There’s gold out there on the trail.
My partner Moving Target and I met Ben in the Marble Mountains of northern California just before the turnoff to Etna. He’d been panning for gold in the streams for most of the spring and early summer. He showed us his vial of gold nuggets which he was planning to sell to a pawn shop owner in Crescent City.
Ben has been living in the wilderness for nearly a year, living off food stamps and the money he makes from panning gold. He’s a little rough around the edges socially, but who wouldn’t be if you only talked to humans every couple of months. We were a little wary at first of this wild-looking being, but Target and I weren’t all that stylish ourselves after months on the trail. He seemed stable enough, except occasionally, he’d let out a war whoop. But again, Target and I were also a bit feral.
Ben decided to camp with us at Payne’s Lake. He told us his story of being an ultra-bicycle rider doing races across the United States. He’d been injured in a race and decided to recover by camping out on the California coast for a few months. He started panning for gold at the mouth of Klamath River and said he could make a few hundred dollars by working the river silt for a few days. The price of gold is nearly $1,800 per ounce, but he only makes about $500 per ounce after the pawn shop owner or jeweler takes his cut. (According to TieDyed, you can get a much better price from jewelers in downtown LA)
Ben said he’s pared back from the lavish camping style he started with. He ditched his stove and fancy tent in a cache somewhere in Siskiyou County and now eats uncooked food out of his gold pan and cowboy camps with a tarp and sleeping bag.
Ben’s smart and articulate, but he likes living off the grid and in the wilderness. He gave us a wealth of information about long lost trails, the gold market, wildlife in the area, ultra-bicycling racing…and a few other subjects. He’s not completely divorced from society. He can use the Internet, and has the savvy to sign up for food stamps. He’s not sure when he wants to return to a bed and a job but seems to believe it will happen…in the future…on his own terms.
I just have to admire the guy. He’s walking his own walk. Not particularly caring what others think, and not at all worried that he’s not conforming to any of society’s rules.
P.S: Ben is not the only goldminer I’ve met on the trail. I don’t know if you can mine enough gold to pay for your trip from Mexico to Canada, but Trail Angel TieDyed says there’s a lost gold mine somewhere near the Walker Pass that could make you rich. Just saying.
Photo/video credits: Moving Target