The winter is dying down and spring is starting to wake up.       So far, it has been a dry winter here in Northern California. The winter storms that create the high runoff  required to move the large river gravels, never materialized. The high water during the winter storms redistribute the gold threw out the  river systems. As prospectors, we depend on this natural winter cycle to provide us with this annual restocking of gold.  Unless we get some large storms in the next month or two, we will have to deal with trying to find gold in ..read more

We're now in the late fall.       It's a bit on that cold side, but even though the days are a lot shorter and the waters whole lot colder, it is still the best time of year to spend a day in the mountains. This time of year you don't have to worry about mosquitoes and ticks. As far as the rattlesnakes go, if their out, they will be moving very slowly and not much of a danger at all. It is definitely a lot more comfortable hiking backup to the truck in 60° weather rather than 100° weather.      As long as the water stays low, its a great time a year to be w ..read more

My annual fishing trip is over, time to get back to the real world.     This year the water was rough most of the time, made fishing a bit tough. Fishing started out very poor, but improved steadily where by the last week it was good. I was able to can plenty of Tuna.     The great news - the ocean looks the best I have seen in 30 years. The water was clear and the kelp was everywhere and healthier than I have seen in a long time. There were thousands of birds lots of bait fish and life everywhere.     With all the fires going on, I'm not sure about access  ..read more

     Well, even thou I told myself I would post at the very least, once a month this year. I have pretty much blown that!      This year has been crazy busy. When the viruses showed up and they shut everything down, I was thinking great, will give me a chance to get caught up. Well the just opposite occurred. All of a sudden I was supper busy at work and It looks like things are not going to slow down until at the very earliest -  Nov. or Dec. ​      I am hoping to get out and do more prospecting in the next couple of months, but with all the ..read more

     Spring is finally here.     For the next couple of months the rivers are going to be running high, to dangerous to get to the larger gold. There is still to much snow to get to the gold fields, so what do we do?     This is the best time of the year to do a little hiking and just get out and enjoy the hills. Its warm enough for a light shirt and cool enough to hike all you want. The forest is waking up and there is a million thing to see, and while your doing that you can look for new spots to prospect. Before the leaves come out you can see the ground ..read more

     Happy New Year!      This last fall was super busy for me and I have not been posting like I should. Hopefully things will slow down a bit this year and I can post regularly So let get caught up.      We ended the year with about 3 ounces of gold found. I have been trying to get out with other prospector more, that has been great fun but when I do I don't concentrate on my filming and I end up either not putting out a video or ending up with a "not so good" video. I am going to try and fix that this year. The prospecting 101 series is about half done, 4 videos finished. The plan is to r ..read more

    I'm back home from my annual fishing trip, was a great success. I have all my canning jars full of Albacore Tuna and there is plenty of fish in the freezer. To make sure I have plenty of snacks for the winter, I will be taking a couple of Salmon up to the smoke house this coming week. Looks like I won't starve this winter.      I have been able to make a couple of prospecting trips. Jeff and I spent the day doing a  little snipping, with good success. I was able to make a trip to the Downieville. I spent the day prospecting with Prospector Jerry and Top Cat. There will be a video coming o ..read more

Summer is finally here.      Seems like we went from cloudy and 70 degrees to clear and 100 degrees in a week! After a long and wet spring the creeks a now coming down. For the next couple of months we have prim gold hunting conditions.      Time to get in the water and pick up a few of those nice larger pieces. Keep in mine the water is still cold and a bit on the strong side so please be careful and don't take any chances. If it is a little on the iffy side - wait a week or two and the water will drop a little more. ​      I will be taking my annual fishing trip to the coast starting the f ..read more

                                  High Country here we come      The snow, at least in northern California, has melted back enough to get into the high gold fields. Finally we have a lot more area to do a little prospecting in.      The rivers are still running high and very cold. If your going to do a little prospecting around them, be extra careful, one slip could be disastrous. I'm thinking it could be at least another couple of weeks before they are down enough to get into and do a little sniping.      Right now just to be able to get into the high country and poke around a bit, while enj ..read more

Spring is finally here, the days are warming up. The hills are coming alive, and the snow is melting! With the snow melt the high gold fields are starting to open up, but the rivers are running high and cold. This time of year I like to give the larger rivers and creeks a wide berth. If you get to close and slip it may be your last. I use this time  to check out the smaller creeks that go dry in the summer. This is the only time of year they have enough water to work them. You can set up a sluice box or just do some panning and if you slip, all your going to do is get a little wet. I look f ..read more