Gold prospecting? First check the handbook

Dip a pan in river silt, swish it around, snag a shiny nugget, get rich.

Who hasn’t dreamed of finding gold in the hills, valleys and streams? For my age group, we watched white-bearded prospectors on many a TV Western find sparkling yellow gold.

How many shows of my childhood featured an old coot with a pick axe?

What I learned from Bill Petersen is that before you do any prospecting, you better pick up a handbook.

State rules run deep when it comes to the hunt for gold.

New rules will soon be published about beach mining on the Washington coast, Petersen said. Don’t venture out without a Gold and Fish handbook published by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

I learned this at Petersen’s store called Monte Cristo Mining Supply in Marysville.

City Girl didn’t know folks could pan for gold outside of Granite Falls and Sultan.

Petersen said it’s a going concern.

“It’s all about the find and the mystery,” he said. “It’s interesting to take someone out who never panned for gold and watch them when they find a piece.”

He opened his shop in May. He’s retired, but didn’t want to stay home. The historian co-authored “The Everett &Monte Cristo Railway” and “Discovering Washington’s Historic Mines.” He belongs to Northwest Underground Explorations with members who share an interest in learning about historic mines in Washington.

On trips to the ocean to scan sand with a metal detector, he also hunts mushrooms. Ask him about his recipe for chanterelle sauce. When the weather is bad, he plays Texas hold ‘em poker.

His shop isn’t huge in square footage but it’s crammed with the potential to dream. Imagine taking that sluice on the shelf into the wilderness to begin the quest for yellow brilliance. The Vietnam veteran, 66, sells detectors used to find trinkets under a kid’s slide at Silver Lake or gold on a hill above Cle Elum.

He grew up in Southern California in a family that loved camping along the Oregon and Washington coasts. He attended San Diego State University before and after serving on several Navy ships and earned a degree in business administration.

Petersen owned a charter sport fishing business with his father, was a captain of an oil research ship, worked for the Seattle Housing Authority and did pest control with a bed-bug-detecting dog.

His family, including his wife and daughter, lived in Oso, where he commuted to his job in West Seattle. They’ve lived in Arlington for seven years.

“I’ve been prospecting for 40 years,” Petersen said. “California, Nevada, Washington, Idaho.”

He’s found rings with the detectors and an 1890s padlock at the ocean. Searching for gold is primarily done for fun and excitement, he said.

“It’s a great outdoor activity,” he said. “We cater to families.”

Petersen wanted a store where folks could touch the prospecting gear rather than shopping online. A gold pan can be purchased for under $7 but how about the fancy new “Australia Turbo” pan for $29.95?

Prospector Eras Gattshall said he’ll check out the new pan from Australia. He agreed with Petersen about knowing the state hunting rules.

He is the president of the Everett Chapter of the Gold Prospectors Association of America, a group with a green backbone.

They aim to leave the outdoors spick-and-span.

“We spend 25 percent of our time picking up trash and other waste,” he said. “We are all dedicated to that. We treat the place like our home.”

Gattshall, who lives in Marysville, scolded me when I called gold panning a hobby.

“I wouldn’t call it a hobby per se,” he said. “Prospecting helped build this country.”

When he found a quarter-ounce nugget, he said it was like finding a jewel in a haystack, a real surprise.

Then I asked him a pretty dumb question. I wanted to know where he found the chunk of yellow metal.

He paused.

“That’s as bad a question as asking a convict what he’s in for, right?” I asked Gattshall.

He laughed.

“Let’s just say the Sultan Basin,” he answered. “We never tell our true location.”