My First Time Gold Panning  

I’ll never forget the first time I tried my hand at gold panning.

The air was crisp, the smell of the pines as the morning breeze picked up.

The smell of coffee, onions and fresh fried potato hash browns that would soon be our breakfast.

I was 30 + and had two kids but I felt like a kid myself on Christmas day.

What would I find panning for gold?

Would I find anything at all?

If I found any gold would I drop out of the gold pan and loose it?

How hard would it be?

I’d overheard some people at work talking about the panning trip they had gone on the month before.

Somehow during the eves dropping and asking some questions I was invited to join them on this excursion to gold pan with them.

I never had panned for gold in my life and knew very little except what I’d seen on TV and had read in treasure and metal detector magazines articles from time to time.

But here I was gold panning and I was as excited about it as an 8 year old and his first BB gun.

As my new found friends would try to explain and then let me have a go at it.

I paid close attention and would practice a little but wanted to find the gold.

That first time panning for gold would take me almost 1 hour to see I had nothing.

The second pan full of dirt would reveal what is often referred to as flour gold and gold panning fever set in.

I never lost that gold fever although it’s not as high as it was when I first started. But I still jump around hoot and holler at a good sized nugget or picker.

My gold panning fever sets in as soon as the weather permits. I’m always glad to see flour, flakes and small slivers in the bottom of my gold pan, the more the merrier.

But for me with growing number of years in experience gold panning I’m finding I enjoy the companionship, lifelong friends and family outings experienced as a result of gold panning.

No matter how much you know and how good you become you can always learn something new from everyone….even novices.

So if you’ve never given gold panning a try there’s more to it than just running out, buying a gold pan, finding a stream and searching for gold. The riches and treasure you find may be in the experience and memories you keep as well.