The old timers typically washed these areas down to bedrock, and some areas appear terraced. I would imagine this is because these hydraulic mines were generally where the miners found old Tertiary river channels on the sides of mountains that were gold-bearing.

Some of the wire forms are strange and fantastic, with wires sticking out in twisted, seemingly random directions. Others have deformed crystals and all of them have significant value to collectors.

The old report I read indicated all they ever did was dig some trenches and take samples. It sounded to me like a good place to take my metal detector...

As he was working near the extreme low end of the ground sluicing, I heard a yell through my headphones. Making my way down to him I could see the smile from a long distance.

There are a few questions you will need to ask yourself before you apply for a suction dredge permit from the State Water Resources Control Board.