Gold Prospecting Adventures - East Fork
I have gold fever!! 
I have gold fever!! It's not because I think prospecting will make me rich, in fact it's not even really about the gold. It's about looking for the gold. Looking for the gold is so much damn fun! And when the fever hits, my favorite place to go dig is the East Fork of the San Gabriel river. I always find at least a little gold up there and regardless of that I just love spending time in such a beautiful canyon. Swimming in the river, watching the bighorn sheep, camping out for days, meeting and talking with the other prospectors and hikers, digging holes and finding that gold. I love it all so much, I am truly addicted... the gold fever is strong!
On this trip the kids and I headed up the river passed the Bridge to Nowhere through the Narrows to my usual area near the Iron fork. I setup my camp there and spent the next few days digging. It was a good trip and the weather was perfect. I did find some gold, and even though it wasn't the best producing hole I've ever dug I did find a couple nice pickers!
Ross mountain from the Iron fork
Views from the hole
Swimming hole near camp
My Skinny girl
Night time at camp
A bug at my camp
Sluicing on the Iron fork
Digging
Bighorn Sheep
Bighorn Sheep
East fork
Gold
Gold
Map - !steemitworldmap 34.295653 lat -117.741151 long 'Iron fork camp' D3SCRhttp://www.steemitworldmap.com
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I'm always wondering, could you just go somewhere and take what you find, or are their any restrictions to where you go looking?
There are restrictions on various types of mining and restrictions on the amount of dirt it is legal to move as well as restrictions on mining certain areas. There's a whole bunch of rules, but if you play by the rules it is just fine to prospect and to keep whatever you find!!
Just to bad I cant do this where I live, I'm sure I would be hooked to this!
It can be quite addicting! lol.
Damn.. that's a pretty good find.. I tried my hand at panning gold... very unsuccessfully I might add..
It's ok. Sometimes I do a lot better, sometimes I do even worse. Prospecting is not as easy as most beginners think its gonna be. It took me a good year of making trips up there digging and talking with other prospectors, reading books and learning all the basics, before I was finding much of anything. Now days I'll find more in a week than I did my whole first year. I'm still learning and improving every time. There's a reason why the OG prospectors have amazing finds... they have the knowledge and experience.
Yeah. I remember. The pros were finding about a oz every weekend minimum.. but they were also using dredges and sump pumps..
Where did you try prospecting at? In Colorado or California? An ounce a weekend is insane! I'm still working on my second ounce and I'm over 4 years into my prospecting career. I have a friend that I met up in the East Fork who has been prospecting somewhere out there in Colorado and he does pretty good using just a sluice. Dredging is completely illegal in California right now.
Oregon
Hey, @derekrichardson,
What a lovely photo story! You're triggering some submerged, latent drive in me to go out prospecting! :)
Thanks for a good read.
😄😇😄
Thanks @creatr! Do it. Prospecting so much fun. It's addictive like crack, but it's a much healthier activity to be addicted to. lol. You get a good workout wether or not you find the gold and you can't beat spending time by the river out in the wilderness.
Enjoying nature and nice weather and during that find some gold... Sounds like a perfect holiday in mountains ;)
Exactly. I always have so much fun up there!
Those pictures are amazing! Looks like such a fun activity.
It's so much fun! For years I had no idea. I'd go hiking up there and see the prospectors, but never thought about trying it myself. Then on one of my hiking trips I saw a group of young people prospecting and they looked like they were having so much fun. So I tried it... and found my first bit of gold. I WAS HOOKED!! I've been digging for gold ever since.
Wow, how fascinating. I'd be hooked too.
There is something to be said for "the hunt" that drives you to find more.
I should have known you'd do that hike way the hell in, passed the bridge to nowhere. The narrows is where the nuggets are. An old club member of mine showed us some of his daily takes from the narrows and they were unbelievable, nuggets the size of quarters!
Those photos were great too, especially the last one. People don't realize how heavy gold is. Even a little picker you'll feel when it drops into your hand. Keep em coming dude!
Thanks dude! I'm definitely no pro. I find what I find. I do really love hiking passed the bridge and through the Narrows though. Thats the best stuff.
My dad used to hunt for gold and he is forever telling us about all his adventures! This looks like it was an amazing one! and yes... sometimes it is more about the adventure than the result ;)
Thats so cool. I bet your dad had some incredible adventures. I love hearing the stories from the older prospectors.
Looks like a wonderful place and time to prospect for some really precious stones.
The East Fork is truly a wonderful place.
I was down there last year with a canyoneering trip. I got into some very nice places and would like to go back soon. If you are into rappeling and would like to set up a trip let me know.
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