We're back! A few vacation pics...

[schrackman]

Had a great time up in the Sierra mountains. I even found a bit of gold while detecting some old hydraulic tailings! (I'll post a pic of the little nuggets later.) Sure wish I could have stayed longer, but the bills won't pay themselves, that's for sure. Anyhow here are just a few photos. I have lots more to process, and even a roll of b/w that needs developing.

#1 Beautiful scenic view from the top of a mountain up from Onion Valley.
#2 How we got to the top of the mountain–Jeep Liberty 4x4!! There's my wife soaking up some sun rays.
#3 The wife and I posin' for a picture on the same mountain.
#4 An old, old cabin (probably early 1900s) in the town of La Porte, where we stayed.
#5 Off highway 12 near Sonoma, when we went to go visit my mom before coming home.

Will try to get some more up tomorrow.

[mtbbrian]

Nice stuff as usual Ray.
You color stuff is incredible!
Must be the FILM you are using!
:thumbsup:
Brian

[schrackman]

Thanks Brian!

But nope, all photos above are from the XTi. I only took b/w in the Canonet this time (FP4+) and will have that roll developed and scanned before the end of the week.

Stay tuned for a scan of the gold I found.

Nice stuff as usual Ray.
You color stuff is incredible!
Must be the FILM you are using!
:thumbsup:
Brian

[mtbbrian]

Thanks Brian!

But nope, all photos above are from the XTi. I only took b/w in the Canonet this time (FP4+) and will have that roll developed and scanned before the end of the week.

Stay tuned for a scan of the gold I found.

How could you man!

Brian

[schrackman]

Okay, now most people think that gold is found in large quantities. That may have been true back in the mid 1800s, but not so true for the recreational miner today, like me.

While these little nuggets, I admit, are not all that big, they are nevertheless the product of a determined and skillful search in an area where most of the gold from the tertiary gravels were washed out and collected via hydraulic mining. One doesn't find gold this small unless he knows how to use his detector well to locate such small targets, as the incoming signal is very faint.

Consequently, it is very difficult to find any gold in this area by metal detecting. In previous years I have found much more by panning and sluicing in the creeks, but this year I was intent to focus just on metal detecting, and give my friend's Pulse Induction detector a good field test. These were not found with his detector, but rather by my White's MXT, an all purpose gold/coin/relic machine.

The fun thing about finding nuggets is that they sometimes resemble things, kinda how we look for shapes in the clouds. The larger nugget, to me, looks like a boxing glove, for which reason I've affectionately named it the boxing glove nugget.

[I_Fly]

Nice shots Ray. I love the last one for obvious reasons.

You are going to report your earnings to the IRS aren't you? ;)

[photophorous]

Welcome back, Ray. Nice shots! I'm looking forward to seeing the FP4+.

Paul