Cottonwood beach prospect/backpacking

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Jbar290
Posts: 35
Joined: December 24th, 2022, 2:41 pm

Cottonwood beach prospect/backpacking

Post by Jbar290 » December 28th, 2022, 10:39 pm

Today I went to captain William clark park and panned for gold. There’s plenty of shiny stuff but not too much gold. This was my first backpacking trip so I tested my kit by walking around the beach, setting a tent and unpacking. Inside My backpack is a small tube tent, a fire starter bag, 2 digging tools and a small gold pan with a medkit and tiny bottles. On the outside is rope and thick rope with clips on the ends, held down by a bigger gold pan.
Flashlight, JBL clip speaker and knife on the front.

My pack isn’t exactly ultralight but I can handle some weight. I got some black sand with gold flakes and dug that for a few hours. It started raining and i bottled inside my tent. My phone died and it got dark so I pulled out the dynamo light and tore down camp, which was a hassle as the tent didn’t wanna fold back into the neat square. I made it fit and walked back in the rain.

I got to jack in the box shortly before closing and the 8$ munchie meal which is a good deal for the amount of food there is. I need to figure out who will buy gold flakes
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retired jerry
Posts: 14398
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Re: Cottonwood beach prospect/backpacking

Post by retired jerry » December 29th, 2022, 6:08 am

I've panned for gold with similar results, a few flakes. I got a book of places to find gold in Oregon and found a few places to go with nice camping. If the objective was finding nice places to camp, it was a success.

Places that buy gold coins will buy your gold, but I'm guessing you won't get more than a couple dollars. Not worth the trip. You need to separate the gold flakes from the black sands.

A gold pan is good for finding where gold is, but won't get enough gold to make it worth your time. You need a sluice to run a lot of material through, and then use the gold pan to separate the gold flakes from the black sand. Or better yet, a dredge to run a lot of material through. But, remember that the people that make money from gold, are the ones that sell the equipment.

I was camping near the Rogue River and a gold miner accosted me and asked if I stole some stuff of his. After I reassured him it wasn't me, we talked. He said a technique is to take a large metal can. Cut out the bottom. Replace with glass or clear plastic and silicone it into place. Then use that to look at the bottom of a creek and look for gold nuggets.

One problem I have is using a sluice/dredge may hurt wildlife.

Jbar290
Posts: 35
Joined: December 24th, 2022, 2:41 pm

Re: Cottonwood beach prospect/backpacking

Post by Jbar290 » December 30th, 2022, 9:28 am

Im sure the 3 fish in canyon creek wont mind.
Ive yet to see gold bigger then grains of sand

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