Fun, chance at riches attract gold panners to Mokelumne
By Matt Brown
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
MOKELUMNE HILL — Peter Strobel gazes excitedly into the clear waters of the Mokelumne River. Flecks of gold sparkle in the sandy bottom.
But this treasure isn't worth much.
"When you look at the river, you see all these gold flakes," Strobel says. "You think you have something, but it's fool's gold."
Strobel plops a large flake of pyrite in the shallow water and it floats, proving its worthlessness. But this modern day gold prospector continues to comb the banks of the Mokelumne hoping to strike it rich.
Gold-crazed miners have worked these banks since 1848. The Mokelumne River surrendered an estimated 1 million ounces during the Gold Rush. The largest find was one of the first — a 25-pound nugget in 1848.
These days, gold is selling for more than $600 an ounce, which raises the stakes for small-time prospectors.
Serious miners used pick axes and sluice boxes to extract their fortunes. Now, recreational gold panners like Strobel and his friend, Collette Parliament, search with $8 plastic pans and a thin metal crevice tool.
Strobel stands in the shallow water of the river near the Electra Powerhouse, his blue sneakers soaking in the river. His collar is turned up to protect his neck against the hot sun. The Pine Grove resident is out here almost every week looking for gold.
"The beauty of the river is great," he says. "Some people go camping or fishing. We go panning."
A former real estate agent in Southern California, Strobel moved to the Sierra three years ago and was bitten by the gold bug.
"It's just kind of recreational," he says. "We're not making our fortunes or anything."
This is a good year for prospecting, he says. Since there was a lot of rain last year, many of the large rocks were washed away, revealing potential veins. The unusually dry season this year means more of the river bottom is exposed and easily accessible.
Parliament is digging in a crack between two rocks with a crevice tool, a metal bar with a curved point on one end that resembles a thin crowbar.
"The gold washes over the cracks and sinks in the crevices," she says. "We use this tool to dig it up."
Strobel is willing to share other nuggets of prospecting wisdom. Searching near veins of quartz and looking on the outside banks of river bends will yield the gilded rocks, he says. The river washes the gold onto the outside banks, where it sinks, he explains.
They have been in the river for three hours and haven't found a flake, Strobel says. But he is not discouraged. He knows the gold is out there.
This modern day miner has found gold flakes over the years, enough to amass a couple of ounces, but he is spurred on by the prospect of a large nugget.
"The gold nugget is always the goal," he says. "Once you get it, you get bit. You can put it on your shelf and show your friends. But it's also about the journey. You want to do it again. You can never have too much gold."