West Slope Water

[HardPack]

The water is on the way for all you "gold seekers". Plus the lower Sierra foothills have been receiving an occasional flash flood the last couple of years. Removing old mine tailings and exposing new stream bedrock. The 2018/19 Sierra winter snow pack was from 150 to 200 percent of normal. Since June 5, 2019 the warmer weather has been sending lots of water down slope. Snowfall started on the night of November 21, 2018 and continues into late May 2019.  Since we can no longer use motorized mining equipment within 100 yards of any California stream I pick up a Gold Hog stream sluice. I have been successfully using GH mats in my high banker for awhile. Here are a couple of reference photos of the snowfall at 7040 feet above sea level on the Sierra west slope. The shack roof eves are 10 feet and the roof ridge is 17 feet above ground level. There are some old mountain pack trails to the east side mines within hiking distance on that shack. Stay Dry

Good Prospecting

 

[AllenJ]

We had a heck of a winter in NorCal, I've yet to be able to get up to the higher elevations to prospect due to snow but am going to try again this weekend.  The creeks are still running higher than usual though and I expect they'll continue to until around August.  

[Nevada Brian]

We came home via Hwy 50 last weekend and the S. Fork of the American was moving fast and cold.  Not too many gold spots up that way, but all that water is headed downstream; moving boulders, eroding banks and overall redistributing gold in pay streaks.

Thanks for sharing,

Brian.