We're using these directions again as Clicky from the AZXC Site. Post questions, Etc. in the Sept Excursion Thread and not this one. THANKS!

Directions and Satelite photo Clicky

Kinda large file ~2 MB. Will take a few minutes to load if clicked on. Do save Target as. if you don't want to wait and watch a blank Browser Screen.

Here's a little better descrption of the Claims:
~6,000 Ft in elevation
~90 miles or 1 hour from Phoenix
~1,320 Ft by 1,320 Ft X 2 Claims that are side by side. Or 1/2 Mile long X 1/4 Mile wide
~1/2 tank of Gas Going Up
~1/4 tank of Gas Coming back



START At 2 if you're already on the I-17 freeway.
Number 6 is about a mile past Mayor. You'll see a huge church on the right just before Poland Junction Turnoff. It's easy to miss and on the left side of the street.

If you stay on the main dirt road you should be fine. Look for a brown gate with a sign on it (AZXC of course)on the left side. You'll know it's mine too by the dropoff to get in.
If you reach Breezy Pines, you've gone way too far.
I'll have my FRS turned on and set to Channel 14-0 for anyone that gets near can ask for help.
They don't work until you're practically right on top of me due to the mountains, so if you don't get a response, keep trying.
PM for questions or just post in the SEPT excursion thread. Thanks, Adam

Sunday? as in two days from now or as in two weeks from now

Dang tomarrow is a no go for me ... sorry

Sounds awesome Conundrum. As the claim owner, if we find a large lump of gold on your claim, do you have ownership rights?

There have been some good sized nuggets that have been found and Yes, You keep what you find, but as the owner I get commision... Just kidding. Anyone who finds some gold gets to keep it. That's the fun of it. You're digging up money... Who said money doesn't grow on trees.. It's in the dirt!

Just purchased a tent and some FRS radios, so I'm ready to go!

Can everyone that's going take a 5 gal bucket? Then I won't have to go buy some.
We'll need them to transport the material to the sluice box. I would also like to use the tailings for the campsite to reduce the dust.

Tools to bring for digging:
Heavy duty pry bar(s)
Shovel and Hand shovels
Gloves that can get wet. I personally don't use them.

I was up there this past weekend and I think there will be room for at least 11 tents easy, although some will be on the other side of the creek in the sand. (I've camped there before and it was really nice in the sand, but it does get everywhere.)

I'm going to set up what my itineary will be so if you want to add to my Ingredients we can use the same stove etc and reduce the duplicated efforts. This will be posted in the coming days.

I've just got my internet back so I will be able to upload/post information.

I'm really looking forward to the whole group camp thing. This will be the biggest group we've had up there. Previously there was a group of 6 couples and 7 tents.

I might be buying a new tent so I may use my old for what I call a community tent. We've used one in the past for holding the Ice chests and etc. for everyone. If it rains it is nice to have a place where you can sit and enjoy each other's company without getting where you sleep dirty. If someone has a tent that they would like to use for this, let me know.

Thank you and I'll get to work on the Itineary.

Here's a couple pictures for your viewing pleasure.

A few more picts.

Looks amazing. 5 Gallon bucket or 2 shouldn't be a problem. Looking forward to digging up something like this:

WOW!, You? Crap I would love to get something like that!

Most of what we find (if anything) will be very small. Some are what we call pickers. You can't suck them into a bottle.

You just never know what you'll find. I guess for me that's part of the fun.

Here's what I'm working out for an Itineary.

Claim_Itineary Clicky

Directions and Satelite photo Clicky
Kinda large file ~2 MB.

Roger, have you got a cowboy hat? Everyone knows it's good luck to wear a cowboy hat when digging for gold Be sure to have yours on when you get there And say "yee-ha" a lot..

Should I ride a horse there too?

I was looking at the first page of this thread which says. Distance: 90 miles, or 1 hour. Now we all know it's not good to drive an X that fast, particularly on Mountain roads!

Man, if you've got horses, hook me up! Hell, I'll wear the hat and say yee-ha, no problem there

Hey I've got a Stetson and have experience rounding up cattle. True story. Thank you Marlboro.

Well Again the Army see's to ruining another weekend for me. I wont be able to make it up on the 21st although shooting to make it up later that night or possibly on the morning of the 22nd. Ill let you know more when I hear the final plan from work.

I am pretty sure I will be making it. Will there be room for truck camping? In other words, sleeping in the truck. I won't be up there until late afternoon on Friday. I work the night before.

There is room for you to camp in the truck, however it may be a little separated from the main camp spot. It is a narrow road that leads to the camp area and we won't be able to have the vehicles gathered around the camp as I saw you guys did with the Triathalon.

We can make it work out for both you guys.

This what I originally posted but I am going to have to opt out of this one. Sorry Conundrum I was looking forward to it.

No problem, there will allways be another time I'll be up there camping and will let you know.

I plan on making a regular thing once it is toasty down here...

I will take ya up on that at another time definitely.

How restricted are you on the size of the camp area? My new tent arrived on Friday, put it up in my garden on Saturday afternoon. It's 17' long & 10' wide. Alot bigger in real life than it looked in the picture. Hopefully that won't be to big.

I apologise in advance for our dog. You'll understand why when you hear him coughing in the night! He doesn't understand the concept of being tethered.

I have a spot where that will fit.. Geeze how many does it sleep? Maybe I'll stay with you too. Heck all of us could sleep in it. Just kiddin.

It shouldn't be a problem. The dog too. I thought about bringing mine but I'll be leaving them home on this run because I'll be too tied up in everything to be watching them besides I need the space in the truck for the extra gear I need to bring.

See ya there.

Says it sleeps 8. But you know how those things are - They never actually mean 8 fully grown people. In this case however, I'd say it would probably sleep 10 fully grown people! So Coleman underestimated a little. It's nice tho - Easy to put up and only $80 from Walmart online. My wife and 2 year old (Well almost 2 year old) will also be there, along with the coughing dog.

Looks Cool! I like Coleman (Although I think they're made in China Now) products.

I hope there will be a nice turnout. Either way it's away for a weekend from the city.

So who is planning to go? Do you have a list of the people that are going? Just curious.

No one has really expressed much interest so far or the ones who have can't make it.

PLEASE, Post up if your going... Thanks, Adam

I'm there. Even if I have to take the key to the gate and go on my own!

When is everyone leaving tho? I can leave Friday evening, or would prefer early Saturday morning and put the tend up in Daylight.

I'm going up Friday after rush hour if you want to go then, however I've posted all the stuff you need to know in the first post on how to get there. I figured you guys would team up and meet someplace to come up together. It's only about an hour or so away from N Phoenix so people could really come and go as they please.

I'll have light if you want to setup in the night time.

I think the wife has a plan for Friday evening. Don't think I'm going with her tho, so I'll pack the X Friday night, then leave early Saturday morning. Hopefully we can meet with someone who did the pre-run. So we don't get to badly lost!

Nobody posted to do the prerun with me and Stupid me confused Carefree HWY with CAVE CREEK RD

The first post should get you there I'll probably park my X at the top of the Hill so people know where to turn.

Sorry guys, really wanted to go ,but I have to babysit my mommy that weekend, knee surgery. Will try to catch the next one. Have fun panning for BLING BLING!

See ya next time then.
Happy FRIDAY THE 13th, Y'all.

Looks like just you and me then!

So the split will be 20 / 80 for me... Just kidding! Well there will be plenty of room to setup your house, oh tent.

Gotta camp in style.

I was thinking about getting one of these:



http://www.bumperdumper.com - I just laugh every time I hear the domain name.

That's funny!

Just got a chance to click on the link...



Too Funny! Even T-shirts! Can you imagine what this guy's friends said when he told them what he was going to invent.! Must have been the Butt of the Jokes for a while... Pun intended!

Just ordered my Digi cam and can't wait to check it out.! I ordered 2 - 1GB cards so I can take plenty of video!

Pentax OPTIO 750Z - Nice camera. Very similar in Spec to my G6, a little smaller in size tho. The G6 is a bit of a monster.

My wife is Vegetarian. So we'll be bringing some Veggie stuff for her to eat, veggie burgers etc. Are we going to need to bring our camp stove, or are we just using the camp fire? I've got a piece of crap Coleman Keroseen stove at the moment, but am going to invest in a Propane one - Probably this week. Deffinately before my camp trip first weekend in June.

Don't get rid of that old stove or replace it. There is a propane conversion you can buy for I think around $20. Works perfect!

I have a grilling grate that we use over the campfire if that's ok. Plus I'll be bringing my Coleman Stove so you probably don't need yours.

Does she freak on people who may eat meat in front of her? I don't want to offend her, but I really like the real stuff. I was planning on making Chili, but it is going to have steak and hamburger in it.

She has no problem with people eating meat in front of her. Or with her food being cooked next to meat etc. When she was pregnant with our now 2 year old daughter, she couldn't stomach meat. She's not eaten any since.

Any idea where I can get one of those Propane converstion thingies locally?

Cool, You can get the conversion at Popular or Big 5 might have them too.

Anyone else going? DBAX, etc.

As much as I'd like to go, I am running short on weekend time to get things done before GONE. I'll definately go should the opportunity come around again in the future, looks like a great place to get away from the heat. (I mean the heat, not the cops ...)

No problem, There will definately be a next time. Have fun at MOAB I couldn't quite afford to go. Maybe next year! After sliders, locker, ect, ect.

See my new post in "tires" forum...

Nice! Did you mount your old ones on those nice rims?

Trying to find me one of these



for camping. If any of ya'll (See - I'm starting to sound american) see one anywhere.

Okay, no need. Harbor Freight have one: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=90833

Supposed to be around 105° down in the Valley on Saturday.

Weather for Prescott, AZ = 85°. Ahhhhhh - Just perfect

Might come out and visit Saturday afternoon when it heats up. Conundrum does your cell work out there, if so keep it handy

Cool, It works, but only if I stand on one certain Rock... So I will have the FRS tuned to 14-0 and that should work just fine. Be sure to look at the first post for more information. Thanks, And I'll see ya there!

That 'special rock' you stand on that gives you a better signal. Maybe we should crack that open and check for gold!

HMMM... Never thought of that. I like doing my impression of the Karate Kid to get the signal...

I guess it's going to be just us up there so I'm going to take my pooches too. Does your dog get along with others, Mine are very aggressive at first and then just want to play themselves to death.

I'll see ya later.

Just shaved my dogs coat - So he looks like a scrawny rat at the moment. He gets along well with other dogs, quite possibly the most passive animal on the planet. I once tried forcing him to bite me, by really pissing him off. Just to see how he would react before we had our baby. The most I could manage was a a growl before he ran off. We always take him camping with our friends dogs and we've never had problems.

Cool, I'm sure they'll be good with each other.

It seems I underestimated the heat for this weekend down here in the Valley. Weather forcast this morning says 108-110° for Saturday and 108-112° on Sunday.

We'll be basking in the low 80's, while you guys down here Fry. Shame more of you can't make it!

Conundrum you have a PM.

I should be there Friday evening now instead of Saturday morning.

Cool I'll check my PM. One Back at ya! We can bask together in the cool breezy weather and listen to the water trickle by. At least in between "WE STRUCK THE MOTHERLOAD!" Exclamations.

Gettin' Ready. I'm hooked up to my friends Trailer (which may still be for sale) and towed it to work this morning to lubricate the bearings and see if the tires would blow. No problems and hardly noticed it there. First time towing with the X and I have to say it is great so far. We'll see when it is loaded down with my gear. I'm also bringing my ATC to play around or shuttle up and down the hill to open the gate if Defibvts comes up. I'm sorry this was a very unorganized event/excursion and I hope to do better in the future if given the opportunity. MOAB really screwed me and I couldn't get the Website updated with a link to this thread.

See those who come up tomorrow or Sat. Have a great weekend guys.

A trailer would be so much easier. Might try and fine me an old used one or somethin for times like these. I'll be there before 7pm tomorrow evening hopefully, getting off work at 3. 30 mins to get home / an hour to pack, then how ever long it takes me during afternoon rush hour to get up there. My newly purchased FRS will be on when we get close.

Cool, See you there and I think you'll be there around 6 or earlier. Oh, Wait you're on the East side? Maybe 7 will be more correct. If you can do the loop 101 to the 17 and then the only major traffic you'll run into is the people going North to get off at Carefree Hwy. I don't know of any other way around that from your side of town.

Leaving right now. See ya up there Rinky.

Goog luck. Accident on the I17 on this mornings traffic report. 5 mile long line, wheels fell off of someones trailer. I'll be there before dark, get that fire burnin and the food cookin!

Is that what that was all about? I can see I-17 from my office and up until about an hour ago it was a parking lot. Even at 6:30 it was all backed up.

Was going to try and make it this weekend, but we have a B-day party for a family member we have to go to.

Have fun.

Well, I got the chance to stop out at the claim this afternoon. It was worth the drive. It is a beautiful spot with lots of camping areas. You could smell the pines and hear the brook right next to the campsite. The water was the perfect temp to cool off and I almost wanted to jump in but alas I had no swim suit.

Thanks Adam for opening up the site to us. I even got to see some real gold up close and personal.

All in all it was a good day. Help NOSUP4U do some mods to his truck and escaped some of the heat in a mountainous region.

Welp, made it back with no problems. Thanks for stopping by Scott, sorry you couldn't stay longer. Thanks for Camping with us Roger. We'll have to do it again soon. I almost wanted to turn back when I saw 109 on the outside temp guage! It was only 87 at the campsite. I'll try and get a few picts up later. After a shower and a nap.

Well my apologies for not making it up Adam, Wanted to head out this morning(sunday) but overslept. sounds like it was the place to be this weekend though, So are you all millionaires now? Maybe we can arrange another weekend up there soon for just a camp out, sounds like the place to be during the hot temps.

Myself and my family had an amazing time. Thank you again Adam. The wife was a little scared about the road down to the camp, but she got over that and says she would deffinately do it again.

Can't think of a better place to spend time, it was amazing. Got home and my Hard Drive had taken a crap, so just got up and running on spare HD I had laying around, or I would have posted sooner.

Got there on Friday evening, just as the sun was setting about 7pm. Traffic on the I17 & 101 was a nightmare, but we made it before dark. Adam kindly headed up on his ATC to meet us at the gate, wife instantly went into shock when she saw the turn onto the Camp road. I'm glad it was daylight still, would have been much scarier in the dark. Headed down the rocky drive into the camp area and the fire was already burning, step out of my X and am in a state of amazement at how cool this place is, you can hear the river running over the rocks in the background.

We unpacked quickly so we could get the tent up before dark, then we relaxed by the fire and had a few beers. Our dog Bean got to know Adams 2 dogs and they all got along swimmingly. Slept like a log with the noise of the river only 30ft away.

Woke upat around 6:30am. Had an amazing breakfast of Eggs, Sausages, Potatoes, Bacon and Biscuits (cooked in the Dutch Oven on the fire) by Adam and his wife. A hearty breakfast for the days Gold Mining. Adam already had a bucket of gravel to pan, that he dug the previous morning. So we worked our way through that bucket and found a couple of pieces of gold in there. We then decided to dig under some tree roots on the rivers edge, where we figured there should be a good haul. We emptied the mud / rock into the sluce in the river. After a lunch of grilled shrimp and some snacks, we then emptied the sluce and we started panning. The first pan I believe Adam found 2 pieces of gold, followed by me finding a piece in my pan. The final pan wielded another 4 or 5 pieces. It feels very rewarding to actually find it in the pan, as Adam said "You know it when you see it". You can see the golden shine quite easily.

For dinner Adam and family cooked what I must say was by far the best Chili I've ever tasted. We then had a few more beers and huddled around the camp fire as the temperature dropped. Night time temp was probably around 50°.

This morning, sadly it was time to go. My wife didn't sleep so well as she was panicing about the trip back up the hill, but after packing and saying our goodbyes we made it up without any problems. I took the line to the right at the top of the hill Adam, making sure the big hole was between my wheels. It was easier to keep up the momentum that way. Lindsay my wife admitted that she had been scared about nothing, we radioed back to Adam to let him know we made it and headed home. Trip home to Mesa took 1h45min, got out of the car and wished I was back at the camp.

Thank you again Adam for an amazing weekend.

Photos are off of the camera and are slowly being uploaded to http://www.rinky.us/coppermine/

Adam and Joanie, panning for some gold, bought some nice land, I'm sure you're happy it was sold.. Those are great pics (I especially liked Jaqueline riding the sheperd ) It seems like ya'll had a great time, and beat the heat to boot. After coming in from re-adjusting my T-bars just now, (had to let 'em settle again..) looking at this photo made me actually feel cooler I'd gladly be a guest up there anytime.

Nice pictures roger... It sure did look cooler than the valley. looks like a nice area for camping also,

Nice Picts Roger. I'm actually at work enjoying the left over chili. El Cid Chili. I'll try to get a couple of my own up today when I get home.
Thanks for the nice writeup and I wish more could have come out. Maybe Next time.

That chili was damn good. My June weekends are pretty much fully booked, looks like July before we'd be able to make it out there again. Just say the word tho and I'm there. Bringing my swimming shorts next time tho for a dip in the creek.

Here's a few Pictures of my own. Sorry I didn't take more.



That's my Dog. Good Boy! I didn't even see her climb aboard, but it was soo cute and I can't beleive he let her do it.



Here's a couple of shots of My Creek spiders.





Here's us getting unpacked and starting to setup camp.



Last but not least and My Favorite. My X.