A Little Gold - And - A Bedframe And A Turn Of The Century Token

[Featherdfishead]

Hello folks

I was able to get out Saturday afternoon and the majority of Sunday and had a great time. 

Saturday i got out around one and dropped into a stream that has payed in the past. I aimed to hike far upstream from the highest place an old timer had shown me that had paid in the past. Leaving my SDC in my pack i headed upstream, identified the place the old timer had shown me and kept on hiking. Up two small waterfalls and a slight bend to a good pinch in the creek i hiked until i noticed a logjam that had blown in the last few seasons. 

In new areas i tune the SDC on 2 and then crank it to 5 and back off if need be. 4 was do able but a little warbly. I slowly worked afew crevasses that ran with the streams angle of flow, around and slightly under an enormous boulder and then a crevasse that looked prime running the entire breadth of the stream from under the log jam across to the opposite bank. As i began to scan i heard a faint whisper, hmm - and then a strong mellow hit. With my screw driver i scrapped the crevasse and fanned the little bits of gravel out but to my disappointment a shredded 22 lead was all that peaked back at me. Damb- sure looks like a good drop and catch - i think to myself- And as always re-scan the crevasse before moving on. Another mellow hit not as strong as the last- must be another lead frag i think as i clean the rest of the crevasse and pear through the water with eagle eyes. Oh yeah a little picker winks back. The bedrock in this area is extremely tough and the peace was ground pounded into the crevasse as you can see from the shape in the pics. To get the little bugger i beat the S%^T out of my Apex (didnt bring my little bar and was finally able to chip off just enough to wiggle her out.) Crazy thing is it bent the tip of my Apex - pretty tough stuff. 

With a big grin i detected the area i had heard the first slight whisper and soon spotted the smaller peace down the crevasse afew inches.. After beating the hell out of my pick again i flicked out the little peace and went back to scanning. A foot upstream was a boil crevasse - the type that is very rounded and usually doesn't trap gold to well - but to my surprise it had a strong mellow hit when swung over. Scrapping and looking i cleaned up and could see another little peace - i picked a flaky peace and a very tiny peace out with my tweezers. While cleaning this crevasse i noticed one end of it got quit deep and pinched very tight. Poking around i clouded the water with good'ol gray clay particles and decided i'd chip out the bedrock enough to get the edge of my coil deeper into the crevasse. Back to hammering away but once opened and re-scanned a good strong signal. As this took awhile the sun was creeping down and i didnt have my deep crevasse tools with me so i slightly disguised the are and packed her up for home. I have no worry of the gold being found because the area showed no signs of resent mining - just my type of spot.

Sunday i didn't get out as early as hoped but i met my partner and we headed up to 6200 ft with hopes of finding some ol pit workings and checking out the dump of an old Gold/Silver mine. We found the pits but decided to work them properly we'd need a different plan of attack then originally planned so we head to the Gold/Silver Mine.

As some trips go- we dropped a few thousand feet down the near vertical hillsope to find an old mine but not a Gold mine - a Chrome mine - Ahhh. We BS'D and cruised around lookn for relics. Found a six-pack of Delaware Punch (1950's as far as i can tell so far) that was against a big Buck-brush that had grown up around the bottles as the years had past. Scanned around awhile and then my partner suggested circling around the ridge in an attempt to find a tiny cabin and spring that he remembered finding when logging the ridge 25 yrs ago.

A short time latter we sight the cabin and perch up on the old foundation for lunch. As we eat my buddy notices a bed frame about twenty feet side hill against a big rock out cropping. He heads over as i finish my food and begins to move the frame to detect under it. Just as i start his way he fires up his MXT and immediately hears a solid beep and WOW! An old Token - A nice old token that had been drilled and made into a pendant. Looks like its from the turn of the century and was only in use a short time. A similar one for 10 instead of 25 in merchandise and no hole sold on Ebay in Aug for $150. 

I regret not having my camera because the cabin was perched on a high mountain boulder field and was only about 8 X 10 ft. it was built at a small spring that was still running even in this very very dry spell The only one we found or saaw signs of in miles of hikeing. All that was left of the cabin was its cedar floor joists and a stove as well as a ripped old cedar step between the spring and the entrance and alittle tin and many nails and scrap. 

Rugged old timers.

The Token Reads: P.J.WISDOM & SONS - ESCONDIDO CAL. and very smaLl along the lower rim - LA RUSSTAMH CO.

Reverse Side: GOOD FOR 25 IN MERCHANDISE

Needless to say we were stoked. We dug and detected for another spell and came up empty handed but tired. I did find half of an old hair pin so we made jokes the rest of the day about how the old miner got a women way the hell up on this mountain side. 

My partner and i havent mined together much this year since i have been so buisy with the family but we sure had a good time on this sunday hunt - even without finding any gold. 

Any Info or token stories would be cool. Neither of us had found an old token yet.

If any one's interested in the Token i'm sure my buddy would bargain.

Have a good hunt

AjR

[strick]

Great story as usual and I can imagine the beautiful countryside of the trinity alps as you tell it. We passed on deer season up there this year. Looking for gold got in the way. Nice token as it appears to be in great shape. 

 

strick

[spencer@wy]

Glad you shared your outing with us. I could almost see it. my last trip rewarded me with an ole broke pick and an axe head among other rusty and grey matter. i think the gold is waiting for next year, because if i find any this year i ll be lost to the greenstone belt.

[beatup]

Great story.

[Lunk]

Nice finds guys.