Autumn and winter panning.

Since my trip to Scotland, I haven't been panning much. In autumn, I did however, get to pan my local river with a friend of mine just before winter came. On the left, there's a picture of our finds. Not much... tiny stuff, but her first gold ever. Unfortunately so tiny that when I had taken the photo from under the microscope and put them back in the vial, I lost all of them. Haha. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. That's how it goes.

Yesterday, I explored another river with my cousin. It was pretty cold, but we did find a little something: Again, tiny, but it was his first time panning, so I'm glad we got lucky. It's always fun to introduce people to panning: I'm happy to share it with someone, and they are fascinated by the unusual hobby, and of course the prospect of finding real gold. In the summer, we want to come back and try it again. On a sidenote: Funny how the gold from this river is much rounder than the flakes in the picture above... And yes, even if it's tiny: Gold is just so pretty. Thank God for my microscope, so that I can have a good look at it.

What about you? Have you been panning in these cold autumn- and winter months - or are you impatiently waiting for spring? I personally like panning in the winter: there are less people (hikers) around. And also and most importantly: you can often access places, which you couldn't pan otherwise, when the water is higher. I too, am waiting for spring and summer, though. Panning is much nicer when you don't freeze your butt off and when you can actually enjoy the creek-cooled beer that is waiting for you after a hard day's work, haha!