The Story of Lori, Chapter 2

[Stottie Girl]

I'm a geek for maps and and a lover of locations and natural areas.

We have wonderful overlaps!

I spent four summers in South Dakota (where I first encountered overt racism) in the Black Hills, working at Wind Cave NP. Each winter I moved back to the mountains above LA (ok, Pasadena) and spent most weekends in the CA desert. Those are the only places I've visited or live where my heart sang. I first traveled to the desert from Michigan, because it called to me. And it was on a family camping trip two years to Death Valley where I dressed male for a week and felt like clawing out of my skin. The desert spoke to me.

My brother lives outside of Denver, though I rarely get there. I'm glad you've found a safer and more affirming place. I'm 64 so your journey is speaking to me. I've never considered any gender affirming care very seriously due to my age, so you have me thinking!

I had a job previously where I had to do cartography and GIS mapping for the big country estates. I had two large rooms of paper maps in archieve that I had to refer too. They went from the 1600's to present day, it was a map lovers wet dream!

[Lori Dee ✅]

I had a job previously where I had to do cartography and GIS mapping for the big country estates. I had two large rooms of paper maps in archieve that I had to refer too. They went from the 1600's to present day, it was a map lovers wet dream!

That would be awesome. I would be scouring them for clues of buried treasure!

[Stottie Girl]

They were beautiful things actually. My office in the city was built in 1889 and the company had been there from the start, when the office shut and moved out to the countryside we took the Ordnance Survey plans with us but most of the estate maps, the hand drawn ones and watercolour ones went into a disused flat above a shop. They were still there when the company went bust. I always wondered what happened to them. They were a treasure in themselves. The oldest one I saw was 1661 it was a beautiful hand drawn thing just gathering dust down the side of one of the cabinets.

That was one interesting job, I was gutted when the company went bust.

[Lori Dee ✅]

I always wondered what happened to them. They were a treasure in themselves. The oldest one I saw was 1661 it was a beautiful hand drawn thing just gathering dust down the side of one of the cabinets.

That would be a terrible shame if they were lost. There are many private collections and libraries that would love to have them. Collections like the Perry-Castañeda Library at the University of Texas take these and scan them so they become available online. They are valuable to prospectors and archaeologists for their content, plus the artistic value makes them worth preserving.

[Dawn Kellie]

There is a museum in Tampa that has old maps and charts. Some from the privateer days. I keep wanting to go, but there are to many chores at home

[Stottie Girl]

That would be a terrible shame if they were lost. There are many private collections and libraries that would love to have them. Collections like the Perry-Castañeda Library at the University of Texas take these and scan them so they become available online. They are valuable to prospectors and archaeologists for their content, plus the artistic value makes them worth preserving.

I know. It was over 20 years ago though so lord knows where they went. I hope they would have been given back to the country estates so that they can at least be kept in the family so to speak.

We had the whole county of Northumberland and the neighboring county of Cumbria on paper OS sheet maps from 1881 at a scale of 6" to a mile. The detail on them was incredible. We also had a full set of 1:2500 maps from the 50's. They were housed inside two huge vertical hanging plan chests. Pretty sure they would have gone the journey unfortuantely, not practical to store. They are at least digitised and available online. It's not the same as paper maps though. OS maps are some of the best maps in the world.

[KristaFairchild]

That would be awesome. I would be scouring them for clues of buried treasure!

That's where Dungeons & Dragons comes in! I can make my own fantasy maps in Inkarnate, with buried treasure! 

[Emma1017]

The last time I had my flat in Haltwhistle, I could see your old second-floor office.  I noticed the large rolls of paper on the desks and wondered what they were.

They were still there four years ago.

It would be great to see if they were still there and were salvaged for a library.  I'm sure that there would be Roman ruins positioned on the maps.

[Lori Dee ✅]

If I were there, I would try to locate the building's owner to see whether they could be salvaged. I would imagine they would be happy to have someone remove the "trash" and reduce the fire hazard.

[Stottie Girl]

The last time I had my flat in Haltwhistle, I could see your old second-floor office.  I noticed the large rolls of paper on the desks and wondered what they were.

It would be great to see if they were still there and were salvaged for a library.  I'm sure that there would be Roman ruins positioned on the maps.

Who knew you were peeping through the windows Emma! ha ha! That wasn't my archive though, the Haltwhistle office had their own which is what you saw. Penrith and Croft offices too for that matter.

They were still there four years ago? Well the company fragmented and the land agency went their seperate way, it could be that they are still trading as another company.

My archive was by far the biggest though. When I started there, the drawing office still had drawing boards and plan tables with Rotoring drawing pens, stencils, squares, french curves and watercolour paints for drawing, annotating and shading the maps. It was like stepping back in time. It took up the whole ground floor and I was the only one in there! Good job the kitchen was there too otherwise I might have been forgotten about, instead everyone used to come in for a good yap while the kettle was boiling! Good times.

[Lori Dee ✅]

I've been fighting off a sinus headache today for some unknown reason. But I still continue to work through it.

I updated my website to provide a sneak peek at my next book, which is coming along very well. It will be a sequel to Out of Tolerance.

Speaking of maps, I finally located the geology map I was searching for. The area where I plan to be gold mining in a few weeks is described as an outwash from three glaciers that were in the area a very long time ago. Glaciers move very slowly and are extremely heavy. They crush rocks into sand and can push large boulders ahead of them.

So my question was, "How far did they go, and where did they stop?" Current topographical maps show the terrain, but there is no indication of what is normal weathering, alluvial deposits (river gravels), or glacial till.

This morning, I found a USGS publication that discusses in detail how big the glaciers were, how far they traveled, and where. They also referenced "Scientific Investigations Map 3382". Jackpot! That shows me exactly where the glacier moraines are and where they stopped moving and receded. That provides me with data about not just where the gold is, but also where it came from.

Now, I just need to get out there and start digging. Unfortunately, the Bureau of Land Management won't unlock the gate to the access road until Memorial Day. They close the area because herds of elk winter there, and they don't want them or their water supply disturbed.

So, I'll get back to writing.

[Dances With Trees]

Write fast, Lori! Sounds like you have a pan and shovel begging you to take them on an adventure. I look forward to reading the 'Out of Tolerance' sequel.

[Lori Dee ✅]

Write fast, Lori! Sounds like you have a pan and shovel begging you to take them on an adventure. I look forward to reading the 'Out of Tolerance' sequel.

You are on my list for when I am ready for Test Readers again. Thanks, Anni!

[KristaFairchild]

I've been fighting off a sinus headache today for some unknown reason. But I still continue to work through it.

I updated my website to provide a sneak peek at my next book, which is coming along very well. It will be a sequel to Out of Tolerance.

Speaking of maps, I finally located the geology map I was searching for. The area where I plan to be gold mining in a few weeks is described as an outwash from three glaciers that were in the area a very long time ago. Glaciers move very slowly and are extremely heavy. They crush rocks into sand and can push large boulders ahead of them.

So my question was, "How far did they go, and where did they stop?" Current topographical maps show the terrain, but there is no indication of what is normal weathering, alluvial deposits (river gravels), or glacial till.

This morning, I found a USGS publication that discusses in detail how big the glaciers were, how far they traveled, and where. They also referenced "Scientific Investigations Map 3382". Jackpot! That shows me exactly where the glacier moraines are and where they stopped moving and receded. That provides me with data about not just where the gold is, but also where it came from.

Now, I just need to get out there and start digging. Unfortunately, the Bureau of Land Management won't unlock the gate to the access road until Memorial Day. They close the area because herds of elk winter there, and they don't want them or their water supply disturbed.

So, I'll get back to writing.

I'm intrigued! I've experienced the results of glaciers in many places and I almost got a degree in geology. I do some desert rockhounding. Keep us posted! And for me it's about the journey. 

[Stottie Girl]

I've been fighting off a sinus headache today for some unknown reason. But I still continue to work through it.

I updated my website to provide a sneak peek at my next book, which is coming along very well. It will be a sequel to Out of Tolerance.

Speaking of maps, I finally located the geology map I was searching for. The area where I plan to be gold mining in a few weeks is described as an outwash from three glaciers that were in the area a very long time ago. Glaciers move very slowly and are extremely heavy. They crush rocks into sand and can push large boulders ahead of them.

So my question was, "How far did they go, and where did they stop?" Current topographical maps show the terrain, but there is no indication of what is normal weathering, alluvial deposits (river gravels), or glacial till.

This morning, I found a USGS publication that discusses in detail how big the glaciers were, how far they traveled, and where. They also referenced "Scientific Investigations Map 3382". Jackpot! That shows me exactly where the glacier moraines are and where they stopped moving and receded. That provides me with data about not just where the gold is, but also where it came from.

Now, I just need to get out there and start digging. Unfortunately, the Bureau of Land Management won't unlock the gate to the access road until Memorial Day. They close the area because herds of elk winter there, and they don't want them or their water supply disturbed.

So, I'll get back to writing.

That sounds promising Lori. Scotland and the Pennine hills of England have lots of glacial valleys, they are obvious when you know what to look for. I'm assuming if you are looking for precious metals there also needs to be igneous or metamorphic rock in the vicinity? I ask because my local hills, The Cheviots (part of the Pennine Hills), is a volcanic range, The Cheviot itself was a volcano and is comprised of Granite core and surrounding Andesite rock types. It was also heavilly eroded by glaciers when pretty much the whole of the UK was under the ice sheet. Wondering if these could be indicators to a prescense of gold?

[davina61]

Am I right in thinking you need quartz there as well? I see that in a lot of Ozzie gold hunters on telly, a good "specy" can be worth more than its gold content .Thats quartz with gold trapped in it.

[Gina P]

  Here in WV, the glaciers barley reached this far south. Back in NJ, everything was shaped by them and all the stones, and there were many of them, were rounded from the grinding action.
I love how you find places to look for gold. A very scientific approach. 

[Lori Dee ✅]

A specific rock type is not necessarily a good indicator of gold presence. It is true that gold and quartz often travel together, but quartz is the second-most common mineral on the planet. So finding quartz does not indicate gold. But when you find gold, quartz is often there too.

I wrote a Gold Prospecting Field Guide that explains it. Check out my website, click the globe icon in my profile.)

The way gold is formed deep in the Earth is the same as many other minerals, especially heavy minerals (metals like silver, iron, lead, etc.). These are then forced up through cracks in the rock, and when they cool, they form mineral veins. Quartz is a hard crystal, so it fractures easily, making it a good host for gold and silver veins to form.

So what you are looking for is rock that has a lot of mineralization: dark, rusty, corroded looking. The more mineralization, the better the odds that gold is one of them. That could occur in igneous (volcanic) rock, or metamorphic rock (like granite). A lot of miners make the mistake of assuming those are the only places to find gold, and that is not true.

As those rocks erode and fall apart, they eventually wind up in a river. Because these are heavy minerals, they tend to collect in the same areas. Over time, they can become a part of sedimentary rock.

When I am scouting a new area, I use my metal detector in and out of the river. It will detect gold flakes, but most river gold is too fine to locate that way. Instead, I watch for lead (bullets, fishing sinkers, birdshot, etc.) or iron. Since they are heavy, the places they collect are the places where gold will settle because gold is twice as heavy as lead.

So how do glaciers fit in? North of the area I am looking at are many mines that were the state's top gold producers. They are under claim, so I can't mine there. They are mining the gold veins in the rock. When the glaciers came through long before those mines were there, the ice scraped those rocks and the bedrock below, and pushed that material into an area where I can prospect. So, I look for the edges of the moraine and where that till was piled up. It turns out that people have been digging gold out of that ground since the 1870s and are still doing so today. I want to be one of them.

😁

[Stottie Girl]

I'm curious, do you do it for personal collection or do you make money from your finds? I know you make jewlery out of the stones, do you incorporate the gold into your jewelry?

[Lori Dee ✅]

I'm curious, do you do it for personal collection or do you make money from your finds? I know you make jewlery out of the stones, do you incorporate the gold into your jewelry?

It's not about the value, but the thrill of the hunt. I enjoy treasure hunting in general.

I use gold wire in the jewelry, but I prefer to keep the gold in its natural state. Most of what I find is very fine gold. I have said that when I get enough to fill an 8-ounce jar, I will sell it. I haven't reached that point yet.

When I was in South Dakota and decided to move to Colorado, I sold my gold to pay for the move. I also sold some to pay for my passport before Trump got too busy attacking us back in January 2024. So, now I am starting over.

When I went to scout this location, I brought back a few gallons of paydirt to sample at home. I was able to recover about a gram of gold, so I know it is a good place to return to.

My plan now is to go there and camp out for about three days (it is a long drive from home). I will fill as many buckets as I can during that time and bring them home. Then, when I have time, I will take them down the road to the Arkansas River, set up my sluicebox, and run it to see what I get. If all goes well, I can return, camp out, fill buckets, and repeat.
 
The only thing that may throw a wrench into my plan is that the community where I live has just been sold. We don't yet know whether the new owners will raise the rent, but we are certain that they will. If they get stupid and raise it too high, I'll be looking for a new place to move to. That could work out if I find something closer to the gold fields, but there isn't much available out that way.