Gold 015 Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc on VT almost a year ago. But a small silver, er Gold, lining has emerged from Irene's devastation. In the 19th century a minor gold rush occurred in VT, with much of the activity located very near Ludlow on Buffalo Creek. The torrent of water resulting from Irene exposed new sediment and now a "micro-mini" gold rush is on. Gold pans are being sold locally and books and DVD's on gold prospecting are readily available. Gold 082 Today, I accompanied 2 friends on a gold expedition on the upper reaches of Buffalo Creek. This section is on private land owned by a 73 year old Vermonter who lives "off the grid" and can be reached only by 3 miles of rough dirt road. In the winter, the man must use a snowmobile to get in and out of his home. While we were there he showed us numerous pictures of the bear and coyote that visit his yard. The picture to the left shows my friends working their way up the creek which is at summertime low flow. I accompanied them mainly because I saw the trip as a photographic opportunity but I did try my hand at a little prospecting. Gold apparently is often associated with quartz which is prevalent in the creek. I even found a small gold flecked piece of quartz shortly after arrival. To get the shot below of my friend, David Almond, I used my Tamron 10-24mm @ 21mm, f20, and 1/60 sec. I also hand held my Nikon SB800 off camera left and tripped it wirelessly with the on board pop-up flash. BTW, I think the real money is in selling the panning supplies.

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