Before winter claim trip Options

[johnnybravo300]

We have the car packed up and making a trip to the claim again tomorrow. I really don't know how much time we will get there before it snows.
We have about 8 more buckets we can fill for a boring winter day later on....never know where the next corn flake may be hiding! I'd like to run some material too so I'll post if there's anything good.
I've been working in that area all week and I can feel the claim calling me. It's been torture I tell ya!
I have an idea for the biggest hole yet. The area we plugged up for the dredge earlier this summer has been over flowing for months onto the area I first opened up and it's soggy and saturated now. I might try to divert the creek on around further to dry it up and take advantage of that to open a huge hole right across the main channel. Seems like a decent plan and I was getting good gold there before anyway. Whoohoo!

[johnnybravo300]

It was definitely mercury because I smashed it around with my finger and did the taste test. (JK!!)
I did smash it though and it was already amalgamated (or whatever it's called?) onto some gold so it was cottage cheesy in appearance and a little chunky inside. I have some I've found that is still pure little balls but when I find it with gold it's usually like this.
I did suck up a flake or two of silver yesterday and I'll try to get a pic of that today. They were a little bigger than what I've seen and almost tapped out with the gold.
When I got there yesterday I decided to do some test pans just downstream from the hole I've been digging in. I noticed a layer of rocks along the bank about the same elevation that I was digging upstream so I scraped the over burden off and it was all red underneath. I dug out under the first rock and did two test pans.
After two pans i thought for sure my samples were contaminated so I snuffed out the gold, washed my pan out really good and did a third.
It was such easy digging and the gold was decent so I decided to dig right there. I could reach everything from one place so that was nice. My sluice and bucket were right next to me, I've never had it so easy! I ran about 16 gallons total, nice for an easy and relaxing dig and a beautiful day.
This hole went into the older deposit bank between knee high and knee deep and my samples came right off the surface almost....it got better as I dug in and pulled out rocks. It was really nice being able to roll rocks out onto grade instead of lifting them out of a deep hole haha.
If there are gold bearing clay layers above the existing creek channel then that's a great sign and it's easy ground to take advantage of. A highbanker would be perfect in places like that where you can stand in the water channel at an easy working level and shovel directly in. I love it!!
Today I'm staying home catching up on chores and cleaning up the Johnny trail around here.
Sunday is looking great for weather so I'll head back for another day. I need to get some rubber gloves like Mike uses but haven't found any. My hands get so cold they hurt.