What an awesome trip! Too bad you didn't at least find a few flecks of gold, it always feels good to find something. There was some awesome scenery and even the city lights off in the distance. It always feels great to get out to the mountains doesn't it?
I bet if you wandered higher up closer to the older gold producers you could find some decent gold. There's always a lot that gets missed in sluice boxes. Awesome pictures and it looks like a great trip!
Yep, getting out in the mountains is like paradise for me. And I agree, if I ever come back to this area, which I probably will, I wanna spend at least two nights so I could have a full day for prospecting and I would try hiking much further up that side canyon closer to where the old mining took place. Only issue could be that I'm not sure how the water flow is up higher so I might want to do the trip in late winter/early spring while snow melt is still pumping up the flow.