Tuesday, January 1, 2013

A Golden Past Time


I got an email asking me what I have been doing this Winter while not Airstreaming. I think this was a subtle means of saying, "could you make a blog post?" Well, I actually have been very busy working and playing. Since most find wood cutting, wood splitting, wood hauling, and wood stacking boring, I will tell you about what I have been doing for fun. I have been finding the yeller stuff in our local streams and creeks.


Those out West look at these little piles and laugh, but we are finding gold where it really is not known to be found. It will take a bit of work to put together an ounce, but grams add up to an ounce eventually.


The creeks are nice and cold this time of year, so thick neoprene waders are must these days. Water proof gloves come in handy also.


The areas we are finding our best gold are spots that  most consider waste land. The little stream running behind an apartment complex and sandwiched next to a shopping mall, the stream running out of a settling pond connected to a shopping complex. The pace of development in our region is astounding, but they keep leaving little areas for us to play in. The digging and disrupting of the soil often pays off in spades for us.


I did a little map game the other day and found a crow could fly 10 miles from the White House to the spot where this sluice is separating the gold from the gravels. I find this a rather funny fact.