A couple of weeks ago, the GPAA contacted TVP President Ken Hannan and asked him to host an outing for ABC News reporter Alex Stone. He was interested in what was going on with the modern day Gold Rush and how it all works. Ken setup a special outing with several of the TVP club members out at one of our favorite summer locations… the East Fork of the San Gabriel River.

Alex got to see the members using pans, sluices, & high bankers which gave him a great perspective of the many ways you can look for gold. Ken got Alex into a good spot, dug some dirt, and wouldn’t you know it… gold in Alex’s first pan!

Alex sent a thank you note to Ken the following week and let him know that the story ran on over 1,000 ABC & affiliated radios stations all over the country and is currently running on the ABC News channel at Slacker.com which is an online radio service.

If you would like to hear the reports, here are the links.

Gold Inet Newscast – Short Report

ABC News Gold Panning – Long Report

Ranger Airlifted to County-USC Medical Center

August 18, 2010

AZUSA – A man struck an unarmed Angeles National Forest ranger in the face with an unknown object today, knocking him unconscious, authorities said.

The forest protection officer was in the East Fork Ranger Station in the San Gabriel Mountains at 24700 East Fork Road when he heard a knock on the door and someone asked him if he could use his phone.

When the ranger opened the door, he was struck in the face with an unknown object and knocked unconscious, according to Capt. Mike Parker of the Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau.

When he awoke, he called 911, with the sheriff’s San Dimas Sheriff’s Station receiving the call at 3:40 p.m.

The suspect was described as being in his 20s and driving a green Mitsubishi Eclipse.

The ranger was airlifted to County-USC Medical Center. His condition was not immediately available, but one station reported he was going in and out of consciousness.

Azusa and Glendora police joined the sheriff’s department in looking for the suspect. Cars matching the description of the suspect vehicle were being checked.

“We do not know the reason for this bizarre and seemingly unprovoked attack,” Parker said.
The District Attorney’s Crimes Against Police Officers Unit is also on the case, Parker said.

For our members who frequent the East Fork area, please be careful out there and be extra aware of those around you.

If you are going on the outing this weekend, please take a moment to stop in at the Ranger Station to inquire how the assaulted officer is doing. If someone could drop off a get well card from the club, that would be great too.

Are you ready to get out and do some detecting or prospecting? Well August will be a great month to do just that, so make your plans now to attend one of the outings with the club.

The prospecting outing will be at East Fork on the San Gabriel river. Jim Jeffery will be leading the outing, so be sure to check with him or check the Club Forum for details. This outing will be held on Saturday, August 21st.

John Bucholzer will be leading our metal detecting outing, but we don’t have a definitive date or location yet. Check back for more details on this outing.

** UPDATE **

The metal detecting outing will be held at Oceanside beach on Sunday August 29th at 4pm. We will be working the beach on the South side of the pier. Hope to see you there!

Due to an urgent family matter, Wagonmaster Jay will not be able to go on the club outing to East Fork this weekend. Our backup wagonmaster, Jim, will not be there either, so if you aren’t familiar with the area, try to hook up with another club member who has been there before.

Please keep Jay and his family in your prayers.

February’s outing will be at the East Fork (GPAA Site CA-71). Some fellow TVP’ers have a spot they are going to show me where they have been finding quartz with gold inside. They crush the quartz and pan out the gold, how neat! I am looking forward to seeing this spot.

We will meet Saturday morning (2/21/2009) at 8 AM. The weather has been cold so be prepared for rain and cold. The river has got a good flow going with the recent rain, so I am looking forward to good digging. If you have been up there with us before we will meet at a place called the vortex in the past. It is just up the road from the cattle crossing bridge, it’s the parking area on the right side of the road (uphill) with a trash can.

There is good prospecting there and up stream as well. The terrain is steep so be forewarned. I will be at the February meeting on the 14th for questions or if you want to call me, I can be reached at (909) 821-0979.