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.

I have a slight mental disorder. It causes frequent lapses in common sense, good judgment and bouts of high fever—gold fever.

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.

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

The temptation to enter the dark interiors beckoned to me before the day was finished but I resisted.

We all love to see that first glimmer of gold when it peeks out from under the black sand in our pan, or feel the weight of a nugget in our scoop when we dig a good target. But sometimes things don’t go quite so smoothly.