…being sneaky, I filled in the hole, and buried therein some trash items that I had previously found, just to discourage any other detectorist that might come along.

The sound got quiet when the fuse burned down into the clay. I waited, and waited…

At first we decided to see what the flat by our camp would produce where the old-timers had worked it with their Pelton wheel and dragline buckets.

We started off excited and enthusiastic as we began hiking up the river, daydreaming about finding big gold.

Because waiting for spring seemed to be taking forever, my 15-year-old granddaughter Grace and I decided to pan for gold sooner. The thought was…even if we did not find any gold, we would set a new record for absurdity—gold panning in the coldest weather!

With one outstretched hand grasping the bottle and the other waving at air, I moved forward feeling for the tent. No tent. No tree.

Sure enough, after hiking a couple miles uphill and hacking through some brush, we found the place just as he had described it.