AT LAST...Winter(Good Times) in Arizona...

Finally, the days are cooling enough that our desert is coming alive with Gold Prospectors(Me and a lot more), and UNFORTUNATELY...Tourists. Just Kidding! But with the cooler weather, it is now feasable to go out and seek our fortunes, so I joined the local Prospecting club yesterday and we have our first big outing next Saturday. Yahhh!

I have been finding gold for years, but always the wet stuff, but since there is a MAJOR shortage of water in this state, we go DRYWASHING. This is a BIG exciting first for me. Never Dry washed before, but after seeing some of the pieces of gold they have been finding on their 800 acres, I am most eager to go.
I have two dredges in California with my Nephew, but now that the VERY RICH Governor(Arnold Schwarzenegger) has banned gold dredging in that state...Nice going ARNIE! Oh well, he has his, so whats the difference if a lot of poor people in HIS state has a chance to make a few bucks?
Meanwhile, back on our side of the state line(Arizona), we are loading up our equipment for Saturday. I figure, by the following Monday I should be able to pay off the National deficit...Just kidding, AGAIN!
I can tell you right now, that when I do return home I will be bringing back a lot of concentrates from the dry washer and thats where me and my Buddy(Good old Gold Buddy) spend the rest of the week picking out all the little pieces...Oh Happy Days!

Last Night, it rained...

Here in the desert, unless the wind moves something, it pretty well stays in place for a long time...UNLESS it rains! After a long, hot, dry Summer, we are starting to get some rain and the temperatures are slowly coming down. Last night...the rain came down HARD. Out for a walk in the fresh morning air, I walked along a wash that runs along beside the path and noticed where last night's torrential flow had passed and guess what I saw? It had washed down far enough to take off the overburden from times passed, and exposed a nice streak of BLACK SAND(Magnetite), which is a GOOD sign if your looking for GOLD? Who knows? I might be living across the road from a lot of gold?
I might just have to grab a 5 gallon bucket and bring back a sample for my Gold Buddy to work on. Never know...

Me and Buddy(Gold Buddy) collecting Samples...

I had the Labor Day weekend off so I loaded up a few 5 gallon buckets and headed for the open desert. I know there is Gold out there, just don't know exactly WHERE? When I am in doubt as to where I can legally go, without trespassing, I drive around looking for dry washes. If I see one that looks interesting, I stop long enough to grab my shovel and fill a 5 gallon bucket with material, and of course, taking mental note of the particular location. I then, mark the bucket and move on to the next likely spot.

Once back at the house, I set up my GOLD BUDDY Mini-sluice, screen down my collected material from each bucket and go to work. This is so simple. Almost as much fun as sitting along side of a river bank, somewhere, but in my back yard, instead.
Buddy is small, but doesn't miss a piece of Gold, no matter how small, and you can adjust the water flow to accomodate the size of the material.
This collect and come home system has worked wonders for me, because of not having to drag a lot of equipment and supplies out into the wild and then back again. Just collect and come home, and work the material whenever you feel like it...and sleep in your own bed.
One thing to mention, when collecting material from dry washes, I usually dig down a bit to check for signs of black magnetic sand(magnetite). You don't always find it, or an abundance of it, but best to check anyway...This is still cheaper than playing the lottery and your chances of finding gold are much better.

Arizona Updates...

The temperature is still running right around 100 degrees F, or a little above, but the nights are starting to cool a bit. It seems the only humidity is IF we turn the sprinklers on...It is DRY! Thank Goodness, for small favors. I know other parts of the country are not so fortunate(too much humidity). No matter what, I guess there is always a silver lining...
Winters , here in Kingman, are not all too bad. We don't get much snow at all, and if we go about 60 miles to the West(down on the Colorado River at a lower altitude)it is more like Springtime, most of the Winter. That's when OUR fun begins...
The temperatures are easy, and we can go dig dirt, pick up rocks, and HOPEFULLY, find some gold. Around here though, most of our CRITTERS(snakes, and everything else on the ground) don't really seem to sleep, as they do elsewhere. I have seen Rattlesnakes on the road on Christmas day. Maybe, he was out shopping? Ya think?
Out here, when everyone one else is shoveling snow, we are digging dirt...
Another couple of months from now, we come alive, but then...so do the Tourists. Soemtimes they are worse than the snakes. At least, we can step OVER the snakes...

The Agony Of knowing...

Arizona in mid Summer is as bad as the North country in the dead of Winter. In Winter, everything is frozen and yet, the fever of knowing the gold is there but, temporarily unreachable, is pure AGONY...
I feel sorely tempted, but in 108 degree temperature, sun stroke would probably be the first thing I find. Until then, I guess I will have to re-read all my old Gold Prospector magazines and imagine huge pieces of Gold just waiting for me.
I have yet, to learn the art of Dry Washing, but very soon, when I can finally get down to business(the temp cools down), I have great visions of what lies below the surface.
UNIMAGINABLE WEALTH...

My(Gold) Buddy...

When I first read about the GOLD BUDDY recirculating system, I thought I might want one, but hesitated. Finally, I gave in and ordered one. One of the best deals I ever made.
Since I bought my GOLD BUDDY about 7 years ago, I have sat at the house, listening to music, or whatever, and ran a LOT of gravel through this fantastic little machine.
Quite often, I run across a dry stream or even a wet one, that I don't have time to deal with, so I just get out the shovel and a couple of empty buckets to fill with material. It's back to the house to do what I need to do at the moment, and WHEN I have the time, I set up my Buddy(GOLD BUDDY) in the back yard and go to work...
The GOLD BUDDY, eventho small, will easily run a bucket of gravel in a couple of hours...AND it doesn't miss much. Ever so often, I stick a pan under the end of the sluice to see if I am losing anything. NOPE! About time I look up again, guess what is laying in the top of the sluice, just under the screen...A nice little piece of GOLD.
I, honestly, have had better luck with my GOLD BUDDY, working at home, than with a couple of, LARGER sluices, I have in the shed.
Now, that I live in Arizona, which does NOT have a lot(hardly any) running streams, I can still grab a bucket here and there, and take it home to BUDDY...
MY BEST BUDDY!

Accidently found...then LOST!

A couple of winters ago, I was wandering around down somewhere near Quartzite, Arizona. Tried metal detecting, but some many people have left their trash behind, which makes detecting difficult, if not impossible.
I don't remember exactly where, but I went for an early morning walk, picking up and inspecting rocks along the way. Suddenly, I came across some strange looking pieces of volcanic rock, smooth, black and BUBBLED...Humm? Never seen anything like this before. Sort of like Obsidian, only flat, with bubbles.
Strange, but I didn't think much of it at the time, since strange things are common out here in the desert. It wasn't until some months later I was reading one of my old Gold Prospector magazines and opened up to an article about PSILOMELANE...
There it was! The very same type rocks I saw that day in an UN-REMEMBERED place. It turns out that Psilomelane is used to make some very nice jewelry, but also becoming very hard to find. Probably worth a good bit of change...IF I could ever find the place, again?

Got out the Blue Bowl...

Here it is, June, I've got gold fever, and stuck in Kingman, Arizona with no water, except out of the faucet.
Had a dream last night and got to thinking about all this sand around here, and know that there is fine gold in a lot of it. Have to do something about this gold fever...
All of a sudden, I got this bright idea. I would use the BLUE BOWL I bought some time ago...IN MY KITCHEN!

Well, it doesn't take up much room, and I can pick up and run samples from anywhere. All I have to do is carry around a small bucket and pick up samples whereever I am, bring it back to the house, classify it down and run it thru my BLUE BOWL.
It is only a temporary relief from my fever, but at least I am DOING SOMETHING. I figure, eventually, I will hit a hot spot, find gold, and go back with a bigger bucket.
Gold mining in my kitchen? If the word gets out, the guys in white jackets may be coming after me...and my gold!

Hot weather...BUT...

The days are getting pretty hot now, BUT I read where they found some HUGE nuggets in California(right next door) and I am wondering IF, maybe I shouldn't take a few days off, from doing nothing, and shovel some gravel? Hummm!

Now, every time I close my eyes I will be seeing a large nugget gleaming up at me from the bottom of my dredge.
I'm not getting rich on Social Security, and with the price of gold(UNBELIEVABLE), I may just do the IRRESPONSIBLE thing and head to the nearest running creek in California, since we don't have too many of those(creeks) in Arizona

Killing time...

As trivial as it may seem, whenever I have NOTHING ELSE to do, I just go for a walk and search the ground for whatever coins or odds and ends someone may have dropped along their way. People have been losing things for a LONG time, and it's not necessary to go on some planned adventure to the wilds of whereever to look for lost treasure.It MAY BE right under your feet.

The larger, shinier coins, have most likely been spotted and picked up already, but people seem to, either miss, or refuse to stoop over for a penny.
Get out your current, updated, coin book, and you might find out it was worth bending over for this one.
I always carry a current edition with me, because I, usually, can't wait till I get back home to find out what treasure I have just found.

Getting out of the House...

When the sun came up this morning I just knew I had to get out of the house. The weather was warm and there was a slight breeze to whisk me along the way.
I loaded up my Whites Metal Detector and set out for a somewhat remote spot I had recently discovered. There had once been an old house there, but since, ancient history. Hummm! Wonder what might be buried around there? Already, my pulse was racing. Just thinking of the lost treasures I might find. There was no stopping me now...
The drive took about an hour total. It was a bit warmer by the time I got there, but who cares? I just KNEW I was going to find something. Something lost and valuable.
I got my White's tuned up and started moving the search head back and forth, knowing that any minute I would find my fortune. I was only about 5 minutes into my search when I got a loud signal. Oh boy! This was it! I was there.
It took me a couple of minutes to unearth my prize, which, unfortunately, turned out to be part of an old rusted tin lid. Rotten luck, on the first hit...
Feeling a little disappointed I started to fill the hole back in, but something caught my eye. Whoa! What is this? I decided to run the seach head over the hole one more time before I finished cleaning up my mess(filling the hole).
Again, I got a signal, but this time a bit deeper. I was excited at the thought that my luck was not all bad. Maybe, this time?
I pulled the dirt from the hole with my hands, being careful not to lose anything. One handful, then two. There is was... all darkened and caked with dirt... a coin of some kind. My heart was racing as I slowly wiped the dirt from my treasure.
Oh Lord! I couldn't believe it. As I wiped away years of dirt that had hidden it, I could see it was a silver coin...But what?
When it was cleaned as much as I could for now, I saw that it was dated 1877 and was a silver dollar. Maybe not a fortune, but not bad for a morning out...
Between my heart beating from excitement and the sun getting higher in the sky I knew it was time to go back home, but I knew I would be back. Somewhere here, were more untold secrets, and I HAD to find them...

Finding Treasure...

I guess most of us dream of, someday, finding a treasure and becoming independently wealthy...
What will it be? Gold, Silver, Jewels. Not necessarily so! When you stop and think about it, Treasure, and the satifaction of finding it, comes in many different forms.

With visions of all that wealth, WHO would ever think of stopping to pick up a penny? A Penny? Yep! Being a coin collector, I know that if you pick up the RIGHT penny(rare), it can turn out to be worth more than a lot of jewels...Just the ADVENTURE of looking and finding, is very rewarding. Feel your pulse quicken, when you dig up something lost long ago. Imagine the history behind it and the stories it could tell, if only it could talk?
If you admit it, the real thrill was just getting out of the house and feeling alive. Just being and feeling alive is worth more than all the Gold and jewels ever found. Be thankful for the day and KEEP LOOKING, for your next adventures...