Welcome Carl,

Sorry, cant help you on Az. info.
Although, there has been conversation here about a mining shop in Az. (not sure where) that is friendly and shares info.

Yes, claims found online are/should be current and available to prospect
Technically speaking, you should have your GPAA membership card, the prospecting permit and the mining guide with you when on a GPAA claim
but you probably wont be asked, thats if you see another person while out.

Bill

Thanks Bill...Hopes are high. I'm waiting on the membership info in the mail but the trip is a sure thing with possibly two others coming.
Is it ok I bring the two others? They are not members but one is a long time claim holder in Alaska and the other a greenhorn like me. Thanks for your comments.

The rules will be in the mining guide.
As a member in good standing, they may bring up to 4 guests but are restricted to panning until becoming a member.
OK, not sure how that works in Az. but thems part of the rules

Bill

Couple things, try going to the GPAA Gold Show this weekend. I'm sure the GPAA will have a booth.

Second, check the weather, if I remember right, Soldier boy is in the Prescott Area and may be under snow, so if you do head there make sure your vehicle can get there and back.

Third, AZ GPAA has plenty of local GPAA chapters and some chapters have access to claims others don't. Last I counted AZ had three chapters in the Phoenix Valley, and I think there's more now. So, you may want to see what chapter suits you best. If you look up chapters in the Community, you''ll see links that will say when and where they meet.

The GPAA site may be correct, but the book is only as accurate as the date its published. Claims come and go every few months after the guide is published. The GPAA is a good club to belong to because of this. Some smaller clubs have claims there are plenty of problems with: the club forgets to pay the fees and the BLM closes it, the claim is made on state trust land, among some of the reasons I've stayed away from a couple of the other clubs.

Thank you Christopher. I won't be there till after the Gold Show so weather probably will not be an issue. I will be checking. I plan March 10th and after.

That is a great idea about the local Chapter of the GPAA. I just sent an email to find out more.

I got the gold fever and I'm itching to get out.

I want to see the desert in bloom and that wonderful starry starry night too....here comes retirement!

Christopher has some great suggestions
Surprisingly, I dont find any rules listed in the new mining guide
Maybe rules have changed
The rule listed above were from the 2014 MG

Bill

Hey Carl, I was there in early december and was trying to poke around the area. I never really got to find the boundaries of the claims because of time constraints. I did meet a couple that were from a different club and talked to them a bit. They were camping in a trailer above gpaa claims on blm land. You should be able to park a tailer above the claims for your stay and explore the claims with no problems.

Hey Carl, I forgot that Prescott got alot of snow and rain recently. The road to doublej and soldier boy might be quite muddy, and slippery be careful going in.

Thank you James. I delayed my time going there till the 26-27 so I hope things dry out by then.
That’s great about camping. Rangers in the area said that one trailer and 4 WD were sunk to the axels in mud. Definitely avoiding this.

Your welcome Carl. I'm planning on going back to that claim again after thankgiving I don't know about camping there though. I might get a hotel room in Prescott cause hot showers are a plus at my age. As far as prospecting there I do believe you can dig there and metel dectect and darn it typing this starting to get my fever up. It is already get warm there so it should dry out in the next few weeks. Good luck and watch for those rattlers theu active in the valley right now which is a bit early from what I understand. Good luck.

There is a place here in az call a and b mining supply. Close to the superstition mountains. Lynx in Prescott is pretty good.

There is A&B mining in Prescott Valley when you first come in on the right. Nice shop, not as much at the main store in Mesa but pretty good, have all the necessary items.

I'm from North Phoenix, I head up that way a lot. I have never visited those claims yet, they are on my list. As someone mentioned earlier, Lynx Creek is fun. There is camping at the two campgrounds by lynx lake. We go to hilltop the southern one you can usually find a spot there. If you are interested look me up, billkoke45@gmail.com, I'd be happy to meet you there or somewhere around there.

I do understand the hot showers and in my case "my knees my knees"...;))))

If you are going near Quartzsite you might try prospecting there. I have had good luck on the GPAA claims drywashing and I have had real good luck on the quartzsite metal detecting club middle camp claim drywashing. I got some nice fat flakes of gold. Its cheap to join for a year. Blake Harmon at Miners Depot is very helpful and can set you up with a membership.