Our Gold Fever only worsened as our desire for gold became almost unquenchable. Jason made his own sluice and researched the most likely spot in Utah to find gold. Like the gold panning people on TV, we left everything and went out to strike it rich. We dazzled Eric and Megann with our dreams of gold palaces and they decided to come along to. Our fever spread to Great Grandma and Grandpa Utley and they packed up the camper and joined our team.
Day 1: Jason scouted the most-likely spot for gold deposits based on the flow of the river. He dug the prime dirt and carried it to the sluicing area.
Addie began the day as a mostly-dressed and mostly-sane child. She busied herself with finding large rocks and painting them with water. There were a lot of rocks and an endless supply of water, so she had a full day ahead of her.
Megann, Eric, Addie and Jason panned the sluice-processed dirt while keeping a close eye for shiny specks of yellow. Addie had gotten her pants so wet by this time that we decided to forgo them.
She hiked through the water like a wild river child and had a heck of a time doing it. The water was actually quite cold, but she didn't seem to mind.
This is homemade sluice in action. The purpose is to wash away most of the light and excess dirt to leave behind the heavy stuff. Gold is heavy and sinks to the bottom, so if there is any gold to be found, it's in the stuff left in the sluice after a run through.
After sluicing, the remaining material is carefully and back-achingly panned.
I have recorded documentation of Addie eventually getting down to nothing but galoshes, but I didn't feel it appropriate to post online. She begged for multiple dips in the cold water while naked from her uncle Eric, who graciously appeased her every time. What a wacky kid. I began to worry about her health and kept trying to wrap her in a towel, but this child lost to the river merely shot me a "hang-loose, mom" hand sign and gallantly marched away.
Day 2: We gave up on our location and decided to try further up the canyon, where an abandoned gold mine lay hidden. We took four-wheelers, buckets, shovels, and hope. Oh, and chips.
Here's a remnant fireplace still standing in the old mining town. We panned a few locations up the river with no luck. We hauled down buckets of dirt for further panning at the campsite.
Day3: We returned to Richfield with still more buckets of dirt and panned them in the driveway. At one point, we took a break and Addie got a much desired horse ride. It's awesome to be related to farmers. We did happen to find gold, but only in the bag of "teaser" dirt that came in the pan for practicing with. It wasn't enough to replace a tooth with, let alone build a palace, so we called it quits. Unlike the gold panners on TV, we had wisely kept our house and jobs and so returned to normal life. Until next summer, anyway.
Day 1: Jason scouted the most-likely spot for gold deposits based on the flow of the river. He dug the prime dirt and carried it to the sluicing area.
Addie began the day as a mostly-dressed and mostly-sane child. She busied herself with finding large rocks and painting them with water. There were a lot of rocks and an endless supply of water, so she had a full day ahead of her.
Megann, Eric, Addie and Jason panned the sluice-processed dirt while keeping a close eye for shiny specks of yellow. Addie had gotten her pants so wet by this time that we decided to forgo them.
She hiked through the water like a wild river child and had a heck of a time doing it. The water was actually quite cold, but she didn't seem to mind.
This is homemade sluice in action. The purpose is to wash away most of the light and excess dirt to leave behind the heavy stuff. Gold is heavy and sinks to the bottom, so if there is any gold to be found, it's in the stuff left in the sluice after a run through.
After sluicing, the remaining material is carefully and back-achingly panned.
I have recorded documentation of Addie eventually getting down to nothing but galoshes, but I didn't feel it appropriate to post online. She begged for multiple dips in the cold water while naked from her uncle Eric, who graciously appeased her every time. What a wacky kid. I began to worry about her health and kept trying to wrap her in a towel, but this child lost to the river merely shot me a "hang-loose, mom" hand sign and gallantly marched away.
Day 2: We gave up on our location and decided to try further up the canyon, where an abandoned gold mine lay hidden. We took four-wheelers, buckets, shovels, and hope. Oh, and chips.
Here's a remnant fireplace still standing in the old mining town. We panned a few locations up the river with no luck. We hauled down buckets of dirt for further panning at the campsite.
Day3: We returned to Richfield with still more buckets of dirt and panned them in the driveway. At one point, we took a break and Addie got a much desired horse ride. It's awesome to be related to farmers. We did happen to find gold, but only in the bag of "teaser" dirt that came in the pan for practicing with. It wasn't enough to replace a tooth with, let alone build a palace, so we called it quits. Unlike the gold panners on TV, we had wisely kept our house and jobs and so returned to normal life. Until next summer, anyway.
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