Montezuma, eastward to guanella pass?, advice requested Options

[WaldenFound]

greetings and salutations, CP!

first off, let me introduce myself. I'm fairly new to serious prospecting, with my previous experiences just consisting of the familiar all too enthusiastic newbie panning. I had to leave my beloved stomping grounds of mt bierdstat and evans, to spend time with my folks in NYC for the summer. thankfully, i shall be returning this fall. since my departure of colorado, i have grown to miss it incredibly. however with patience as a virtue of mine, i have been consolidating information needed to return to the mountains with gusto. as an avid backpacker of the rockies, i have pieced together a modest kit of rockhounding and gold recovery gear that i should be able to backpack with for several days at a time. My gear consists of a series of small classifier sives, 1/4" to 70, magnet, 2 riffled pans, sniffer, tweezers, 54" folding backpack sluice, 2 5 gal buckets, etool, crowbar and 40X magnifier. assembled, they all fit nicely within the confines of my old issued rucksack Uncle Sam gave me back in my military days.

in either case, my questions are as follows... does anybody have experience panning/sluceing/backpacking/dispersed camping around Montezuma, eastward toward guanella pass? from my research, there are several moderate to difficult trails in the area, most following along streams and a number of small alpine lakes. I am fairly confident in my backpacking abilities above the treeline, but it never hurts to ask for advice on the matter. I am also interested in the geology of the area, so if anyone has some hints or tips for prospecting alpine country i'm all ears. from my research there are quite a number of old mines in the area, some claims of which may be still active. I am still trying to master BLMs LR2000 for claim status in the area, however that program in convoluted and quirky at best.

well, i hope all is well! I look forward to engaging in the CP community in the future,

WF

[WaldenFound]

many thanks Mike!

Yeah, you're right about all those claims up there.. finally piecing it all together, it looks like I'll have to play a big game of twister just to be able to sink my pan into the ground. Oh well. onwards to the next area of interest I suppose.

regardless, I still am still quite stricken with the gold bug though haha. I feel my arrival back to the Rockies will come at a good time though, as the snowmelt will be finally tapered down to a trickle and good areas may be exposed. on a related note, about when do you think accumulating snow will block hiking above the treeline? if I recall correctly mid November is when most of the trails will start to be impassable. I think I'll have to start hiking the cdt southwards and/or go to lower elevation levels to comfortably prospect.

that's why I love my freedom lately, I retired quite early from my military service so I am afforded ample time to pursue my endeavors. thanks for the heads up about becoming a paid member of cp, I'll have to wait until uncle Sam pays me on the first though.

thanks again,

WF