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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 29, 2014 17:29:58 GMT -5
Let's start with this photo - sunrise the morning after we arrived
Our prospecting club (SPMA) has a handful of claims out near Quartzsite, thought we'd give them a try, see if we could get lucky. We spent the first half of the day trying to locate markers and get an idea of the lay of the land. Found three SPMA poles, and got GPS coordinates for them. Problem is, they have at least six claims to the north of the I-10 freeway - which corners were they?
This is what we commonly found - someone had removed the paperwork for the claims from the glass jars. Wondered why, if they were such jerks, didn't they break the jars just for fun while they were at it? (But glad they didn't.)
This is a look to the south, the freeway runs east-west, straight across the photo, to the north of the mountains.
View to the north
After hours searching for markers, we picked a likely looking spot in a wash, and started digging.
Drywashing is a dirty job.
Sweet Lucy, the chilly dog. Poor dog doesn't have any undercoat to keep her warm.
Strange alien painting... Actually, it's a marker for the Diablo Blanco gold claim.
RTH decal on truck while in the wilds (not on the driveway, lol)
This was the second day of prospecting, south of the freeway, a little over a mile to the south of where we had been the previous day. I'd love to show you a pic of all the gold we found, but it didn't happen. Just a few specks from three locations. Can't win 'em all.
Desert scenery, first location, second day.
Some claims up on the hill.
I have figured out that the aliens have learned to disguise themselves as everyday items. Most folks don't know this. They like to be on the top of hills, so to better keep an eye on things.
Looks like a stack of rocks, right? Nope it is a homing beacon, cleverly disguised as a stack of rocks. Now you know.
More scenery
This is Sugarloaf Peak, south of I-10, west of Quartzsite.
Photo taken near our camp site, looking west.
Camp site, view to the east. It was very crowded here in the Roadrunner 14 day BLM area when we arrived about 10pm on Friday Jan 17. This was probably due to the big RV show starting on the next day. To get away (as much as we could) from the drone of generators, and the press of the crowds, we moved a little further to the south. So we did not get to play with our kangaroo rats this year.
I did get an alien visit this year...
They gave me these weird seeds
A handful of them (felt kinda like Jack and the beanstalk, lol)
They said the best ones had writing on them, but I couldn't read their writing, so didn't know what it meant.
This is the strange plant that comes from those seeds. Just kidding! Had you going there, didn't I? The "seeds" are amygdules, formed by minerals seeping into and filling gas pockets in lava. They weather out over time, I was picking them up when Diane found the chunk 'o gem silica on the Brenda fieldtrip.
No, this is a Desert Night-blooming Cereus, AKA, Queen of the Night www.saguaro-juniper.com/i_and_i/cacti/nb_cereus/nb_cereus.html and www.desertusa.com/cactus/night-blooming-cereus.html . I've seen one of these only once before, south of the town of Aquila, which is along U.S. Hwy 60 between Brenda and Wickenberg.
This one has bloomed before, but you'd have to be there in June or July to see it. Supposedly, they only bloom one night a year.
They do look pretty alien.
Sunset pic
We had some pretty good sunsets while we were there.
This is another sunrise. The cactus is not quite as wide as the sun, although much closer.
Sunrise on January 25.
The sun comes out Saturday morning, after some light sprinkles the night before.
Sunset
My favorite sunset photo, taken 1/19
Driving home on Sunday, seems like there's more of these every time we go past. (Yes, James, aliens at work.)
The sunset we followed home.
Hope I didn't bore you too much. Thanks for looking.
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Thunder69
Cave Dweller
Thunder 2000-2015
Member since January 2009
Posts: 3,102
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Post by Thunder69 on Jan 29, 2014 18:16:22 GMT -5
Beautiful pics Jean...Now I gotta go find my tinfoil hat....LOL
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LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
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Post by LarryS on Jan 29, 2014 19:00:37 GMT -5
Sprinkles? May have been those UFO's emptying their holding tanks while flying over?
Great pics Jean. Can't get enough pics of the desert. Next best thing to being out there. Goober can't handle the cold either. He shivers at anything below 65.
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plumberinaz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since June 2013
Posts: 186
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Post by plumberinaz on Jan 29, 2014 19:09:07 GMT -5
Love the pics Jean!!! Wish I could of been there looked like a blast!!!
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,179
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Post by jamesp on Jan 29, 2014 19:26:14 GMT -5
Those are real pretty photos. I saw so much alien activity. My computer was flickering on each photo. John's tin foil hat would be a minimum.
I think Lucy communicates w/the aliens readily too. I like the seeds and that alien noggin. Poor fellow lost his mind. What is that thing? He had some serious acne.
Looks like you guys had a great time. Welcome back.
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jollyrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2013
Posts: 409
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Post by jollyrockhound on Jan 29, 2014 23:52:25 GMT -5
As for Gold well you were too busy looking for those darn aliens:) lol thanks for sharing the picts very nice out there and dry washing looks like a dusty hard job.
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Post by Tonyterner on Jan 30, 2014 6:49:53 GMT -5
Great pics Jean, I especially love the sunrise and sunset ones. Glad you survived the alien attack.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 30, 2014 11:51:23 GMT -5
Beautiful pics Jean...Now I gotta go find my tinfoil hat....LOL Glad you liked the pics, John. Figured posting them might ease the pain of the people that couldn't make it and missed out this year - or maybe rub it in a little?
Haha, John. You know the tinfoil hats don't work. You've got to wear a pyramid made out of copper tubing on your head, lol. Just kidding, you know I don't believe in all that. Although we did see some strange lights on the drive out there, when we came down the mountain into the desert. Some type of craft was flying through the mountains to the east of Jacumba. It was small and had a strange blinking pattern to the lights, not like any standard aircraft I've ever seen. Figured later it was probably one of the Border Patrol's drones, looking for the other kind of aliens!
Sprinkles? May have been those UFO's emptying their holding tanks while flying over? Great pics Jean. Can't get enough pics of the desert. Next best thing to being out there. Goober can't handle the cold either. He shivers at anything below 65. Funny, Larry! We had the showers around 1 - 2 am or so. By the time we got up, the ground was totally dry. It really didn't amount to much, but that ground out there is like a sponge - as long as the water doesn't come too much, too fast.
So Larry, why didn't we see you, Diane and Goober at Quartzsite? I thought for sure we'd finally get to meet you.
Goober, I feel your pain. Like most southern Californians, even I get cold when it gets below 65 degrees. I have sweaters I put on Lucy, but she thinks they are itchy, and tries to rub them off. Better to just cover her with her camo blanket.
Love the pics Jean!!! Wish I could of been there looked like a blast!!! Thanks, Chris. I was hoping you were going to make it. It was a blast, you would have had fun!
Those are real pretty photos. I saw so much alien activity. My computer was flickering on each photo. John's tin foil hat would be a minimum. I think Lucy communicates w/the aliens readily too. I like the seeds and that alien noggin. Poor fellow lost his mind. What is that thing? He had some serious acne. Looks like you guys had a great time. Welcome back. Thanks, James. I knew you'd like the photos and accompanying story. I know it looks bigger, but that "alien noggin" is only about 1/2" long. Kinda strange lookin'. Thanks for the welcome back.
As for Gold well you were too busy looking for those darn aliens:) lol thanks for sharing the picts very nice out there and dry washing looks like a dusty hard job. It is a dusty and hard job (lifting 40 lb 5 gallon buckets of dirt), and the payoff usually sucks!
Great pics Jean, I especially love the sunrise and sunset ones. Glad you survived the alien attack. Thanks, Tony. Coming from you (master photographer), that's quite a compliment. The sunrise/sunset pics are my favorites, too.
But it wasn't an alien attack, more like a visit, an exchange of ideas. They told me how I can win the lottery - I WISH!
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,179
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Post by jamesp on Jan 30, 2014 13:27:11 GMT -5
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GeorgeStoneStore
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 168
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Post by GeorgeStoneStore on Jan 30, 2014 14:17:47 GMT -5
hey James. This image is like aliens facebook selfie...
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 30, 2014 14:21:50 GMT -5
George, I think those aliens knew what selfies were before I did!
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Post by drocknut on Jan 31, 2014 17:23:49 GMT -5
Oh my gosh, great pictures Jean and I am still laughing about the aliens. Too bad you didn't get more gold. That is a strange looking plant. I have some of those "seeds" myself probably from earlier trips to Brenda. Rats, no rats this year, they are cute little buggers. Lucy looks great in camo.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 31, 2014 17:41:31 GMT -5
Thanks, Diane, glad you liked the pics and the alien story. As for finding more gold, I never get my hopes up, then I'm not disappointed.
I was picking up those little "seeds" while you were ten feet away from me finding gem silica, lol. Yeah, I missed the kangaroo rats this year. They are so fun to watch and play with.
The camo blanket is Lucy's magic cloak. When she is wearing it, she becomes invisible (she thinks!).
GO SEAHAWKS!!!!!
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Post by phil on Jan 31, 2014 17:47:58 GMT -5
Wow. A treasure emporium drywasher. Great units if set up right. I used to one one many many years ago, wish I still had it. I found lots of gold with it too!
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 31, 2014 18:10:33 GMT -5
Hey, Phil, I didn't know what it was called. A Treasure Emporium drywasher, huh? Thanks for that. We actually picked up just the carcass - upper and lower pieces of orange plastic body - for ten bucks at a parking lot sale our prospecting club had last year. Had to put a new fan on it (fan missing some blades and the bearing froze), put new material on the "sluice" and had to make new legs from scratch. Someone had told us that it was an old Keane...
We had been running it out at Potholes using a generator in the back of our truck, and a Craftsman shopvac set on blow to turn the fan. We also added an extra "shaker" motor towards the bottom for a little more action. Since then, we picked up a gas lawnmower type of motor that was made for the purpose. Don't have to cart a generator around with us anymore. Had ordered a 4" diam ten foot long hose from a company up in Washington, but it wasn't shipped for a week (no one would answer the phone or my emails - will not use them again!) - it was delivered three days after we left for Q. I was able to go to the woodworker's store (Rockler) and pick up a 4" diam hose made for a dust collection system from them.
We are newbies at gold prospecting. So, what is the secret to setting them up right?
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,179
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Post by jamesp on Jan 31, 2014 20:52:59 GMT -5
hey James. This image is like aliens facebook selfie... LOL. They can do selfies easy-long arms George.
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Post by phil on Jan 31, 2014 21:53:44 GMT -5
Treasure Emporium drywashers were the very first to come up with the leaf blower/vibrator design. They are the only ones that made them in orange! No hiding when you use a TE! <G> Keene and all others that followed copied the design, and so history was written. Sadly TE went out of business before people really ha a chance to learn to appreciate the unit. If you see another one, snag it for me!
Setting one up is kinda hard to put into words. You need to get the angle of the sluice just right, the air flow just right, etc. Everything has to meet a perfect balance. One trick I can tell you is the dirt has to be ABSOLUTELY dry. Any moisture and you're throwing the gold away. If there's even the lightest hint of moisture in the dirt, usually run the dirt thru 2 or 3 times, as the air flow will dry it to some extent. Set that puppy up in the sun where the sun will help heat the box and thus the air, pulling the moisture out. And use your metal detector to scan the tailings, both sides, as the classifier will naturally discard anything larger than the screen. Make sure your fabric is a cotton poly blend so it conducts static electricity well. Make sure the dead zone is on the uphill side of the riffles. It does make a huge difference. It's a lot easier to show than to explain. Come out to NM and I'll take you drywashing where we never get skunked. We never even pay for the gas, but we never get skunked. best I've ever gotten is a couple ounces a day, wayyyyyy back when. most importantly, have fun.... Phil
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Post by rockpickerforever on Feb 1, 2014 9:46:37 GMT -5
Thanks, Phil! Great information. Even knowing the name, I've really been unable to come up with much information online. But with the help of other club members, and watching numerous videos online, we kind of figured where we needed to go with it. We are getting it dialed in.
So far, we haven't ran any dirt that was wet, but can see where running it through several times could be helpful.
Would love to get out to NM someday. You can bet I'll be picking your brain for more info down the road! Thanks, Phil.
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Post by beefjello on Feb 1, 2014 19:32:05 GMT -5
Incredible sunsets/rises Jean! The first alien seed looks promising! For some reason Billy Thorpe comes to mind after seeing this post. the people of the earth stood waiting, watching as the ships came one by one.. setting fire to the sky as they landed, carying to the world children of the sunMaybe jamesp is on to something...
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,179
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Post by jamesp on Feb 1, 2014 20:34:51 GMT -5
Ominous song. Jean composed it with the aliens. She is a true Desert Nomad Alien Composer
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