Summer is winding down, and with it gold prospecting season here in Colorado. While many will continue to search for gold, most of us will be settling in for the coming of the holidays and winter.
The price of gold has been on a wild ride this summer, sitting at around $1860 now, and pricing it for sale has been tricky. If anyone has been on the store site, you will notice that it is disappearing and I am not sure I will continue to offer it, as the high price is pricing me out of the market, requiring a substantial investment in it to continue to offer smaller gold.
We have had a busy, busy summer, and, yes, I continue to get comments on the lack of blog posts. But to tell the truth, there is so much to report, it is hard for me to decide what to tell you. That, and the lack of time, has kept me from sharing more information.
I hear that Cache Creek is a complete zoo this year with over a hundred workers there on some days. We have had camp hosts who have been charging for lessons and help, selling their contraptions in the parking lot, cutting down trees, digging huge holes, people who continue to abuse the site, and threats from BLM to close it down. We have avoided it like the plague and have still been pulled into the drama.
GPOC needs to be more careful who they put in there, and the lack of real concern over who the hosts are or how long they are there has been a real concern for all members. Board members have not been kept up to date with what is going on there, not allowed to see the regulations for the area unless they go to Cache Creek and get their own copies. If GPOC is to continue this relationship with BLM, the quality of hosts needs to be addressed. If it is too hard to find volunteers for this, then we need to sever this relationship instead of putting people in there who have already shown themselves to be unreliable in their conduct, or to have them push the envelope until they are removed from the site and/or lose their club membership. It seems our camp hosts are no longer there to help the public, but for personal gain.
I am also hearing that the Forest Service may be overstepping their bounds in regard to the Arkansas River area around BV. We have heard they are riding herd over BLM area as well as Forest Service, and have heard that they are issuing tickets, but I don't know that for sure. They were not supposed to be doing that until all the signs were in place, and then only on Forest Service land. BLM should be taking care of the land they manage. The drama there continues as well.
Meanwhile, we have been happily looking for gold in other places, here in Colorado, and enjoying the peace and tranquility of South Park near Trout Creek Pass. Hopefully, your gold prospecting season has been as pleasant as ours, and that you have found gold to put in your bottle. We have found enough to make it worth our time finding gold in Colorado. Until next time...
Good Prospecting to You,
Shirley Weilnau
www.hookedongold.com
hookedongold@gmail.com
