Have You Ever Lost A Site?

[Mike Hillis]

I used to think those stories about people finding a vein or strike, then leaving, and then not being able to find it again later a strange story.  I mean, how you could find something like that and then not be able to find it again.  In my mind there would be no way I could forget how to find something like that.  I would think I'd be able to go right back to it.

 

Well, I can relate to the stories now.  I was driving through a gold bearing area near me and saw an area I wanted to come back to with a metal detector.   You know how it is when you have got the bug;  geology takes on a new meaning.  I'm always trying to identify what the ground is telling me.  My wife gets bored with my amature geology convesation pretty quick sometimes as I start pointing out features as we drive along.  To her its just rocks and dirt.  To me its a story book.

 

Anyway, we were driving up this road, natural on one side and cut on the other side, and I'm looking for areas in the road cut where the water worn rocks and gravel are resting on bed rock.  It sounds easy enough but in reality it's not.  Anyway I'm driving through a section of road cut rock and I notice a V in the rock from a old dry watercourse full of rounded gravel.   Really caught my attention.  A real X marks the spot type of moment.   I mentally mark the area and determine to return with my metal detector at another time.  I'm dreaming gold nuggets.  That was in the early spring year before last.

 

I went back about six weeks later certain that I coulc find the spot again, and guess what?  I couldn't find it!  To this day i haven't found it.  I can see that V in the rock cut clearly in my mind but for the life of me I haven't been able to find it again.  At least not yet.   I think I have one more chance this year before the snow falls and prohibits travel on the road.   If I don't find it on this trip then I'll have to wait for another spring to go searching for it again.

 

Seems crazy that I can't find it.   Just like it seems crazy for all those old stories.  Anything like this every happen to anyone else?  Drives me nuts just thinking about it.  

 

HH
Mike

 

.

[strick]

Even if it was just a dream if you look hard enough you will probably find it !

 

strick

[Steve Herschbach]

Oh yeah, I have had it happen. I hope you find that spot again Mike, and I have to believe you will.

 

I was extremely impressed when Chris and I visited Jonathan Porter in Australia for a month. Vast expanses of open country where you can easily become lost. Yet JP just went right to places he had not been in years. There was never a question where we were.

 

I realized coming south into new country and getting older I needed help, so I took what JP was doing to heart. Never, ever go anywhere without a GPS, and never skip the minute of two it takes to stop and log a location. I have a Garmin 450t for most field work and anytime else I have my Motion X GPS app on my iPhone. Everything gets dumped into Garmin Basecamp and Google Earth.

 

Ten years from now I will not be wondering how to get back to someplace. I highly recommend prospectors just make a habit of it.

[azblackbird]

Ten years from now I will not be wondering how to get back to someplace. I highly recommend prospectors just make a habit of it.

 

Ditto... been carrying a GPS since Garmin came out with the first GMAP. Still carry one to this very day as a back up to my main one. I always carry a SPOT also. Keeps the S.O. pacified. Cell phones are worthless where I go, so I just keep mine off.

[Steve Herschbach]

I am surprised how well cell phones work in the Lower 48 after moving from Alaska. It is weird finding a nugget, and texting my wife a picture of it two minutes later. The coverage is so good in the Sierras I got an external battery for my iPhone that will run it several days while backpacking. But for areas out of coverage I picked up a DeLorme InReach Satellite Text Communicator to replace my Iridium satellite phone. Need a sat phone? Mine will be for sale very soon.

 

Thread on the InReach http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/14-delorme-inreach-satellite-text-communicator/

[rumblefish]

Why didn't you take a photo of the area, Steve?

 

Also, if you take a photo with a smartphone, it geotags the location into the image data anyway whether you realise it or not (assuming there's a signal of course).

[Steve Houston]

I too have lost a patch and I know exactly where it isn't. I was following a wash up towards some hills finding the a bit of gold on my way. I came to an ancient waterfall (dry now) about ten feet high. I climbed on top to a large flat with a dry wash through it. I found 11 nice nuggets and since it was getting onto dark I hiked back to my rig. Got there a little after dark, drove back to camp and left for home the next day. It took me a year to get back down there and drove right to it, NOT. I am still looking for it ten years later. I now carry a Magellan GPS.

[klunker]

 In a past life I had a job cruising timber and organizing logging operations. I covered many thousands of acres of Plumas County (Ca). this was before detecting became popular. I can still see many mining sites in my addled mind that would be ideal for detecting but I'll be d%&*%d if I can find them again. This old planet heals itself much faster than what many would have you believe.

 Any body here see where I left the keys to my Jeep?

[azblackbird]

But for areas out of coverage I picked up a DeLorme InReach Satellite Text Communicator to replace my Iridium satellite phone. Need a sat phone? Mine will be for sale very soon.

 

 

I barely talk or text on the phone I have. SPOT has been doing me fine for many years now. If anything, I'll eventually add an aircraft radio to the mix just for an added safety factor. Last Saturday I was out in a remote location and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of air traffic. I counted at least 3 or 4 planes and even one helicopter throughout the day that I could have easily communicated with if things went south.

[Underburden]

Do you remember the time of day that you discovered the 'V' formation?

A repeat trip during that hour, +/- a hour or two, could help. Shadows change the look of things in a 3D world.

Bob