Pictures of Old Mining equipment in Chicken Alaska

 

I took some pictures of some old mining equipment in Chicken, Alaska just add a little interest to this site.  George was panning for gold...go figure.  We saw lots of old equipment and George and Dave found lots on their new site, Deadwood.  I will post those later

WAITING FOR THE BARGE

July 24, 2014

Now we are waiting for the barge.  It was going to cost…wait for it… $20,000 to barge it up from Bethel to McGrath.  Operative word is: Was.  Now it is only going to cost $10,000 to barge it from Bethel to Takona.  What a deal!  Sounds good when I put it like that, huh.  That’s a 50% savings folks.  It will take 9 days and it is 440 miles of river.  If this doesn’t make it on the barge this year, it will put them a whole year behind.  Sounds like an episode right out of Gold Rush doesn’t it?   Is does make one a little anxious to invest all of this money on a hope and a prayer.  That reminds you of Todd Hoffman huh?  So we are waiting. 

So far the dozer doesn’t have a name.  Maybe they’re waiting to see if it causes them some grief to know if it will be a male or female name. 
  

We bought a dozer

July 22, 2014: We bought a dozer

Well, our miners are the proud owners of a huge D7 CAT.  Dave found it in Bethel so they only had to ship to Takotna.  Takotna is about 20 miles NW of McGrath.  Now they will have to walk it in this winter which is only a mere 35-40 miles through the wilderness, through the snow and ice and across frozen rivers.  Oh yeah, our scouts think they are going to go and help with this.  Keep in mind Dave is a Floridian. 

During Davie’s shopping spree, he bought some tin and plywood for their addition on their condo. Forgot to tell you about that.  They need some more room to sleep more people.  Dave also bought some sluicing material and some tubing so they can make a grizzly.  Their pilot, Barney, is going to make the needed lumber with his saw mill.  The plan is to take this in in March on a 10 x 40 foot skid.  The dozer will drag it in.  I know you are asking yourself, what does all this cost and are they getting enough gold to pay for it.  All I will tell you about that is…who knows.  All I know is, mama still needs a new pair of shoes.  Their test came back good and they feel they can take the next step.  So stay tuned.  When I get those shoes, I will let you know. 

Chilkoot Pass This is a link to a video that is very informative and has lots of old pictures of this historic event. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dcsYMTyZcE. The Klondike gold rush began in July of 1897. Miners came back from the Yukon showing off their bags of gold. So the stampede began. It is very interesting to read the routes and journeys of regular folk that knew nothing about mining, Alaska weather or how to prepare for an adventure. Lots of lives were lost and a lot turned back. In 6 months 100,000 started and only 30,000 completed the trip to the Yukon. There were several routes and the most common was by boat to Skagway, then over the Chilkoot Mountain. They had to have a year supply of food so sometimes they had to go up and down the mountain 40 times. After that they had to hike 14 miles to Bennet Lake. Then they had to build boats for the 500 mile trip to Dawson City. This is truly amazing just to see what these people went through.

Yellowstone Adventure

July 18, 2014

Well today turned out to be quite a day.  We started out early and decided we would go to Yellowstone on our way home.  George decided this was a good day to let me drive.  Mainly because he got up too early and was tired.  I asked if he thought the mountains was a good place for me to learn to pull a 39 foot 5^th wheel.  He let me drive on 4 lanes for about an hour the other night but kept telling me “no” when I asked to drive again on the 4 lanes.  So here we are at the top of this mountain and I’m looking at the narrow winding roads thinking, “Really?  You won’t let me drive a four lane and you want me to learn here?”  I asked, “Do you really think this a good place for me to learn to pull this 39’ fifth wheel?  Guess what he said?  “You’ll be fine… it’ll be ok.”  So here I was, going through the mountains on a narrow road going down down down.  I didn’t really climb as much as I was going down.  They were the typical winding roads through the mountains with no guard rails and steep drop off.  The perfect place to learn you know.  But obviously George was right.  I did ok because I’m living to tell about it.  I pull into a gas station in Livingston just outside of Yellowstone to get gas.  I walked Toto while George got gas.  We left and went down the road and decided to get something to eat at a McDonald’s.  That when we saw we had been backed into.  Lot of damage to the backend.  Sooo we went back to the gas station and called the police and filed a report.  We found out they keep videos so the cops said they will look at it and call us tomorrow.  We lost 2 hours with that but we still went on to Yellowstone.  As we entered we didn’t have a clue what we were in for.  We didn’t notice any RV’s going in so we asked if we could bring one in and she cheerfully said, “Oh sure, lots of people bring them in.”  So no problem right?  We got in and after 10 minutes I’m looking for an exit.  Well guess what?  It’s a big frickin’ loop and no place to turn around with a 39’ 5^th wheel.  So once again, we figured; if old people could do it we could too.  So on we went.  I have to say it is truly one of America’s best wonder.  It is beautiful and something you should put on your bucket list if you haven’t already seen it. 
Here's a picture of George and I with our little dog Toto.  I took lots of pictures for him while he was driving.  I wouldn't let his eyes wander while he was driving but we did stop quite a bit. 

 

We actually got lost and didn’t know where we were in relation to the SE exit.  We saw all sorts of wildlife and crazy people, literally dozens, out of their cars trying to get a good shot of what appeared to be a grizzly.  They couldn’t have been more than 20’ from him in the trees and the roads were jammed.  I think I will look up exactly how many people are injured every year in Yellowstone.  I will also check to see how may go over the edge.  I have to say it was pretty tense.  It was 10 PM and we were ready to get out of there.  George was tired and when that happens, the Mario Andretti comes out in him.  I was pretty free with my warnings.  7% grades and no shoulders, narrow winding roads in pitch black and a tired driver.  No more midnight sun for us.  He’s going down one hill and comments, “hmm, this won’t go into 3^rd for some reason.”  I asked if it was in “tow”.  Oops!  I have to say I’m clutching the door handle and watching the road.  He always says everything is fine so those words never phase me.  I’m a backseat driver is full gear now and I don’t care.  It doesn’t matter how many times he says, “I see it,” or “I got it,” or “its fine”, I just can’t keep the words from coming out of my mouth.  I even told him he might as well give up trying.  In my opinion it seems to have worked because here I am writing all of this. 
 

Every RV Park was full, but we are seasoned boon-dockers and we don’t mind.  No use paying when all we are doing is going to bed.  We stopped earlier at a Flying J’s for a shower which is all we needed.  We have our refrigerator and battery lights and water so we were fine.  Weather is great.    

 

Cemetery in Dawson

Cemetery in Dawson George and I drove around Dawson City away from all the touristy places and found some old dilapidated buildings and the old cemetery. After going to the museum and reading about the Chilkoot pass and all the people that died and turned back; I was curious to know what the life expectancy was. Again George stayed in the car but I found their life stories so interesting and I wanted to follow them from the time they arrived to their death. I spent probably 30 minutes wondering and reading. It brought tears to my eyes to see all the young men from all over the world searching for their dream and dying at such a young age. Their families and friends so far away and probably never really knowing what happened. There were so many infants. They had to live in tents when they first arrived. Then the crude cabins had to be so cold. The graves were marked with an old wooden marker that was almost weathered clean but someone had gone in and remarked the graves with white crosses. This is such interesting history and thank God someone preserved their names and what they could.

Indian Creek Mine

July 9, 2014  Indian Creek Mine… best gold concentrates around

George and I headed to Girdwood south of Anchorage to pan for gold.  We stopped at Indian Creek mine for a tour.  They weren’t currently mining this mine anymore.  We asked where their concentrates came from and you won’t believe it.  The owner said he would guarantee their concentrates were the best around.  He said they come from Moore Creek!  Are you following that?  Moore Creek is just 3 miles from George and Dave’s site.  This guy is a partner in Moore Creek.  We couldn’t believe it.  Alaska is so vast and here we met their neighbor.  In fact, George remembers meeting him on their first visit to Moore Creek.  He was waiting to fly out.  We sent a text to Dave and marveled in what a small world it is.  And yes, we tested their concentrated and they were mighty fine as George would say. 

Palmer Museum

July 8, 2014 

George and I went to downtown Palmer to tour the museum again.  One of the volunteers was an original colonists and still lives in the home her mom and dad built in 1935.  Her family came from Minnesota and she doesn’t really remember any hardships on the travel up.  She just remembers playing.  The other volunteer said she and her husband lived at Independence mine back in the 40’s before they shut it down.  Her husband was one of the miners.  It is so remote and was fascinating to meet someone who actually lived up there.  She said it wasn’t really bad living there.  She had a new baby to keep her busy.  She would order her groceries on Tuesday and someone would bring them on Friday.  By car it took us about 45 min.  I can’t imagine what they went through.

 

Later, our friend Merve came by from Kansas.  He is on his way to Fairbanks to do some dredging but we couldn’t convince him to stay the night.  He had a friend in Eagle River he was planning to stay with.

I'm a millionaire and don't know it.

July 7, 2014  

George and Dave left early and went to Anchorage to file a claim.  It was another 700 acres.  They have been waiting a long time for this one and it finally came open.  This site already has some equipment on it.  When the guys came back Dave told me, “You’re a millionaire and don’t know it.”  Yeah, yeah…  I know it will be before pigs fly but how long before they dig it up?  I’m not going on any shopping sprees just yet.  We all loaded up and went to Anchorage to look for a Bull Dozer.  They found a couple of they were interested in but didn’t make any decisions.  We decided to look around.  We have to have one bought and shipped by the end of August.  It has to be shipped from Anchorage by barge to Bethel.  From Bethel it’s barged to McGrath and then from McGrath it has to be walked in during the first 2 weeks in March.  Here’s the scary part; George thinks they are going to go and help walk it in.  Dave wasn’t a boy scout but he seems to be the one who prepares everything.  George claims he was an Eagle Scout and I have never seen him prepare for anything in the last 12 years.  He thinks I worry too much because as usual, “everything will be just fine.” 

We stopped at The Mint and looked around for some gifts.  This is where the guys shop for “the wives.”  Lucky us.  It was touching to watch Dave look and ponder over the perfect piece of jewelry.  Marlene is a lucky lady. 

We took Dave to the airport to see him off.  His flight leaves at 8:30 and he won’t get home until 11:00AM tomorrow.  Yuk!

 

Independence Mine and Hatcher Pass

July 6, 2014 Independence Mine and Hatcher Pass

Dave will fly out tomorrow and George and I will continue our Great Alaskan vacation.  We all took off and went up to Hatcher’s pass and to Independence Mine.  It is a fascinating story and mine.  The trip up to the mine was the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen.  It was so crisp.  I’m sure my pictures don’t do it justice. 

 

THE GUYS ARE BACK ALREADY

July 5, 2014 

 

 

I picked the guys up and I could tell they were exhausted but happy.  They are planning and plotting their next trip.  I am having trouble downloading their videos but they did get some good stuff. 

Wrong turn 80 mile 4 wheeler adventure

July 4, 2014   

Barney picked the guys up this morning and took them to his village of 26.  They enjoyed themselves with all the food and festivities.  They were very impressed with their hospitality. 

Now for their unbelievable adventure.  No pictures but I will help you visualize.  One of the miners in the village invited them to come to his mine 20 miles away to look at some equipment.  Dave borrowed Barney’s 4 wheeler and George rode with the miner in his Pickup.  The old miner told Dave to take off ahead of them and gave him directions to follow the main road.  Since it was dusty they let him get ahead of them so they lost sight of him.  George noticed there was a fork in the road and Dan was heading on the less traveled road.  George informed him that Dave probably took the road that looked more traveled.  The old miner said, “No he probably came this way.”  George kept insisting otherwise but they continued on.  Well, they arrived at the miner’s place and no Dave.  George had the phone and camera and Dave was out lost somewhere.  So after George got to the job site and no Dave he was a little worried.  The clouds were rolling in.  The miner gave George a gun, a jacket, a nap sack and mosquito spray and a tracking device and sent him off on his 4 wheeler.  So George heads out in search of Dave.  About 5 miles out, he runs into Dave who finally figured he must have taken a wrong turn.  Dave has already gone 20 miles the wrong way and 20 miles back tracking plus another mile and ½ back to town, in order to make sure he was heading the right way and then another 20 miles to the mine site.  So Dave has 60 miles plus under his belt on a 4 wheeler and George 5.  They both go back to the mine site and check out the equipment.  They had a quick cup of coffee and decided it was time to head back.  The weather turned nasty and cold shortly after they left.  George has been bucked off the 4 wheeler several times in the past so he wasn’t real crazy about riding back with Dave.  George had his jacket and Dave had his rain coat and away they went.  They were pelted with rain for about 10 miles.  Dave was slipping and sliding and George was back seat driving telling him to slow down.  Dave said he had his hood shielding his face and was driving with one eye going fast.  Took them an hour going out and Dave made it back in 45 minutes.  So George says, “Too fast.”    After they crossed the Independence Creek about another ¼ miles, they noticed a 4 wheeler at right angles into the ditch.  Then they could see a guy staggering out of the ditch.  As they approached, George said he was about 6’6” and about 300 lbs.  He was in a T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers and soaking wet from being thrown into the water in the ditch.  He had gotten thrown off.  They asked him if he was ok and the guy said, “I’m invincible.”  He said his dog got in front of him.  I guess the dog was riding with him apparently on his lap and had obstructed his view.  They guys said this guy said he was invincible about 5 times and assured them he was fine.  They watched him get back on the road and continued on their route.  Of course I made sure to get the story that the dog was ok.  Poor dog. 

 

Their Exhausting hike looking for the quartz outcropping

July 3, 2014 

 I am shocked and jealous.  They said their caribou was delicious and George cooked.  I am shocked they were able to figure out how to cook the caribou and jealous George cooked for Dave.  They didn’t have any flour but they crushed some crackers and breaded the steaks and fried them.   

 

 

The guys went hiking about 8 miles looking for the quartz outcropping.  They made it to the top of the mountain and were exhausted.  George walked to the edge of the mountain and looked down to see if he could see it.  He was cautious not to get too close because it was so steep and there was nothing to hang on to.  They found a big valley that looked like the side of the mountain had slid down.  They found gravel deposits in the slide in the creek which is where the gold is found.  They have 1,440 acres to explore so they haven’t come close to knowing exactly what they have.  Their test in their immediate area tested well.  Their plan now is to get a dozer up there.  They need to do some clearing and get the overburden removed.  Yes folks, there’s gold in them thar hills.  So I guess the boys will start shopping for a dozer.

Company for supper

 

Bow Tie was their first bear for the season.  Here is Bow Tie and one his little buddies.  Bow Tie wouldn’t allow the other bear to get near their dump site where they burn everything.  George said Bow Tie would growl and run towards the other bear.  So the guys thought it was time to give just a little dose of pepper spray to settle the dispute.  They got a movie of it and I will try to download.  They got a whiff and away they went. 

They saw another bear later that evening.  George said this bear had a real black face and looked at them with the meanest eyes.  They described Bow Tie as having an innocent face.  Dave yelled and the bear didn’t budge.  Then George stood up and in his meanest and gruffest voice yelled to the bear and told him to get out of there.  George said they could practically read the bear’s body language.  He gave them the, “you talkin’ to me?” look and stood there for a second before he walked away.  George had the bear spray ready and Dave had him backed up with his gun.  They actually wanted to pepper spray him because they have found the bears usually don’t come back after getting a dose.  Besides, I think they were hoping Bow Tie would come back.  I think they are going to miss him.  Maybe there’s a children’s book waiting to be written.   

Bow Tie the Friendly Bear

July 2, 2014   Friendly Bear, Bow Tie

 

 

July 2, 2014   Bow Tie; The Friendly Bear

 

George is good about calling around 1:00 in the afternoon.  The calls are quick and just enough information to keep everyone informed.  He said they have a friendly bear hanging around their camp and it has just enough of a white patch to look like a bow tie, sooo…. They named him Bow Tie.  Makes you wonder if it were a fluffy bear would they have named it Fluffy?  The bear likes their fire pit where they burn their trash.  So far they don’t seem too worried about Bow Tie. 

They are still testing at their site.  He said they drilled 4’ and go color all the way down.  I keep asking about the metal detecting for all the metal detectors following, but they haven’t done much.  They are on a mission with their core drill.  Their plan for tomorrow is to check out some quartz outcropping south and west of the cabin.  Where there’s quartz, there’s gold.  This place is about 1 ½ miles away.  George and Dave are plotting where the gold is and then the next step will be to get the bigger equipment in.  They were supposed to have had something brought in this last winter but it didn’t happen.  Dave said this is better anyway because now they will know what kind of equipment they need. 

Sounds like they are going to have a good 4^th of July.  The name of their creek is 4^th of July Creek by the way.  Their pilot, Barney, is going to come and get them and take them to his village of 26 people and they are going to celebrate with them.  I hope they get good pictures. 

Barney brought them some propane today alone with some caribou meat.  George cheerfully announced they were having caribou tonight.  Can’t wait to see how the guys fix this.  George is not good at BQ and I don’t think Dave cooks.  I can picture them both staring at it and asking each other how they should cook it.   

 

 

Bear Scare

July 1, 2014

 

They drilled 5 holes today and got 4 colors per hole.  The conversation was short but he did tell me about a huge mama bear and her huge cub that came up the path.  He said they could hear something coming and they got the gun and pepper spray ready.  They stopped about 20’ in front of them.  George just kept saying how “HUGE” they were.  I asked if they were scared and he said, “Yeah, scares you to death.”  Eventually they just turned and left.   I’m all about the pictures but safety comes first so there will be no pictures of this close call.   I’m ok with that.  Remember folks, UDAP bear spray works great and everyone should carry this when out in the unpredictable nature. 

Tour of our RV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tf8XUfRVW0

For those of you who want to see how bad I have to rough it here is a link showing a 5th wheel just like ours.  I can't seem to download our video.  Our couch and chairs are different, but this is, otherwise, pretty much identical.  I do love it.  I chose this one because the living room is separate and has the sliding doors.  So when we have company, they can have their own room.  We also have a smart TV.  It is just a little too smart for me.  I haven't figured everything out yet. 

Poor me holding down the fort

Oh how it sucks to be me.  This is my view from our 5th wheel at midnight.  It is beautiful up here 24/7.  This is Pioneer Peek and what I look at every day.  The weather is shirt sleeves and jackets.  I brought my winter coat but have never needed it.  This park is called Town and Country and is just outside of Palmer and Wasilla. 

Waking up to a warm cabin

 

June 30, 2014

The guys got the stove in so they will wake up to a nice warm morning.  Dave usually has to make George a cup of coffee to get him out of bed so maybe this will help.  They did some core drilling in the open area they saw when they flew over.  It was about ½ mile south west of the cabin.  There was about a foot of overburden and it was about 18” to bedrock.  Rule of thumb is they need 10 “colors” to be a good site.  This site had 5-6 but their drill is only an inch so that is a real good sign.  They will be drilling and labeling again tomorrow.  Since I won't have any pictures for a while, I'll throw in some just for fun.  This is my boys sleeping in.  I took this in our 5th wheel the day before Dave arrived.  Toto is keeping me company while George is gone.  Dave jokingly said they could take him for bear bait.  I think he said that because he knows Toto is getting old and he can outrun him and he knows he can't outrun George's long strides.   With bears it only matters who is in last place. 
 

 

 

CARIBOU SCARE

July 1, 2014   CARIBOU SCARE

They drilled 5 holes today and got 4 colors per hole.  The conversation was short but he did tell me about a huge Caribou and her huge baby that came up the path.  He said they could hear something coming and they got the gun and pepper spray ready.  He said it didn’t take them 5 seconds to be on draw.  The animals stopped about 20’ in front of them.  George just kept saying how “HUGE” they were.  I asked if they were scared and he said, “Yeah, scares you to death.”  Eventually the mama and baby just turned and left.   I’m all about the pictures but safety comes first so there will be no pictures of this close call.   I’m ok with that.