Pre-gold fever or ADD? Options

[saltydoc]

Hello to all,
Not my first post, but first time visitor and first time prospecting. I’ll be backpacking for a three day adventure in the Williams fork area and since hiking can take up only take up so much of the day, I plan to spend many hours panning. The hardest part for me so far is gathering too much info before I even know if gold can be found in my playground. I already dream about it and spend way too many hours doing more geological research and planning scenarios in my head (pan, classify, sluice, capture, repeat, collect, take home, blue bowl), so exciting. I find it very hard to be reasonable with what I may actually find, but just the thought of finding any fine (wish I could say flour was enough) gold would be exhilarating. It’s even hard not to go to the shop and start purchasing equipment (esp. a sluice box) instead of just using my pans. I have to say that the thought of finding gold sure does give me a warm feeling inside and I haven’t even started yet. I guess I just love getting out and playing in the mountains with any free time I can. Gotta love Colorado. I can't wait to get started on this new hobby.

I would love any advice for backpacking in the high country (I usually hike 3-10 miles into the unknown).
For example:
How far should I classify without spending too much time vs. weight carried out?
Recommendations on a packable sluice?
Can a blue bowl be used without a pump (i.e. gravity fed water)? Would I get enough water velocity using a funnel and hose upstream?
Am I just wasting my time? don't answer that!

This hobby is very intriguing. Can't wait to start!