Bill McCoy

That was a real big loss up in Cerro Gordo. They lost the American Hotel and adjacent buildings to fire. I’ll try to get soon to see if I can find anything. 

Wow, that was a big one! Doing fine thankfully. They had some major rockfall at Mt Whitney. Fortunately nobody was hurt. Here’s a photo someone took. 

I'm pretty sure even Mojave National Preserve is a no-go.

I was hoping to get out today but we've got some pretty high winds today so I'll try to get back up Mazourka later in the week. Thanks for all the tips guys. I'll be sure to follow up on my progress.

-Bill

Yes, that’s the canyon I was referring to as well. I’ll add it to my list of places to investigate further.

I'm very interested in Mazourka Canyon. That's exactly where I'm poking around. 

There are a number of both hardrock and placer claims in the area. Many of them have been held for several years so I assume they must be somewhat productive. It's difficult to find a lot of information on the area though. I've only found a few historic reports and many seem to be derived from the same original text so they don't add much.

There may also be some ground worth investigating up top on Badger Flat from what I've read. I'll attach an old article. Maybe a spot to use a bigger coil.

If I can find something worth chasing up there I'd definitely be interested in making it a club claim. It's a relatively accessible area. Good for camping if that's your thing and not all that far from civilization if you need it.

As for westerly, there are a couple areas, one called Santa Rita Flat and another area south of that, not sure if it's named. Santa Rita has evidence of prior work but not much going on today. The area south of Santa Rita has a few claims. Haven't poked around there much yet.

Also found an area that I think is an old Hydraulic pit from the 1900's - was called Birch Creek Placer Mine. Up near Big Pine. Need to drag a dry washer out there to see if I can find anything.

Thanks Chet!

I know the area you're talking about. I was talking to a ranger last year about that area. The road is the recognized boundary line as it drops into the canyon. So if you were working west of it, you're still ok. Otherwise no go.  

Well after being couped up for the better part of 2 months, I ventured out today to swing the detector. Didn't find anything other than the usual junk but man it sure felt good to get out again. As I'm sure we all feel some trepidation about going out during this pandemic, I have to say it did a lot for my spirits to be outdoors again and as usual I didn't see a soul while hunting. So if you've been hunkering down like me for the past several weeks, take some advice and sneak out to one of those spots you've been noodling about on Google Earth. You won't regret it.

PS: Already planning on where I want to hike into tomorrow. 

-Bill

Yes. You are not alone! 

Hopefully we can connect if he comes up this way. 

Hi Bob,

It’s all gone at lower elevations except areas of shadow. Here’s a picture taken this morning looking East. It’s also unusually warm, 54F here at the house. I’m in the Alabama Hills west of Lone Pine. 

Hello everyone!

Excited to see where the club goes. I’m relatively new to prospecting (about a year)and I really enjoy it. 

I’m always up for meeting up and working together. 

Currently have a small sluice, drywasher, Gold Bug 2 and a GPX  5000. 

I live in Inyo county, CA