Same Procedure as Last Year...

Last year, my birthday started with a huge English breakfast, followed by goldpanning and sushi in the evening - you can read up on all of that here. This year? It was exactly the same... and I loved it!! (Look, this time, I had orange juice as well!)

We ended up going to my local canyon. The water was pretty low, but I had brought my fancy waders. I've had them for quite a while, but never tried them out. They worked great though, and I could access places I hadn't been able to pan otherwise.

Frankly, I did sit in the sun a lot (going out the night before, tired), but I did pan - pump's still great - and found some little bits. Biggest ones yet from this area, actually, which was nice.

Testing the Pump - A Bit of Winter Panning in the Canyon

So today, I finally got to try out the new pump. Me, my boyfriend and his brother took a little walk and I couln't help taking it with me - along with my pan and a bucket. Minimal equipment, and hardly any time, as it was freezing and I had no wellies to access the more promising spots...

The pump however, performed great! Nice suction and a good grip on the handle. Easy to manage. As I said, I didn't give it a lot of time, but I did get three small specks of gold. Next time, I am definitely going to bring more things and find myself a big boulder to dig under. The water level is really low and all the places that are usually unaccessible in the summer months lie bare and open now.

What I found in Tyndrum...

The time has come to share my findings with you all! May I proudly present: my collection of gold from this year's vacation in Scotland!

On the left, my gold pieces from the river that runs by the wigwam site (scaled up times 60). I found most of them stuck in the deep cracks in the bedrock, just like last year. And now the more interesting stuff - my biggest pieces so far:



The one on the left measures about half a centimetre and is pretty chunky. I was able to pick it directly off the bedrock - something I had heard other panner's talking about but had never been able to experience myself, so that was nice! Guess, it's my first picker. Literally. The lovely triangular piece on the right is technically not mine - it was a lovely present given to me from Tony and Dave. Thanks a lot guys. Let's be a bit philosophical here and say its corners stand for the three of you and the fun day we spent! Lastly, this is how my pan looked after two days of backbreaking work:



I am really, really chuffed about what I found! I put all my gold on the little scales I own. I had been given them for my birthday by a friend, but they start at 0,1 grams and so far, I had never even had enough gold to make it show up. This year however, my total amounted to 0,2 grams. Now, for some of you lucky devils out there, that might not sound like a lot, but it's the most gold I have found so far. I've been panning for 1,5 years and what I had found in all that time before this holiday, did not add up to this trip's achievement. So yay! I am confident though that when I apply my newly acquired knowledge about pumps and sluices (thank you, Andrew, Dave, Hamish and Tony!), I will get luckier here in Austria as well - and I can't wait!

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!

My Scotland Adventure: What did I find?

So - Scottish gold: First, let me say that the owners of the campsite where I stayed had a glass vial with some flakes (left in the photo). The biggest one was about 8mm, and when I saw it, I was impressed, as you don't find flakes that big in Austria that easily. But Scotland is different. Camplady: "We had some gold earlier, but it changed its colour, so I told the guy 'this isn't gold', bring me real one - and he came back with this." The gold had been found in the area. So there WAS gold after all. Also, I had seen some really nice pieces of Scottish gold on the internet and heard talk that even a nugget wasn't entirely impossible. So I gave it a try. And look what I found! My vial is the right one - and on the coin I put my biggest finds:

I found the C-shaped one and the tree smaller ones all in one pan of material out of a crevice in the exposed bedrock. I couldn't believe my eyes, there they lay, at the back of my pan, not moving an inch when the water ran over them. This is actually, when I started talking to myself in amazement, while very carefully putting them in my glass-vial. Only once they were in there and I had screwed the lid on, I could breathe again. The big chunky on the left was then in my third pan of the same crevice material. Here are some bigger photos (magnified by 60x):

The big one on the left is about 5mm. Aren't they gorgeous? When I shake the vial, I hear a metallic clinging sound. Funnily enough, after I had found these chunks, the other pans with crevice material were empty. Not even a single speck of gold...

I did find more in the region, but nothing huge, just little specks. Saying that, I am aware that tiny specks in my Austrian river would have freaked me out a month ago . Gold spoils you quicly. It leaves you wanting more and always bigger stuff. Haha. Well, anyway, I am really happy with my finds and haven't got tired of looking at them yet.

The most beautiful thing - my 1st gold.

About a month ago, my many prayers have been answered and it finally happened: I did find my first tiny piece of gold! I had been restlessly panning at my local river all day in the scorching heat and without much success. Then, I decided to pan out some moss that grew on the big stones, as I had read that sometimes, small flakes get caught there. I went through about six pans and in the first pan, I saw it:

It was tiny, half a milimetre maybe - and it didn't look glittery-golden, but yellow. However, it just did not budge. It stayed right there at the side of the pan. I very, very carefully took it out with a brush and put it in a glass vial. As soon, as I looked at it at home under the microscope, I knew that it was gold. It looks so different that everything else I had found before - it looks just like a stereotype nugget, doesn't it? Mind you, though - this image is blown up to 200 times. I did find another piece, even tinier... but I don't mind that. Small or not, it's gold and it's mine. My first piece - after almost a year of no success, but thankfully never giving up. This feels damn good!