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

after some careful research of usgs surveys and other (more active/productive) prospecting forums, I decided to focus much of my activities around the SW montezuma quadrangle, closer around swan river southeast of the dillon resevoir, snake river (east) and blue river (south). it's seems most of the iron oxide streaks in the north east quadrangle are only moderately productive with gold dust, and the lack of running water above the treeline come fall will make it difficult to run a sluice. a recirculating highbanker may be productive, but that leaves out backpacking the high country.

food for thought, for the folks who may be interested in that area.

WF

Welcome to the forums WaldenFound!

I have been looking into that area as well for gold. There are many patented claims(private property) and active claims in that area (placer and lode) so finding a spot to prospect requires more in depth research. I recommend that you continue trying to learn LR2000 and other tools to help with your research.

I also recommend looking into a CP Club Membership.

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

Retired 8 months ago and am like you, so happy to have the opportunity to get out and enjoy all Colorado (and the rest of the country) have to offer. Thanks for your service; hope to meet you in the field!

Hi WF and welcome to CP!
I'm not retired military nor have I served (only 2yrs of JROTC but never enlisted). I would like to sincerely thank you for your service.
I'm not familiar with the area you were inquiring about but sounds like you've gotten some good advice. I'm not sure if you've joined here or not but I'll be hosting a 4th of July outing at my claims (Gold) for Annual and Lifetime CP Club Members (immediate family also welcome). I've been doing this for years and it's always a great time! People can stay for the weekend or camp as long as they want... and keep all they find. Info is posted in the Protected Forum. It's not a Club benefit per se... just a donation to give back to this club which has been so helpful to me throughout the years. The overall benefits of this Club far outweigh my offering if you were looking for incentive to join. Anyway, thought I'd throw that out there since you mentioned you like Gold.
Welcome to the forums, and hope that you stick around!

Hi WaldenFound and welcome to the forums.

Thank you for your service and congratulations on your retirement too! Have a great time out there back packing and prospecting!

Sorry it took a couple days over the weekend to get responses but I think folks were just out in the field over the weekend with the nice weather. We really do have a super group here and there's a lot of great info so make yourself right at home browsing around or posting your input. We all look forward to your future participation.

I'd say that's about right for mid November being when trails above timberline start getting hit hard with weather for an average year.

We'd all be honored to have your future participation in the club too, thank you for considering Colorado Prospector club as one of your choice to join. Let us know if you have any questions anytime.

Hope your relocation/move goes well too, safe travels along the way.