When I teach people about finding gold, I often explain that it is helpful to think of any river or stream that carries gold as being something like a sluice box.

The mysteries of this spot were only just starting to develop. There is nothing but very bland granite-type rocks here,  meaning no bold, favorable indicators.

I’m sure we all have, at some point in time, gone out detecting and ended up not having the success we thought we would have. Here are some helpful game-changers that work for me and may work for you, as well.

My intention was to end this discussion with waypoints and routes, then I found USGS maps of the Plainfield Quadrangle.

I could see lots of quartz, both loose on the hillsides and in the numerous small prospect diggings. There was a small gold rush here more than a century ago.