GMS Field Trip

GMS Field Trip
Tours and Gold in Georgia
Saturday, June 30, 2018

Water level is the bane of a field trip leader’s existence. Rain and up-stream water releases can turn a great location into a cancelled or rescheduled location. In the days leading up to the June field trip, Charles was monitoring the weather and water gauges closely. It was a difficult call, but the night before the trip he decided the water level was going down and at a rate that should be acceptable for the trip. He was right. The water level was a bit high, but low enough to proceed with the trip.

GMS members Mike Pettis and Casey Sosebee went to the collecting site early that day and prepped a path to the water by weed-eating and cutting back grass and plants along the path, and they made the steps to the water safe too. They also helped Charles set up a tent with food and drinks provided by Trader Joe’s grocery store including water, juices, watermelon, cantaloupe, chips, bananas, and cherries.

The trip included 3 destinations. We started at the Chestatee Diving Bell where we learned about a curious piece of Georgia gold mining history that would have been lost to time if not for the dedicated efforts of the Lumpkin County Historical Society. The next stop was the recently renovated Dahlonega Gold Museum. The exhibits have been completely reworked and are very different from what we saw on prior trips there. Museum personnel, including GMS member Richard Harris who volunteers at the museum, were very gracious and went to great lengths to provide a tour specifically tailored to our group. Richard even gave members an exclusive peek at a fascinating fact in the museum that not all people get to see!

Our final stop was in the water for some real, out in the wild gold panning. Casey Sosebee, Mike Pettis, and John Gaston were happy to teach people how to pan and were even so kind as to offer sand they had already concentrated to other members so they could get to the gold even faster. And there was gold! Several people found some specks and tiny flakes. Nothing to retire over, but still very exciting! The sand was great too – full of dark heavy minerals that will be fun to examine later. Most of the sand will be used for educational purposes. It was hard to get people to stop long enough to refuel on watermelon and cold drinks, but they did and returned to the water refreshed and ready for more panning.

It was a fun and educational trip of many moving parts that could not have been accomplished without the help of so many GMS members. Many thanks to everyone who helped including members, property owners, museum personnel, field trip attendees who stayed safe and had fun, and of course, Charles Carter for yet another great trip.

Lori Carter
On behalf of Charles Carter, GMS Field Trip Chair
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