The Trip To Happy Camp - rc & I traveled to Happy Camp together from Halsey, Oregon. Our calculations of the time to make the trip were a little off because of some detours not anticipated. It is hard to plan a trip and make an accurate prediction of time to destination when you have no idea how many Dairy Queens are between the starting point and the destination point. That kind of information just doesn't exist on any road maps I have seen. We departed from Halsey at approximately 1:30 p.m. on August 7th. I did follow HUNTNJ's advice and avoided any "all you can eat" places on the way!
Happy Camp at Last! - We arrived at Happy Camp somewhere around 8:00 p.m. We immediately began to search for our local contact for the next day's GOLD hunting with metal detectors. After some local sight seeing, we somehow managed to stumble upon our guide's domicile. rc introduced me to our guide and we began talking about GOLD (my favorite subject) and other rocks and the geology of the area. rc was getting his education on Geology... a crash course. After discussing our plans for the next day...we decided it was time to depart and begin searching for the rest of the Lost Treasure Chat contingent and find a place to sleep for the night. It was dark by now. We drove out of town in the wrong direction for about 5 miles and then decided to turn around. Couldn't find the Indian Creek Campground. Didn't seem to exist. We then returned to Happy Camp and found the New 49ers building. We had arranged to sign in on their bulletin board so we decided to see who was here and where we might be able to find them. Checked board and so far Cat was in town and staying at the Hotel nearby and so was Q (they were in separate rooms, heh heh). Laura and Susan were listed as being out at Indian Creek Campground, that is where we were headed. As I was signing us in on the bulletin board, some guy drives up and yells out to us. It turned out to be Bill, Marcie's ex-husband to be. He is helpful and gives rc and I directions to where we can find Laura & Susan.
FIRST CONTACT - rc & I head out of town to the location indicated by Bill. On the way we see a blacktail deer. Then I tell rc to be careful because there is a dog running on the left side of the road ahead of us. I was afraid he might try to dash in front of the car. My suspicions are correct. He dashes out in front of the car for the other side of the road...."HEY! That's not a dog! It's a Black Bear!!" Ok, now we find our way to the turnoff, cross a bridge, find the fork in the road and then turn off the road and follow a trail between two large gravel piles, then another fork in a smaller trail. rc wants to know if we should continue on this trail or turn around. I think for about a half second and tell him to keep going a little longer. My instincts are correct, there is a camp with a bunch of people. "There they are!" rc & I are laughing as we see the camp with people we don't know but somehow recognize. They in turn are laughing out loud at the sight of our van. I stick my head out the window and yell out, "Oh Lucy! I'm Home!!!!"...."You have some 'splainin to do!". That gets a roar from the crew. Laura, Susan (AZ), Jim (calif), Susan (CA) & family are all there. We get out and we introduce ourselves but it seems we all have known each other forever. Really a strange feeling. Everyone is easy to recognize because they all look pretty much like their photos. Jim is a little different, traded in his full beard for a handlebar moustache. I then deliver not one but two big hugs to Jim in front of everyone. There we are hugging like a couple of gay guys. I had to do it, I promised Wanda I'd deliver them for her. If it were anyone else but Wanda....heh heh. Everyone wants to know where we have been. rc complains about all the DQ stops on the way. Hey! It was hot. Jim says , "Don't we have something for Jesse?". Susan (ca)'s daughter, Laura (what a great kid!) found an Elmer Fudd stamp and they bought it for me. It's great! This will have a special place on my computer display at home.
Bob~O Arrives - Somewhere close to midnight after much BSing, we hear a vehicle coming up the trail. I can see it is a pickup truck and see a winch on the front. I say to everyone..."It must be Bob~O, that's the kind of rig he would be driving". Fortunately, there is no skunk odor left in his truck. We are all laughing (I don't know why) and so is Bob~O. We will find out later why Bob was laughing. There are two other guys with Bob~O and we are all trying to figure out who these loud guys are. Well...Bob~O comes over and introduces himself to all of us and quickly apologizes about the two guys with him. Bob~O shakes my hand and almost crushes it and almost shakes my fillings out of my teeth! This guy is solid as a tree trunk! They don't grow trees like that anymore though. Turns out Bob needed help finding us and he picked up these two drunk local guys that knew where we were. Bob says he will quickly return after he gets rid of these guys and again apologizes for bringing them here. The two drunks want to stay with us and party but Bob~O is very insistent and manages to load them up in his truck. One of them is telling Bob that we aren't gonna find any GOLD here and to come with him to his mining claim and we will find plenty of GOLD. Bob takes them away. We are all laughing so hard about what just happened. Bob~O has outdone all of us on his entrance. Bob eventually returns and tells us the tale of his intoxicated guides. Says he asked them how to find our camp and they volunteered as long as Bob would agree to take them where they wanted to go afterward. I will let Bob tell the details of his adventure but I will say that He thought maybe this was his last day on the planet when they told him to drive off the road onto this small trail through the gravel piles. In my opinion...Anybody foolish enough to try to jump Bob~O is headed for a trip to the hospital ... or worse! Kinda like tangling with a Wolverine. Bob~O reaches into his truck and says, "I have something for you Jesse!" What a weenie! He brought me a Fisher Metal Detector hat! ha ha ha
We talk until 2:30 a.m. Saturday Morning or maybe even 3:00 a.m. rc & I have to be at our local guide's place at 6:00 a.m. Not much time for sleep. 6:00 arrives a hell of a lot sooner than I hoped for but I manage to get myself up and rc too. We head out of camp, nobody else is awake yet.
The Expedition - We meet our local guide and have breakfast. Trying to wake up! We go to a local Hard rock mine that has a long history. We meet the caretaker and owner of the mine. We get to see fabulous GOLD specimens that have come out of the mine. I am motivated!!! We get a bit of history of the mine and how they work it. We now have permission to hunt the place. It is getting hotter by the minute now. We get to the mine and get out our detectors. We start hunting but the sun is so hot it's hard to stay out in the sun. Try to hunt in shade as much as possible. rc is wearing a black t-shirt, big mistake.
GOLD!!! - went to a spot where there is known GOLD in the rock face. I went up to it alone. It was up a steep rockslide area and up about 50 yards away from the bottom where rc chose to sit in the shade. I was suffering but GOLD fever takes over even in 100+ degrees and direct sunlight. I beat on the cliff face where I had a nice signal with my Goldmaster V/SAT for about a half hour. The futility of the endeavor and the wasted effort made me use my brain. Quit banging on the rock and look for easier targets. I chose to search the rockslide slope for small pieces. It paid off! I managed to find a few pieces of rock with GOLD in them. Totally dehydrated we decide it is best to leave the mine and head back to town.
We Meet Cat - We return to town stinky, dehydrated and covered in dust. We decide to rent a room and clean up before returning to the creek where everyone is camped out. As I am checking in rc sees Cat outside and tells me. I stick my head out and say, "MEOW MEOW MEOW" and then go back inside office. Get room key and go outside where Cat is waiting. rc & I get chastised by Cat for a few minutes for not being around all day long. After the lecture...I get to say a few things and introduce myself and meet her husband and son. All nice people. Cat and I exchange mineral samples and rc & I go shower and change clothes. Drink several gallons of fluids.
Q - rc & I head to Indian Creek South Fork Campground where everyone is at and get to meet Q. Q is a time traveler, he lives in the future in GUAM. He traveled to yesterday just so he could be with us for a few days. Everyone wants to know where the heck we've been and if we found any GOLD. We show off our trophies of the day...small as they may be.
BAR-B-Q - Evening arrives and so does hunger. Bob~O starts the cooking. He cooks up some ribs...YUM!. Laura and I begin making our concoctions for the cookout. We split the Green chile supply ... she is making pork chops with green chile and I'm making Moose Burger & Green Chile burritos. Everyone has a great time eating and talking about everything. What a great bunch of people! Too bad we all have to go so far to get together. It gets late much too soon and rc & I head into town to get a good night's sleep in the hotel. rc is still complaining about my snoring the night before.
Hydraulic Pit - Sun Morning we head back to campground after breakfast at cafe. Some of us head to hydraulic Pit to detect. some people stay in camp to work creek. Q is in his element at the pit. Hotter than heck and he says it isn't even warm yet. I'm melting from the heat. I know because I can see lots of dripping off my body again. Nobody finds any GOLD at the pit so we head back into town. rc & I check out of hotel and then head back to campground.
BLACK GOLD - We arrive at campground and I of course ask how everyone is doing in the GOLD hunting department. I get the same reply from everyone, NO GOLD to speak of. Susan (ca) shows me a couple of flakes and that's it. She was using sluice box. Susan says she did not take carpet out of box so I take it down to river and empty it into bucket. I pan it out and find a couple of tiny flakes and some black thing that I can't pan away. I tell Susan that I don't know that that black thing is but it sure acts like GOLD. I hole it down with finger on left hand and scratch surface with finger on right hand. GOLD!!! The item is a large flake of GOLD. I scratch both sides and clean it off. I wonder how much of this stuff people have been throwing away in the past week.
SCORPION - I am curious so I go and run material through sluice where I think there should be GOLD. I work ancient gravel for a while from riverside and then some from up the bank about 15 feet. Nice red ancient gravel bed above the current bed. There should be GOLD in this stuff. While I am sluicing a guy comes around with metal detector and says that he found nice nuggets in this area the day before. I find a scorpion underneath one of the boulders. It gets dark and I have to quit. Will pan out concentrates in morning.
Final Hours - rc & I go back into town to spend the night. In the morning (Monday) we have breakfast and head back to the creek campground to visit with everyone before we leave. While there we decide to get into the creek and swim and detect. Water is Wonderful!!! A nice balmy 65 degrees. A real treat after being in Alaskan creeks at 44 degrees. I see a garter snake but it's too quick for me and escapes under boulders that I can't move. I give Susan (ca)'s daughter the container that the scorpion was in after I transfer it into my film cannister. I tell her daughter to go give the container to her mom. While she is walking to Susan, I say out loud, "Be careful how you play with that Scorpion!" and wait for Susan's reaction. Susan's eyes get big and she asks, "What is my daughter doing with the Scorpion??". I can't keep a straight face anymore and start laughing. Susan's face was classic, too bad I didn't have the camera.
Laura learns about Black GOLD - I ask Laura if she has seen Susan's black GOLD. Laura wants to know what I am talking about. I explain to her that some GOLD is black in color because it is covered with something. She about has a heart attack after she decides I'm not pulling her leg. She looks at Susan's Black GOLD flake and says she's been throwing stuff like that away all week! Maybe they will grow bigger for next time. Indian Creek is Catch & Release only area on Black GOLD nuggets! heh heh.
Farewell - We all decide it's time to take photos before everyone starts disappearing. Cat's husband has to take photos with what seemed like fifty different cameras for everyone. I say my good byes and rc threatens not to stop at any Dairy Queens on the way home. What a great weekend! What Great People!!