Midway into my first tank of gas I was beginning to see color in my sluicebox. Needless to say, I was excited.

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

On about the fifth time across one of these slopes, and down near the little wash...bam! I found a nice chunk of rock, laced through with gold. Wow! How had I missed this?

What are they? They are too hard to be lead, and are not tarnished like silver should be.

My right rib cage took the brunt of the blow from the fall, which left me feeling partially paralyzed and in immense pain.

If you have done any hiking in rough terrain you are well aware that going down a slope is much more difficult and dangerous than climbing it.

…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.