I'm now a part-time ranch hand at historic Vagabond Ranch. After hanging signs and cutting some fence posts yesterday I had about an hour and a half to play so I whipped out the Angus and moved three buckets of material after work.
The ranch has a LOT of property and I've never been skunked on Gold there.... yesterday was no exception. The three buckets yielded a decent amount of fines and Garnets in the black sand. I haven't Blue-Bowled it yet but was happy with the visible Gold in the pan after my brief dig. I'm continuously amazed at how well that little Angus (Mini Long Tom) performs. It can process a lot of material fast and cleans up like a champ. Truly a no-hassle sluice. Anyway... nothing like a little prospecting to finish off a day. Had a curious little teenager Fox kit visit me a couple times but unfortunately camera was in the Jeep, cute lil bugger.
Life is good!

Can I assume the ranch is near your location? Obviously I would love to prospect with you, but the drive could be far Any

Hi Pat,
The ranch isn't anywhere near my claim, different deposit. It's a guest ranch, you can get a better idea from the link in my signature below. I don't have much time for fishing or prospecting when I'm working there but they have both available to guests. I have guided prospecting there a couple of times now and it was a lot of fun.

I looked at the information in the link you provided. It's still way up north, which would be a very long drive for me. It looks too expensive for my blood. I'll wait till Woody is able to make a trip, which more than likely will be next year.

Good photo of the stream! I hit the Vagabond Ranch link. Beautiful place. Too bad they won't allow camping.
I want to see the gold you panned.

They allow camping for guests... there were a few tents set up this weekend. They also have a few large teepees in addition to the cabins and lodges. I've worked on their cabins and lodges for the last 4yrs or so and it is absolutely one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to in Colorado. The whole ranch is off the grid with no cell service and self sufficient (generators, solar, wind, batteries, compost, etc). In the winter guests are snowmobiled in since the 4 mile road is not plowed. Very remote and peaceful. Iffn I had me a girly.... I'd take her there for sure as a romantic getaway. They just ran a couple's special ($90 per night I think) and it sold out really fast.

It's official... we've added panning as a guest activity at the ranch.
I only hope that I have enough time to zoom out there every time they need me, I'm only a part time hand there now. I might build a panning trough for them this spring.
I've gotten a lot of kids and adults participating in the fun every time and a trough would be great for panning instruction (kids are the best!). We're also creating a trophy Trout pond. They used an excavator last fall to create a good sized pond and installed a small hydroelectric plant to supplement the power. Pond is the size of a small mtn lake and will sustain fish. Hopefully we'll be adding that as a premium activity this spring. I might be pretty busy there this year.
Between that and my small biz, this could be a crazy year for me... and I really need a crazy year!!
I'm not trying to advertise or anything... just giving an update and am proud that they have officially approved panning as a guest activity.
Here's a link.. the owner made a flattering write-up and short vid: (camera shy) Vagabond Ranch Gold Pannning

Swizz my wife and i may come out this summer (June??/July??/August??)and stop of at the ranch for sometime. were supposed to visit Colorado for a month, but we will see how things go as the time gets closer. i useually bring my trailer but my wife wants the nicetys that a room brings.

visit?
you were talking about moving here recently... change of plans?

looking over possibl locations!

That's awesome news Chris!

Just got back from a few days of caretaking at the ranch and thought I'd share some pics...
Access to the ranch is primarily by snowmobile in the winter, no vehicular access. Some people snowshoe or cross-country ski in. It's about 4 miles in from any maintained roads.
Saw a total of three Moose, sorry no pics... I was on the snowmobile.

This is the Overlook Cabin... my home-away-from-home when I'm caretaking the ranch. Currently have a Pine Marten for a roomate. Mouse and Pak-Rat population currently 0.
Ranch wants to trap him though, gets into food once in a while and the little sneak stole some guest's food from a cooler outside another cabin a couple weeks ago.


This is one of the ranch work-trucks that I use for wood transport with a cargo trailer, guest shuttles, trail grooming, etc. One hell of a machine I must say. Also available for guest rental. They have a nice fleet of snowmobiles. This is a 4-stroke, 1000+cc. Over 300 miles of groomed trail systems stemming from the ranch. They have a 2-stroke Ski-Doo that is downright scarey-fast and lightweight, more for off-trail and deep powder.


The chariot... used for shuttling guests/gear in and out (and a guest booze cruise every now and then)


I found that wood pile from last fall!


I took this pic from the deck near sunset last night... Cascade Mtn. The Ranch uses snowmobiles to transport backcountry skiers up there.


Cheers!

that looks and sounds like it would be a fun place to be!

Bring the Mrs out here and have a good ol rustic time Russ! It's a unique getaway and very secluded. Romantic in an old-timey sort of way. Really fun in the winter but I like the summers too... that way you can get Gold while you're there.... kinda tuff to do that now. Hopefully we'll have the trophy Trout fishery going this year too if all goes well.

ive printed out the material from their site and layed it by the computor. maybe my wife will get the hint! she wants to go to Estes Park for sometime and your just west of that soooooooo

Looks like a blast Chris but I must admit..........I am soooo glad we don't have to deal with the snow like that anymore.
We have only had around a total of 6-8 inched so far this year. The most (4 inches) the other day in one storm. Very dry side of the state here.

I spent the last couple of nights at the ranch and had a little dig-time bright and early this morning.
Punched a nice hole in the streambed and moved 8 buckets through my little Angus until I hit clay layer about 3ft down. Concentrate has a lot of nice Garnets in it. I chewed into the head of an old gravel bar that was well compacted with some large boulders. Just a great place to be when the sun poked over the mountain. I was missing my dog, she'd have loved it. Also thought about Brandon overseas... this spot was right up your alley bud! Was seeing some gold in the sluice so I think I did fairly well... I'll update after final cleanup but it may be a while before I get to it. It's bagged and tagged fer later.

Good times!

I'd be all over that! Might have to make a trip up to the ranch for a weekend when I get back.

Agreed! Chris, would they allow the trommel or a power sluice? I might be able to talk Karen into going for a getaway - if they are dog friendly.

No worries. This spot is actually just off the ranch property and on unclaimed National Forest open to mineral entry... I accessed it from the ranch but it could also be accessed from the county road easy enough. Some exposed bedrock nearby too but I didn't poke it. There is plenty of free camping all around there and easy access to this creek, I know it well. The ranch is still in business and booming this year but unfortunately up for sale because the owner is going through a nasty divorce. They're shutting the doors in October. This breaks my heart.... but it is what it is.
Heck the claims are only another hour from there so it's hard to stop at that creek when my real goodies are so close by... but it's so damn beautiful and the sluicing is so perfectly easy.
But yeah Caveman... standard 1872 Mining Laws apply at that spot since it's on National Forest so you can definitely bring a trommel, dredge, or similar hand carried power equipment as usual. I've dredged other portions of this creek before... had an NFS truck pull up once and watch me for 5 minutes then he just drove away. Would be pretty fun and an easy setup for your trommel on a lot of sections of that creek. Just depends on how far you want to portage equip. There are a few active claims on the creek also but I know where they are.

Looks like a pretty cool palce! Might have to kidnap the missus and go hide out off the grid for a few days when I get back!

Swizz the closeing of the ranch is bad news! sorry to hear of this!

Oh darn, missed the "closing in Oct" part :(

That is very sad about the ranch, so many of the really nice places go that way.

Now you've got me really interested - I'd like to go through the process of staking a claim, but need to go through the steps and do it proper... Dang, but that's a long drive from Westcliffe (Been talking to Woody and Pat) Got so much to do here too, but I'll see if I could get away. I'll let you know. I'll look up the Ranch to see what county it is. If you could PM the name of creek to me, that would be a help. I can do the rest to a point before I'll need help. Portage for me usually is no problem - I just take my time and make multiple trips. I would also enjoy taking the trommel there with you for a good run with the new GH matting setup (STILL have to get around to that!). Got a lot of questions, and I'll have to start digging in the threads a little deeper! Gotta go start my chores now, the horses, dogs, and birds are getting restless. Also have a nice honeydo list to try and get done this week. Take care!

Are there any fish in that there creek?

Yes! Lots of lil Brookies. Twice I have had them swim up through the sluice now and they never fail to sneak into the holes that I dug when I'm takin a break or doing something else. The aquatic insect life is great there too, plenty of food for them. I don't think they see too many people.
I'll be back at the ranch for a couple of days/nights this week and try to do some more prospecting iffn I have time. There's another spot nearby on USFS with exposed bedrock that I'm itchin to scratch.

If you are finding gold, you need to file on it. The only people prospecting in 10 years will be the people that have claims. Even then they will be fighting to keep them. Once you have a claim or 2 to put in the pot, other claim owners will allow you access to theirs as long as you recipocrate.
Leonard

Getting a video of the fish would be ideal, I hope you know. Would be an interesting piece for YoubeToobey or a screen saver.

Hmmm, I have a video camera that is waterproof to ~12'. That would be fun - chilly, but fun!

Whew... I've had quite the adventure during the last several days.
Sorry I been offline the last few, no interwebs at the ranch or claims.
Part 1 - prospecting at the ranch again... I'll post pics now
Part 2 - morning bushwhacking historic discoveries at the ranch... I'll post that excursion next in this thread
Part 3 - continued success with my water operation at the claims... this will be in the CP Club Members protected forum under "My Mining Update"

Part 1 - Prospecting at the ranch again.
I mentioned that I wanted to work a bedrock section of the creek this time so I'll walk ya through my thought process (which ain't much).
First off there are a few sections of this creek with exposed walls of bedrock that have been historically hydraulic mined.
Here is an example of that (this is about a mile downstream from where I prospected). This wall was washed a long time ago but fairly obvious.


Here is an unwashed bedrock wall that is pretty crumbly. It was not washed because an old railroad was above it and hydraulic mining would have compromised rail travel (or so I have concluded).
I decided to dig the creek here.... hoping to dig through the overburden and get down to bedrock, where the goodies might be.


This is the spot I settled on... prior to digging


This is what it looked like after about 10 buckets. That's about as deep as I can go with the shovel (the red thing is my shovel handle). Times like this I wish I hadn't have sold my dredge to Chad. It would have really come in handy here. I was getting great material... riffles were red with Garnets and lots of black sand. About 3ft down I hit a weak blonde clay layer a couple inches thick. Then I hit a solid blue/gray clay layer below that (decomposing bedrock I suspect). Then came some flat pieces of jagged solid bedrock every now and then in the shovel! But alas... I got as deep as I could reach with the shovel in this hole. I know there's more shine down there too. I was just starting to scratch and break apart bedrock pieces down there.


These pics are so-so since I'm using my Droid. Tried to take a pic of the #30-ish mesh Gold that was sticking to the V-mat early on which is always a good sign.


I set up a makeshift stone wing dam to control the water perfectly.


The sluice setup was pretty sweet. This creek is tame to work with at this time of year.


I emptied my sluice cons into the pan for a quick look and this beauty showed up! I'm guessing 3/16 - 1/4" but very thin.
The Glod Hog matting did it's job well... I never saw it in the flare or V-mat. There is also some Gold poking through the black sand on the right but I haven't panned this down yet (bagged and tagged for later). Pretty sure it's good concentrate. This is the largest picker I've found on this creek to date, usually just fines. It also has a slight orange stain on part of it. I've forgotten what that means but I've found Gold stained like that before on this creek.
It sorta looks like Pac-Man so it's my Pac-Man picker. Thank you, thank you... I'll be here all week, don't forget to tip the waitresses and bartender.
Anyway... that's the latest from the ranch. I'll try to put together a Part 2 pictorial of my morning wander about the mtn and post some odd discoveries tonight.
I found something really freaky that I'll post later.

So...
Part 2 - Morning Bushwhacking At The Ranch
I woke up at about 5 and it was dead quiet. It was raining a little bit and I was fixin to pack up and head to the claims later in the morning. After that first cup of coffee I was ready to do something... anything. So I strapped on the .40 and took a walk-about into the woods of the property to see what I could see, and found some cool stuff. I'll start with the freaky thing first.

A good sized white rock caught my eye on a wooded hillside so I decided to have a closer look. Not many solid white rocks around there, it looked odd to me. This is on a section of the property where the original homesteaders staked... pretty untouched. The rock-nerd in me wanted to know what it was.
As I got closer I noticed it had a really weird shape too. It was well away from any old structures.


I was surprised to see that it was an elaborate artistic carving... in Marble! Somebody put a lot of work into this and did a great job. I wasn't sure what to make of it. It had been there an awful long time, Lichens growing. It's a powerful piece and I felt kinda honored to be there in some way... but at the same time eerie. It either represents intense sorrow or madness. I'm guessing it weighs 300-400lbs and can only imagine the task of getting it there and setting it. About 200yds from there on a more manageable section of the old homestead area there is a headstone where the original homestead couple is buried. It is also made of Marble. I'm assuming that this could be a headstone too... but why is it set so far away from the couple? I also noticed that there was a very very faint and grown-over stone trail up the mtn leading to this carving. Could it be the grave of an infant that they were intensely mournful of... perhaps a relative or settler that went insane and committed suicide? I don't know, could almost write a novel around this piece. Hard to appreciate it with my Droid cam but it depicts the head of the subject as turned down and facing to one side... illustrating extreme pain or grief.






Moving along...
A yonder above that I found an old structure foundation. The masonry was crude and any logs that may have been walls have long since disappeared. Likely dirt floor.
You can see the remains of a stone stairwell leading into it in the background. Also maybe an old trail or road that leads to it. I didn't notice that old road/trail until I looked at this image. Might have to explore that next.


I believe they were smelting or processing something here because there is also a broken down ore cart nearby. I found this piece of slag or melted glass near the oven or kiln. Almost looks like Iridium baked on the side of it.






Here's the old ore cart


End of the line for this one

What a neat find! i also suspect that the carveing is a head stone. the mine cart and the peice of slag are intrigging! i bet your dieing to look for the (probly) caved in mine adit.time for some research into old records and maybe a new claim for yourself if availiable?? but just finding this and experience of being there would be great! congrats to you!

That's all ranch property and they own the mineral rights.
The ranch is all mine (or yours) for only 3 million dollars (appraised at $4 million). I don't believe they were mining Gold there back in the day. Possibly Gilsonite, Coke, or other from what little records are available.

Awesome adventure Chris, Thanks for the voyage tag-a-long.

That was a great tutorial for anyone setting up their prospecting equipment and offers good insight on where to look in areas that may have been worked previously. And that picker just speaks for itself. ”I can almost picture it gobbling up all the garnets and black sand in its path.” It is always nice when your hard work is well rewarded.


Now that stone carving, perhaps one of the most interesting pieces of homesteading history that I have ever seen.

When I first look at it, I see a mother tormented by the grief of losing her child. I see a young pioneering family who has endured the hardships and turmoil of moving out west. A family that has painstakingly battled every horizon and must constantly weigh each day to determine if the price of admission has been worth the efforts. A family that has resolved to “cash it in” and set the date to head back home come spring. For a brief moment life in the remote Colorado Mountains was made tolerable with the knowledge that they would soon be back in a more comfortable environment. Then the tragedy struck, a simple accident that claimed the life of their only child. Perhaps a loaded gun leaning against the countertop slid to the floor. Understandably she blames herself. Obviously their plans change, no way she would leave the soil that now embraces her child. The man endures on, working the land and etching out a living for the family he still wants to be. Slowly she passes away, never fully recovering from the depths of her sorrow. As a last act of defiance he spends many hours making a monument to the woman who he so desperately loved and shared his world.

Woody.

Holy cow, Woody - I'm bawling! You are a true artist.

Ha! Yup.... that's the kind of novel I was thinkin of.
Good stuff Woody.
Many similar thoughts crossed my mind as I stood there and looked at it. Would love to know the reality but I think it's lost in time.

Interesting as I didn't think gilsonite occurred that far east in Colorado. I know it's used in the local names, however.
Hmmm.

Haven't done a cleanup yet but plucked a few of the nicer Garnets from the top of the cons.

I like the garnets, and the Wheat Penny too! Very nice.

Thanks! I always like seeing them light up in the sluice, tells me I'm into some heavies.
Looks like I may have another couple of days this week back at the ranch.

Wish I could come up to meet you - I'll check with Karen - I'd like to get some garnets for a future ring for her! It would be a long day, but worth it.

You guys need a romantic secluded getaway at the ranch. I recommend the River View Cabin (especially if ya like ruffing it a little). It's fairly close to that smelter, ore cart, and interesting gravestone... also relatively close to where I was diggin. Or... you can easily camp off of the property on the river, lots of choice primitive spots. Would love to meet up with you if you're seriously considering it.
if not
I'd be happy to send you as many Garnets as you want. I've saved a bunch of them over the years... the claims have a lot too.

I am seriously considering it - dredge, sluice stand, trommel, rock pick, and shovel, 4 buckets, 2 classifiers, 2 pans, and 1 new cleanout pan that's easier to manage than that mud mixing pan that I lost control of the last time. I will let you know. I'm bringing the dredge and sluice stand in case the portage for the trommel proves too difficult. The Garnets would be cool, Karen has this Russian jewelry smith in Williamsburg, VA that we have been working with - I could surprise her with something, for once. I'll let you know on that, too - I have to work out the logistics so she never sees the package in Broomfield - No mail service at the cabin, and no PO box either. I really appreciate the offer! And, I'll bring the beer if I can get up there!

As far as romantic getaways - I'd love to get her up there, but the cabin does quite well. If the aussie's barkin', don't come knockin'. And he's been barking a lot every weekend! No, you'll never get that image out of your head, either!

Just a question - would you have time to run the trommel at your claim this year with all the work on the infrastructure you are doing? Or, would next year be better?

omg, you made me spit food on my keyboard

sending you a PM with my cell #... and we can talk about the rest

I'll be here all night!

Another couple of days at the ranch and I spent about 20hrs expanding the same hole and sluicing with the same setup. My hole is pretty big now and I hit bedrock. I brought my chest waders along this time and stood in the hole on top of bedrock while shoveling.... it's about up to my belly button. The sluice was showing a lot of #30ish mesh in the top V-mat but no pickers that I saw this time.

Hopefully they need me out there again next week and I have time. I'd like to stay on this one.

Dang it all! All the contractors decided to show up this week - I have someone showing up every day but Friday, and Friday I have to get hay. Shoot.... I may not get out this year.

Scott,
If/when you make it up this way I'm saving this one for you.... waaaaaaay upstream from ranch property on NFS managed land.
The flow is left to right in this pic. You can see very old crumbling bedrock on the mtn side leading into the creek and going all the way across... this bedrock is big and slabby but can be peeled apart like pages in a book in the creek bed. The pages have good virgin material between them, we could have some fun here. The deepness on the left was made by me 3yrs ago with a small dredge. Unfortunately I ran it too fast and blew out most of the goodies on that trip. Haven't been back since, except to take this pic for you.

What a place to run the trommel! How hard would it be to get it down there? If we can't get it there, I can run a power sluice or the dredge. I'll get working on a crash box.