I recently had the pleasure of hosting a group outing for CP Annual and Lifetime Members at my claims. Wow... what a great time with a fantastic group of fellow prospectors!!! I can't say enough good things about each and every one of you. Mike and Dave were always there at the big hole to offer help filling ore carts and jumping in on the bucket brigade when they saw help might be needed. They also were extremely helpful to everyone in identifying minerals! And, and, and..... they held a CP Drawing and gave away some amazing specimens!!!!! You guys are amazing. Colin contributed a LOT of time and effort dispersing tailings along my dam and that is greatly appreciated. Joshua was equally helpful in many ways (and very humorous) and I only wish he could have stayed longer. Same with Jason, Cara, Marsha, and Duke. Marsha and Timber have a solid bond and Duke is a giant teddy bear. I wanted to spend more time with you guys and I hope that we can in the future. I really wanted to send you home with some nice buckets of paydirt since Jason was under the weather! Crusty and I were the side-by-side highbanker team running dual bankers. I would have to say that was some pretty awesome teamwork my friend and your cooking is to die for!
Huge thanks to you all for being far beyond excellent guests and try to make plans for Labor Day weekend.
Anyway... we all took pics this time and this was a great adventure!
Add them to this thread, can't wait to see. I will add some soon. I didn't take a whole lot but have some worthy shots to add.
I held a little "Largest Garnet" contest through the week and I will post the results and prizes here, stay tuned!
You guys rule!

Aww! Welcome home guys! Im glad y'all had fun.

Swizz - thanks so much for having us. You are a kind soul with the heart of a natural biologist... I love that you have invested in so much knowledge about the flora and fauna around you. Don't sweat the pay dirt... my buckets are somewhere in there for Labor Day weekend, I promise you we have every intent on taking you up on the offer, and any future offers to come! In spite of my being sick kinda taking over the trip for me , I still had a great time meeting and talking with everybody, and ya'll made the lot of us welcomed like we were family, right down to Duke (and Timber was such a treat!) Nobody ever made me to feel like I was a hassle to have around or I was in the way, and I can't tell you how much that is appreciated. Our members are freakin' great people, we consider ourselves very lucky to have been included! I'd be proud to have the opportunity to work along side any of you on anything.
A special thank you for your birthday gift to Marsha, Swizz. You sure do know what to give an 11 year old! She is still learning the significance of having something so old, but every kid her age perks right up when you mention "lived with the dinosaurs." She had a great time too (well, around the episodes of giving the camp her drama child routine), and her first pan she accomplished alone with a flash of color is something that will never be taken away from her!

Now if her Mama would just catch up in the panning department... (I'll be running and hiding now.)

Spectacular Weekend Mr. Swizz and everyone that came. I can't say thank you enough. I learned a thing er two 'bout gold panning.

The most interesting thing I learned this past weekend, however, is that you can turn a gold miner into a crystal hounder, but you can't turn a crystal hounder into a gold miner. I'd rather take my crystals and the process of which that entails... Dig, find crystals, go home. Gold's processes are a bit much, test pan, fill a bucket with classified material, run said material through a sluice, then back in the pan, rinse and repeat... Sorry, my back can't handle that. It was great to learn everything, and I did manage to take home some gold/garnets (I'll have pics of those later on). Special thanks to Josh for taking some time to show me what to look for, how to set up, and a nice hands on panning lesson, & loaning me his waders. I appreciate it buddy

And now for some pics (Honestly didn't spend as much time taking pics as I wanted, ....huh, went prospecting on a prospecting trip.. )

Josh Panning Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

Mr. Swizz working hard Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

Camp time fun Click to view attachment Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

Colin

I know I had a very 'interesting' method of panning my gold up there, Jason. But how can I learn my best method if I don't try new ones?

Colin has a point about panning vs. rock hounding. Maybe I'm a Rock Hound at heart? Hmm.... Something to consider for the next trip....

That pic of those coals is pretty sweet. I can almost smell that heavenly pulled pork drifting through my nostrils again. Any chance we can have the recipe shared?

Here are the pics I took....

This is how the "Caveman Hole" looked upon arrival. Winter was kind to my caution tape.
The west side of the hole had sluffed in during winter where Brandon and I had made a 2ft deep cut in the overburden last fall.
20150702_114720 by swizz, on Flickr

We made short work of the collapsed overburden and got back to business.
20150705_095826 by swizz, on Flickr

Crusty's cache made it through winter well and much appreciated!
20150702_152520 by swizz, on Flickr

20150704_141915 by swizz, on Flickr

One of my claim neighbors came by to run material with us using a power sluice but his pump was DOA. So.... we improvised a solution!
Crusty and I each fed water to his power sluice via our auxiliary spray hoses. We used twigs and Gorilla Tape to git her done.
20150705_094227 by swizz, on Flickr
20150705_094302 by swizz, on Flickr

Like this -
20150705_094623 by swizz, on Flickr

Success!
20150705_094559 by swizz, on Flickr

All systems running... this was our little processing plant.
Mine Highbankers by swizz, on Flickr

Some Bear tracks
Mine Bear Tracks by

Very tasty ribs courtesy of Yoda & Kitty!!!
20150704_192541 by swizz, on Flickr

Crusty provided some spectacular 4th of July fireworks with the .223!!!
.223 night shot 2 by swizz, on Flickr

.223 handgun night shot by swizz, on Flickr

Also forgot to mention... we had two BLM Rangers stop by while we were running. They know me from the last visit and just stopped by to see if I'd had any trouble since then. No troubles. (generally, I take my mining related troubles to the Sheriff but had reported vandalism to a BLM owned gate on my claims a couple years ago). They stuck around for a lil bit and were impressed with our operation. One of the Rangers had mined with his family as a child and shared fond memories, it was a good visit!

Other surprises - An elderly disabled Veteran from a local small town came by one day with his grandkids and asked if he could swirl some pans to show the kids what Gold looks like in the pan. He got a big YES from me, stayed to pan for a little while, and managed to accomplish his goal for the day!
The old boy told me that "back in the day" a miner had found a "fist sized nugget" there.

Could be true......

Fantastic weekend up until my transmission took a dump on the way home...

Haven't gotten to my pics yet, so more to follow!

Thanks for the hospitality Swizz; had a great weekend spent sharing a common interest with friends new and old!

Thank you Swizz, for having us! That was an excellent outing! I had a great time with everyone! Thank you all for the wonderful food as well!

Excited to see more of the pics!

I only took a few pics myself. The only ones that turned out were these two pics of a large Red Dragonfly that did not want to leave my orange bucket lid alone. When I shooed him away he landed in my pan.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

SWEEEEET!!! Nice pics and reports everyone, keep em' comin'

Very sorry we missed out on this one for sure.
Thanks to Chris for the invite once again, what an awesome adventure you all had! Super that the rangers even made a stop by and checked out everything with such positive feed back.

Exactly right Cara, you've got to try out new methods or ideas to know if it might work or not.

Dang it Crusty, very sorry to hear the tranny went south on the way home, that stinks! Hope you can get it fixed right away without further issues too.

Thanks to Dave and Mike also for holding their own club members drawing during the outing too, very cool guys!!

Thought I could smell pulled pork and ribs while reading and looking at pics......mmmmmmmm

Welp Swizz, if I can get a ride back up there, looks like I got some free time (lost my job).... I'd like to reinforce that "hole," in the dam. (Considering I know where it is now, ) And/or, some other improvements to camp, IE, digging out tent spots, constructing a picnic table that seats 6+, dam reinforcement (stated already), stairs into hole, you know... craptastics that not ness. need to get done asap, but would get done sp (soon probably), if I was up there.

Crusty - ...... .... ..... Wanna get me a ride when yer truck is fixed? (least we won't be pulling the trailer, )

Caveman - (aka Stub, ) .. .... ..... Wanna give me a ride up there since you missed the outing? (Give us a chance to meet in person and do some prospecting together)

Josh - Since we both got invites beyond the outing, wanna give me a ride?

Colin

Looks like a great trip; I too am sorry I missed it! It's great to see all the pics and to hear some of the stories; thanks!

Garnet Contest Results

Winner!! Mike S - 8.5mm
8.5mm Garnet by swizz, on Flickr

Runner Up! Colin - 6mm
6mm Garnet by swizz, on Flickr

Prizes
Winner gets choice of either... runner up gets the other

Dreamtime Smokey Combo
Dreamtime Smokey Combo by swizz, on Flickr

Sphalerite Quartz Combo (this mineral glows orange under UV)
Sphalerite Quartz Combo by swizz, on Flickr

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Colin & Josh, you guys may come up again but I will need to be present. If there are any improvements (including dam reinforcement) I must be there to oversee.

......As much as I love smokies.. I got an Endless pocket of em... lol, just saying

LoL

Colin

I'm cool with whatever, no complaints

Rushed home from work, all excited to dig in to my cons... broke out my stack of classifiers and started to work, only to remember my pans, snuffer and all that are in my trailer at Colin's house. :(

Oops

ARRG!
I will work on mine tomorrow I think. I'm glad we did a cleanup prior to (and after) busting through that hardpan. Make sure to process each separately so we can compare results. We can discuss the details of that in the Protected Forum.
Definitely post up some Gold pics here though!

Crusty... that sounds like it hurt worse than losing a finger!

Then I thought I could just blue bowl it, but yup... pump is in the trailer.

ouch.

Thank you very much swizz for inviting us up!
Beautiful Gold and Garnets there. We had a blast and enjoyed the great company as well.
For the prize I would like the dreamtime piece. I can pick it up next time I am up your way, which should be soon.

On the way to the outing Dave an I stopped at another spot to test for gold and found some small gold. It was the first time that black sand wasn't present in my pan with gold. The heavy sands were pink with garnets. Then it was off to swizz's claim.

Here is the video I shot from the 4 day adventure. July 4th weekend

Great vid Mike! It took me right back there for a little bit.

Here's the shots from my point and shoot; still have some to get on here from my phone and DSLR

Colin, Josh, and I arrived at about 10pm on Thursday. Finally got to meet this amazing pooch! She has such a great personality and Swizz has done a great job socializing her and making her a super mellow pup!



The claim is such an awesome place to relax around the campfire amongst friends!


As we were setting up to start working Friday morning, an old timer rolled up to the claim and asked if he could do a little panning in the creek, to show his grandchildren how to pan. He used to have a claim in OR (or ID?) and his family had claims in this area in the early 1900s. Of course Swizz said yes; great to see the art being passed on to another generation!



Really happy with my little AU Shack!



Timber is a cannibal and likes sawdust lol

The Wonder Twins (Mike & Dave S) in the hole slinging mud and water!



I wasn't around for the start of the hole, so I can only imagine how impressive it is to those who broke ground, because I know the difference between last year and this year is pretty impressive!



Another shot of the bear tracks on the road behind the camp... looks like it was good sized, given how much mud was displaced when it walked!



Firing up some coals for a yummy Dutch oven treat!

Gotta thank Scratch for the inspiration to get a Dutch oven... sure is a very versatile tool! Bought a 60 pack of liners, so I'm ready to get my money's worth out if it!

Tonight's dessert, Blueberry Crisp!!



And suddenly it got very quiet around the camp fire... except for an occasional "mmmmmmm"



"Doing dishes"



Back to the hole Saturday morning

Was great to meet Yoda and the birthday girl! And now Swizz knows just how deep his pond is! lol



M&D weren't the only twins at the claim.
After noticing the Gold Hog matting wasn't catching the bigger garnets, I added my Angus Alaskan to try and catch them. While it was running a bit hot, it caught more of them.



Oh Hail!



Such a proper lady!

Yoda and Duke



I smoked a butt at home and froze it and reheated it in the Dutch oven



mmmmmm meat



Claim neighbor Adam stopped by on Sunday and Swizz invited him to work with us. Great to hang out and work with folks.



Gotta go to work; will post more when I get home.

Outstanding pics Crusty!!

Chris in the hole

Colin working the spot down the creek he and Josh set up



Temp dropped 20° and the fog rolled in Sunday afternoon





We made some pretty good progress on the hole over the weekend!



Last shot in the hole for this weekend.

And the reward for a hard day's work? Blackberry crisp!!!





Rained most of the evening Sunday and was still raining and foggy Monday morning





Cleanout time!



Colin assessing his haul



I ended up with a half coffee can of cons



Fog getting thick again



And that's a wrap!

Looks like it was "the best of times"!! Perfect way to spend Independence Day, beautiful scenery, fresh air, excelent food and great friends!

BTW....Amazing how much Jason looks like Zac Brown in that picture of him with Duke.

Excellent trip reports and pics folks just awesome! What a weekend, and very sweet garnet contest Swizz, nice prizes you had for that also and congrats to the winners too! Those of us who didn't make this one will sure have to try hard for the next, what a great time!!
I see you had a full gambit of weather over the weekend along with all that great grub! Personally I really like it when the fog rolls onto the mountain like that. Glad to see it didn't put the spoilers on for too long though.

How cool is that too see the passing of knowledge from the older generations to the new? KUDOS CHRIS! As always, he's a super host at his claim and always friendly to visitors who may stop by.

Yep Denise I think you're right Jason does look a lot like Zac Brown in that picture.

We're all looking forward to clean up pics to come as well, thanks for sharing your pics and reports everyone!

His beard is prettier. His says, "Pay me millions and let me sing with Jimmy Buffett."

Mine says, "I belong in the mountains." That, or "Why do I always lose my razors?"

Or "my daughter keeps stealing my razors"

Or, you're well on your way for the World Beard and Mustache competition. http://www.worldbeardchampionships.com/

As am I...

Got my truck/trailer home yesterday, so I finally got to start panning my cons.

Got 4 bits off the 20 mesh, 5 off the 30 mesh, more than 20 off the 50 mesh (pic). And the garnets off the 18 mesh. Got some in the 100 mesh, will finish that and check the -100 this evening and post pics of all of it. Got more this weekend running the highbanker than I got the previous 2 trips combined!

I still haven't had time yet, maybe today. Quit teasing us with those crumbs Crusty.... we all saw some bigger stuff in yer pans up there.

Will get them this evening. With the one I picked out of the sluice, I should have 10 decent bits and there was more in the 100 mesh; just working the black sand out. Haven't checked the -100 yet.

Saving all the cons and will reclassify them and finally try out my blue bowl soon.

If you need any help or tips with the BB just let me know!

Will definitely be hitting up your how to thread on it again before I give it a go!

Got my cleanup done. Here are my garnets

Click to view attachment

Here is what was in the 100 mesh. Hard to get all the black sand out of this little stuff!

Click to view attachment


And here is the GOLD!!
Click to view attachment

Off to edit my macro shots

Here are some macros. Love the Easter Bunny Nugget!

Middle shot is a bit of Mercury contaminated stuff I got from where Dave S was working. Should I just pitch it?

Here's a few pics from my phone.

Sunday night we got a break in the rain, producing an awesome rainbow. I need to sell that Keene pic to the company!!