By Marc Prinz
I was tossing around in bed early Saturday morning wondering what was in store for the day as I had many choices. I finally settled on gold panning and decided to pack up and head to the creek for the day. You never forget the first time you find gold in your pan; you are never the same after that. You can say that I have gold fever, and some days I have it more than others. You know what I’m talking about if you have been panning before. After grabbing my traditional Saturday morning breakfast burrito I was on my way to a creek that was just minutes away from my house. During one of my recent trips to this particular creek I had found a thin layer of float gold that looked promising.
After unloading, gearing up, and working the area for a good two hours I decided it was time for a breather. I sat down to have a look around and saw a woman sitting, hunched over a bucket, panning. She was a ways down the stream from me and I could not see her face, but I could tell by her white hair and frail little body that she was older. After a few more hours of working she was still there panning in the creek. At this point my curiosity got the best of me and I headed down stream to have a chat with this woman to figure her out.As I’m walking up to her she looks like a very happy grandma. You know the kind, cookies, smiles and lots of tender-loving-care. I introduced myself and asked if she was having any luck. She looked at me with a wonderful smile like she was sitting in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and said, “yes I’m doing ok today.” I wanted to know more about what inspired her to slap on a pair of boots and get her hands dirty in the creek digging for gold.
I stood there watching her while going through all the normal pleasantry’s and could not believe what my eyes were seeing. This woman was a fantastic panner, fast and very productive at that. She was using simple, small tools and the classifier she was using was larger than her pan. But, in the time she was out she had amassed this small whit bucket of black sand.
There was a lot to admire about this woman. If I remember correctly, she is an 86 year-old retired teacher, mother and grandmother. For the life of me I cannot remember her name so I will call her Betty. This woman in front of me was remarkable to be in the creek shoveling and moving material at her age. She said she has been a hard worker her whole life. She makes it to the creek when she can, sometimes several times a week. Over the years she has gathered over 7 ounces of gold that she plans on giving this to her grandchildren.
After our conversation and observing her I offered to help her to her car, she declined. The next day I couldn’t get her off my mind. She is one tough woman. She did not complain one bit while I was with her and god would only know how she feels at the end of the day. If she is doing this at her age what else is she doing in her life? Betty is living and not giving up because she is old, frail or tired. She is young at heart living out her dreams and ambitions. I have been gold panning for many years now and know how hard it is and how sore I am the next several days. My daughters have been out with me as well and agree that it is very hard work. If you have been in the gold game you know what I’m talking about.
That concludes my story and great experience meeting a wonderful woman. Next time you go out panning consider Betty. Betty will go out panning with a smile on her face smelling the flowers along the way and put in a good days work doing what she loves.
