Wet-n-Wild On
The Boise River
Boise Gold is the name of the GPAA
claim along the Middle Fork of the Boise River. This is an area
far more remote than where I'd been going on Little Smoky Creek.
This is real Idaho wilderness. It's steep, wild and
rugged. Which means, of course, I love being up there.
The Boise River contains a lot of gold,
but it can be hard to get to it as there is a LOT of material that has
been deposited in this river channel over thousands of years.
However, it is still a great place to dig and has far more potential
to get good gold than other areas.
Unfortunately, my time at Boise Gold
didn't go quite like I had wanted. I didn't get into a lot of
gold as I didn't concentrate my efforts on one particular spot, but
spent time digging in different areas trying to get a feel for the
place.
And then there was the rain --- hours
and hours of rain.
I can't remember the last time I'd been
that wet. I worked right through it for some time, but it
eventually wore me down. My digging partners and I then decided
to just fill some buckets with material and head home.
Naturally, as soon as we did so it quit raining.
All told it was a fun trip, but I wish
it had gone better. Still, being that I am Joe Humor, I managed
to get myself into a couple of funny predicaments.
When we first arrived at the claim on
Friday night, it was already dark. I didn't let that stop me
from taking a look around, however, as I wanted to get an idea of
where to start digging in the morning before I went to bed.
So, with an LED lantern in one hand and
a flashlight in the other, I went poking around the area. At one
point, I climbed up out of the river bottom to the road about 60 yards
up the steep hill. I wanted to see things from above a bit while
I conducted my investigation. While walking down the road, I saw
headlights coming toward me. I then stepped over to the side of
the road to get out of the way of whoever was coming.
As I neared the edge of the road,
looking down the steep embankment, I decided I'd shut my lights off
and step completely off the road so the people in the oncoming vehicle
wouldn't even know I was there. It's just a thing with me, I
hate being seen by others while out in the woods. I guess it's
just my hunter instinct to stay hidden.
Anyway, as I stepped right on the side
of the road, while trying to shut my lantern off, suddenly the dirt
below me gave way and I found myself sliding straight down the
embankment toward the river at the bottom. The lantern flew from
my hand, bounced, and went off as it rolled. I could feel gravel
under my butt, branches of bushes tugging at my arms, and a whole lot
of not much under my feet.
Now, you'd think I might have been
worried about where I was going to land or what parts of my body were
going to be ripped off as I fell through the brush and rocks, but you
know what was running through my head?
"Man, I've got to get my
flashlight turned off so this car coming up the road won't see me
falling!" With that in mind, I stuffed the flashlight up
against my stomach to hide its light as there was no way I could find
the switch while falling.
Now, what the heck kind of logic is
that? I'm falling on my butt, sliding through bushes and gravel,
headed toward a wild river in the dark out in the middle of remote
wilderness and my only concern is not being seen?
Sometimes, I just don't know about
me.
However, I eventually found my feet and
stood back up, ending my fall well short of a creating a giant splash
in the river. Amazingly, I only sustained a couple of minor
scratches, and even my lantern turned out to be OK.
And the vehicle on the road drove right
on by, clueless that I was even around. Guess I accomplished my
goal then, huh? Good thing I didn't break my noggin and actually
need help. Then, keeping myself hidden might not have been such
a good idea.
The other stupid thing that I did while
on this trip was to give myself a good scare.
I got in my truck on Saturday ready to
start it up and head home and guess what? It wouldn't
start! It cranked over, but it was obviously getting no fuel as
it wouldn't even think about starting.
Well, my truck has two fuel
tanks. Right now, only one is functional as I need to replace
the fuel pump in the other. Somehow, I had managed to flip the
fuel tank switch, putting it on the non-functional tank.
I sat there, very worried, for several
minutes trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with my truck
before I finally realized what I had done.
It was quite a scare, you know? I
mean, there isn't exactly a auto parts store or a mechanic handy on
the Middle Fork of the Boise River.
Ah well, once I figured out what the
problem was, my good old dependable truck started right up and brought
us safely home.
Well, OK, now that I've told you about
my wet, not much gold, fall on my butt, scare myself experiences, how
about some pictures?
Sounds good to me. This place is
incredibly rugged and beautiful so enjoy.
Boise River
Scenery
Email
"Gold Diggers" To A Friend