About

Hi, my name is Dan. I live in Southern California with my wife Michelle and my youngest daughter, Olivia. My eldest, Alexandria, is now living in Minnesota of all places! (My wife’s family is from Minnesota.)

I’ve been interested in prospecting since I was a kid with my dad. Unfortunately we never went out prospecting when I was a kid. Not until I was in the California National Guard did I get my first taste of prospecting. It was during one of the musters that I saw one of my platoon sergeants, SGT. Hennesy (Hey Mike, drop me a line if you read this), reading a prospecting magazine. I asked him about it and he offered to take me up to the mountains to do a little panning afterwards. Well, we went up to Follows Camp on the East Fork and I panned my first pan. I remember that we only got a few flakes, but I’ve been hooked as soon as I saw that first color!

It didn’t take my dad and I long to get our own sluice and pans. We did it on and off for the past 14 years or so. With no experience and what little knowledge we got from books and online we’ve found only a few flakes here and there. So I decided to join the GPAA and really take Prospecting on as a hobby. While talking to my dad about it, he mentioned that he would really like to take one of those all inclusive Prospecting Vacations that he had read about some years ago. This site came about because of that request. While doing research for a prospecting vacation for us to take, I realized that many (not all) of the locations out there had either very little or no information, or they where hard to find online. And I have to tell you, finding some of these locations was not easy. I’m sure I have missed many more.

Unfortunately, my father passed away before we could plan a prospecting vacation of our own. I hope to visit as many of these locations as possible and pass the joy of this hobby on to my own girls. Like many things, prospecting is becoming a lost skill. I encourage everyone to try it at least once. Just beware of gold fever, it’s very contagious.

Quick video of one my trips to the “local” spot.