Picture from the wilderness on their attempts to deliver the gold mining equipment

This is Dave in the wild.  He said Richi was driving the excavator and had to stop and pull snow machine off of him a dozen times every time he crashed.  Dave said he would always tell him he was doing good.  Dave said he was so sore, "it hurts to poop."  I'm just telling you what he said.  Dave still had his humor on the trail. Dave is from Florida and had never driven a snowmobile until this emergency situation.  Just to keep you caught up:  Barney and Richi tried one attempt to get the gold mining equipment, the dozer and excavator to their site 60 miles in the wilderness.  They plowed through 5' deep snow and crossed many rivers but didn't make it to their site, The Fourth of July Creek.  Then Dave flew in from Florida to help because he had experience driving heavy equipment...but not with snowmobiles.  As it turned out, Mother Nature turned the guys back for the second time.  She ordered spring thaw a wee bit earlier than normal and the early thaw almost proved deadly.  The equipment broke through the thawing rivers twice and the guys managed to save their equipment and their lives.  There was a lot of prayers that pulled them back from the brink.  I am just posting some pictures so you can see some of what they went through. 

 My caption for this one is:  Does this weather make my face look cold?

These guys are in the wild in an arctic tent I showed you earlier.  This is probably their first night of their second attempt.   

Here is Barney cooking moose for the guys in a cabin they spent the night in on the way back.  I think they were close to the Iditarod trail so it might have been one of those cabins. 

This is a picture of the guys fueling up the cat. 

Hold your ears on this one.  This is what it's like driving with Dave in the middle of Alaska in 5' snow. 

I think this is early on and Dave's humor is showing.  You can see why he keeps George laughing when they are together.   He sent this video and wrote: "Found a place to write my name"

 

 

Remember they left their equipment about 30 miles out in the wilderness and now this is their arrival back on their second attempt. 

Mission Impossible- Too dangerous

 

April 10, 2015 

I know everyone has been anxiously waiting to hear if the guys made it to their site.  The answer is no.  It’s been a long and tough couple of weeks.  You know the first trip to deliver the equipment wasn’t successful and they decided to try a different route.  Dave lives in Florida and flew all night to get there just to help on this second trip.   So we had three guys in the wilderness of Alaska on trip 2.  This was worse than the first trip.  Now we have Barney, Dave and Richi on a very scary and dangerous journey in the middle of the wilderness with deep snow and thawing rivers.  They had no choice except to abandon the mission and turn around and come back.  One side of the track on the excavator fell in the river and was dislodged and slid out of alignment.  They got it back on but they almost lost it in the river and took some big risks with their lives… twice.  That was a very dangerous situation for them.

You might be disappointed and sad they didn’t make it, as the guys are, and wondering why something like this happens after all the planning, work and money that went into this.   God only knows, but it is a much better to story to have our guys come home safe and sound.  I’ll catch you up on the stories and adventures as I get more details.  I think it was very traumatic and not something to joke about like before.  Dave hasn’t even filled George in on all the details yet.    

George and Dave aren’t giving up though and hopefully everyone is still inspired to follow their own dreams.  Remember folks, you can only get kicked in the butt if you are facing or moving forward.  These guys got kicked in the butt… but they aren’t giving up. You might say they failed but the secret to failure is never trying in the first place.  It’s a matter of how you look at things.  EVERYTHING happens for a reason.  They are all alive and safe and we ALL have grateful hearts. 

Good info from Mist April 7, 2015

April 7, 2015  Good info from Misty

Misty said they will try to go down Last Chance Creek and get on or near the 4th of July Creek where their gold claim is.  They are hoping to be home by Sunday.  Misty usually gets a call every morning and night to let her know their plans and how they are doing. They are in Grizzly country you know.  George and Dave are good with a can of bear spray and found it works really well for them.  They found when they spray the bears, they usually don’t come back.  Dave is packing heat on this trip though.  I think Grizzley’s are a little scarier than the Black bears.  Barney on the other hand is obviously used to taking on bears.  It is spring and the bears are stretching and yawning and very very hungry.  They haven’t seen wild life yet but we do need to keep them in our prayers. 

(This picture always makes me smile.  Dave is a funny guy, quick witted and made our trip in Nome so much fun.  This is an old picture I found just to make everyone smile.  I will see how often Dave reads this blog) 

I found out they have an amazing tent called an Arctic Oven!  She said they camped in it at -40 and slept in shorts and a shirt. I also found out the 25’ fall didn’t happen.  The story got taller in the transfer.  You have to admit it did make the story pretty intense.  The true story is, while plowing in some of the bowls on the mountain it would just get deeper and deeper and Barney guessed it would be 15’ deep.  With the pushing of the snow it seemed to pile up 20-25’ high on each side of him and that’s where Barney and Richi turned around.

 

 

They're off for round 2 of this gold mining adventure

April 7, 2015

And they're off. This is Dave loaded up and ready to go. This is a video of Dave and Richi taking off. They are taking off from Takotna and will travel about 30 miles in about 40 degree weather. Sunset is about 9:30 and then the temp will drop to freezing. They have about a 50% chance of snow. They plan to meet up with their equipment left in the wild and make a new trail. Barney will scout out the route on the snow mobile with Dave on the Dozer, Big Sexy and Richi on the excavator. Dave might rename Big Sexy by the time he gets back and we might have a name for the excavator. Stay tuned. Misty is going to keep us posted. So the adventure is on! Take 2.

Poor Dave

April 6, 2015

 

Poor Dave.  Here is a picture of Dave's hosts.  Barney, their pilot, and his wife Misty.  Dave had to fly all night but I guarantee Dave isn't going to suffer with Misty's cooking.  It appears Alaskan women know how to take care of their man.  I'm just showcasing a sample of some of her specialties.   Don't know if Dave is equipped with his -60 boots and insulated underwear.  I'm not sure he knows what those are since he probably hasn't ever even seen his breath in the cold.  He's from Florida remember.  Now the fun will really begin following this adventure.  Whenever George and Dave are together they are always laughing so I hope I get some good stuff for you all.

April 5, 2015 Happy Easter Update from the gold miners

April 5, 2015-  Happy Easter Update
Dave talked to Barney last night and they decided they needed another experienced driver to finish taking the dozer to the gold claim.  George has the -60 boots but Dave has the experience.  Poor George.  They had to come back because they can’t get through their current route.  Barney left the dozer and excavator in the wilderness about 30 miles out.  I had someone ask how we know no one is going to go out and steal everything.  Folks, the dozer is in the middle of nowhere in the wilderness.  Not too many criminals happen by, in the middle 5’ snow in the wilds of Alaska in the market for a dozer.  The guys don’t seem to be losing any sleep over worrying about that, they are just worried about getting the dozer to their claim before their weather window expires.  The more it thaws, the harder it is.  Dave made immediate arrangements and is heading to Alaska as I write this.  He left at 1:30PM today and will arrive at 1:30AM tomorrow.  Long trip.  Dave will then have to shop for his winter gear before he heads to the bush.  Dave is a Floridian and I heard George giving him instructions on what insulated underwear to buy.  I worry this will be hard on Dave so we all need to say a prayer for the safety of his fingers and toes.

Making a Snow Bridge

The guys have to be careful not to tear up the tundra so Barney made a snow bridge to go across the water.  This way the bank of the creek is not damaged. 

Pics from Barney's first attempt to deliver the gold mining equipment

We have a lot of catching up to do.  Barney just sent some pictures of when he was on the trail taking the equipment to the gold claim.  Enjoy!  He and Richi are home safe thank God. 
The guys will take the weekend to reassess the trip and route.  They are already discussing another
plan of attack.

 

Original Pics from Barney on the trail in the Wilds of Alaska

We have a lot of catching up to do.  Barney just sent some pictures of when he was on the trail.  Enjoy!  He and Richi are home safe thank God. 
The guys will take the weekend to reassess the trip
and route.  They are already discussing another
plan of attack.