Golden Weekend

My weekend was golden as you will see. I hooked Anna up and headed 40 minutes West of home for an overnight camping trip with my gold prospecting club. I actually got two nights in. The temperatures were rather cold but we had a heater and all the comforts of home. 

It wouldn't be a real camping trip without a hearty breakfast cooked on the old flat top griddle. Bacon and banana pancakes were on the menu. A stick to your ribs breakfast was rather important for putting in a full day of moving material through the sluice.

The turn out was pretty good. We had a number of kids show up to look for the elusive yeller stuff with their parents and grandparents.

Tim was shoveling away. He must be impervious to the cold. We had a high in the low 50's, but the water was wicked cold. 

Most folks wore waders like Zeb and his buddy. Unfortunately they spent more time unclogging rocks from the nozzle tip of their dredge than they did sucking up river bottom.

Matt and his son came out both days. Thomas was very content sitting on his crate making sure his dad was feeding the sluice correctly. 

Kevin brought out his new to him 3" dredge. No waders, no boots, it didn't stop Kevin. He took a few tumbles into the stream, but none of that stopped him. I did not see it, but he apparently sucked up a good amount of color.

My buddy Scott didn't make it into any of the photos, but Scott is a very generous guy. He spent most of his time going around and making sure everyone was set up correctly. He has a great amount of prospecting experience and is very willing to shares it. Scott brought along his clean up equipment. This was a great time saver for anyone involved. Usually I spend hours panning out the concentrates. With Scotts equipment it took just a few minutes. This tool is called a gold cube. It concentrates the material down to a very small amount. With this tool, a half of a bucket from the sluice is reduced to a cup in just a few minutes time.

You can see some of the gold right off the bat too. The red spot near the top of the photo is a very nice garnet. There are a number of garnets along with some fine flake gold showing in this photo.

Well, here was what I managed to get during the weekend. I will never get rich with takes like you see above, but it is a hobby and not a profession. The real adventure is in finding it, not having it. Keep in mind also, Maryland is not known as a gold producer. The location we worked is far from known as a gold producing stream. Talk to any of the locals and they think you are joking with them about finding gold in this stream. 

How Much Wood, Can a One Ton Truck Haul, if a One Ton Truck Hauls Wood...

... a ton and a half if you over load it just right. It is a weird feeling to have a truck like mine bottoming out on the bumps. The Cummings didn't even flinch. See that saw? That is a beast too. She has cut close to 60 cords of wood since I bought her ten years ago. I don't have any clue how much she has cut for Ralph who borrows her twice a year. Load two of five.

With Every Season

And thus it begins. Load one of five...

Shopping Santa Fe Style

With one last day left in New Mexico we needed to do a little shopping. My number one agenda was obtaining some Hatch chilies to take home. It is near the end of the season, but just about every town has a roaster going full tilt. A couple more weeks and the roasters will all be gone until next year.

That is my bushel going round. Yes, we brought an entire bushel of roasted peppers back in our suit case. When we got home at 10:30 they were still toasty warm. When the roasters start up in early September the peppers are very crisp and have a sharp taste. They are all green,  however these from the late part of the season have a deeper flavor of the chili. Many red ones are in the batch and most are kissed with a blush of color. They are not all truly green chilies. I bagged them up into six per bag holding the red ones separate. I horde those for myself. On top of the bushel of roasted Hatch chilies, we also bought a dozen quarts of red chili sauce. One cannot have enough chilies!

Once the green chilies were taken care of we headed to Jackalope. They have just about anything to decorate your house and a lot more. There are items from all over the world for sale here. Beth loves to come to Jackalope to shop. Myself, I like to walk around and look through my camera. There is a lot to look at. I won't comment, I will let you make your own observations.

Beth and I wanted one last walk before we left my favorite State so we headed over to La Cieneguilla Petroglyph site. If you want to see petroglyphs, come here. It is far better than Petroglyph National Monument outside Albuquerque. We stopped there before we went to Bob's Burgers our first day here.

The site contains thousands of petroglyphs and a large pueblo complex that still lies buried. Two years ago I visited this site and posted dozens of the 500+ photos I took of the petroglyphs there. I won't bore you with more of the same, but this tree needs a re visit. It looks like some hippie artist type started hanging bottles and cans but it actually goes much deeper. The bottles and cans are to give a home to the spirits of the ancestor who were here when the pueblo still stood here. Think of them as a FEMA trailer for the spirits of the ancestors.

I did my part by adding a new can and re hanging some of those that had fallen down. Ironically, the tree died this past year. It died at the same time the site was begun to be improved. No real re development has taken place, just new trails have been laid out and marked. There is also a new fence and a giant sign telling you to do the things you should already know, like being respectful.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my vacation to my favorite state. I have had the great fortune to have visited all of the lower 48, and hands down, New Mexico is the one I am the fondest of. If you have not been to New Mexico, I high suggest you go there. You might not be as enchanted as I am, but I promise, you will love it.

Still Listening For The Hum

For years now I have been hoping to hear the Taos Hum. No such luck on this visit. I did hear Perry, our friends youngest, humming a little while he was putting on his shoes to take me to see the tee pee down the lane from their house.

Their neighbors have created a sanctuary of quiet in the willows covering their property. Sculpture line the pathways leading through the willow forest. We were never told to keep it quiet, but everyone whispered while walking through the property. It was kind an unspoken thing...

The world needs more places like this where naturally, without being told, we quiet ourselves and soak in the tranquility. The road to the the house is called Tranquilo Lane.

Most people think New Mexico to be all rock and sand. They could not be more wrong, especially in Northern New Mexico. The part of Taos, El Prado, where our friends live, is actually very lush and verdant. The water flows out of the Sangre De Cristo mountains year round and passes through Taos on its way to the Rio Grande. Little streams like the Rio Lucero join together to form a mighty river that becomes a border for our country. This water will be swam across by many people hoping for a better life on this side of the border.

Last year this same road was all dirt and gravel. This is called the High Rim Road and connects Taos with Pillar on the West side of the Rio Grande. It was paved this past Spring as many people have moved out in this direction. Living out here on the Mesa is 100% off the grid. There is electric along the road, but it is not utilized by many of those living out here. The cost of getting it from the road up onto the mesa keeps folks from doing so. Most that live out here use solar panels to run everything they need. Out here you find every level of living. There are people in beautiful build homes, Earthships, and even some people living in busses. Most folks live pretty close to the land.

New Mexico is a great place to find old cars. They are every where and most are in remarkably good condition. I wanted this Chevy truck real badly. It was painted once but is all original, runs and drives perfectly. 58,000 miles, $3500.

A prerequisite for us is a visit to the hot springs at Ojo Caliente. Our visit is always planned around a stop here. 

For centuries, people have come here to take in the Springs. The mud pool is a great way to get all the nasties out of your skin. As it dries, you feel it stretching your skin tight. Okay, it might not do jack, but it sure is fun to play in the mud.

The people at Ojo have been really building the springs up. They have added portals with lounge chairs and hammocks all over the place. Soaking in the 101, 103, 105, 107 degree water and then reading for a little while, followed by a nap and more soaking is a really soothing way to spend the day. This is a full service spa offering massage and all kinds of treatments. They have a really nice hotel and restaurant here now too.

Not all the pools are hot. This big one is 87 degrees. I like to go from a hot spring to this warm pool and back again. Hot, cold, hot, cold. If you have kids under 12, this is the only pool they can swim in. At Ojo, the rule is "whisper please". It is posted every where. Sometimes we need a reminder.

After Ojo, we headed back to Central New Mexico. Tim's house on top of Waldo Mesa is just so inviting. In my next post I will tell you all about shopping Santa Fe style.