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.
RE: My California - Coldwater Canyon