First impressions - Bob Gaebler.
Buchanan GPAA site, GA. The Rain, The Flood, and The Drenched!
The makings of a Clint Eastwood Movie? Might just be... :)
What a weekend. The club braved mother nature this outing, and still came through with a bit of color. We'll get a better idea of how much at the next meeting.
Most members arrived on Thursday and Friday. I arrived on Friday to see about 8 of the campsites taken, but none at the time looked too familiar except for Mike and Connie�s trailer.
As the distant Thunder grew, I just about got my main rain/sun fly up, as the storm started. Just as I staked my tent in, and before I could get the rain fly over the tent, Bam the storm hit in full force. with One gust, stakes were pulled, and the main fly folded over into a flapping triangle.
Welcome to the 2010 Outing...
In the minute it took me to snap the rain fly on, the tent and myself were totally drenched. As I waited it out in the car for the next hour with the visibility near zero, I couldn't help but wonder where everyone else was.
The real excitement of Friday's Afternoon storm was taking place out on the creek where most of the club members were working.
Mike and Connie, Tom and his buddy, Doug, Marty and Rich were all in the stream dredging for most of the day when the storm hit. New member Ed and his daughter were way upstream and several of our local member Danny's friends were upstream also.
Mike sporting the weekend's attire.
As the rain subsided, I saw someone pulling their gear from a tent. This was
Rich. The day's events, the storm, his loss of concentrates and gear, and
now his totally drenched campsite was enough to send him packing. He headed
off to a hotel for the night. Ed and his daughter walked into camp. I discovered
that although they saved their gear up high, Ed's truck got stuck on the way back
and a tree fell across the road. Brian the caretaker later used his tractor
to pull him free.
Tree Limbs had fallen, chainsaws were buzzing, a reminder of May 09's toppled tree. It seems Rich, Doug, Tom, Marty and Mike were all pulling their dredging gear as the waters were rising during the storm. Danny's buddies up stream had it a bit worse. While attempting to get the dredge over to safety, a tree trunk flipped the dredge and sent one of them into the water. They rather wisely headed to shore. I took my car up to the bridge since one of them could only get to the far side, and had to hike upstream to safety at the bridge. By the time we got back, everyone was back at camp.
The photo's below at the Bridge about an hour prior to cresting.
Tree Limbs had fallen, chainsaws were buzzing, a reminder of May 09's toppled tree. It seems Rich, Doug, Tom, Marty and Mike were all pulling their dredging gear as the waters were rising during the storm. Danny's buddies up stream had it a bit worse. While attempting to get the dredge over to safety, a tree trunk flipped the dredge and sent one of them into the water. They rather wisely headed to shore. I took my car up to the bridge since one of them could only get to the far side, and had to hike upstream to safety at the bridge. By the time we got back, everyone was back at camp.
The photo's below at the Bridge about an hour prior to cresting.
Upstream at the Bridge with debris.
The Downstream side.
Cresting at about 4-5 ft above Normal.
Friday came to a close with a Cleanup of the area, minor cuts and scrapes getting attended, and everyone trying to dry out a bit.
By Saturday morning the creek was back to normal with the exception of muddy water, but that didn't stop Tom and Doug from heading back to their spots.
Mike and Marty checking out the Bazooka
Tom dredging...
As with almost every May outing we had some future members drop by. Ed whom I met at the Vein Mtn. GPAA outing brought his daughter, and Bob and his two daughters from just north of Gainesville joined the Club's Outing this weekend. Ed who arrived on Thursday did a bit of prospecting, but after Friday's late afternoon events with the storm, his truck, and being drenched, decided to head out on Saturday. Doug brought Bob and his daughters out dredging Saturday. Thanks to Doug, I'm sure they learned everything they needed to and had a great day for their first time out.
We hope to see them all at a future meeting.
Bob and his daughter dredging.
Doug going through a cleanup.
Classifying the Concentrates.
Checking for Color.
Saturday came to a close just as Friday did, with another storm blowing through, but at least this time it wasn't as severe. The Clubs Pot Luck Dinner was a bit damp, but sure was a welcome site for everyone. Rotisserie chicken, potatoes, beans, bread and a fruit salad desert was plenty to go around. Leftover chicken would make a great lunch on Sunday.
Layered gravels along the creek.
It rained on and off Saturday night into Sunday morning. The creek was muddier
then ever, and up about a foot in the morning. Doug and Myself decided early
on to call it a trip, but I still had a bucket of Vein Mountain material to go through.
Bob and his daughters returned, and I showed them how I work a sluice box. While classifying the dirt to 1/8, I pointed out this was the time to check for gemstones in the larger pieces. They're tough to find, but the Vein Mtn. area is noted to produce some. We set up the sluice, ran the material, and did see at least one tiny piece on the black ribbed matt.
Back at camp I quickly panned out concentrated and showed them about 5-8 tiny specks. Nothing much in that bucket, but it all adds up.
Bob and his daughters returned, and I showed them how I work a sluice box. While classifying the dirt to 1/8, I pointed out this was the time to check for gemstones in the larger pieces. They're tough to find, but the Vein Mtn. area is noted to produce some. We set up the sluice, ran the material, and did see at least one tiny piece on the black ribbed matt.
Back at camp I quickly panned out concentrated and showed them about 5-8 tiny specks. Nothing much in that bucket, but it all adds up.
