My plan was to go up the canyon along a ridge and then drop into the canyon whenever I came across a spot that might give me reasonable access.

The problem is that extracting gold from hard rock is often a lot more difficult than processing placer gravels. Still, there is some very high-grade ore out there in many old mining areas.

This was “pocket” country. All around were “pockets” that had been hand dug by old and new miners.

We descended hunched over, down a long, steep, wooden staircase to the 1,000-level.

There are clubs with claims in the area and there’s a section of the river open to the public, but the rest of the area is claimed up so do your research first.

What today appears to be a “road to nowhere” was once a road to somewhere. At today’s precious metal prices that somewhere can be of great importance to you.