GotAU?

I never thought I’d buy paydirt before but recently got a truckload, and it’s been fun and great exercise processing itI I’ve been drywashing the DG pile we got delivered for a backyard patio and landscaping project, and my wife is mad about it because she says it wasn’t supposed to be my playsand and she thought I’d be finished with the landscaping project by now. I found a few specs of flour gold in the half-yard or so I already processed, and have just another three to go! If anyone wants to come over and have some gold drywashing fun, just let me know!

Nice! So what is our 6000 grand total take so far, Bill?

I understand your Chevy love, that mule of yours looks pretty dependable but I’m done after my last two surly ones, S10 Blazer and a Luv, they didn’t last much past the first 100k miles Now those old FJ’s…

Take a class with Bill or one of the other well-known dealers out there or join a local prospecting club. I got lucky and bought my drywasher from a guy with a claim and a generous heart, invited me to go out with him and his partner one weekend on their claim and they taught me the ins and outs of drywashing and detecting- that was a great weekend and we’ve been friends ever since. I hope to return the favor to someone else who is as green as I was some day.

Tacoma’s are my favorite too, after my 1985 solid front axle Toyota SR5 PU, should’ve never sold that one! My 2002 Tacoma was still running strong at 285k miles when I sold it, and now my 2017 has 50k miles on it and it’s doing really well. I overloaded it with lots of gear, all steel armor underneath including sliders, steel gas tank plate and two roof racks for the cab and camper. I have a Smittybuilt tent that does fine on the trails, its heavy canvas has done well in high winds. No trees or low hanging branches where I go but I can see the point about that with a standard roof top tent. They do open up larger than a hard shell tent so that made the difference for us. I also skipped the steel bumpers thing with it, having the steel under the truck was more important to me for those mine roads and other rocky trails. I did have a winch on a cradle and a front reciever so I could pull from either front or back, and also have a pull-pal soil anchor for desert use. But after seeing what they can do, I sold the winch for a griphoist which IMHO is a much better choice as I can also pull from the side in addition to front and back and can also use it for moving boulders when prospecting. Good decision on not getting a Pro, they cost way too much for the extras you are getting. One thing you are going to love is that crawl control if you got an AT model, it really works going up slippery dry hills and that auto limited slip rear differential and locker is awesome as well!

I know it’s all personal preference, but I love the telescoping rod I got from England for my Nox. It makes it really portable and very light, Fits in my backpack without any issues. Also put a shoulder strap with plastic buckles on it so I can carry it when I’m hiking. By Carnaval I thought you meant like the Quartzsite shows or somewhere like that, but you have a good point - we have a field in town that has (had) a carnival every year and I’ve never seen anyone over there. I’m gonna have to go there too.

These stories are priceless. It’s sad seeing all the valuable local knowledge of places past going away forever every time someone moves on. As I get older, I see more and more of my wiser friends passing away and really only realize then how much I gained from their knowledge and friendship and regrettably, how much I took them for granted. Thanks for sharing some of your own stories here you guys, they may seem just trivial, but they mean a lot and are really very interesting! Hope you continue!

I’ve seen this before during the Landers’ quake. Out camping near Joshua Tree and the giant boulders were throwing spawls around and making big clunking noises. Remember seeing blue flashes in the air towards town.

Aaagh, it's sooo hot! When are we going to be able to get out there to go detecting again?! In the meantime, here's a short video my brother made when I took him detecting earlier this summer for his first time- he should've been scraping dirt with my gold monster I loaned him but instead he was having too much fun taking movies and playing with a drone instead- oh well, we had a good time anyways!

Bed liner is a great idea, I will have to try it also. Pink is a good color for tool handles also, no misidentifying the owner of those if someone borrows or takes them!

That's a nice little collection. Detecting and finding the larger stuff first, or just drywashing there? If drywashing in the area of the photos, it looks cleaned up nicely.

Pretty little specimen you got there, always liked them with a hint of quartz.

You making stuff with that cactus fiber Bob? I learned how to make sandals out of agave fiber once, they were pretty awesome! And if I am ever stranded out on a desert island, at least my feet will be covered! As for hobbies, I learned to tile a bathroom, made a workshop, made a large format CNC router to go in the workshop (described in the DIY forum), got into astronomy big time, and redid our yard from crabgrass lawn into a desert inspired landscape. I even buried some targets in it to test out and learn about using my Nox. Yeah, it’s been an interesting year alright! Now that I am back at school and seeing the line of sick kids get a bit longer everyday in front of the nurses’ office, and with more of my students out of the class each day, I think maybe you are right in that things may go back to where they were maybe sooner than we realize. Well, if it does happen, I’ll be posting about my ‘desert’ prospecting ventures in my testing garden and spending more time designing and building cool stuff in the new shop.

All work and no play makes me a dull boy… Honey holes?? Actually, as a teacher, we get the wrong season off for desert prospecting. And all I did this summer were a bunch of honey do’s!

@Nugget Shooter @Gilaoro2 I appreciate the help you provided me with this free classified section, Bill. My old PI’s found nice homes with your help. Glad to return the favor with this auction, and Max’s generous $100 support for this forum through his donation is much appreciated too!