Some ask if a prospector can collect an entire ounce in a day. It is possible; I’ve done it before.

Excited for this first notable evidence, I returned to that riverbed, looking for another paystreak and obviously more jade.

Then I came to a section of recently exposed gravel that looked unworked. Water seeped out all around, making the ground beneath a sea of slick mud.

Rivers are not just random and accidental; streams and other drainages are what they are because of the forces of erosion acting on the bedrock.

Then it occurred to me that the drywasher was designed by an engineer. Gotta love engineers! Those slide-rule geeks always tinker with gravity, angles, curves and flow.