I had been into metal detecting for several years before I started prospecting for gold. I was curious about prospecting but always thought that it was hard to get into and learn, and that maybe gold prospectors were a more “elite” group than detectorists. That was before I got The Outdoor Channel and saw Tom Massie in his red flannel shirt and blue jeans in a creek panning for gold! I was thinking, he’s just a good ol boy just like me, I can do that too.

I couldn’t wait to get started. I bought a pan and classifier from the internet and a cheap thin set of waders from Wally World and headed out to a local creek. It was January and right around freezing with icy patches on the water, but I was determined and wasn’t about to let a little thing like freezing cold stop me!

So there I am standing in the cold water with a shovel and pan not really knowing what to do next. Did I mention that the water was COLD? I walk up stream a bit and start digging and shoveling into my pan and panning the material out. Hmmm nothing here I guess I’ll try that spot over there. Well, that’s when I discovered just how slick the rocks in that creek were. One minute I’m walking over to a new spot and the next I’m sitting up to my chest in the water! And that was when I discovered those waders did as good a job keeping the water in as well as keeping it out! Did I mention that the water was COLD?  

Well I manage to get back to the truck without sitting down in the creek again, turn on the heater and get home as quick as I can. I walk into the house wet and freezing cold, my wife and kids asking me what happened are you OK, did you find any gold? No, I said, and explained what happened.

That’s when my daughter looks at me and said “Dad, you’re crazy”! I have to admit, at that moment I completely agreed with her.

And that was my first gold prospecting adventure.