I'm worried about Digger Bob!

[~LARGO~]

Hi all...

Haven't heard from D.Bob for a while...hope he is keeping high and dry...

Hope all you folks in the rainy areas are safe as well..

~LARGO~

 

[Digger Bob]

Hey, I'm ok. Although I just returned from 4 days in Reno for New Years. Rain, rain, rain; all the way over, all day, every day, and finally snow today on the way back. I-80 over the Sierras was closed by a mud slide for 2 days but opened today. I always take hwy 70 to cross so I wasn't worried about that. 70 is ALWAYS open when the others are closed or chained. Uh, until today that is. It was also closed due to mudslides not due to open for another 4 days. I didn't learn this until I was there however, so had to detour up through Susanville to get across to home. Rain all the way once I got out of the snow. So, made it home with no problems. No significant flooding here in Chico either.

Reno Jim and I had hoped to run out to Rye Patch for a day of detecting but the rain stopped that too. So, we had to content ourselves with partying and watching football for days on end. Bummer! Now I have to wait till spring to get my Nevada gold fix.

Hope everybody else is Ok out there.

Digger Bob

 

[~LARGO~]

Hey Digger..
Good to hear from you!
I know you are pretty hardy, but when crappy weather like you guys have had, even the tough are tested!

Oh yes, BTW, you can forget RP. It has been tapped out, contrary to all rumors...

Stay dry!

~LARGO~

 

[Digger Bob]

Does anyone know what the situation is out there? I've seen a few notes about some people claiming up the northern end hoping to make $1000 a day just to break even. And a few others claiming to "own" some of the property. Just wondering if any of these overly optimistic souls have given it up. The price of gold will make some do crazy things and just cause trouble for us "normal" folks who just want to have fun.

Digger Bob

 

[~LARGO~]

Yep,

The 2 larger north end "campsites" on 17 have been scraped some, and some small digging activity has occurred nearby...it seems there is always new "paper"to be found out there.

The onset of spring should provide some interesting, but hopefully not too serious conflicts, if the guy who says he has the sublease starts getting serious about who can camp there or not.

Of course there is always the bunch from az. that always show up with their sagebrush camo painted little trackhoe and churn things up on 17. One of these days, the BLM will put a stop to that, hopefully!

~LARGO~

 

[Reno Chris]

I heard some guy had leased section 17 - the surface of 17 and 19 belong to BLM, but the mining rights are private. Supposedly they are controlled by Newmont, and supposedly thats who this guy leased 17 from. He has told others to get off and if hew has to make $1000 per day, I feel sorry for him.

Hey Bob - we did have some rain here, didn't we! Last time Hiway 70 got knocked out was during the floods of february 1986, when like 1/4 mile of the hiway got washed into the river. It took something like 6 months to get it back open that time.

One of these days we all have to get together out there.

Chris

 

[Digger Bob]

Largo - All it would take is someone to complain to the BLM if the sagebrush gang shows up. I remember when Ed was alive, some guys showed up with a backhoe to do just that. Thought they could do whatever they wanted there and no one would care. As soon as Ed saw what they were up to he was into town and at the office the same day raising hell. It was miles from his claims but he treated that whole area like it was his. BLM was out there within a couple of days and warned them in no uncertain terms that if he came back and saw any evidence of that rig being moved or any dirt moved, they were busted and their equipment confiscated. I saw them several times over the next month and that backhoe had not moved. They were camped there by the burn barrel for a month or more and then gone.
Others I know, who shall remain nameless here, have taken their quads with a snow blade on them and scrapped the backside of small hills where they found small patches.

Chris - You bet there was a little rain and snow. Last year at the same time you had 4 ft of snow in town. This year the river is flooding downtown and washing out roads. So much for being a desert! I plan on being out there in that area several times next year. I'll try to drop you a line when it looks like I'm heading over.

Digger Bob

 

[~LARGO~]

Hi Digger..
Yeah, those guys I was talking about camped on the west side of 17, at the head of the big wash there, and their camp was out of sight, from the lower roads. They said they were waiting to go int Northern Ca. as soon as dredging season opened..probably used the green backhoe on thier dredge...ha ha, it was one of those that drags itself along with its bucket.
Yes, I saw the snow blade scrapes on that patch up there in that wash on 19, then over the hill to the south close to the border of 17 and 20, I think, and heard second hand who might have done it. I found my firt nice 1/4 ouncer just above that wash to the west, before it got popular. Got about an ounce there, total.
Yes, Ed was a great caretaker of that country...sort of...he did his share of churning up that country, all right!
Take care,

~LARGO~