Try your hand at striking it rich in the gold fields of Wyoming.
The American Gold Rush experienced its heyday during the mid-1800s and Worland, Wyoming, on the Bighorn River near Yellowstone National Park, was right in the thick of it. In the 1860s untold numbers of miners rushed West to make their fortunes and the lure of gold didn't die with the end of the Gold Rush days. Gold panning is still a popular hobby amongst nature lovers, and children as well as adults enjoy the thrill and adventure in the hunt for that most coveted of metals.
Instructions
1. Don your hat and boots and leave a small, clear plastic bottle at the river's edge. The hat will help reduce glare from sun sparkles that mimic gold flecks.Toting your gold pan, wade a few feet into the stream of water and turn upstream.
2. A handy rock for sitting saves the back during panning.
Dig the edge of your pan into the soft gravel and mud in the stream or use a hand shovel to scoop and come up with a good two cups of slurry and about two quarts of water. A child can use about half that much slurry and water. Step back to the shore and start the panning process.
3. Hold the pan out from your body and rotate the pan in a circular motion, tipping the pan away from you just enough that the slurry sloshes out a little at a time. Keep eliminating the slurry gradually. Situate yourself in such a way that your hat shades the water in the pan as you keep your eyes peeled for gold flecks.
4. Pyrite and mica have fooled many a miner.
When most of the slurry has been sloshed from the pan, any gold it will be at the bottom or sides of the pan because it is heavier than either the water or the gravel. Chances are you will find only very small chips or flakes. Fool's gold (pyrite) and mica (silica) chips look very much like gold, but are lighter in weight and color than real gold.
5. Your gold panning day may wash up a treasure.
If you are lucky or skilled enough to strike gold, pick out any flecks or nuggets from your pan. Store the gold in your plastic bottle safely away from the stream current as you continue to pan. The gold you find is worth quite a lot per ounce and can be sold later, if you so desire, but it can also be a souvenir worth saving for a lifetime.
Tags: away from, from your, gold flecks, Gold Rush, plastic bottle, Worland Wyoming
