The dredge and our gear, with us clinging on to the sides, bounced along until it got hung up on a large boulder in the middle of the river.

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.

My brother Darryl and I had not had a prospecting adventure since January and we wanted to try out our new drywasher, so we decided to go for the weekend and check out some claims near Barstow…

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

…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.

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