The Air Quality Was So Bad, I Used A N95 Mask. It Worked Great! Another Prospecting Day Completed!

[John-Edmonton]

Wow......the air quality in Edmonton was terrible this weekend. I wore a n95 mask to screen out that toxic particulate from the smoke. No sore throat like last week. I have come to the conclusion, that using a sled is the best means of moving my highbanker and supplies from my car to the river. It slides nicely on grass, trails and gravels along the river. I have previously tried 3 different wagons, a converted gold club carrier on wheels and 2 different 2 wheeled carts. The sled is strong, light and should it crack, can easily be repaired or replaced for under 20 bucks. I have started removing my tailings pile periodically throughout the day. Much easier to work without the pile behind the hopper. And, much easier to flatten my pile/fill in holes at the end of the day. (got the idea from Kyle- Utmost Outdoors.)

The sled is really useful for getting my equipment down to the river in winter and summer.

I like to keep the area behind the hopper clear.

 

It was a nice change switching from a gasoline pump to a bilge pump. Simple, lighter & less maintenance. The downside is that you have to set up closer to water. Sometimes I pre-fill 5 gallon buckets if the best gravel is too far away from my highbanker.

Here's about 4 hours shoveling. It's flour gold, and when you put it in a glass vile, it looks like a tiny fraction of what it looks like in a pan. My guess is about 0.4 of a gram.

 

[Ridge Runner]

 Don’t make any difference how small gold is it’s still gold. It’s funny when it’s in a pan you saying I’m rich but put in that tiny bottle and reality sets in .

 John you may not know this but if you wash gold too long it will shrink on you.😂  

  Chuck 

[John-Edmonton]

6 hours ago, Ridge Runner said:

 Don’t make any difference how small gold is it’s still gold. It’s funny when it’s in a pan you saying I’m rich but put in that tiny bottle and reality sets in .

 John you may not know this but if you wash gold too long it will shrink on you.😂  

  Chuck 

In cold water? Yikes 

[Ridge Runner]

John I don’t know how the weather is for you up there but down here in South Texas it’s hotter than two kinds of hell . It’s not that I’ve been there it’s just a roomer that I heard.

 Got my coat out for the week being it’s going to be in the low hundreds this week.

 Keep coming with the gold pictures.

 Thanks!

 Chuck 

[John-Edmonton]

6 hours ago, Ridge Runner said:

John I don’t know how the weather is for you up there but down here in South Texas it’s hotter than two kinds of hell . It’s not that I’ve been there it’s just a roomer that I heard.

 Got my coat out for the week being it’s going to be in the low hundreds this week.

 Keep coming with the gold pictures.

 Thanks!

 Chuck 

Well, the high for today was forecast at  62.6 F, with a possible thunderstorm late this evening. It was supposed to rain today, so I went prospecting anyway, brought along a raincoat, but no rain.

[Valens Legacy]

Thanks for the information that you give to us on this forum, and the hunts that you do I always enjoy reading. I really like the way you give good advice to us and teach us younger people simple tricks to make the hunt easier and more enjoyable.

Great looking hunt and great pictures.

One of these years you will have to come down here and help me dredge a creek again that me and my grandfather had done several years ago. We would only get about 1/2 ounce per day, but at the end of the month it really added up.