Bit of a long story, but it explains it.
My father and I got into metal detecting in the very early ‘70’s after I talked him into buying a Compass Yukon 77B, which I still have and still works. My father was an amateur geologist and a resident of the LA area since the late ‘30’s, with a short stay in Baker during the early to mid ‘50’s. He knew where the old gathering places were, as well as a few of those secret spots where we would go rock collecting and detecting. Even after all the freeways were built, we would go for a drive and he would spontaneously take a side road and we would find some amazing minerals for our collection, sometimes only yards from the freeway. He had hundreds stories about treasure, hidden caches of guns and ammo, and gold, and many of the stories were from those who had first hand knowledge as early Calif settlers. One story I remember was about an underground river and a vein of gold, and I know the spot because the underground river crosses a major freeway – though whether it is true or now, who knows. (Just a note: My father had one of the most amazing lives of anyone I have known or read about. He loved to tell stories. He died 18 months ago and I realized that no one will hear those stories again, and those stories were history, including early Calif, WWII, life during the depression, nazi spies in Calif, and much more. The biggest regret I have is that I did not record his stories, and I am sure, if transcribed as told, a great book could have been written.) With a father like that it is hard not to be interested in detecting and geology.
Anyway, in college, for the first few years I was a geology major until it was necessary for me to leave to return to Juneau which has no geology program (switched to science). Because of my father I am interested in rocks and minerals, metal detecting, finding things, collecting, and many other related activities. My daughter, now 19, likes to detect also, partly because I always took her with me and gave her her own detector, and partly because of the stories she heard from her grandfather. Juneau is not the best place for detecting, but we always find something when we go and it is a great family activity.
I am just getting back into detecting now that I have more time after raising two kids, school, and work. In fact, today I received my new Whites GMT to play in some of the known producing streams around the Juneau area. Will I find gold – who knows – but one thing that is known is that when I tell my wife I am going to find some gold with my new machine, her hysterical, tear producing laughter makes it all worth it!
Finally, there was that time when my father and I were detecting at a beach in Calif and this 14 or 15 year old girl and her sister rode up to us on their horses. Every finger on both girls had at least one gold ring on them, including a few real diamonds. We had a nice conversation and it seemed there father detected the beaches and had found many, many rings. That is motivation.
Monty
