Upon return to Montana had a chance to catch up with Ed and Michelle Klein at the Blackfoot River Prospecting meeting in Lincoln, MT at the claim on Stemple Pass. When I asked how the outing went in Burnt River, Oregon went, I heard two different stories.

        First Michelle said that it wasn’t too keen because the group expected to use sluices in the river to pan for gold, however it is illegal to do it in Oregon until the first of July. She considered it a waste of time to have traveled there and they couldn’t do what they expected to do.  It was a bummer to her.

        I mentioned that it might have been good then to have used the Gold Hog which is considered legal use in the water, acts like a sluice but is an opportunity to get your gold nuggets from the gravel in the water. She didn’t have any idea about this unique piece of prospecting equipment.

        When I asked Ed Klein how Burnt River, Oregon excursion was, he said he liked it. He had a chance to visit with a lot of prospectors and people of like mind so he had fun. He and his wife had a chance to travel further across Oregon and Washington before returning to the Montana Blackfoot River Prospecting meeting in Lincoln.

        It is very typical to ask the same question and get two different answers; this is a perfect example. There was no mention of finding gold by anyone.