There's gold (and gems) in them thar hills!

One of our neighbors stopped by the other day. He and his wife have lived on this mountain most of their life, I believe. They are country folk, very different from our other neighbor that's closer by, but they are very nice people and have been really helpful in helping us get to know what we need to know about the area.

This day he brought some gold. Yep, that's what I said gold! He had been panning the creek just behind his property and found about an ounce of the stuff. He said it took him about a few weeks to get that much, and that he's been panning for gold most all of his life.

According to Wikipedia...

"The Georgia Gold Rush was the second significant gold rush in the United States. It started in 1828 in the present day Lumpkin County near county seat Dahlonega, (that's not too far from us) and soon spread through the North Georgia mountains, following the Georgia Gold Belt. By the early 1840s, gold became harder to find. When gold was discovered in California in 1848 to start the California Gold Rush, many Georgia miners moved west."

As we've been hiking up the mountain right behind our cabin this summer, we often come across very sparklie rocks. As a matter of fact almost all the rocks around here that are natural are pretty sparklie. Very beautiful to look at. Here's one of the larger ones we found up the mountain.

So we told him about these sparkles, and he told us stories about how people have found all kinds of precious gems around these parts (that's what he calls this area, these parts, BOL!). Bet someone will have to learn how to care for your engagement ring if they find one suitable from around here! He says folks have found rubies, diamonds, emeralds and more. And of course the gold.

Guess there really is gold (and gems) in them hills, BOL! We'll have to keep a close eye out on our hikes :).