My 2016 Trip West In Search Of...

[Roughwater]

I don't think many here know me well but I recently took a trip West from my home in NC in search of gold, gems and hopefully some fun. My first destination Sumpter Oregon where I trained on the GPX 5000 with Gerry and his crew.  I drove my Subaru which was my literally my home for about 24 days and I had the back seat down and slept in it at night.  Not the most comfortable but the most affordable.  The training went great but would have been better had the weather cooperated as we got rain most of the 2nd and 3rd day so lost 2 days in the field.  Even so the training was great and Gerry did his best to train us indoors.  The last day of training Gerry put a lot of different nuggets and quartz with Gold on a table and went over them with several different detectors to demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of each.  Very educational it was.  He treated us all to pizza and Beer that last evening.

 

The one day in the field was very challenging as the area we went to was steep.  The only ones to find gold during the training that I'm aware of were 2 of the ladies who I believe both used Fisher Gold bug II's.  I think there were around a dozen people in the class.  I did take the time to visit the Sumpter dredge which is a real sight to see.  It's bigger than the dredge on the gold rush show and the buckets are definitely larger on the Sumpter dredge.  

 

 Since I was in Oregon already, the next place I wanted to see was the White's Factory in Sweet Home.  I had discussed my interest in visiting with Tom and he further enticed me with a change to go fishing which sealed the decision.  So I visited the plant but neglected to take any pictures but I enjoyed the tour very much.  Though some of the components were hand soldered most of the components were installed by a robot of sorts which was very impressive.  The area around Sweet Home was very beautiful and scenic.  Looked like an awesome place to live.  Tom held true to his promise to take me fishing and though we didn't catch but one trout Tom was catching Small mouth after small mouth and nearly skunked me.  He's a great young man and White's should be proud to have employed him.  

Next on my agenda was to try to find some gold so I went ten miles more up the same valley we had been fishing and tried my luck for a day and a half or so at a GPAA claim.  Unfortunately no luck there but I did run across an odd critter in the moss when I was digging some bullets:

 

From there I went to Southern Oregon and visited an area that contains Oregon's Gemstone.  They are called Sunstones as they often lay on top of the soil and glisten in the Sun.  This area of Oregon is the only place on Earth I'm told where these can be found.  There is a Free Collection area and also some pay to dig mines nearby.  I picked up pocket full both by just picking them up off the ground and by digging a nearly 3 foot deep hole.  Picking them up was easier but I did find a couple large one's in the hole.  I also went to a nearby mine and paid to get some off a conveyor belt were I pick up some with more color and got several pocketfuls in an hour.   Pictured are the one's I found at the free site.

 

 

Next I went to Northern Nevada to a couple of Opal Mines.  The Royal Peacock and the Rainbow Ridge Opal mine both are in the same area.  I met a nice couple at the Royal Peacock mine and their 2 young sons.  The boys seemed to be trying to help me out but at the same time were finding Opal after opal even some of the rare black opals.  They were doing awesome and they found most opals just looking on the surface.  While back at the free nearby campground they invited me to share their dinner and got a tip to try the Rainbow Ridge mine which they passed along to me so I went their as well.  Overall I think we all did better at the Rainbow Ridge mine, at least I know I did and the boys once again stole the show and found some huge fire Opals along with the many other opals they found.  I have to think they (the boys) may have found several thousand dollars in opals.   But backing up some the morning before we went to the 2nd mine I got a chance to teach them a little about how to use a metal detector at the campground and let them run around with it (the Eureka Gold) for a while.  They seemed to quickly pick up on how to use it and found several items all junk but they were pretty excited to find a shell casing.  

Attached below is a pic of me and my young friends at the Opal mine In NV

This is a little edit about the Virgin Valley Opal mines.  This link and links within this link was the best info I found online about the Virgin Valley of Nevada:

http://www.goldnuggetwebs.com/VVOPALS/

 

From Northern Nevada I drove to Rye patch where I had hoped to go to the same place that I had gone to in 2005 and done well but though I remembered how I had got back into the general area from Imaly Nv I couldn't remember how to get to the exact place and never did figure it out.  So I just found a likely place and detected some for a few hours but no luck.  So I moved on down the road hoping to find the spot but got too far away and met a guy on the road and stopped him and he was heading up the road to a mine and directed me to a place called the Rabbit Hole.  I had heard of it being a good place to prospect prior so followed him there and he went on.  I spent the next 2 days there looking for nuggets.  It was really out of the way and I don't recall seeing any vehicle go by there so I was back there all along for those 2 days with the local critters, mostly rabbits but some Antelope as well that came down to the little pond at the Rabbit Hole to drink.  I found many 22 bullets and a few larger lead bullets along with other metal trash but no nuggets.  There were some open pit mines and lots of tailing piles but I couldn't find a single nugget.  The rabbits help keep me entertained.  They came from all directions and met around the pond.  They pretty quickly got used to my vehicle and just ignored it and hopped right by me.  

 

 

The Rabbit Hole was OK but since I wasn't finding Gold and had had to drive about 10 miles to find Cell phone service to let my wife know I was still OK I headed off back to Rye patch was was maybe only 20 or so miles away in an attempt to try to find my old prospecting spot again as I had found gold there in 05.  I found a similar looking place but it wasn't the place I was looking for but I still stayed there a day and a half or so.  I found no gold and found it rare to hit on any target unlike the Rabbit Hole.  I covered several miles trying to hit the more likely looking places but no luck.  It was getting hotter.  I hadn't seen even one vehicle parked any where I went in the Rye patch area.  It was just me and my shadow out there searching around.  I had really wanted to make it to the Veterans outing but it was still more than 3 days away.  It seemed to be getting hotter and I was missing home and my wife and dogs and a bed to sleep in.  But at least at Rye patch I did have pretty good cell phone service.  I was however concerned about it being really hot near Reno area and heard that the outing would be more of a highbanker kind of prospecting instead of using a detector and the combination of things made me decide to start heading east toward home.  I thought I might go to the diamond mine in Arkansas but as I neared that area the weather forecast was for it to be in the upper 90's so I flew on by and headed home.

 

Terry

[Ridge Runner]

Hi Terry

Thanks for the pictures and the story of your trip. It all sounds interesting but like any trip what one plans and the way it went you know may not be the same. You may not have found gold like I'm sure you wanted but gold comes in other forms. There is gold in the people we meet and with the pictures you can sit back to remember it all over again.

Thanks again for taking your time for the show and tell.

Chuck 

[IdahoPeg]

You had quite a road trip! Nice story. I'm planning on going to Virgin Valley for opal in future...did you just do the tailings vs digging in the bank? Which mine did you prefer overall? On your next trip, consider Spencer, ID for digging in opal tailings....I found some nice specimens.

[Roughwater]

Thanks Chuck.  I wasn't terribly disappointed that I didn't find gold.  I had a good time and I wasn't sure when I left that I could even handle all the driving let alone all the other challenges of a long trip. I feel like it made me stronger and helped me jump start some serious goals to get more fit and to eat better.  For what it's worth I am not selling my gold detectors not so much because I didn't find any gold but it's really not practical for me to be trying to gold prospect with the gold fields so far away. If I lived near good gold it would be totally different but I don't.   I'm not wealthy so by selling them I can pay off my cards since with one check a month on retirement I would feel more comfortable with keeping my debts to a minimum than having detectors I would seldom use.  I know I can find gems though so will do that more in the future and keep my 3030 for coin and beach hunting.  I won't say I'm done with gold detecting though but for the near future I'm going another direction.  I talked with Chuck some during my trip and he always gave me good advice.  

Thanks again Chuck.     

[Roughwater]

19 minutes ago, IdahoPeg said:

did you just do the tailings vs digging in the bank?

Thanks Peg.  I just did the tailings.  Since I had no Idea what I was even looking for at the first mine it seemed the wiser choice and of course was the cheaper choice.  The 2 boys I mentioned found more than anyone did and they were of course digging in the tailings.  In my non-expert opinion if you know what you are looking for and want a large Black Opal the Royal Peacock holds some promise  but it's a crapshoot.  

Actually I don't know of any mine actually called the Virgin Valley.  However the valley were the Royal Peacock and several other mines are located is called the "Virgin Valley".  I liked the Rainbow Ridge better overall than the Royal Peacock which is probably the most famous mine in the Virgin Valley.  The owner of the Rainbow Ridge mine was ultra nice too and very helpful.  I also found lots of what some called opalized wood.  It was hard as a rock and if you bumped it against another piece of petrified wood it would "tink", as if you were bumping 2 pieces of porcelain or glass together.  Whatever mine you choose check out the camping area as you enter the Virgin Valley as it's free and they have a pool of sorts, showers and of course campsites and flush toilets and it's all free!  I couldn't believe it.  Was a nice surprise.

Terry

[beatup]

Great story and photos Terry, thanks for sharing.

[matt]

I really enjoyed reading this. It inspires me to plan a trip there with my kids.

[Roughwater]

Thanks Beatup.  

A little more on Sunstones.  On my way to the Sunstone Free collection area I met a couple leaving.  They showed me their Sunstones and passed on some info as to how to best get there.  They also mentioned that a German Jeweler had been to the Spectrum Sunstone mine the day they were there.  He had traveled all the way from Germany to take Sunstones back with him as they are more valuable in Europe than in the US.  As I previously mentioned I had been to the Free collection area but I also visited the Spectrum mine.  There was a pretty young lady there that assists you.  They also have a selection of cut and Fauced Sunstones for sale.  They make really beautiful jewelry.  Attached is a close up of one cut and fauceted  I bought my wife though the picture doesn't really do it justice.  They sparkle like a diamond and can be found in variations of different colors.  I suggest going to the Free collection area first and pick up some free ones but I think it's also worth while to Check out the spectrum mine.  There are restrooms and sheltered picknick  tables at the free collection area.  

Terry

[Roughwater]

42 minutes ago, matt said:

I really enjoyed reading this. It inspires me to plan a trip there with my kids.

Your kids will really love it Matt.  Even old, big kids love it.  

[Jim Hemmingway]

Terry… thanks ever for a comprehensive description of your lengthy trip out west… in fact it would be a lifetime experience for the wife and me. You certainly covered a lot of territory and were involved in a number of activities over a fairly short timespan…quite remarkable really… and the way you related everything was the next best thing to actually having been there with you. 

I think those Sunstones are uniquely alluring even in an uncut state, and your helpful information about the collecting sites will definitely bolster our future plans to visit those areas. Congratulations on a successful and enjoyable trip, and again, thankyou for sharing your thoughts and illustrative photos with us.

Jim & Joanne