Heading For the Sawtooth Mountain Area

[Steve Herschbach]

Well, just a couple more pickers found today. No gold for me but did find a large piece of agatized petrified wood in old layer of river cobbles on a hill top. Really fun area to wander around in. I have another shot at gold in the morning but will not be surprised if I get skunked. That's ok, been a fun visit to a new location and a chance to meet some really nice people. Next time I will have a better sense of where to look now that I have my bearings. Suffice it to say there is gold here but expectations must be kept in check. Like many easily accessible sites the easy pickings have long since been picked here.

[hawkeye]

What is the land status of the area you are hunting?  Open BLM, mineral claim BLM, ......?  

[Steve Herschbach]

Being an invittee I was told it is big company ground and said big company has no issues with us fleas on the elephant. If anyone knows different please let me know, as I hate being places I should not be. Not that I was a threat - I did get skunked for two and a half days detecting.

It was a similar deal with the big mining companies in Australia though when I was there more and more companies were running the little guys off. Too many people trashing the ground, ruining it for everyone. For gosh sakes people, clean up after yourselves and fill your holes. Read the decal on your Minelab coil!

[deathray]

Amen Steve!I am so sick of seeing trash out in the wilds. Hell,they already ate that food and drank that beer,its lighter now!Pack it out dammit!