Drilling on the ice to check thickness

                                  

 The guys will be traveling over 65 miles over the frozen tundra and rivers.  I hope the rivers are frozen and this video makes me happy to see that they are prepared and planning.  This is a video of Barney testing the thickness of the Takotna river.  Please visit You Tube: Wild Alaskan Adventures and watch their videos.  Just copy and paste this link. 
                                                 https://youtu.be/dX2miUI-TdQ

Video showing dump box and grizzly

Here is a video of George showing the dump box and grizzly  They need to weld the dump box to the skid so it won’t slide off going up the mountains.  Here is the link for the video:
                                             https://youtu.be/7MznM3a8b-Y

Problems with Big Bertha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKEh_UWioOc&feature=youtu.be

Problems with Big Bertha the dozer.  Still looking for a name for the excavator.  I will let George explain it on the video.  -12 today and George says he is fine.  Remember, he has his -60 degree boots. 

My Soon to Be Mountain Man

Here is my soon to be mountain man husband boarding his flight to Takotna.  Now you can see his handy dandy backpack he loves.  The new news today is we have Bruce volunteering to go on this adventure.  He will help get the heavy equipment to the Fourth of July Creek site and then he will go on to the Moore Creek gold camp that is 4 miles away.  Moore Creek has produced a lot of gold and several years back a first time metal detector found a 9 ounce nugget.  Good deal huh?    

Breaking through the ice while blazing the trail

Here is where Barney broke through the ice going over Ganes Creek in Alaska. I don't think that is a good sign but Barney is a great bush pilot and Iron dog racer and a bear hunter so I doubt this raised his pulse. Barney has probably had 20 years of experience with this stuff and with his and George's combined years of experience it probably still totals 20.

Finally some good news with some bad news

Finally some great news. Barney made it to the site!  I haven't found out who went with him but it's probably Rick.  They are a tough bunch.

Barney said it took about 8.5 hours to go 130 miles round trip on the snow mobiles. He said there was a lot of snow in the higher country but hopes it won’t slow them down too much. Barney said he got stuck 2 times because of the deep snow. Then he said this: THE ICE GAVE WAY UNDER HIM WHEN HE WAS CROSSING GANES CREEK but he was going fast and didn’t drop in the hole. I have to get to the bottom of this folks. A bull dozer and excavator maybe goes 5 MPH right? Ice Road Trucking gives me a bad case of tachycardia. I can’t stand to watch that show but I can’t stand not knowing if they made it. Keep reading and I will keep you posted.

Breaking News

Breaking News- George and Dave’s Alaskan Adventure has yet another hitch.
If you have been following their story, you will remember George and Dave have survived getting lost in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness trying to find their gold claim for the first time. They survived their scary chopper rides and flying in a plane with a vise grip for a handle and some “decorative” duct tape. They’ve been stuck and stranded; they faced down a mama bear and her cub. They’ve had ...challenging landings their first years. Then came the forest fires threatening their camp and tin shed condo. Then the bears that tore up their campsite and ate the 4-wheeler seat. They made it through the cold and the rains with no real heat source; no bathroom, no real showers. Yuk and yuk again. Still, they loved their adventures and laughed themselves silly even naming their “frequent flyer” bears. Did they learn anything? Yes siree they did. Things change, plans change.
So now for the breaking news: George just got word from Barney that all flights are cancelled with Pen Air because they are having “plane problems.” Better to find out now rather than later, right? Now George is stuck in Anchorage till Friday. He called Alaska Air Transit, another small company, and after a few hours they called him back and said they could get him out Friday. So now George is going to rent a car tomorrow and get the pump and supplies. If this is any indication of what’s to come I’m going to start drinking. I need to know of a nice wine that goes down smooth please.
(The picture is from George's motel room. Sucks to be George huh?)