tboykin

Hey I've been there! That's out by Spring City.

Thanks for this. It's the exact kind of thing I'm looking for. Only way to see if it's real is to get out there!

Gotta be honest - no snakes, too high up for poison oak, and didn't tell my wife. She would definitely be swinging a rolling pin if she knew.... Every time I go out she says "Be careful." But careful is boring!

They say it takes you a year to find your first nugget with a detector. The way I see it I have a lot of catching up to do with the crusty old guys and so I better get to digging. I figure if I try hard enough I can beat the odds, but we'll see. I've been researching a local gold region the past few weeks and have made two trips out in search of pocket gold. Lots of mining activity going back to the 1800's, several claims, creeks with plenty of color to pan. Most people there go to the same spots to look for gold, and the source has never been found. To stay legal I'm focusing on BLM areas, and to stay fit I'm going way off the beaten path. First trip I skunked but dug up some memories that are worth every drop of sweat. The latest one almost ended up very badly. I located what I thought was a vein of white rock (hoping for quartz) using Google Earth. Then correlated this with historical mining activity, claims, and geology of the specific creek I was focused on. I had been waiting all week, Saturday I couldn't get out the door fast enough. I had a frame pack, GMT, .40 S&W, water, food, and tools. My Jeep got me within 5 miles of the "vein." The rest was on foot. First few miles were a washed out mining road, there was a rainbow of green, red, and white rocks. Looked good so far. I knew the second half would require beating the brush. Uphill. Thousand foot elevation gain based on my topo map. It was brutally slow and I had forgotten my machete. Luckily I was able to grab the tree branches to "Tarzan" up the mountain side. Halfway up my first water bottle was empty - who needs a gym when you have gold to find? The brush was thick, I was covered in sap when I hit the clearing. The woods opened up to reveal the "vein" was actually a landslide. The rocks were a mixture of rhyolite, calcite, and some serpentine. Some boulders but mostly scree. I could see the source of the landslide at the very top of the hill - black bedrock with layers of exposed "lasagna." I had come this far, so before declaring defeat it was worth checking out at the very least. But things got dangerous. Fast. The slope was severe enough to require going uphill in switchbacks, not for lack of leg strength, but because with each step a cascade of bowling-ball sized rocks would slide downhill. I had blinders on and was focused on getting to the top of the hill. I knew it was steep but not how steep since I wasn't looking downhill... A habit I picked up due to a slight fear of heights. As I approached the top I paused for a breather. The slope was too great to sit, I had to lay on my chest to keep from tumbling down. There in all its glory was bedrock at the top of the mountain. If I could just make it to the tree line I could bypass the cliff face. My water was almost gone, my shirt tied around my head to keep the sweat from hurting my eyes. I made my first mistake - I looked down. It was several hundred feet to the bottom, and I could see my zig-zag pattern cut into the rocks where they had slid all the way down. One misstep and I would have found myself smashed up in the trees at the bottom of the mountain, no cell service, no other human within miles, and no way back to the road. I had to keep going up, there was no way I could go back down the way I had come. I only had 30 yards to the top of the landslide where the tree roots were exposed from the crumbling rock. But those 30 yards were almost vertical. Every foothold seemed to give way just as I put my weight into it. So I dropped to my belly and crawled. My pick came in handy as I could jam it into the underlying rock for some traction. The trees were ten feet away but the closest root was 5 feet over my head since the bank was undercut. I'd have to stand up and try and grab onto the root. As soon as I lifted my chest off the ground I felt the ground give out from underneath me. I was sliding down the cliff. My left foot caught a slight hold on a boulder and I lunged with all my strength. I stretched out my right arm with the pick in hand hoping to catch that root. THUNK. The sound of metal on wood. I hooked the point of the pick on a 2" thick root that held as the rest of the ground slid down the mountain. Luckily there was no one below me... it was enough rock to bury a truck. The boulders crashed into the way to the trees 200 feet below where I was hanging. It could have been me... I pulled myself up into the web of roots and got my feet on solid ground. Heart was pumping but I did pull out the GMT and went about my detecting at the top of the landslide. Turned out to be a bust for gold, but at least I can mark that location off the list. I found another way back down, had a close call with some target shooters (another story for another day) and hugged my wife extra hard when I got home. Nothing makes a man more thankful for what he has than confronting his own mortality. And at least I have a good story to tell around the campfire at Rye Patch... GL and HH, tboykin

Video might be quicker for ya - Holds settings on power down. I run mine at 2, 3 or 4 is too hot for my ground. Push the button quickly for ground grab.

We will send a GMT and a TRX. Maybe we could also send an... interesting coil option for the GMT. You think there'd be any interest in that, Bob? Think you know what I'm referring to... I will try and get down there but I might be hunting pocket gold in Southern Oregon that weekend. Still up in the air but hopefully I can do both.

Scott- what would you guys like from White's for the Nugget Shoot? I might be able to either bring or send some stuff if I can't attend.

Got a proper vidya audition next Monday!

Thanks for the good luck wishes. If nothing comes from it then that just means more time for me to learn from you guys and maybe even go detecting with ya. I'll just have my lowly GMT or a TDI, but for me the experience carries more weight than the ounces.

Couple things here- when you first stick the TRX in the hole, ground balance by touching the tip to the dirt and hit the button once. You can repeat if it starts to chirp due to ground minerals. Another thing is you might turn down the sensitivity some. In the ground here in the PNW I run mine at 2. https://www.whiteselectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/trx_manual_web.pdf

Well I got a phone interview today. Seems like an interesting concept and will report back if anything develops. It seems like part of the show would be Survivorman style - just solo with equipment and a camera. Though much can happen in the editing room. It would at the very least be an interesting life experience. And to me, that's what it's all about.

LOL. Would need eye bleach after that! Kate called me, left a VM. They want to talk! I will call her back tomorrow. Should I take the gig or not?

C'mon guys, REAL modern prospectors won't head out without a fifth-wheel trailer complete with A/C, a week's supply of Hungry Man dinners, generator, and a flatscreen TV with every season of "Bering Sea Gold" on DVD! Considering submitting for this - all I will need is my 'noife, GMT, 44 mag Henry repeater, and 200 ft of para cord. As long as I don't have to pull a Bear Grylls and drink my own lemonade... Yuck. Here's hoping it's more Survivorman and less Man v Wild.

It was great to meet you Terry. Glad you had such a memorable trip. On my Nevada trip we stayed at the Virgin Valley hot springs, amazing that it's still free (though not sure for how long). Sorry you only caught one trout, next trip out we'll knock em dead! Even though you didn't dig any nuggets, you found some memories that will be with you longer than any gold.

The whole faceplate is clear plastic. Sorry for the confusion. If yours has cracks, of course White's will fix it. There are detectors out there with no cracks. This is the sticky part, and makes it hard to narrow it down. Engineers/designers have been hustling to find the cause and we should know more soon. Will update as info is passed down.

Nah, his arms are ripped from swinging a GPX/Z all day...

Chuck, The cracks are from a bad part, not removing the faceplate. Removing the faceplate doesn't require any prying if it's done correctly, and the unit we sent you was New In Box, except for me taking it out to make sure it worked properly before sending. If there was a chip there from a hoo-man it was from my clumsy a$$, but I'm pretty sure it's just from the weak spot on the plate. We updated the part in May when we started getting a few reports of the cracks. They seem to be caused by weak parts of the resin. Tried to catch it early but a few units squeaked out.... The fail rate isn't that high but we want to hear from anyone who has a cracked edge of their faceplate. Once a company has a couple thousand units out there you start to see little things that can be improved. Thanks for posting all of your feedback and pics, making a new product ain't easy but the more info we can collect the better we can make it. Tom

The cracks in the faceplate are something that I've been following too. I checked with engineering and they updated the part back in May to address this. So any detector that's been built since then or comes back for any reason gets a new one made out of the different material just to be safe. The failure rate isn't high but I think they're doing the right thing in replacing them to be safe.

Thanks for posting this. We've had a few people come by the factory saying they knew where this treasure was. Have not heard from them since! But then.... if you found it, would you tell anyone else?

Give us a call to check on your detector - 1-541-367-6911. We're trying to get with the times but a phone call still seems to be the best way to get a quick response here.

Glad to see these guys making videos. Highly recommend the books if you are after pocket gold in the PNW. I got to meet Josh down in Grants Pass while filming this video, his respect for the history of the land is infectious -

Spot on. Keeping secrets isn't easy.

Thanks for catching that! I let Mel know and we will update the next version of the catalog. Not quite enough room for all the coils but we will make it work in the next batch. We still produce it and will continue to do so - http://www.whiteselectronics.com/prizm-9-spider-search-coil-1966

People have different thoughts on this. The SL is lighter and easier to pack on longer expeditions. Still plenty of Pro's out there, but every product has a life span. That's how you make room for new ones!

"The first rule about product development is - you do not talk about product development."