First post, life story, and questions about hiking Victoria 😂

[Vegemite]

Hey guys,

Alex from Mildura here, I’m 24, wear a size 12 first time poster, but very long time lurker (5-6 years or so) and getting keen to go find my first bit of gold
Got a couple of questions, I do a bit of multi day hiking and a bit of crystal fossicking mostly based in Vic, I was thinking about combining the two and taking some hiking trips specifically to find some decent gemstones and hopefully a bit of yellow if i’m lucky, never been out for gold before, but have not long bought my first couple of pans so would love to even see a speck

as I don’t drive, I catch a bus closest to where I want to hike the trails and go from there,
I was wondering if anyone knows of some nice spots where I can get off the bus in a town that’s relatively close to fossicking areas?

Daylesford has been on the top of the list for a while, as fossicking on sailors creek is only a 4-5km walk from town, and heard there’s gemstones as well as gold around there, any tips for a first time gold hunter would be very appreciated

Also another thing I feel I’ll have problems with, is fossicking tools on a hike pack (that’s already near full to the brim with everything else I need for 3-5 days on a trail) what would be some very good, lightweight tools I can use?
Thinking stuff like a lightweight folding pick instead of my heavy pick/mattock that weighs about 3kg, some kind of shovel that is lightweight and compact, but can move more dirt at once that one of those little trifold camping shovels etc etc,
Anyway thanks for reading and absolutely any tips or ideas to make life easier would be greatly appreciated! cheers heaps guys!

 

[geof_junk]

Transport would be a problem but here is one I have spent a lot of time on is the No 96 track. The track was originally constructed in the late 1800’s to service gold fields between Briagalong and Gladstone Creek through to Lees Creek and Granite Creek and was serviceable through to the early 1900’s.
https://mickbeckers.com/hiking/trip-reports/track-96-cobbanah-to-blue-pool-vic/
Another that I have done is Walhalla to Mt Shillinglaw both ways and other sections of the "Alpine walking track" but alot of the track is in National Park.

 

[Vegemite]

Transport would be a problem but here is one I have spent a lot of time on is the No 96 track. The track was originally constructed in the late 1800’s to service gold fields between Briagalong and Gladstone Creek through to Lees Creek and Granite Creek and was serviceable through to the early 1900’s.
https://mickbeckers.com/hiking/trip-reports/track-96-cobbanah-to-blue-pool-vic/
Another that I have done is Walhalla to Mt Shillinglaw both ways and other sections of the "Alpine walking track" but alot of the track is in National Park.

Cheers mate! Read through that review and that does sounds like a beaut of a walk and I’d be pretty keen to check out any gold mining relics and see the history as well, I’ll definitely check it out when I can, transport won’t be a problem in a year… I’m just a bit of a stupid rev head and got in trouble
And no worries about the National park parts, I’m in them for the scenery and serenity normally so won’t be any different but possibly another I’ll need transport too as there’s minimal public transport around aha, amyrhing close to a town big enough to have a bus drop off?
Thanks heaps mate! I’ll keep them in mind for sure, especially that first one

 

[Hawkear]

If you’re into gold and gems, a favourite spot for many seems to be Reedy Creek. I am sure there would be walking access if not the full length but areas around Eldorado and Beechworth. Worth checking out.

 

[Vegemite]

If you’re into gold and gems, a favourite spot for many seems to be Reedy Creek. I am sure there would be walking access if not the full length but areas around Eldorado and Beechworth. Worth checking out.

Thanks mate! Yeah have thought about reedy for a while, but I wanted to be able to get a mate to come up with me to being up a sluice and better tools might just take a solo trip with just the old crystal sieves, a gold pan and my pissy little shovel to give it a look

 

[grubstake]

Hey Veg, sounds like you'd be better off looking into sniping (crevicing). It only needs minimal gear, but the rewards can be pretty good:

https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...-a-rewarding-way-to-cool-off-in-summer.39962/

 

[Hawkear]

Thanks mate! Yeah have thought about reedy for a while, but I wanted to be able to get a mate to come up with me to being up a sluice and better tools might just take a solo trip with just the old crystal sieves, a gold pan and my pissy little shovel to give it a look

Yeah, being on foot and carrying camping and prospecting supplies would be a load. Once got a mate to drop me and an inflatable off high upstream on a Gippsland river so I could float all my gear downstream while I prospected along the way. Only mention this because I would never do it again.

 

[Vegemite]

Hey Veg, sounds like you'd be better off looking into sniping (crevicing). It only needs minimal gear, but the rewards can be pretty good:

https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...-a-rewarding-way-to-cool-off-in-summer.39962/

Cheers Grub! Have watched a few fellas on youtube sniping, and that thread was a wealth of information, cheers heaps for that! Do you reckon every gold bearing creek/river would be alright for sniping? I’m happy to give anything a go and their might be a Daylesford trip in the cards soon if there’s enough water to jump in

 

[Vegemite]

Yeah, being on foot and carrying camping and prospecting supplies would be a load. Once got a mate to drop me and an inflatable off high upstream on a Gippsland river so I could float all my gear downstream while I prospected along the way. Only mention this because I would never do it again.

I dunno sounds like something I’m stupid enough to do at least once going as light weight with the tools as possible so shouldn’t be too bad, have hiked with 20kg in the backpack when taking a lot of someone else’s gear, and with most my tools I’m down to about 18kg and pack training has been easy, and I’m slowly getting more expensive lightweight hiking gear to shave off a few pounds but is hard on a budget

 

[grubstake]

Cheers Grub! Have watched a few fellas on youtube sniping, and that thread was a wealth of information, cheers heaps for that! Do you reckon every gold bearing creek/river would be alright for sniping? I’m happy to give anything a go and their might be a Daylesford trip in the cards soon if there’s enough water to jump in

Any gold-bearing creek/river where there's accessible bedrock has potential. If the gravel is too deep, you can't get near the solid rock where the good cracks and crevices are.

 

[Vegemite]

Any gold-bearing creek/river where there's accessible bedrock has potential. If the gravel is too deep, you can't get near the solid rock where the good cracks and crevices are.

Makes sense cheers! What would be the best way to find out if creeks would have exposed bedrock? Would google earth show me enough?
Or any tips like elevation or type of ground? (Getting handy with the GeoVic app even tho I haven’t put it to use yet)
Or would I be best to just plan some hikes in gold areas, and check it out for a week first? Because I know I’d cover a lot more ground without any tools
Thanks again mate! You’ve helped heaps!

 

[Hawkear]

Certainly there are many creeks in the goldfields regions with exposed bedrock but water and especially clear running water needed for sniping would be an issue. Careful and thorough crevicing with a few basic tools would probably be a chance if there are still water holes in the creek.
For effective sniping you would probably need to get up into mountain streams with permanent flow over rocky bases.

 

[grubstake]

Google Earth won't have the necessary resolution and maps won't help much either, IMO. I don't think there's any alternative to putting in the hard yards on the ground and thereby sharpening your observational skills. Bear in mind that gravels are transitory - a good flood might wash more down from upstearm or even wash existing gravels away, exposing the bedrock.

Check out this member's video for more ideas on successful fossicking with minimal gear:

 

[Vegemite]

Cheers guys! Will probably leave the sniping until after winter, for the temp and the water levels, and you’re right grubstake, google earth/maps is crappy in all the areas I wanna look, but I can see bloody kangaroos clear as day in areas I don’t want
Guess I’m just gonna have to visit areas a few times first for a scope around, but been following Matthew from Gold Fossicking on Facebook for a while and he shows some good videos of Sailors Creek, so gonna head up to Daylesford in a week or so and hope to get a few gemstones along the way!

 

[manficat]

Cheers guys! Will probably leave the sniping until after winter, for the temp and the water levels, and you’re right grubstake, google earth/maps is crappy in all the areas I wanna look, but I can see bloody kangaroos clear as day in areas I don’t want
Guess I’m just gonna have to visit areas a few times first for a scope around, but been following Matthew from Gold Fossicking on Facebook for a while and he shows some good videos of Sailors Creek, so gonna head up to Daylesford in a week or so and hope to get a few gemstones along the way!

Maybe look at Belgrave

 

[Vegemite]

Maybe look at Belgrave

Thanks mate, I’ll chuck it on the list!

 

[Adzzy84]

Cheers Grub! Have watched a few fellas on youtube sniping, and that thread was a wealth of information, cheers heaps for that! Do you reckon every gold bearing creek/river would be alright for sniping? I’m happy to give anything a go and their might be a Daylesford trip in the cards soon if there’s enough water to jump in

I want to give sniping a go when it warms up again. I’ve looked into a few places I think might have acceptable creeks. Wombat state forest has a few, I want to Ah e a look at, there has to be some out in the high country and I reckon somewhere down near the otways too.

 

[manficat]

I want to give sniping a go when it warms up again. I’ve looked into a few places I think might have acceptable creeks. Wombat state forest has a few, I want to Ah e a look at, there has to be some out in the high country and I reckon somewhere down near the otways too.

Yeah, good luck! The Otways are my neck of the woods. There's no gold there, but I'm sure you can find something in the Wombat and the High country. I'd wait until it warms up a bit though
When it warms up again I want to have a pan in the Wombat state forest too.