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Condor

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Condor last won the day on November 20 2023

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  1. I remember John B from the old "detector wars" and his vast collection of meteorites. We once had an outing at Gold Basin and he provided the whole group with some magnificent T-bone steaks. I'm sure Rob and Doc will remember him fondly.
  2. Definitely stay clear of those Rye Patch claims. I met 2 nice guys from down south who bought some of those claims, sight unseen. A total rip off, a good mile from the actual Rye Patch placers. Some shyster operations going on out there.
  3. I forgot to mention that Dennis also found an 1861 silver Mexican coin. He's a lousy photographer, so I can't get a decent photo.
  4. Hey Norm, I have my moments of clarity, digging nails in the Sierra might be safer, but I yearn for the adventure.
  5. Day 3 The drugs and a decent nights sleep helped, but there was no way I would be hiking any canyons. I opted to stay in the main canyon and detect easy walking bedrock in 20 meter circles around the parked RZR. I figured the GPX 6000 with the 12x7 NF was not only hotter on small gold, but the coil could reach areas between rocks and into crevices that the 7000s only skimmed. Sure enough, I found a couple grams of small nuggets in places covered many times over with the other machines. I was prying them out with a screwdriver and sometimes busting up the bedrock to get them out. When all was said and done over the next 2 days I finished with 39 nuggets for a bit over 14 grams. Dennis finished with 11 grams and Kevin was stuck on 6 grams after some equipment malfunctions. One photo shows the small stuff, another shows the bigger pieces and last the whole lot. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the other guy's gold. The 6 gram piece was really nice, I'll try and get Dennis to send a photo.
  6. .Day 1 continued Dennis and I hiked several miles up a side canyon to an area that had produced a lot of small gold in the past. I worked the canyon floor for newly exposed bedrock. Unfortunately, it was all barren. I found 1 nugget maybe 1 gram for all that walking. Dennis worked old drywash piles for nothing but trash targets, but he had already found those nice nuggets first thing in the morning, so he was less disappointed. We hiked back out to the RZR where Kevin and been working the main wash to find he had scored his first nugget not 10 ft from where we parked. He ended up with 3 nice nuggets totaling about 6 grams. I was way behind in scoring decent gold. We called it day and went back to camp for some refreshment. Day 2 of detecting, day 3 of the trip. There were 2 more side canyons way upstream that I wanted to detect. Dennis decided to work bedrock closer to camp, so I hiked upstream alone. These side canyons just did not see the amount of flooding that I expected. I saw 2 water bottles that someone had left behind from last year and they had traveled not 10 ft from the spot I saw them last January. I found 2 small nuggets before my minor disaster. I thought I might take a short-cut to the main canyon and work the bedrock back to the RZR. I forgot how steep it was to the bottom but I didn't want to backtrack another 1/2 mile to take the easy route. Poor choice as it turns out. I was halfway down and stepped on a big flat rock that pivoted just enough to twist my left knee. My 69 year old frame just can't take those sprains like I used to. The only good thing is that I had packed my trekking poles in the pack. I sat down and strapped my collapsed down GPX6000 to the pack and inched my way down using the poles to help support my bum knee. I had a 3/4 mile hike back to the RZR and it seemed like a death march. I was constantly eyeing the terrain so as not to hit any areas of climbing or soft gravel. I took a few breaks but getting up and down was more difficult than to keep walking. I had a packet of Ibuprofen in the RZR and downed a couple before driving back down the canyon. Wouldn't you know that the last obstacle with the tree trunks kicked out and I had to get out and restack the whole mess to get back to camp. I later wrapped my knee with vet wrap and downed some Flexeril then chased it with iced wine. Stiff and painful to walk, but not bad. The iced wine helped.
  7. If you read some of my previous Baja misadventures, you'll find we've encountered a number of hazards with theft and police grift. Those are always possible whether you're a regular beach tourist or a prospector. We've not had trouble with prospecting per se, there is no local presence of a regulatory agency, but it's always possible.
  8. We did our annual Baja trip a little early this year. We had all but written it off after last year, but Pacific hurricane Hilary this summer, gave us some hope that enough flooding occurred to open up some bedrock and loosen some trapped gold. We cleared the border at Algodones, just outside of Yuma with no problems. Our only other concern was the annual Baja 1000 offroad race and its associated racers, spectators and chase trucks. We made San Felipe and topped off our tanks. Many racers and their scout vehicles were already there warming up for the race, but we were still ahead of the pack. Our only misadventure was day 3 with me taking a bad step coming off a steep hill and spraining my knee. We made the placer zone by early afternoon, set up our camp and started scouting our old routes up the canyon. Hilary hit the Baja peninsula on the Pacific side within miles of this area, although the placers are technically on the gulf side. Still, plenty of water had come down the canyon as evidenced by the debris line of tree trunks up 8 to 10 ft above the bedrock. My Polaris RZR 900 was definitely going to get a workout. Our first obstacle was one we tackled every year, but things had changed from our last path. Up a couple ledges, straddle a bedrock spine and try not to fall into the abyss on either side. Fortunately, I had all new tires with some superior grip tread. Getting down off the spine was the most difficult obstacle we encountered. There just weren't enough flat rocks within carrying distance to build a proper ramp, so we used some of the Elephant tree trunks and put the best rocks in the most crucial tipping points. White knuckles the first couple runs, then learned to trust the RZR as a surefooted machine. One other ledge upstream required some ramp building then smooth sailing for a couple miles, but then full stop. The old route left the main wash up and over sandhills to bypass impassable canyon ledges, but the flood had wiped out the route. Where once had been a small sand dune was now a 12ft deep pit where floodwaters had blasted through and formed a whirlpool clearing out any hope of getting upstream in a motorized fashion. Back to old fashioned travel, and we didn't have any burros. Our friend Kevin the hiker, from past misadventures, met us later that afternoon for 5 days of detecting. Day 1 of detecting was remarkable for my friend Dennis. Since we were going to need to shuttle 3 of us in a 2 seater RZR, Dennis opted to get out at the first obstacle to avoid too many trips past the white knuckle zone. He decided to run the 7000 over bedrock that we had detected dozens of times in the past and wait for me to return. I ran Kevin up the canyon then returned for Dennis once he cleared the obstacle. He had already found 2 nuggets, one over 6 grams and another near 2 grams. He always celebrates his birthday, a week away, at these placers. A happy early birthday, and a great start to the trip. More later.
  9. Story of my life, I left a day too soon and should have detected over 1 more ridge. An amazing patch for Lucky Larry and his sidekick Lucky Lundy.
  10. Looking forward to the challenges of that west country. Hopefully, you've left some square nails for me to practice on. Those Hondas are some sweet machines. Probably cost more than my first house.
  11. I was thinking the same thing since your rig had the same symptoms, but my son bought the online manuals to decipher the engine codes. According to the codes, it's idle air controller or some such thing. Apparently, these rigs are prone to wiring harness problems and they ground out the controller. Tight spaces to work in, I'm sure I'll come out with a split knuckle or two.
  12. The weather cooled after the last batch of thunderstorms, so I thought I might make a quick trip to RP to see how much erosion took place. I got out there late Tue and set off to explore in my Polaris RZR. I spotted some freshly exposed bedrock and gave it a go with the GPX 6000 and the 14x9 Coiltek coil. Nothing in the bedrock, but pulled a tiny .2 piece from fluff gravels at the end of a small gully. Further up the gully I hit a 1+ gram piece, again in the fluff gravels, not on bedrock. I worked my way back to the RZR and found she wouldn't start. Cranking just fine, no fire. I was already dreading a 3 mile walk back to the truck when she kicked over and came to life. Not wanting to take chances for a long walk in the dark I drove back to my truck. She wouldn't start again, so I loaded it on the trailer using the winch. Next morning I aired down the tires on my big ole diesel GMC 4x4 and stuck to the trails. I hit some more bedrock and pulled another 1+ gram piece out of the bedrock. Clear sky to the west, but one lonely storm cloud found me and dumped rain for about half hour. I detected for another couple hours for nothing but ferrous trash. I really did not want to beat my truck up on those washed out roads so I gave up and came home. For those planning a trip out there this fall, the roads are passable. The main Rye Patch road will need some work on a culvert that washed over the road, passable but just barely. The lake is full and muddy. Cows with yearlings everywhere on both sides of the road. Take it slow, those yearlings will dart right out in front of you. I didn't make it to the Burn Barrel, so I'm not sure how that road looks. I took the 2nd left turn and it was OK all the way to Dan's claims. 1 big washout you have to straddle 1/4 mile from the turnoff. Still another couple weeks before the weather gets cool enough for my liking.
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