Each entry has the notes, a field card and the pieces that came out of it. Locations are kept regional on purpose: “Fraser Canyon near Hope”, “Cariboo”. You won’t find map pins here. Let them nudge you out to explore your own local ground.
Logged
Tulameen country, near Coalmont · Earlier trips
The Tulameen and Coalmont country is old placer ground, worked for gold and platinum since the 1800s. It was one of the first solo trips out looking.
Galena turned up out here: heavy, lead-grey, breaking into little cubes. Back in 2020 the camera also caught a quartz outcrop up high that looked like it was carrying copper or gold. It's worth getting back to when the snow is off.
Logged
Fraser Valley, west of Hope · Staked fall 2026 · first visit winter 2027
This fall brought a new claim: a small one over an old lead showing in the Fraser Valley, west of Hope. The old records say a tunnel was driven here by hand between 1899 and 1902, about 27 metres into the rock, chasing galena. Nobody ever recorded any production.
It's low in the valley, so it can be worked in winter. The plan for the first visit is simple: find the portal and the waste dump, look for galena in the vein quartz, photograph everything, and leave the old workings the way they are. We don't go inside old tunnels, and you shouldn't either.
Planned · 2027 season
Fraser Canyon near Hope · January – April 2027
When the high country is snowed in, the low ground around Hope still works. January to April 2027 is day trips from home: the claims near Hope, and the river bars of the Fraser Canyon at low water, before the spring freshet.
The Fraser bars are known for jade, rhodonite and agate pebbles. Whatever the winter turns up gets sorted, slabbed and photographed back at the shop.
Planned · 2027 season
Cariboo, near 100 Mile House · Spring 2027
Come spring, we move up to the Cariboo. The Bigfoot claim sits on the plateau near 100 Mile House, and there's a mapped fault running along the bedrock contacts. That fault is what we'll be prospecting.
Limestone has turned up on the ground there before. Part of the job this spring is working out whether it's sitting in place or was carried in by the glaciers.
Planned · 2027 season
Black Dome country, west of Clinton · 2027 season, snow-free months
The Black Dome claims are high and remote. It's volcanic country, the last stretch in is gravel, and the snow-free season is short.
It's thunderegg ground. From the outside they look like plain round rocks, and you don't know what you have until you cut one open. These are the ones we're most looking forward to putting on the saw.
Planned · 2027 season
Nicola / Douglas Lake country · 2027 season
Two of the claims, Sparkle Tings and FAFO, sit out in the Douglas Lake Road country, on old volcanic rock.
This part of BC is known for agate and opal, and there's more of that kind of ground nearby. The plan is to walk the claims, map where the agate and opal show up, and bring home material for the saw and the bench.
Planned · 2027 season
Cariboo, around 100 Mile House · Summer 2027
Summer is for the rest of the claims around 100 Mile House: prospecting, mapping, a few pans in the creeks, and filming as much of it as we can.
The hope is to spend most of the 2027 season in the field. How much depends on the weather, and on what the season costs.
Entries marked “Planned” are the 2027 season plan. Each one gets updated with real notes and photos after the trip.
