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.