The 2 year plan

The 2 year plan

For the next two years George and Dave talked on the phone planning their adventure.  George bought a claim in California and went out several times to work it.  We had made several trips to Colorado and Alabama and the Cheeha Mountains.  Hard to believe, but there is even gold in Alabama.  The guys kept in touch with their adventures but Dave was busy working on something big.  He located a claim in Alaska out in the middle of nowhere.  The only way in was with a bush pilot.  He was kind enough to tell George some story of some plane crash from the previous owner; that George passed on to me.  I still remember my response, “No way, are you guys crazy.”  I insisted they make use of the California claim.  It was much closer and a heck of a lot less dangerous.  Typical men, my caution fell on deaf ears.  I suspect the gold fever had something to do with it.

 

The guys left June 29 for their first trip to their site.  They got to McGrath on Friday and met the bush pilot the next morning.  McGrath is only about 300 people and the guys were greeted with waves as they flew in.  Apparently there is not much traffic.  After getting some coffee and a few high priced odds and ends at the grocery store the guys met their bush pilot, Mike.   He was sporting an old beat up pick up and informed George he would have to hold the door shut on their short drive to his plane.    Oh yeah, you can see where this is going.  The old pick up pulls up to an old bush plane literally sporting some duct tape for extra support.  They said it took off noisy and landed rough. 

 

  

Last days in Nome 2009

Our week went fast and we had it filled each day with adventures we would talk about for years. We visited the museum in Nome and saw a stuffed Fritz; we went past the Arctic Circle, rode 4 wheelers up the mountains 1500-2000 feet and back down, and we saw lots of wildlife including a grizzly. We were all in awe of the beauty of Alaska. We came home with a little gold and a whole lot of memories. The picture shows George concentrating and checking his sleuce for just a show of gold. Believe me when I say, just the site of the beautiful yellow stuff makes guys drool. Although Dave is from Florida and George from Kansas their friendship grew strong. The two bonded and became the best of friends. Who would have known this trip would be the catalyst to launch George and Dave’s adventures into the wilds of Alaska living out their dream.

 

Fort Knox Nome 2009

George and I got a private tour of where they divide the gold for the week from the commercial site.  They had a special secured building where they separated the gold.  It was really a small little hooch secured with a lock and inside complete with seasoned gold miner security officers.  I think gold miners are pretty honest and respectful on the whole but I guess it is serious business protecting the gold.  I should clarify a bit; gold miners are honest except when it comes to telling exactly how much gold they got.  I think of them like fishermen except fishermen maximize and gold miners minimize.  The building was equipped with a deister, or shaker, table that separated the gold from the black sands.  It was interesting to see the concentrates from the commercial site being fed onto deister table where you could see the gold being separated.  The gold was divided on Friday night with a sort of lottery system.  Everyone received a number with number 1 raking in the biggest nugget.  To add suspense the nuggets decreased in size with winners 2-10.  Then the division of gold was equal with the rest of the participants.  

 

High banking Nome 2009

Since this is a blog for those interested in gold mining, here is a picture of the guys in the mountains high banking.  They worked their butts off while the women went to the beaches of Nome to search for beach glass.   Even if you have no desire to mine for gold, it is still very educational and interesting to learn about.  We felt like we were watching the Discovery Channel.  Speaking, of which, the Outdoor Channel was there filming the week we were there.  We have actually seen all of us on TV.  I am just grateful they never played my contribution because I remember

something stupid coming out of my mouth. 

The facilities aka the outhouse Nome

Part of “roughing it” were the outhouses.  Notice the outhouse on the right. 

One guy found a way to get around the unpleasant journey.  Look close and you’ll see his gas mask.  In the next picture you can see how George found a good distraction, from the unpleasant aroma, with a good book.  For those interested George gives this book high reviews.    

Rough Riders Nome 2009

George may have been a novice but he drove that four-wheeler as good as any Harley Dude.  Hanging on was quite a challenge for me.  I almost bounced right off the back and we almost tipped over several times.  No exageration.  We went through knee deep mud, tough streams and just plain ol' rough trials and tundra.  I took a lot of pictures of the trail but they just don't do it justice.  I felt like I had run the gauntlet of bumps, mud and streams and I won.  We were a long way from AAA but we wouldn't trade the experience. 

 

 

Old Mining Site

Pic of the old mining site:  This is what was used in the 1800's.  We figured there had to be gold here so we stopped and hiked down.  A little snow bridge hung over the little stream so it was a little easier to get to the site.  George and Dave got their pans out and George was excited to get some color.  We thought we would definitely come back to this spot but the week just went by too fast.

The trip to Nome was a week long and I recommend it to everyone.  I know a lot of women don’t like to rough it, but I found it pretty comfy.  I had a sleeping bag, a wool blanket, stocking cap, turtle neck, gloves and boot slippers and I was quite comfortable at nights.  We had the fire ready to light first thing in the morning.  Getting up at 5 am to go to the outhouse was a little different but not so bad and the adventures definitely outweighed the unpleasantries. 

 

Commercial Operation Nome 2009

We made it to some outpost up by the trommel, which is the commercial operation.  I called it a Quick Trip because it had an outhouse.  This is the GPAA’s commercial site about 9 miles from the camp by four-wheeler and 36 miles by vehicle. 

Dirty Dave in Nome 2009

As you can see in this picture, Dave loves to have fun.  He kept us laughing the whole trip.  Here is his “Go ahead and make my day” shot.  Just know that no animals where harmed in the filming of this picture, but we all almost busted a gut laughing.  I enjoyed feeding them and they would actually eat out of my hand.

When we started our little journey, we had not planned on a whole day outing.  All we had packed was trail mix and beef jerky and peanut M & M’s.  We each had an apple but I refused to eat mine.  I was saving it to use like a grenade just in case we saw a bear.  I thought I would throw the apple and the bear would surely choose to chase the apple over me. 

The Views

We traveled up to the blue arctic ice.  The views were breathtaking.  It was truly God’s beautiful handiwork.  Something we will all remember forever.  We could somehow understand for a moment how those old miners settled there.  Believe me, it was only a fleeting thought for me.  They had to be tougher than boot leather, dirty and very smelly.  No running water except for the freezing streams.  They would have had to bring everything in by mule.  The tundra is rather spongy and would have taken a long time traveling in those days.

 

Mama Moose and her baby Nome 2009

We saw a grizzly and got a picture from some distance away; a very safe distance.  Seems the Grizzly was stalking a moose and her baby.  It was sad for me to think of the poor baby, but such is nature.  We were chased by some strange bird on our four-wheelers.  I think we must have been close to her nest.  We went through streams and mud sliding sideways almost getting stuck several times. We went about 9 miles up in the mountains over trails that would make any extreme four-wheeler drool.   I thought George was for sure going to throw me off.  It was quite a work out trying to stay on board.  We came across the moose and her baby and got a good picture of them.  If you look close you can see the tips of the baby’s ears.  She apparently had 2 babies and now it looked as if she only had one.  George didn’t find a need to bring a gun to the wilds of Alaska because as he put it, “we’ll be fine.”  I think he has changed his tune over the past few years.  If you know George, that’s his typical answer for everything.  We were told bears could run 35 miles per hour for 7 miles.  Joke around camp was, you didn’t have to outrun the bear, just whoever you were with.  Since George is about 6’6” this statement was true…for him. 

 

Dave and Marlene Nome 2009

We met another couple from Florida, Dave and Marlene, and our lives have never been the same since.  We all rented 4 wheelers and went to the mountains just for a short little trip.  Well, it turned into an adventure.  We drove to Buzzard Point, where the founder of the GPAA and his wife are buried.  They are literally in the middle of the wilderness of Alaska.   

Snow Angles

We stopped and had to have some memorable pictures so I had Dave and Marlene make snow angles on the arctic ice.

The guys stopped several times along the way and panned for gold.  Here we were in the mountains, miles from anyone, or so we thought, but when we stopped; someone would always seem to show up and make sure we were not panning where we weren’t supposed to be. 
We went on up into the mountains to another outpost and found some cute little squirrel like animals.  I had some peanut M&M’s that they seemed to enjoy.   As you can see in this picture, Dave loves to have fun.  He kept us laughing the whole trip.  Here is his “Go ahead and make my day” shot.  Just know that no animals where harmed in the picture, but we all almost busted a gut laughing.  I enjoyed feeding them and they would actually eat out of my hand.

When we started our little journey, we had not planned on a whole day outing.  All we had packed was trail mix and beef jerky and peanut M & M’s.  We each had an apple but I refused to eat mine.  I was saving it to use like a grenade just in case we saw a bear.  I thought I would throw the apple and the bear would surely choose to chase the apple over me. 

Fun finding the mother-load Nome 2009

We found only fine gold on the beach and we worked hard for that gold.  We had a little fun and took a break from the digging and shoveling.  We, (Or I), wanted the people back home to think we were striking it rich.  So as you can see, I found the mother-load.  The average person doesn’t realize what fine gold is, or pickers, or nuggets.  They think in terms of bricks of gold and think finding gold is a fist full of nuggets.  Oh how we all wish for that, but the fact is you work your butt off having the time of your life finding specks, or color or a show of gold.  And the big excitement is with the pickers and nuggets.  And yes we did come home with a few nuggets but, as I’m told, a miner never tells.  We had the time of our life and thought everyone should have this experience.  We vowed to come back. 

 

On the beaches of Nome 2009

We followed everyone down to the shore like so many gold miners did years ago in the 1800 gold rush.  There weren’t quite as many as there were back then but we could only imagine what it was like camping and living out in the wild back then with only crude means.  We, on the other hand, were staying in “hooches”.  No electricity and a wood burning stove for heat but we felt luckier than those poor old miners.  With an outhouse, hot shower facilities and a chow hall, those old miners would have thought it was the Ritz Carlton. 

Nome 2009 Hooches

This is a picture of the hooches that we stayed in.  In Kansas terms, these would be called shacks.  I'm thinking this is where the term "Hoochie Mama" comes from.  The gold miners in the old days had to have met some women along the way.   Although I haven't heard the term "Shackie Mama" here in Kansas.  They are equipped with a small wood burning stove that just keeps the chill off in the morning.  The one, who wakes up first or gets cold in the middle of the daylight, starts the fire.  Our hooch mates had the fire ready to go most mornings so all we had to do was light it.  George's Boy Scout instincts kicked in and he built a few nice fires and had some good tips on starting fires by the end of the week.

The black plastic above George was to keep the rain drained away should it storm.  We brought our own bedding and slept on air mattresses on benches.  It was very comfy.  We were exhausted by the end of the day and sleep came easy.  We used a piece of cardboard as our curtain to keep the daylight out. 

June 2009 Arriving in Nome

The adventure started in Nome where we met Dave and Marlene.  George had suffered from gold fever for years but I think Nome is where Dave became infected.  After we landed in Nome we were loaded in big trucks and taken about 12 miles from Nome to Cripple Creek.  It was about a 45 minute drive.  We were amazed to see some of the shacks literally sitting on the beaches of the Bering Sea.