TRIPLE D AND M

I went to the claim for the day and found about 25 small pieces of gold by hand panning – pretty much all in one spot. I started at the parking area and went down stream doing test pans along the way. I only found 1 flake until I tested a spot about 0.8 miles back, where I found the rest in about 2 hours of panning.

The terrain is rugged, with large boulder fields, canyons, and rockslide scrabble. Paths are primitive and require boulder hopping, and I had to climb about 100 feet straight up and back down to get past one particular canyon. I also had to wade through the stream at a few points (had waders on). I am young and in shape so I could do all this, but I give warning that it is not an easy claim to access in some parts (I didn’t test the easy access areas near the parking lot, but one older prospector was panning that day and didn’t find anything – he also spoke to a park ranger who stated “no gold has been found here in a long time”. The claim also goes to the west but I didn’t go that direction, only south/east).

The drive to the claim was mix of dirt roads/roughly paved roads so a 2 x 4 is sufficient, but I wouldn’t try a Honda Civic as there were some gnarly potholes and the dirt roads are quite bumpy.

I also brought a folding sluice, but didn’t use it as I didn’t find good enough gold in my test pans until later in the day, but the water flow was good for a river sluice box.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

My understanding is that the gold is relatively deep within the creek bed and that the area has been heavily dredged. It was recommended to me to dig an old bank if possible. I did some detecting maybe 100 yards down river and did not find much aside from trash. In March the water was flowing to the point where crossing seemed like a bad idea. The only way to get down river was to hike a trail to the east of the parking area which took you south down river. This required climbing up and down over the mountains. By late August there were only stagnant pools of water. Exert caution when hiking the trails. The trails are thick with vegetation which makes visibility difficult. I quickly found a large rattlesnake sitting dead center of the trail. Photo is from late August.

I just joined 2/2021 and planned a trip near this claim to put my membership to use. Started east of the water crossing just near the bedrock and the inside bends. There was a nice spot with gravels that I started processing, but didn't find anything really near the water.

Hello all.

I finally got a slot of personal time (truly harder to find than gold!), so I packed my gear and headed to the Triple M and D.
This is my favorite place as I consider this local for me and I've been spending lots of time in these mountains of the Los Padres all my life. One of my brothers is laid to rest (figuratively of course) up on Alamo Mt. being it was one of our favorite places to ride our dirt bikes up to.

So as stated by my fellow members about this claim, this area is Rugged!
The trails you follow are made by the local Deer and Coyote and you need to be alert and agile with a pack full of gear. But I do love it.
My first mistake was that I didn't bring waders and since I wasn't in the mood to get that wet (up to my crotch) I went SE as far as I could, crevassing spots along the way. I got a little color in every slot, but it looks to be all light flood gold recently deposited over the last few years more. Every slot I cleaned also had plenty of Lead shot and old pounded lead flakes, so I was confident on my choices of cracks.
But this brings me to my second mistake of the day - not bringing my metal detector!

No skunk which is always pleasant and the day itself was spectacular.
I brought a trash bag with me and picked up trash on my way out.
Also picked up trash around the parking area which was really sad to see.
There are two trash bins up there by the out houses, but they were full and left open (maybe bears) and the last wind storm a few weeks ago, reeked havoc.

There was also the some discarded PVC used as spray bars from a highbanker tossed over the hill looking down at the creek crossing. It wasn't cool at all to see a prospector/miner do that.

I recommend you all bring a bag and fill it up on the way out.
If we keep doing that, it will surely make a difference it the long run!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
And full pans to all!

G-bone

Was there on a Wednesday for the first time and I was all alone. lots of water even fish in the big pools.found some fine gold around boulders in the higher flood areas by panning out my targets. I even found a tungsten bolder to heavy to get out. I think I will take my sluice up next week. Just tell them you are going to the GPAA claim and you get a free pass to get there.