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

Saturday came and it looked to have the makings of a dreary, misty day. Undaunted, I loaded my truck with my sluice, buckets and gear, and headed for the claim.

As I laid in my Jeep and tried to get some rest, I began to realize how tired I was. I felt like a little kid who walked around Disneyland for 12 hours with his parents.

It all occurred when Gus and I returned to a remote placer gold area where we had previously found really good gold. The problem was that it would take about an hour to walk through the desert to get to it.

It said to put a number of different-sized nuggets in a jar, and then cover them with the magic cleaner fluid. Then, vigorously shake the contents for a couple of minutes.

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

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