Summer, 2002

My family gets to visit Dutch Flat occassionally, for Thanksgiving or for short visits on our way to the High Sierras with my dad. We would often see and do things with Russ and his kids. In the summer of 2002, we stopped over for a few days and Russ took us exploring near my aunt and uncle's house where we peeked into an old hand-dug gold mine and tramped over hills that had scatterings of petrified wood and remnants of Chinese diggings. The highlight, by far, was the trip to Smart's Crossing, I think it was called, to pan for gold....After a hairy drive down a narrow, semi-washed out dirt road and down a narrow trail, we came to a pristine, cold stream. It was a hot day and all the kids immediately went swimming, having dressed for the occassion. Russ simply stripped down to his altogether and then got down to the business of showing us how to dig out the bank mud to find gold. My kids were a bit surprised, to say the least, but after a moment were jumping from rocks and playing. This picture says it all.....though I haven't figured how to get it upside-up!!!


We always had interesting adventures with Russ and will miss him.


Kathy McCloskey, Rodney Bachtell, Zachary Bachtell, Matthew Bachtell, and Nathaniel Bachtell