Well gang I let ol' Joe drag my butt out to some God forsaken part of the California desert to watch him find some gold.
I didn't find squat. You needed to be a mountain goat to detect where he goes, not a 56 year old man with high cholesterol taking blood pressure medicine. (By the way, anyone else taking blood pressure medicine feel like you have no strength anymore? The stuff just seems to make me weak as a baby.)
So we started off early in the morning, 4:30 am I believe it was. Here's a picture of Joe, just in case someone that looks like this ever asks you to go nugget hunting, when he really just needs a mountain climbing partner. This picture was actually taken at Gold Basin, as I hardly had enough energy to push the shutter button on the camera on this outing.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02216.jpg">
I got to watch a beautiful sunrise as we drove three hours to our location.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02218.jpg">
We drove past acres and acres of windmills that dot the mountain sides of Palm Desert, I believe.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02219.jpg">
Joe just kept on driving for what seemed like an eternity.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02221.jpg">
Then the real fun began as we went "off-road" on a cow path that would have shook a stool loose from a camel that had been constipated for 2 weeks.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02220.jpg">
First Joe took me to a place where he was sure there was some gold, if we could just find it amongst the bullets. I have NEVER dug so many bullets in my entire life. I dug more bullets in 2 hours than I have in the whole time I have been detecting. When we finally decided to evacuate this site, I was carrying enough lead to go scuba diving without a weight belt.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02222.jpg">
Now at one point Joe got a bit confused when I was talking about shooting nuggets, and he swore he saw some fly by.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02223.jpg">
What is it about us guys who prospect? It seems that if a guy has a gold detector in his hand, his gun ain't too far away. Of course I'm so stupid, I'm wearing an empty holster on this trip because I forgot and left my gun locked in my van back at Joe's house. I suppose if I was attacked by something I could have aimed my holster at it and yelled BANG BANG, splat splat.
I finally found some really good ground to detect on, not because there was any gold there, but because it was flat.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02225.jpg">
This was the smallest hill I could find, I had Joe hook me up to his bumper via a tow chain and drag me up this hill.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02226.jpg">
A little later in the day some very welcome clouds rolled in and cooled things down just a bit, I got a little rain, I counted exactly 7 drops on my Wallaby mono coil.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02227.jpg">
Around 6:30 pm I heard a couple of shots, I yelled, "hey Joe are you alright?" Joe yelled back, "Where you at?" Well hell I was about 40 feet way from him but our view of each other was blocked by a bush. Joe said, "Come on DOC, help me clean out this patch." and held out a beautiful crystal structured nugget. Now that's my kind of hunting partner, he finds the patch and then takes off his detector and comes and gets you to clean it out. What a guy! Of course he knew I was near death, so any gold I found he would just take off my dead carcass before he shoved my lifeless form into a gully somewhere.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02228.jpg">
"Follow me, it's not very far at all." Oh it wasn't very far at all, just way up this gully, and then up the side of a ridge that ran at a 75 degree angle to the drop of death to the bottom of a rocky wash.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02231.jpg">
I climbed up that murderous slope, and true to his word, Joe had stopped and dropped his detector right next to the hole where he had found the nugget, so as to allow me to find any other piece further up the slope. Tried as I might, I dug nothing more than a small piece of metal, another bullet fragment, and a large piece of iron. Meanwhile, Joe is detecting parallel to me over a ways on the slope and finds two more nuggets. Now he is feeling bad for me, no, make that, "he is taking pity on me." I'm hot, I'm sweaty, I'm exhausted, I'm drinking water but it just keeps running out the side of my mouth and down my shirt. Having a wet shirt makes me feel like I want to pee, but because of my enlarged prostate I can't. I'd like to have sat down and rested, but at this point my hemorrhoids were hanging out of my pantleg. I was afraid if I sat down I might never get back up. Joe says, "Come over here DOC and put your coil right here."
Isn't that pitiful ? I said what are you doing now Joe planting nuggets for me? No I didn't plant it, just put your coil right there and see if you hear anything. "Yeah I hear it!" I had just taken 10 minutes to get from where I was at to where Joe was at, holding my breath all the way, because I was traversing this hideous slope. But it was all worth it as I then proceeded to dig a 3 1/2 ounce lump of gold! Yeah right, in your dreams ! It was a stinking sliver of a lead bullet. Apparently Joe was too tired digging nuggets to dig a piece of lead so he had me do it for him.
Take a look at where Joe, whose ancestors were a herd of Llamas somewhere in the Himalayas, was at.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02232.jpg">
We had planned to stay the night and detect the next day, however, I had ran out of Depends, and Joe was tired of taking care of my sorry old body and leading me around like a lost puppy. Plus the fact we were both too tired to unroll our sleeping bags. SO we called it a day and decided to try to get back to civilization.
We drove back 3 hours to Vista California, and then I drove another hour down to Imperial Beach. I showered and poured myself into bed. I am so stiff and sore I can hardly move. Good thing I'm on vacation! It was however, a fantastic adventure and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Thanks Joe!
As for the secret prototype Joe was using, just stay tuned, I promise it will make your detecting life easier at a price that won't bust your piggy bank!
DOC
I didn't find squat. You needed to be a mountain goat to detect where he goes, not a 56 year old man with high cholesterol taking blood pressure medicine. (By the way, anyone else taking blood pressure medicine feel like you have no strength anymore? The stuff just seems to make me weak as a baby.)

So we started off early in the morning, 4:30 am I believe it was. Here's a picture of Joe, just in case someone that looks like this ever asks you to go nugget hunting, when he really just needs a mountain climbing partner. This picture was actually taken at Gold Basin, as I hardly had enough energy to push the shutter button on the camera on this outing.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02216.jpg">
I got to watch a beautiful sunrise as we drove three hours to our location.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02218.jpg">
We drove past acres and acres of windmills that dot the mountain sides of Palm Desert, I believe.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02219.jpg">
Joe just kept on driving for what seemed like an eternity.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02221.jpg">
Then the real fun began as we went "off-road" on a cow path that would have shook a stool loose from a camel that had been constipated for 2 weeks.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02220.jpg">
First Joe took me to a place where he was sure there was some gold, if we could just find it amongst the bullets. I have NEVER dug so many bullets in my entire life. I dug more bullets in 2 hours than I have in the whole time I have been detecting. When we finally decided to evacuate this site, I was carrying enough lead to go scuba diving without a weight belt.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02222.jpg">
Now at one point Joe got a bit confused when I was talking about shooting nuggets, and he swore he saw some fly by.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02223.jpg">
What is it about us guys who prospect? It seems that if a guy has a gold detector in his hand, his gun ain't too far away. Of course I'm so stupid, I'm wearing an empty holster on this trip because I forgot and left my gun locked in my van back at Joe's house. I suppose if I was attacked by something I could have aimed my holster at it and yelled BANG BANG, splat splat.
I finally found some really good ground to detect on, not because there was any gold there, but because it was flat.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02225.jpg">
This was the smallest hill I could find, I had Joe hook me up to his bumper via a tow chain and drag me up this hill.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02226.jpg">
A little later in the day some very welcome clouds rolled in and cooled things down just a bit, I got a little rain, I counted exactly 7 drops on my Wallaby mono coil.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02227.jpg">
Around 6:30 pm I heard a couple of shots, I yelled, "hey Joe are you alright?" Joe yelled back, "Where you at?" Well hell I was about 40 feet way from him but our view of each other was blocked by a bush. Joe said, "Come on DOC, help me clean out this patch." and held out a beautiful crystal structured nugget. Now that's my kind of hunting partner, he finds the patch and then takes off his detector and comes and gets you to clean it out. What a guy! Of course he knew I was near death, so any gold I found he would just take off my dead carcass before he shoved my lifeless form into a gully somewhere.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02228.jpg">
"Follow me, it's not very far at all." Oh it wasn't very far at all, just way up this gully, and then up the side of a ridge that ran at a 75 degree angle to the drop of death to the bottom of a rocky wash.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02231.jpg">
I climbed up that murderous slope, and true to his word, Joe had stopped and dropped his detector right next to the hole where he had found the nugget, so as to allow me to find any other piece further up the slope. Tried as I might, I dug nothing more than a small piece of metal, another bullet fragment, and a large piece of iron. Meanwhile, Joe is detecting parallel to me over a ways on the slope and finds two more nuggets. Now he is feeling bad for me, no, make that, "he is taking pity on me." I'm hot, I'm sweaty, I'm exhausted, I'm drinking water but it just keeps running out the side of my mouth and down my shirt. Having a wet shirt makes me feel like I want to pee, but because of my enlarged prostate I can't. I'd like to have sat down and rested, but at this point my hemorrhoids were hanging out of my pantleg. I was afraid if I sat down I might never get back up. Joe says, "Come over here DOC and put your coil right here."
Isn't that pitiful ? I said what are you doing now Joe planting nuggets for me? No I didn't plant it, just put your coil right there and see if you hear anything. "Yeah I hear it!" I had just taken 10 minutes to get from where I was at to where Joe was at, holding my breath all the way, because I was traversing this hideous slope. But it was all worth it as I then proceeded to dig a 3 1/2 ounce lump of gold! Yeah right, in your dreams ! It was a stinking sliver of a lead bullet. Apparently Joe was too tired digging nuggets to dig a piece of lead so he had me do it for him.
Take a look at where Joe, whose ancestors were a herd of Llamas somewhere in the Himalayas, was at.
<img src="http://www.docsdetecting.com/findmall/DSC02232.jpg">
We had planned to stay the night and detect the next day, however, I had ran out of Depends, and Joe was tired of taking care of my sorry old body and leading me around like a lost puppy. Plus the fact we were both too tired to unroll our sleeping bags. SO we called it a day and decided to try to get back to civilization.
We drove back 3 hours to Vista California, and then I drove another hour down to Imperial Beach. I showered and poured myself into bed. I am so stiff and sore I can hardly move. Good thing I'm on vacation! It was however, a fantastic adventure and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Thanks Joe!
As for the secret prototype Joe was using, just stay tuned, I promise it will make your detecting life easier at a price that won't bust your piggy bank!
DOC