sdf527 Posted December 27, 2008 Report Share Posted December 27, 2008 I was in Yuma for Xmas. We had a half a day before the big family dinner so my son and I went out to the hills for a little exploration. I had been using my Google Earth and looking for some canyons in an old hardrock mining area. I spied what I thought was a likely looking area high up in what passes for mountains in Yuma. After a little orientation, I thought I had my landmarks from the Google Earth. We started hiking and after 30 minutes I was sure I was on the spot. We dropped down into the "secret canyon" and immediately came upon a crumbling oldtimers rock cabin. The only claim markers were old rock cairns high up on the hillsides. There was no evidence of dry washing, and very little evidence of hard rock mining. The canyon wash had a lot of exposed bedrock, mostly worn smooth. I didn't turn on my detector until we were well into the canyon. 10 minutes later I found a little half grammer near the highwater mark on bedrock. Another 10 minutes I found another one about 2 or 3 grams, again on bedrock near the highwater mark. I started getting a lot of targets down in the gut of the canyon wash, but all of them turned out to be old trash, rusted out cans and nails. I found one more 2 to 3 grammer but we had reached the head of the canyon. We found a trashed mountain sheep ewe right at the head of the canyon. Mostly bones, still connected and greasy. I left dozens of undug targets down in the gut of the wash. We were short of time and digging in those washes is a major pain. I cherry picked the good signals and all the highwater bedrock. I never did discover the source of the nails and rusted cans. We were way too far off the beaten track for modern trash and not a single bullet. My son didn't have good hiking boots and his feet were getting torn up so we turned around headed back out, passing up 2 good looking side canyons. Ken P. and I will go back and do some serious exploration after the first of the year.I forgot my camera connection so I can't post the photos just now. These nuggets have quite a bit of black coating on them, so they're probably part of the Pegleg black nugget patch. Yeah right!Rob,This is in the area we talked about last year. Google Earth gave me a shortcut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigDeep Posted December 27, 2008 Report Share Posted December 27, 2008 Cool sdf, That sounds like alot of fun. Pretty good haul for an unknown area. See ya.DigDeep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlakMagnet Posted December 27, 2008 Report Share Posted December 27, 2008 sdf, It's probably good you didn't have a camera with you.As it is, there are probably lots of folks firing up Google Earth right nowand zooming in on the Yuma area... Continued good hunting, it sounds like great fun.Flak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigDeep Posted December 27, 2008 Report Share Posted December 27, 2008 sdf, It's probably good you didn't have a camera with you.As it is, there are probably lots of folks firing up Google Earth right nowand zooming in on the Yuma area... Continued good hunting, it sounds like great fun.FlakYea, no doubt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdf527 Posted December 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2008 Cool sdf, That sounds like alot of fun. Pretty good haul for an unknown area. See ya.DigDeepWe hiked for just over 2 hours, the only stops for digging target signals. I was moving pretty fast, definitely not the low and slow. I didn't get any faint whispers, just the old tried and true soft mellow tones. The canyon was impressive and I kept wanting to see what was around the next bend. Rob or Montana would probably have filled a crocker sack full of nuggets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigDeep Posted December 27, 2008 Report Share Posted December 27, 2008 If you are back in town, we are heading out in the morning (Sunday) if you want to head out with.DigDeep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdf527 Posted December 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2008 If you are back in town, we are heading out in the morning (Sunday) if you want to head out with.DigDeepWish I could. Got a brief due on Monday and I'm not near finished.Check your email for another schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin nuggethunting Posted December 28, 2008 Admin Report Share Posted December 28, 2008 Hey Steve, Would love to get on one of those adventures with you, but I'm so limited on time. Let me know when you do another run like that, I might be interested. Dennis and I have been talking about that area for many years. Keep it under your hat, I think there is a lot of potential out there. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Congrats on your new finds! Rob Allison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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