Upon the signing of Senate Bill 670 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, all suction dredging in the state of California came to a screeching halt.  This put doubt into the minds of members about how successful the 2009 Motherlode Expedition could possibly be without dredging.  Well, to everyone who missed it this year, YOU MISSED OUT! 

I arrived at the camp in early September and was met by Don Carr and Corey Rudolph, who had already begun setting camp up for this season.  When we weren’t setting up camp, we were getting the common operation sites picked and we found some really good spots!  The South Fork of the Stanislaus River is a “textbook river," meaning that although gold is where you find it, you can apply the techniques that you learn in basic prospecting books or classes and usually find some good gold! 

We found a number of promising locations and the hard work of the participants all three weeks really paid off!  One week, we got over a dozen pickers on just the first day!  Not only did we get good gold, but the educational part of the trip was a huge success as well. 

Ross “Smokey” Smith is a professional geologist who gives a seminar on Monday through Thursday evenings after dinner and his class was a big hit!  He talks about everything from how the gold was formed to reading a river and even filing your own claims. 

At the operations, participants learned mining safety, how to read and follow the paystreaks and use several different types of mining equipment.  Basic prospecting, crevicing and metal detecting were also taught this year and I really think that the participants not only had fun, but learned a lot!  All in all, we had good weather, got great gold (thank you Corey, Don and Mike), ate like kings (thanks to Linda and Chuck) and had a most excellent season!  I would like to thank those who attended this year and look forward to another successful expedition in 2010!  See you there!

- Blake Harmon