Downieville Gold Rush Days

[Pyriteboy]

One of my wife's favorite places on earth is Downieville. Before the kids showed up, we made a few 8.5 hour trips to the town that were unforgettable. We always talked about going back, so when she heard the Downieville Gold Rush Days Celebration was going to be held on her birthday weekend, done was the deal. 

The show was respectable in size for a first-time event, with some of the familiar faces you have seen at other shows. I spent most of my time attending the speaker classes- PLP's Clark Pearson (reclamation dredging), Ray Mills (all things detecting), host Josh Reinke (PLSS), and Reno Chris, who I missed because of a scheduling bo-bo on my part. The wife and I got an extra special one-on-one power talk on metal detecting from Mr. Mills, as we had adjoining rooms and conversed across our balconies overlooking the Downie River, drinks. One of the nice things about Gold Rush Days is that anyone attending the show had permission to prospect in the Downie River and the North Fork Yuba, east and west of town. We enjoyed watching families walking through town on their way to a spot on the river to try their luck. The weather was pretty decent as well until Sunday, when it started to get a little warm. Hopefully, the Downieville business community saw a financial bump from the long weekend and will support a follow-on next year.

We spent a good chunk of our free time doing recon on some claims in the area, taking pictures and notes. It was a treat to get a pan in some clear water again, as I am a desert guy. Of the 2 claims we tested, one was a bust but the other made for some fun as we found a flood layer pay streak. We decided to set up a small sluice to make things easier on our bodies, which was the right call. For someone who has not set up a sluice in 20 years, I think 20 minutes for a proper setup was reasonable. 2.5 hours later, it was time to get out of the sun and back to the show. It was quite the good time working in the water once again. I have not worked the cons yet, but it was a joy to see all the gold in the pan, even though there were no outstanding pieces.

Good people, good times, looking at new ground, and finding a little gold. I'm already going through my notes and pictures, planning and plotting for a return in the fall. Things could be a lot worse.......

-Jerry

 

 

[Purplehays69]

Nice write up, wish I was there.

[matt]

Great report!

I planned on attending but other life things got in the way. The Mountain Messenger (Downieville Newspaper) reported that the event will be on again next year. Sure wish I could have made it this year so hopefully they are correct and it will be again next year. Apparently it used to be a yearly event, but I don't ever recall the event in prior years. They used to block off upper Main Street for events which was a lot of fun. The Messenger did say that by Sunday afternoon the restaurants were basically out of food.

[Pyriteboy]

3 hours ago, matt said:

Great report!

I planned on attending but other life things got in the way. The Mountain Messenger (Downieville Newspaper) reported that the event will be on again next year. Sure wish I could have made it this year so hopefully they are correct and it will be again next year. Apparently it used to be a yearly event, but I don't ever recall the event in prior years. They used to block off upper Main Street for events which was a lot of fun. The Messenger did say that by Sunday afternoon the restaurants were basically out of food.

Correcto on all points Matt. The restaurants ran out of food by 4 p.m. The wife and I made do with chips, sardines, salsa, and whiskey. 2 hours later some rag-tag survivors from the event re-formed down at the BBQ area where we stayed and cooked some burgers for those who had not eaten. We went down and socialized with the folks for a few hours, donating a few good bottles of wine. Among those present were Josh and his family, Mike Pung, some folks from Washington, Nevada, as well as some local prospectors. Quite a melting pot of people and a great way to cap off the long weekend.

[Nuggethunter70]

Sounds like a great show. Having a one on one with Ray Mills was an added bonus. He is a walking/talking encyclopedia on metal detecting. Your whole perspective on metal detecting will change after attending one of his classes. 👍

[Gold Seeker]

I  thought I read last year on Facebook that Ray Mills was going to stop doing detecting classes?

[GhostMiner]

19 hours ago, Pyriteboy said:

Correcto on all points Matt. The restaurants ran out of food by 4 p.m. The wife and I made do with chips, sardines, salsa, and whiskey. 2 hours later some rag-tag survivors from the event re-formed down at the BBQ area where we stayed and cooked some burgers for those who had not eaten. We went down and socialized with the folks for a few hours, donating a few good bottles of wine. Among those present were Josh and his family, Mike Pung, some folks from Washington, Nevada, as well as some local prospectors. Quite a melting pot of people and a great way to cap off the long weekend.

The whiskey is the important thing. Wish I could have been there but too many other projects going on now. Sounds like a great time was had by all.

[Lanny]

Jerry, nice write-up on the outing.

Sounds like it was a good time, and I'd love to listen to some of those presenters!

Glad it was worthwhile.

All the best,

Lanny