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Fifty Feet From Glory ** My Adventures At Jed's Dig Site


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   This is a special thread I am starting. It is my story up to now at our claims & Jed's dig site. The gold strike was a real event in 1936 and the exploration following over time is covered in the book. Here I want to convey my own experiences and adventures at The Whiskey Jack Mine and claims. I have kept my own journal concerning activities and events there. It is not a day to day and some of it is written after the fact from my recollections. It starts in 2012 and may give some hopeful prospectors and miners an insite into gold exploration and the ups and downs associated with it. I hope you will enjoy it. Cheers - G.M.

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  • The title was changed to Fifty Feet From Glory ** My Adventures At Jed's Dig Site

   SEPTEMBER 22   2012

   I arrived at the claims with my son in law Dustin. We had driven for 40 hours straight to get to the area. We were dog tired. My truck was loaded up with all of our prospecting and camping gear. I even had stuff tied to the roof. It was around noon and the temperature was already close to 90 degrees. We should have set up camp but we were so excited to be there that we did a walk around our first claim which was 40 acres. I had researched this area for a year and one of my partners in the company had prospected the claim as well as the adjoining ones. There were good signs of gold that still remained. We figured the old timers had left us something for sure.

   Around 3:00 PM we decided we better set up camp before it got dark. We pitched our 10 X 10 ft cabin tent on a nice flat spot and also put up a two room shower tent with water bladders to be used for showering. We just got everything set up as darkness was falling. I was able to get my truck in close to where we were camping and our prospecting gear was sitting close by. As the sun went down the temperatures dropped and we fixed mountain man stew and Spam for dinner. We cracked open some cold beer and a bottle of wine and looked at the beautiful night sky which was crystal clear and full of stars. I wanted to give my wife a call to tell her we were at the claims but we had no cell service. 

   When we first arrived a Forest Service agent had warned us about black bear & mountain lion. He said to be on guard as a couple of campers had some close calls with them. The thought of sleeping in a tent was a bit nerve racking that first night after what he had told us. We had cots to sleep on and kept a loaded 12 gauge shotgun and handgun with us as well as bear spray. When we hit the sack we were out like lights.

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   SEPTEMBER 23   2012

   We were up bright & early and i had a breakfast of freeze dried bacon & eggs (MRE'S). Just add hot water. The Forest Service agent had also told us there was a crew down at the bottom of the mountain working with equipment on the floodplain of a creek. We were up on the old commercial hydraulic mines about 300 ft higher in elevation but we could here their heavy equipment running. We had claims that captured part of that creek as well. I told Dustin that before the day was over we ought to go down and say hello.

   After breakfast we set off with buckets and shovels and started prospecting and marking out test areas. We ran the gravels through a little recirculating highbanker and processed the concentrates with a Gold Cube. Then we finish panned the material. There were good signs of color from what we were testing. We worked pretty hard and had a late lunch. Then we hiked down the mountain to say howdy to the miners. The crew was on break and they had two big guard dogs that stopped us at the camp entrance. The crew leader came over and called the dogs back and told us to come in. They had a table set up under a canopy. There was a bottle of Jack sitting there and a few of them were smoking joints.

   None of these guys looked too friendly but the crew leader said his name was Gary and they were out of Nevada. He had a 45 on his hip. They had been hired by the claim owner to run gravel and had a nice washplant set up and a shaker table. He asked us if we wanted to hang out with them until quitting time and work on the washplant. I was pretty excited for the opportunity and took him up on it. When they processed the concentrates there were lines of fine gold coming down the table. He said this was coming from the mountain where our claims were. He said the old timers had shot tailings down the mountain and they missed a lot of the smaller stuff. I told Dustin that this gold had probably been up on our claims at one time. We were really getting excited about our prospects. 

   After quitting time we hung out with them for awhile before heading up to our camp. We had a couple shots of Jack and Gary told us his story of mining. He had been rich and he had been broke. He'd been through two wives. He seemed to know a lot about geology and we soon made friends with him. I invited him up to our mine and he said he'd come up and have a look at the claims sometime when he had the time. With that we shook hands and Dustin and I hiked back up to camp. As we left Gary hollered out that now that he knew we were up there they would shoot their guns in the other direction. I said that was mighty nice of him. 

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   This is a picture of our actual first camp in September 2012. On top of a 60 foot deep tailings pile.  We had no idea of the adventures that awaited us over the next 9 years.

img076.jpg

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The continuing story of the Dead Man's Mine.

How about this title ?

 Finding Gold at the Dead Man's Mine ,A Miner's Journal! 

 

That spot screams campsite !    I bet the view was impressive !

 

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   September 24   2012

 

   This morning we hiked out along the southern faultline to do some exploring and sampling. I found an old bucket and some nice quartz specimens with crystals in them. I took the gold cube and a mortar tray and filled it with water. Then I hand classified some gravels and ran them through the cube. There was color. Dustin took a pick and shovel and went down one of the main debris shoots from the old hydraulic days and started digging a test hole. This was extremely difficult as the gravels looked to be compacted. He got down close to four feet on the first one but broke a shovel doing it. He got a couple of nice pickers and some fines. 

   We had supper and were sitting at camp drinking a few beers. It was around 10:00 PM. Then Dustin asked me if I heard voices in the woods just a bit north of our camp. I didn’t at first but he said he heard people talking and they were pretty close to camp. I told him maybe it was Gary and his crew coming up to say hello. I finally did hear something that sounded like low volume talking and grabbed a flashlight and walked out of camp into the woods. I couldn’t hear anything and saw nothing. Everything was stone quiet. It was kind of weird but we just shrugged it off. Then we turned in for the night.   

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................

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   September 25   2012  


 

   Just as we were finishing up breakfast Gary walked into camp. He asked us if we wanted to go out on one of our claims with him to see what he thought. I said sure and we headed out on a hike. I asked Gary if by chance he or his crew had been up on the mountain last night and told him about what we had heard. He said no, they had been in camp all night.

   We walked out to the eastern section of the 40 acre claim we were sampling and Gary spotted an interesting area. He said it was a small debris shoot with 20 foot high tailings piled up along the sides. Gary said it dated back to the 1800’s when the commercial hydraulic mines were in operation. He told us they probably had cut down to bedrock or real close and said we needed to test it. We hiked out along the rim of the southern

 faultline and he showed us a few good places to sample as well. He pointed our several areas where the old timers had missed. Then he heard his excavator running down at the creek and said he needed to get back to his crew. I thanked him and told him to come up and have a beer with us some evening. He said he would and then headed back down the mountain.

   Dustin and I went back to camp and grabbed four buckets and a shovel. We headed out to the small debris shoot Gary had pointed out. It was kind of remote and about 2000 feet from the nearest creek and about 150 feet higher in altitude. We dug down in the bottom and hauled the buckets back to the 12 volt recirculating highbanker and Dustin started to process the gravels. In the meantime I took samples from the top of the southern faultline where Gary saw virgin gravel. I processed mine through the Gold Cube and saw some nice color and a picker. When Dustin finished up we finish panned the concentrates from the four buckets. There were a number of pickers and lots of fines. We both got pretty excited and I said we needed to make a plan to mine that area next season. For now we had as much sampling to get done as we could before the weather turned on us.

   Later that evening about an hour before dark we were sitting at camp when we heard all kinds of hollering and gun shots from down at the bottom of the mountain. It seemed to be coming from Gary’s camp. I told Dustin I was going to walk down there and see what was going on. When I got closer I could see that they were all drunk as hell and hollering and shooting guns at just about anything. They didn’t appear to be arguing but just having fun. I got the hell out of there before I got shot by mistake.

   TO BE CONTINUED ..............

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4 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

   September 24   2012

 

   This morning we hiked out along the southern faultline to do some exploring and sampling. I found an old bucket and some nice quartz specimens with crystals in them. I took the gold cube and a mortar tray and filled it with water. Then I hand classified some gravels and ran them through the cube. There was color. Dustin took a pick and shovel and went down one of the main debris shoots from the old hydraulic days and started digging a test hole. This was extremely difficult as the gravels looked to be compacted. He got down close to four feet on the first one but broke a shovel doing it. He got a couple of nice pickers and some fines. 

   We had supper and were sitting at camp drinking a few beers. It was around 10:00 PM. Then Dustin asked me if I heard voices in the woods just a bit north of our camp. I didn’t at first but he said he heard people talking and they were pretty close to camp. I told him maybe it was Gary and his crew coming up to say hello. I finally did hear something that sounded like low volume talking and grabbed a flashlight and walked out of camp into the woods. I couldn’t hear anything and saw nothing. Everything was stone quiet. It was kind of weird but we just shrugged it off. Then we turned in for the night.   

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................

Yes, voices in the night.

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3 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

   September 25   2012  


 

   Just as we were finishing up breakfast Gary walked into camp. He asked us if we wanted to go out on one of our claims with him to see what he thought. I said sure and we headed out on a hike. I asked Gary if by chance he or his crew had been up on the mountain last night and told him about what we had heard. He said no, they had been in camp all night.

   We walked out to the eastern section of the 40 acre claim we were sampling and Gary spotted an interesting area. He said it was a small debris shoot with 20 foot high tailings piled up along the sides. Gary said it dated back to the 1800’s when the commercial hydraulic mines were in operation. He told us they probably had cut down to bedrock or real close and said we needed to test it. We hiked out along the rim of the southern

 faultline and he showed us a few good places to sample as well. He pointed our several areas where the old timers had missed. Then he heard his excavator running down at the creek and said he needed to get back to his crew. I thanked him and told him to come up and have a beer with us some evening. He said he would and then headed back down the mountain.

   Dustin and I went back to camp and grabbed four buckets and a shovel. We headed out to the small debris shoot Gary had pointed out. It was kind of remote and about 2000 feet from the nearest creek and about 150 feet higher in altitude. We dug down in the bottom and hauled the buckets back to the 12 volt recirculating highbanker and Dustin started to process the gravels. In the meantime I took samples from the top of the southern faultline where Gary saw virgin gravel. I processed mine through the Gold Cube and saw some nice color and a picker. When Dustin finished up we finish panned the concentrates from the four buckets. There were a number of pickers and lots of fines. We both got pretty excited and I said we needed to make a plan to mine that area next season. For now we had as much sampling to get done as we could before the weather turned on us.

   Later that evening about an hour before dark we were sitting at camp when we heard all kinds of hollering and gun shots from down at the bottom of the mountain. It seemed to be coming from Gary’s camp. I told Dustin I was going to walk down there and see what was going on. When I got closer I could see that they were all drunk as hell and hollering and shooting guns at just about anything. They didn’t appear to be arguing but just having fun. I got the hell out of there before I got shot by mistake.

   TO BE CONTINUED ..............

Whiskey, beer, gold, & guns. Not sure about that combination.

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On 5/2/2022 at 6:38 PM, rvpopeye said:

The continuing story of the Dead Man's Mine.

How about this title ?

 Finding Gold at the Dead Man's Mine ,A Miner's Journal! 

 

That spot screams campsite !    I bet the view was impressive !

 

The view isn't bad. You look towards another mountain. Walking back behind the tent a few hundred feet takes you over a rise and into a gully which was the main debris shoot for the big hydraulic mining operation in the 1860's and 1870's. 

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