My first time headed out to a GPAA claim to prospect. Drove my normal 4-door commuter car right up to the turnout at the given coordinates. Pretty steep trail down to the river, but it's in good shape. Prepare to huff and puff as you're hauling your kit back to the car when you're done.
River at end of October was running strong but left lots of area on either side of the main channel to dig gravels. I had a little bit of a hard time finding a good place to set up my sluice, but finally put in a little downriver of the bottom of the trail. One good thing for me was that this time of year, the hill to the south completely shadows the river basin all day long. This kept me cool and saved me from having to wear lots of sun gear.
Getting gravels was easy, but as a newbie I wasn't sure where the best places to dig them were, so I bounced around a lot. First day I got a very small number of superfines and was pretty discouraged. Pitched my tent a few yards upriver on a flat area and spent a very nice night sleeping to the sounds of the river.
Second day I focused on digging out from underneath a large boulder. Classified in a 1/4" mesh and ran through a small Keene sluice. Got 3 large (for me) flakes, several smaller pieces I could pick out with tweezers, and many superfine/dusts in the sluice concentrates.
I think now that I have a little experience under my belt, I'll do a lot better next time here.