THE
JOY OF THE
HUNT
Anyone who has enjoyed the hunt for wild
gold
knows. Success in
this business isn't always about how much gold you find,
it's about how pretty the songs are around the
campfire; it's about the geniality of one's mates; it's about appreciating
nature; it's about discovering an independent lifeway and
the satisfaction which comes from being one's own
boss. I
looked at myself as a good prospector, fairly knowledgeable where
finding placer gold deposits are concerned. With some claims, the gold is practically right there in front of your nose, with far too many others, you'll hunt and pick yourself to death before you find anything worthwhile. While the knowledge is still there,
the remainder is practically gone, the youth, the stamina, the gold, past monies
earned through mining. It's spent like I was at the end of another tiring day of dry-washing or dredging.
Fortunately, a wealth
of wonderful memories
remain.
In gold mining parlance, I've
'seen the elephant' about as much as anyone who ever pursued this elusive
dream.
If
you haven't dug a thousand holes for bean money or less, you've missed a
most important element. Folks, that's what prospecting's all about. Reality TV
introduced all the Greenhorns to placer-mining in an unrealistic, almost
unbelievable way.
The claims on display are real
enough, but they are not representative of the thousands of
other claims which aren't anywhere near so rich. One might think those big
bonanzas are everywhere just waiting for you to show up and start digging. Trust
me. They're not. For me, the best parts were the search, working and living in the great outdoors,
the fellowship of shared experience, an occasional good pay-streak or
nugget, and feeling other people's excitement when they're shown where to dig
and find 'color' for the first time. If you ever decide to follow The Trail of
the Argonauts, the hunt
for
wild gold can take you on some amazing adventures.