Prospecting Adventures with LarryBass...

Let's cut to the chase....

Ok. Ok! Where do you look for the stuff???? Well, again about a million places but you need a sample or two that you can use right? Well Alrighty then....

Little tiny brooks, the one's that you uncover with a little 'ol fashioned research and those ittsy bittsy little natural gravel pits, sometimes near these little mountain streams, are two of my favorite areas to begin my search for this marvelous metal. These tiny, brooks of clear and cold water, forming miniature watercourses, that start, then wind their way through GOLD country, are sure to have many little spots, called, natural catch basins, along their courses. I start a closer inspection behind the largest boulders and any exposed bedrock first. This is where raw, wild and free, migrant gold, can hole up every spring thaw or at any other flood times. Cracks in the bedrock will catch gold if there is any in that area of your crick. Then too, the thick, lush, moss, that clings so desperately to ancient Pine tree roots and little crevices in the rocks along the streams route, is positively worth investigating. This dense moss can act as a very efficient, natural mini-riffle system that can and does, trap lots of very fine gold in its interior. I always make it a point to work at least one or two, of those five gallon white buckets all serious miners and outdoorsmen are familiar with, jammed with old moss and usually enough flour gold to make my time worth it. Plus, it's a lot easier than shoveling gravel. The more methods of recovery and seperation we have, the better we are going to seperate and classify and recover. Keep an open mind always when you are in the field. You can NEVER know too much. There is ALWAYS plenty to learn out there. Stay on the ball and you'll make out O.K.....

Not sure quite how to explain it but there is something VERY special and way Kool about swirling a gold pan full of ancient stream gravels in the middle of nowhere, that really turns my crank. Nature all around me, a gold pan in my hands and the freedom to be there hunting for the most beautiful of all wild metals known to mankind. Raw, pure, wild gold, gleaming out from the fines in the bottom of my pan is most definately a mega-rush to this 'ol bush veteran. It never ceases to get my blood pumping faster than any other thing that I do these days.

What other things can you think of where the average person can have a lot of fun outdoors and then get paid in gold? Imagine bringing home the most beautiful heavy metal in the world for your efforts....For having a little fun outdoors, doing something you really like. Too Much!!

Of course there are the other times too when, well, there is very little or even no color in the bottom of that pan. For me, I simply answer,"so what"? That's no problem. I'm quite used to not catching a fish on every cast so not finding GOLD in every pan of gravel is no biggie either. This is another one of those things, like fishing, where a bit of patience IS necessary if you are lookin' to succeed at it. It's all worth it though. You can bet on it! If you have never tried any of this, searching for gold stuff, by all means check it out this year. Start with some research at the library or on the net but get into some of the history of gold and where it was found. It's a whole new century. Do something really Cool and Exciting this year. Go Gold Hunting! But be careful. Prospecting just could turn out to be YOUR favorite hobby!!!