Thu, 04 Jun 2026 04:27:17 -0700WeeblyMon, 05 Apr 2021 13:47:19 GMThttp://www.goldminingbasics.com/mining-blog/getting-ready-for-a-dry-year
     The winter is dying down and spring is starting to wake up. 

     So far, it has been a dry winter here in Northern California. The winter storms that create the high runoff  required to move the large river gravels, never materialized. The high water during the winter storms redistribute the gold threw out the  river systems. As prospectors, we depend on this natural winter cycle to provide us with this annual restocking of gold. 
Unless we get some large storms in the next month or two, we will have to deal with trying to find gold in areas that have been worked several times last year. 

     I would recommend spending some time in the next month or so doing your research. Try to locate new areas to prospect as a bit of insurance if the rains don't come.
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     Even though this year may not be a good one for the gold, every trip out, is a day spent in the great outdoors and that is better than gold anytime.]]>Fri, 27 Nov 2020 18:10:23 GMThttp://www.goldminingbasics.com/mining-blog/its-late-fall-great-time-of-yearWe're now in the late fall. 

     It's a bit on that cold side, but even though the days are a lot shorter and the waters whole lot colder, it is still the best time of year to spend a day in the mountains. This time of year you don't have to worry about mosquitoes and ticks. As far as the rattlesnakes go, if their out, they will be moving very slowly and not much of a danger at all. It is definitely a lot more comfortable hiking backup to the truck in 60° weather rather than 100° weather.

     As long as the water stays low, its a great time a year to be working down on the creek or up in the high gold fields. It won't be long before the snow runs us out of the high gold fields and the rains run us up the bank to where we can only find flood gold.

     When heading to the mountains and this time a year be sure you have several layers of clothing. The mornings can be very cold and the afternoons can be comfortably warm. If you take just a heavy warm jacket, you may be too warm in a morning and too cold and afternoon.

     Even for a short hike, a trip to the mountains this time a year is well worth it just to see the mountains changing color. So pack a lunch and head to the hills.
]]>Mon, 14 Sep 2020 13:08:25 GMThttp://www.goldminingbasics.com/mining-blog/back-to-the-real-worldMy annual fishing trip is over, time to get back to the real world.

    This year the water was rough most of the time, made fishing a bit tough. Fishing started out very poor, but improved steadily where by the last week it was good. I was able to can plenty of Tuna.

    The great news - the ocean looks the best I have seen in 30 years. The water was clear and the kelp was everywhere and healthier than I have seen in a long time. There were thousands of birds lots of bait fish and life everywhere.

    With all the fires going on, I'm not sure about access  to the gold producing areas. I plan on doing a little recon trip next week. 
This is the best time of the year to get down on and into the river, that's where you will find the largest gold.

    I will try and update the blog in a week or two about access to the mountains in Northern California.]]>Thu, 25 Jun 2020 02:58:57 GMThttp://www.goldminingbasics.com/mining-blog/not-been-posting     Well, even thou I told myself I would post at the very least, once a month this year. I have pretty much blown that!

     This year has been crazy busy. When the viruses showed up and they shut everything down, I was thinking great, will give me a chance to get caught up. Well the just opposite occurred. All of a sudden I was supper busy at work and It looks like things are not going to slow down until at the very earliest -  Nov. or Dec.
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     I am hoping to get out and do more prospecting in the next couple of months, but with all the work it has been hard to get a day off.
This post was to let you know why I haven't been posting, (going to stop now it sounds more like whining to me). lol]]>Tue, 21 Apr 2020 12:48:52 GMThttp://www.goldminingbasics.com/mining-blog/spring-is-here     Spring is finally here.
    For the next couple of months the rivers are going to be running high, to dangerous to get to the larger gold. There is still to much snow to get to the gold fields, so what do we do?

    This is the best time of the year to do a little hiking and just get out and enjoy the hills. Its warm enough for a light shirt and cool enough to hike all you want. The forest is waking up and there is a million thing to see, and while your doing that you can look for new spots to prospect. Before the leaves come out you can see the ground much better.

    This is the best time of the year to do some treasure hunting, the ground is soft and the digging is easy, make sure you fill your holes. Don't ruin it for the next person.

    Now is a great time to work the small creeks that dry up in the summer. Those small creeks don't get worked like the larger ones.
    Those spots you wanted to detect last summer but were in the sun and to hot - now is the time.
    If you did your research this winter while stuck in the house, this is the best time of the year to check out the those spots.
 
    Now for the down side. Some of the roads may still be closed, but that's not to bad, gives you the opportunity to hike more.
The bad one is, this is the worst time of the year for ticks. Make sure you take all the precautions for them. Most of them will be very small and hard to see. Wear light color clothing, treat them with repellent. Spray yourself with repellent before you head out, and again half way threw the day. This is where "be safe not sorry" is very true. You don't want to take any chance to get lymes disease.
You only have a couple of months, then its going to be hot and dry - get out and enjoy them!

]]>Thu, 09 Jan 2020 04:58:45 GMThttp://www.goldminingbasics.com/mining-blog/2020-a-new-year     Happy New Year!

     This last fall was super busy for me and I have not been posting like I should. Hopefully things will slow down a bit this year and I can post regularly

So let get caught up.
     We ended the year with about 3 ounces of gold found.
I have been trying to get out with other prospector more, that has been great fun but when I do I don't concentrate on my filming and I end up either not putting out a video or ending up with a "not so good" video. I am going to try and fix that this year.
The prospecting 101 series is about half done, 4 videos finished. The plan is to release them this spring.
We have got a good start on the new year with almost a half ounce found in my first two trips out.
I have plans to up date everything on the web site in the next couple of months.

I have more but I just looked at the clock and its late - have to be up early for work tomorrow, we will finish in the next blog!]]>