare" occurence. I guess it is "Rare", in my entire 76 years, (almost 77), and hundreds of thunderstorms, not only have I never seen this, I've never even heard of it!! How about my Brothers and Sisters out there??
http://www.accuweather.com/en/features/trend/video_wild_roll_cloud_tumbles/20110791

Hello Eagle! A little late on my reply to your post, but yes, I have seen about a half dozen roll clouds here in Oklahoma since moving here from Kalifornia about 11 years ago. Usually when a collapsing thunderstorm produces a strong gust front in my area, there is a chance of seeing one. Since weather radar picks up the stronger gust fronts, I usually head outside around the time the gust rolls through, and have seen them pass overhead. Right around the time the roll cloud is just past, the winds will hit on the ground level and can easily exceed 50 or 60 mph. It is a sight to behold.

 

[EagleDown]

Hello Eagle! A little late on my reply to your post, but yes, I have seen about a half dozen roll clouds here in Oklahoma since moving here from Kalifornia about 11 years ago. Usually when a collapsing thunderstorm produces a strong gust front in my area, there is a chance of seeing one. Since weather radar picks up the stronger gust fronts, I usually head outside around the time the gust rolls through, and have seen them pass overhead. Right around the time the roll cloud is just past, the winds will hit on the ground level and can easily exceed 50 or 60 mph. It is a sight to behold.

Thank you my Friend!! That restores a little of my faith in the media. (Well, with the exception of anything political). (lol)

As I said, I've experienced hundreds of thunderstorms throughout my life, and have never seen this phenomenon. So, you can imagine why I was so skeptical of the story.

 

[Oakview2]

Every time I am around old timers workings, I am blown away what the sweat of a man's brow, a few simple tools and sheer will could accomplish.

m

You got that right about the ol timers! Had a good ol friend who lived near Twain on the Feather River. My partner and I dredged by Peasoup Bar which was loaded with stacked rock piles 10' high. This ol friend's father back during the depression moved these piles searching for virgin ground under them. He did this pretty much by himself with a gin pole. Rocks he couldn't move, he'd build a fire under for a few days, then spray with a Sears (Hudson type) sprayer till they cracked and could be moved. He supported his wife and seven or eight kids thru that period this way. After moving these rocks day after day, don't know where he got the energy to produce 7-8 kids, but did. Guess the ol timers were really tough! ;-)
Shep

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

Hello Eagle

Well ran my sluice in the field in two new locations. Discovered two things. Need more water. I was told you need about a gallon of water per gallon of dirt. I thought crazy. At home I was going through 18 gals water to about 23-25 gals of dirt.
I was wrong. Lol. I quickly found out that my water supply quickly turned to a chocolate shake. So thick I started to wonder if it was pushing out gold. Actually, I did replace the first 18 gals of water pretty much right after the 18 gals of dirt. Though I did have to add water periodically to keep the water thin.
I didn't get to take any pics of some of the rough pebble like gold I found. What beauties. Not like our normal small fly poops (smooth and shiny). That was from our new hole.
My sons college find hole was quite productive though I haven't run the cons yet.
I'll provide the pics from the first hole and my sons college fund hole after I process his dirt and cons.
I will say after I got home I ran a tote of dirt from my original digging. I've run roughly 150 gals of dirt and got some nice pickers and lots of granules, but finally, finally got my true first flake/nugget. Weighed .2 g. Thought would've been more, but he fits nicely on the end of my index finger. Here's a pic.
Kinda hard to tell in lighting but the piece on the bottom is the gold. The other is a piece of gravel for reference. I left it in the carpet to see size in relation to expanded metal.
You should've seen this disabled guy dance around. Lol.

 

[leenie]

happy thanksgiving eagle. have great day.I know I am thankfull for this thread. peace to you brother dave.