Doc and I started out in 2004 checking for placer sites that would be closer to home. Well after all was said and done we returned to our placer claims and started working. We openned up 3 areas which produced some nice gold but we centered all our efforts on the west hole. The summer floods did there normal damage and we had to dig out our west hole 4 times. By the end of the year Doc and I both had done very well in the gold department. We got some very heavy rains in January which damaged our road up the side of the mountain to almost beyond repair by hand. A tractor was going to be needed.

We started 2005 off by doing a lot of research on Google Earth. Doc had decided to work a small area which was about a 10 minute drive from his house. The bad news was that there was room for 1 person. This was fine with me since I had my eye on 2 other places which looked good. Mat, one of our other partners, and I hooked up and went prospecting the 2 mining districts in our area. After much disapointment and very little gold we decided to try one of the 2 areas that I had mapped out. This is what this story is about.

It’s mid-October and the weather is perfect for prospecting. I’m sitting at the table going over my check list for a 3 day mining trip. As I’m checking everything, I look at my bottle of gold and realized that I could count the pieces of gold there was so little. Talking to no ome except myself, I say “well this is going to change come tomorrow. I was packed and ready to leave when Mat pulls up. We went over the maps and the pictures one last time and headed out to the area where we planned to fine a few gold nuggets. After getting camp set up we spent about 5 hours metal detecting the 2 side of the ridges that fed our wash we wanted to work. We found 2 small dinks of gold and about 10 pounds of lead. It was getting late so we called it a day and went back to camp and had dinner. After dinner, we kicked back and watched the sunset and discussed our plan of sttack for tomorrow. All of this in the shadows of the 4th largest producer in the district.

As the morning sun rises with its multi-colored sky, we prepared a pot of coffee and discussed why and where the gold could be, We mapped out the wash and 20 foot sections and began digging. We found a little bit of gold but nothing that would say stay here. What gold we did get was very rough looking which indicated that it had not traveled very far. It was getting close to supper time so we cleaned up the area and headed back to camp.

We fixed dinner and cleaned up our mess.We put our eating table away and our 2 chairs we folded up and leaned them against the table. We walked the ridge line trying to get some kind of feel for the area. Everything came back to us that we were in the right spot but maybe there was just no big amounts of gold. We got back to camp and hit the beds, we were both tired from moving overburden, rocks and processing 25 buckets each of material.

Now I’ve been known to see or experience some strange things in my life but this night was about to get down right strange, almost over the edge even for me. I woke up about 3am having to go to the bathroom. So I put my boots on and out I go to the bush that we decided needed some water. I happened to be looking south towards the Gold Crown Mine when all of a sudden the area lite up and proceeded to start working. I saw the crew getting into the the car to go down into the mine, I saw the 4 ore inspectors that checked the material as its dumped into the trucks. I was frozen, in awe of what was going on. I yelled for my partner, but nothing came out. I went over to the table and set it up, made a pot of coffee opened the chair up and proceeded to watch as the mine went thru its nightly rountune.

The next thing I know, my partner is shaking me to get up. As I’m waking up, he asked me if I always slept with ny boots on? He says to me to get up, get dressed and come outside he had something to show me. Well after getting dressed I go outside the tent and he ask me if I was the one who set up the table, made a pot of coffee and sat the chair facing south. I just looked at him with the dumbest look on my face and said, “well if you didn’t do it , let leaves only me”. He looks at me and says “dud your loosing it.” I answered him with a comment of ya your probably right. We fixed a big breakfast and cleaned up camp and put everything away. After we finished we went back down to the wash and finished the last 2 20 foot sections and got skunked. We called it a day and headed home. Both of us still wondering who put the table out and made the coffee. As for the mine sene, well all I can say is it sure looked real to me.

The 29 Prospector