My Adventure Down South With Story And Pics

[Gerry in Idaho]

Back from our Mexico gold hunt and wanted to share a few photos and my story.

Every day I swung my 7000 I found gold nuggets.  60+ pieces weighing over 41 grams.  (picture of gold and shovel is to show size comparison as some pics make the gold look bigger) So there is good gold to be found, but you don’t fill your pockets as we all dream. The locals who hunt there all use 7000’s and they are really good.  They only miss the faintest of signals or the occasional boomer off the beaten path.  Me being a 6’ 2” 230 lb guy is hard to get into the cactus bushes to find virgin ground.  In fact I only found 1 small patch of undetected ground that held gold and over 9 grams came from that patch.  The local Mexican folks have no issues getting into the thickets and I could see their dig holes in them.  I give them credit for their desire and determination.

Cactus, the guardian angels of the MX gold is everywhere.   With over 600+ species alone in Mexico, I was amazed to see and able to get pricked by (it seemed all 600+ kinds) many.  Some of them are masters at growing in the funniest of shapes and statues.  I was amazed and giggled many times while trying to find a landmark for return.  Best to use your GPS on the 7000 (thanks Luck for showing me) as it is really pretty easy.  I learned quickly, most of my clothing including the Merrell Hikers were no match for the variety of pokers.  I took 3 different pairs of boots and the all leather, heavy duty uncomfortable ones were the least effected from the pricks.  I took a pair of shorts and T-shirts for hotter days but could not wear them.  Long sleeve shirt and thick pants were a must.  Found out on my 1^st day there getting on my knees or anywhere on the ground was dangerous and I ended up buying a thick pair of knee pads.

 

I managed 3 small pickers in one spot at the bottom of this wash.

 

 

This looks like a cactus nugget right?  I think I'll polish it and give it to my wife.

 

Lunk was all eagle eyes and found some rare pottery shards probably from a water transport jug.

 

 

There are desert tortoise to be found (more rare than gold)

 

We were even rewarded seeing the ancient grinding pads, two of them, called an arrastra and were used to grind ore.

 

Their desert is more beautiful than I expected and also has a much greater degree of mountains to climb that what I imagined.  Another interesting part of the trip seeing the antique ways of prospects (100 to 200+ yr old dry wash piles) and their claim corner markers.  Lunk always looks so serious.  Notice he wore snake guards.  I asked him about them and he said the snakes were not bad this time of year.  He did not tell me to bring some for the attacking cacti and all their brothers.

 

My coolest find of the trip was actually not gold at all but a copper type coin that looks to be hammered, made (very thin and off center struck) and has some words and symbols.  I’ve been updated with identification as an early MX ¼ reale coin from 1830’s.   The 2 nuggets and coin were all in one small area together.

 

I also spotted (on the run) a small buck deer.  A few days before, I found a big daddy antler.

 

The last day in MX was me on the beach enjoying the Gulf of California (on the MX side).

 

The very next day was me in snow as I was heading back to Idaho.

So the total driven miles on my truck for the trip was over 2800.  I lived in the back of the truck with the camper shell and the 40 degree nights was no issues for cold.  Used my small compact Jetboil burner to heat water for cooking/bathing.  The warm upper 70’s and lower 80 degree temps in days allowed for my canned and or packaged meals to be heated by placing them on my dash in the truck. 

Plenty of gold is still in MX., but the reality of it is, the gravy is gone.  You’ll work you butt off finding it and most pieces you find are sub ½ grammers.  It reminds me somewhat of Rye Patch, NV in a way as most folks won’t find any and those who do usually only find a few each day.  The really big ones for the most part have already been found, but popping an occasional 1/4 oz’er+ is still possible.  My own biggest piece of gold for the trip was only 4.9 grams, but I did see one find that was a multi ouncer 3 to 4 oz. Was the trip worth it and did my gold finds pay expenses?  I’m all about adventure and as long as my body holds up I’ll go most anywhere with a metal detector at least once. Checking spot gold today shows $1580 oz. so that equates to just over $50 a gram.  Take $50 a gram X 41 grams of nuggets = $2000.  My cost for the trip with insurance, fees, all food and drinks was $1800.  But with me, just like my travels to Australia, it is more about the “just go do it” adventure, than it is the finds or value of.

Hopefully everyone enjoys the pics and story.

[flakmagnet]

Great post Gerry

[2Valen]

Great story and excellent finds, hope your next hunt is as good or better.

[mn90403]

Well done Gerry.

Will Lunk have his own story and different gold?

 

[Glenn in CO]

I agree with you it's about the adventure, if you hit big gold that's a bonus. Thanks! for sharing.

[IdahoPeg]

What a cool adventure with some excellent gold and an exciting coin find! Thanks for sharing...loved the pictures, especially the one with the shovel for scale lol! 

[beatup]

Looks and sounds like it was a good time for you guys hard work and some nice nuggets WTG.

[matt]

What a great adventure! Sounds like a great trip with friends and the gold is a bonus.

[Lunk]

14 hours ago, phrunt said:

Lunk does look very serious! 

Actually my look was a “quit wasting time taking photos so we could go find some gold” kind of expression, LOL!

[flakmagnet]

Lunk, what is that taped onto your chest? And, are you using the minelab cross-piece on your harness? Thanks...