Gold!

Why were so many people moving to California in the past? Was it the wonderful coast? Was it the climate to grow fruits? Maybe both of it is right, however the main reason to move to California in these days was to find gold. Well, you might wonder if there is still something left of the gold. The answer is: Yes. Well, maybe not so much anymore. However, there are still people who search for gold as their profession – small businesses that earn just enough to do their living. Well, you don’t become rich, however if it enough to survive. Knowing all that, we were still surprised that one of those spots to find gold was our perfect campground at Merced River. John – yes, you are right the wildlife photographer - told us about it. Of course we knew that in former times you could find gold here, but that there was still some left…. Of course, when you look at the river flowing in the morning light then it is clear that if you were to find gold it must be here.

Well, being a true Californian, John of course had the right equipment with him to wash gold. For many people this is a nice spare time activity – hobby. This was very fascinating so that we had to try it as well. We even found something. In my second try I found a tiny flock of gold. John stored it so that we could take it with us. Super!