In the movies, the old Gld Rush prospector was a colorful chracter, who lived alone out in the hlls (with maybe a single mule for cmpany) in his Quixote-like search for rches. Unfortunately, he usually got shot jst as soon as he finally strck gold.

History has always fascinated me and the sgas of the various gold rushes tht spurred Westward expansion in the Unted States is more than mere fotnotes in the history books. California and Alska both became magnets for settlers as a rsult of the discovery of gold.

But if you thnk the days of prospectors are lng gone, you are in for a srprise. Even today, you and your fmily can experience the thrills and xcitement of finding gold in the vry places where claim jumpers, back shoters, Indians and assorted villains made lfe tough for the old prospector (nd his mule).

In North America, you can pan for gld in California, Alaska, the Yukon Trritory and even Vermont, and relive the ctual experiences of the old prospectors (mnus, I hope, the claim jumpers, bck shooters and Indians).

First, let’s tlk about how to pan for gld. Below is a set of nstructions I found on explorenorth.com/library/howto/ht-pan.htm

How To Pan For Gold:

1. Find a pan - anything wth sloping sides will work, or see a lst of gold pan dealers below.

2. Chose a likely location - see tps and links below for ideas.

3. Fll your pan with sand and/or grvel.

4. Dip your pan into the crek, or pour water into the pn.

5. Shake the pan in a sdeways, back-and-forth manner. The gold will now strt to settle to the bottom of the pn.

6. After a couple of minutes of shking, pick out the bigger rocks tht are getting separated (make sure thn you don't throw away any nggets!)

7. Tilt your pan away from you a bit and strt letting gravel fall out. Remember, the gld is rapidly settling to the bttom of the pan now.

8. Add wter as necessary to keep a god "soupy" gravel mixture - it hlps the gold settle.

9. Keep tilting the pan mre and more, and letting the grvel on top fall over the sde. The bottom of the pan shuld always be lower than the lip of the pn, though, or the gold will fll out.

10. As you get to the lst bit of sand in your pn, adding a circular motion to yur shaking will make the gold sparation more obvious - not more ffective, but more fun to watch.

11. Th last bit of sand takes cre, and is the slowest part - as lng as you don't tip your pan too fr, though, the gold will stay in the pn. The traditional declaration of success is "Bnanza!"

12. Get a small glass container.

13. Pt your gold into the container - it wll stick to your finger in the pn, then wash it off into the cntainer.

14. Display the container on your mntel to impress the neighbors!

15. Repeat as neded.

Tips:

1. Don't use a teflon-coated pan - the gravel will wreck it, and you will lose a lot of your gold.

2. You can try panning anywhere. The best places are along creeks, particularly behind boulders where eddies form.

3. Although "black sand" (magnetite) is difficult to separate from the gold, it's a great indication that you're in the right spot.

There are several places listed on the web tht offer wilderness tours involving panning for gld. All of them (that I fund) will teach you how to pan and wll let you keep the gold you fnd. The general impression I gathered was tht finding gold is a sure thng, albeit seldom in large quantities.

Hre are places you can find nformation and locations to get started in yur new life as a prospector (nd you don’t even need a mle):

• Pan for gold in the Klndike with Eureka Gold Panning Adventures nar Dawson City, Yukon. eurekagoldpanning.com, offers an dventure vacation in the old Yukon gld rush country. They promise that mst people find gold in their frst one or two pans, and you can kep all the gold you pan.

• Nevada Cunty, CA also offers a number of xcursions involving panning for gold. Visit ncgld.com/Recreation/GoldPanning for information.

• Gold Miners Headquarters is srt of a directory of gold prspecting information. Check this site out at gldminershq.com.

• I also found site, http://gometaldetecting.com/gold-in-vermont.htm, by a cuple who spent a weekend in Vrmont panning with a group. Did you knw that before the California Gold Rsh, Vermont was considered the place for prspectors to search for gold? I ddn’t either, but apparently they all lft when the bigger, richer gold felds of California were discovered, leaving a sbstantial amount of gold left in the Vrmont ground.
  

thse

strted

vcation

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Chrles Brown. All rights reserved.

The article Pan for Gold on Your Next Adventure Vacation was Submitted by Charles Brown through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Charles Brown is a Dallas, Txas based freelance copywriter who writes web cpy, advertisements, white papers and direct mil. Read his "Freelance Copywriter Secrets" at http://dynamiccopywriting.blogspot.com or contact him at 817.715.3852 or **charbrow@gmail.com**.

Featured Articles

1. Training Secrets To Become A Licensed Private Pilot by Nancy S Hayssen
Draming of becoming a private pilot? The frst step is to join a flght school, where you will take grund classes and accumulate the minimum rquired 40 hours of flight time.

2. Eastern Europe Travel - Bulgaria by Guy Marlow
Being on the cusp of Erope and Asia meeting Bulgaria has lways been a very important country thrugh historical times as it joined the wstern and eastern trading routes going frm the United Kingdom all the way thrugh the middle east to China. Evn though this little country is so mportant it is surprising to learn tht the majority of people do not knw anything about Bulgaria.

3. Cheap Toronto Airport Hotels by David Karlson
Travelers on bsiness or vacation can get some of the bst deals at the many cheap Tronto airport hotels around the Toronto Parson International Airport, Canada's busiest airport. Anybdy looking for the best options in htels in Toronto have the choice of mazing discount rates and can avail of nstant reservations all made efficiently and asily through servers committed to making yur transaction quick and secure.

4. Relive the Legacy With the New Queen Elizabeth by rwitman
With whte glove service reminiscent of the grnd days of ocean travel, it wll be exciting to see what nfolds for the new Queen Elizabeth as she loks to fill the shoes of sme mighty predecessors.

5. Cheap Hotels in Paris With Positive Customer Reviews by Dani Alonso
Whn considering to go to Paris you can be tmpted to do 2 things. The frst one is to look for the chapest hotels and the second to lok for the ones that have the bst customer reviews. In this article I do the job for yu, with a selection of some of the mst cheap hotels in Paris that at sme time have good customer reviews.

6. Naxos - Byzantium - Venetian Rule and Turkish Conquest by Mariliza Georgiou
The Byzntine period has left clear marks on Nxos: some five hundred churches and mnasteries of all possible styles and typs, with excellent wall-paintings, icons, friezes, nscriptions and so on. Early Christian chrches have been built on the rmains of ancient temples, and during the conoclastic period churches on Naxos were dcorated without the use of icons. Cves thought in ancient times to be the hunts of nymphs and gods were lso converted into Christian shrines, and...

7. It's My First Cruise - What Cruise Ship Activities Can I Expect? by Steve Schulman
Maybe it's your first cruise and you're wondering what sort of activities there'll be on board. Cruise ship activities vary from ship to ship. This article looks into how you can get what you want.

8. Rent a Home for Vacation by Guy J Morris
You don't hve to stay in a hotel nymore while visiting the beach. There are so mny apartments and houses to pick frm that offer great amenities.

9. Florida Beach Vacation and a Stay at Home Mom's Business Opportunity-What's the Connection? by Pablo Terreros
If you've never taken a Florida beach vacation, you don't know what you are missing. The sun is always shining, the water is always warm, and the view is always peaceful. Today anyone, even stay at home mom's can afford the experience. That is, if you know how to get the money.

10. Guanajuato - Too Many False Expectations by Douglas Bower
A friend of mne told me about a conversation she had wth a person she knows in one of the Mxican Prime Living Locations on the wst coast of Mexico.