With the shortest day of the year behind us I can look out the window and see the Sierra Nevada mountains five miles to the west and the great basin northern washoe nv. and Skedaddle  range 15 miles to the east which gives hope of a easy winter, go global warming. My wife said  maybe  it will only be 4 to 6 weeks before she is running up and down the mountains in the high dessert and best go to the gym and get in shape. Me, I don't do much running and have to rely on my trusty mule to cart me around, well okay it does say Kawasaki on it. In mid nov. I set sluice traps on about a half dozen sites on our last trip to the sierras using gutter down spout catchers put in places where I think run off will wash down pieces of the motherlode and make us rich. I have some in the desert as well and they have been there since april when the snakes came out and we did not go back, don't like snakes. In other places I have simple rock wing walls acting like a necked down  funnel with catch pools that work like a reverse vortex and they seem to work quite well in giving you some insight on what is washing down even if you aren't there. Tom