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?)

Quick Update

March 15, 2017-  Quick update

Here are a few pictures of the wildlife George has seen so far.

I got a call at 11:00 PM last night from our soon to be “mountain wilderness man” telling me he made it.  He was happy and excited to tell me about his chicken dinner with mashed potatoes and green beans on the Alaskan Airlines.  They know a way to a man’s heart.  So here is the plan with already a few hitches: Barney, his pilot, was delayed getting his plane to Anchorage for its 100-hour maintenance and checkup yesterday due to high winds in one of the passes he has to fly through from Takotna to Anchorage.  Ditto that for today also.  So, George is still in Anchorage tonight and will fly out at 9 AM tomorrow for McGrath on a little puddle jumper plane.  Then Barney will fly to McGrath and pick George up and then he will attempt to take his plane to Anchorage if the wind Gods give him some relief through the mountain passes.  Hitch number 2:  I just found out that James from Hawaii isn’t coming.  I am worried his wife saw my blog and shook some sense in him.  Obviously, I didn’t shake George hard enough. 

Here is some boring info for most readers including me but I think the gold miners will enjoy this technical stuff.  Before the guys can leave they have a plan.  I can’t believe I just said that.  Here it is:  Barney is going to spend a 10-12-hour day on a snow-go run to bust a trail.  No worries here because Barney was one of the top 10 finishers in the Iron Dog Race.  We have already replaced wise ol’ James with Rick.  Rick was on the first 2 attempts at getting the dozer and excavator into the site.  (Rick must be a die-hard or he didn’t get the same memo James got).  While Barney is eating, snow blazing the trail, George and Rick will be cutting some holes in the excavator track to prevent snow build up and reduce the risk of coming off track.  Also, Barney said he wanted to weld the “dump box,” that sits under the grizzly, to the skid.  Then they are going to put the 500-gallon tank of fuel it the dump box and center it.  Apparently, the box with the grizzly on top tended to slip during the previous attempts when going up the slopes.  The mere fact that these guys have a plan will make me sleep so much better tonight.  Yet there is more:  When Barney takes his plane to Anchorage he is going to pick up a pump to pump fuel to the dozer and excavator and check on a fuel additive.  Our son in law, Jason, told George they needed to put something called “Power Source” in the diesel fuel to keep it from gelling up in the sub-zero weather.  WHAT A DEAL!  Now all I have to do is sit back and hopefully say, “their plan came through”.  

Finally George is in flight to Alaska

March 14, 2017

OMG, I thought I would never get this guy launched.  George is the best electrician, gets things done around the house but can he pack or plan a trip?  Noooo.  George and Dave made plans to meet in Chicago and fly to Anchorage together.  I was a little jealous with all the planning that went into that plan.  Dave always gets all the attention.  But alas, as you know Dave had to have an overhaul on his hip so that left George heading east to Chicago to go west to Alaska by himself.  Did he change his ticket after knowing his partner wasn't going or finding out there is a major storm shutting down airports?  Nope.  I took him to the airport and after dropping him off at 9AM, he gets his ticket changed but the catch was his flight didn't leave till 1:00.  Back to the Airport for me as my bed was waiting for me to collapse.  As you can see, I finally met my goal.  George is all excited and loves his new back pack and he does sport it well.  As I am writing he is on his last stretch to Anchorage.  His flight went from Wichita to Denver to Seattle and now onward to Anchorage.  1st phase complete. 

Less than 1 week till take off

March 8, 2017

To see pictures and videos please check out their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thegoldprospectors/

For some reason I can not download videos on this blog. 

Well we have less than a week and George will be taking off for Alaska.  Did you notice I didn’t say George and Dave?  Yep.  I found out that Dave just had a hip replacement; maybe 2-3 weeks ago.  I asked how in the world Dave was going to be able to drive the heavy equipment or straddle the snow mobile.  This is when I found out that Dave will not be going.  Sooo… here is what I have found out as “the revised” plan.  Our pilot, Barney, who has experience in everything will be coordinating their expedition.  He is a true Alaska wilderness man and can drive heavy equipment plus he has great piloting skills.  He has also just finished the Iron Dog race and came in 10^th place which is quite a feat so I am very comfortable with Barney in charge.  The temperatures drop below 0 at night and he does have great survival skills.  Now we have George who is overcome with gold fever and insist that he can drive heavy equipment.  I have to tell you I have never seen him on a piece of heavy equipment except maybe when they bought their dozer and only for a photo op.  Should I be worried?  Next I find out that we have another crew member coming in from Hawaii.  It has yet to be disclosed weather he has heavy equipment skills.  Should I be afraid?  Well I am.  Is George afraid?  Not at all.  What have I learned from this?  If you have a bad enough case of gold fever you can do… a n y t h I n g.

February update

This is a video of our bored gold miners waiting for their plane

February 14, 2017

It has been a long time since I have posted any news and long overdue.  George and Dave have big plans coming up in March.  They will make another attempt to get their heavy equipment to their site.  They will have to walk their Dozer (Big Bertha) and their excavator (waiting for a name) in from Takotna to their site 60 miles through snow covered tundra and hopefully frozen rivers.  For the last 2 years we have been dealing with El Nino and now we finally have La Nina to help make it a little easier to get in.  I would give a lesson but I am so far behind. These guys are not the Alaskan mountain men you see on TV and I have to say, I am a little concerned.  Last attempt to get the equipment in was very dangerous and scary because they broke through the ice on one of the rivers.  Right now, the temperature is 17 degree and the highs are getting up to 24 this week and we have a month to go.  I read that La Nina is short lived this year so I am worried that March might be a little too late in the season.

So I am the planner of the family and George is the fly by the seat of your pants or willy- nilly as I call it.  The guys are going to walk their heavy gold mining equipment in to their site in sub 0 weather so I decide to ask George what he has prepared.  Oh yeah, he is ready.  He has his -60 degree boots and his thermal insulated Columbia Coat and 1 pair of insulated pants.  I ask if he has any snow mobile gloves.  Click click…I order a nice pair.  I ask if he has a hat to cover his face.  Click, click again.  How about goggles?  How about snow pants?  He has never gotten snow down his back before so he didn’t think he needed any now.  I don’t think he has ever driven a snow mobile.  Hand warmers, extra pants… Click click click.  I love Amazon.   

.    

Valentine Update

February 14, 2017

Happy Valentine’s day!  Speaking of hearts I should give you an update on George’s heart.  He was diagnosed last February with A-fib.  He ended up having an ablation last June.  He still has occasional A-Fib but is still working full time with his electrical business.  I think they wired him to work more because I am still waiting for the retirement and travel phase of our lives. 

A HITCH IN THEIR GIDDY UP

One of my reasons that I try to keep this blog is to encourage and inspire everyone.  George and Dave have had quite an adventure and they are always talking to people who say they would love to go to Alaska.  I say to everyone: Follow your dream.  Everything starts first with a thought; so think of your dream. Then like headlights driving in the night, just start your car and drive.  Like your car lights, you can’t see your final destination but still you drive knowing you will get there and you enjoy the ride along the way.  Just as your car breaks down during your trip, George and Dave have faced some wild and crazy adversities.  Some funny, many scary but they kept going.  Their trip this year will be delayed due to health issues for both of our gold miners.  It seems their timing is impeccable because without any planning they both are out of commission at the same time.  Dave and his wife just returned from vacation a week or so ago and they both have been deathly ill.  Since Easter, George has been battling some heart issues with a condition called A-fib.  He has been in the hospital for 1 procedure after another and I know he has been disappointed he never had that iconic nurse with the big boobs and short white uniform delivering a soft and healing touch with a bed bath.   Instead he’s been cardioverted (shocked) twice with no resolve, donated vials of blood and is sick of IV’s and a shaved groin with everyone in his “business.”  His heart cath was great and showed no butter in his veins (George loves real butter).  Our latest hospital adventure was a heart ablation.  This is where an electrophysiologist (Doctor) maps out his heart and goes in through the groin with lines that go to the misfiring cells in the heart and burns an area to create scar tissue around them to stop the A-fib.  George never complains but those straw sized sheaths they inserted in his groin would make anyone shiver.  It’s not that he doesn’t feel pain; he just doesn’t look.  After his trauma with a foley catheter I know he would rather be in Alaska dealing with the bears than go through that again.  So now at breakfast with the guys every morning, on his days off from medical procedures and appointments, George has been like every other “old person” that talks about their medical issues instead of gold mining.  He’s chapped that his record is ruined because he now has to takes medicine for the rest of his life.  The guys will cancel their airline tickets and reschedule for August.  I don’t really want to keep a blog on this adventure but what I want for everyone to take away from this is that we never know what the future holds so again I say: Follow your dream. 

10 days till the Gold Miners take off 2016

Sorry for the delay in posting. I didn't post because there just wasn't much going on.  They missed getting their heavy equipment into the site again this year due to El Nino.  The rivers didn't freeze solid this winter due to El Nino again.  It was a tragic winter with the news media warning to stay off the rivers but several Alaskans still lost their lives trying to cross.  I have to say it is frustrating to have our equipment sitting 60 miles (as the Eagle flies) from their site for a second year.  You might reread their harrowing experience trying last year.  They almost lost everything in one of their river crossings including losing their own lives.  Their were several close calls.  When you think of what the old gold miners went through in the olden days and the lack of equipment, you might think these guys are just whining, but I guarantee it has been a long hard road.   Our gold miners are getting ready for their annual migration.  I'll call it the goldcation when they get to the mother load.

  George and I did go to Portland, Oregon to the GPAA.  Here we are happy because I have designed so many T-shirts and products and I just know I will make more marketing these than the guys will make mining gold.  Yeah, well that smile turned to tears for me when I had to reload the truck for the long trip home.  I guess it paid for our trip and we did do some great site seeing and visited some museums along the way.  But I lost my bet. 

 We met some well know gold miner celebrities and I snapped this staged pic of Jim Thurber (From Gold Rush) and George.  I think Jim is asked for a picture so many times he goes into his trance pose automatically.  You can see George was excited and thought he was in the presence of gold mining royalty.   

 Now, this is gold mining royalty in my book.  The guys from Ice Cold Gold, Jesse and Josh Feldman, were at the show and they were so personable.  They are even too young to even be my kids but they were the cutest and nicest gold miners you will ever meet.  I tried to get them to go to George and Dave's claim to do their next show.  Cross your fingers and hold your tongue just right and who knows.  This is Josh and I.  That is a true legit 35 ounce chunk of gold.  And guess where it came from?  Just 4 miles from George and Dave's site at Moore Creek.  35 ounces!  Holy moly.  That's a dollar bill in my right hand.  The nervous guy in the background is the keeper of the nugget and he cancelled our transaction. 

                                      
Our next celebrity came all the way from Nome.  Steve Pomrenke from Bering Sea Gold.  He was asking questions about George and Dave's heavy equipment not because he was interested in their adventures; but  rather to rattle off his vast knowledge of bull dozers. 


                                     
                                   
These are my favorite guys to hang with.  They are the Wilson Brothers.  They had their booth right next to ours and they are the sweetest and most caring gold miners I have ever met.  Since George and I were novices at gold shows, these guys gave us pointers and support when times were slow.  We love them.  Also my maiden name is Wilson so I am sure we are related somehow. 
  

 If you faithfully read your Gold Prospector magazine then I don't need to tell you who this is. 
He is history.  Boo Coo and George, Buzzard, Massie are responsible for all this modern day gold rush.  He is

The Guys are back...Forget Plan B

July 17, 2015- Forget plan B

The guys are back.  Quick and simple answer to everyone’s question…  No gold.  It was somewhat of a productive “vacation” though.  Here’s the rundown: Remember I reported there were major forest fires going on when they left?  Well, they were still going on when they arrived.  The smoke was so thick they could only make one of the stops they had scheduled due to the thick smoke.  When they landed in Takotna, Wednesday July 2, they could only see about 200 feet.  The fires were about 4 miles from Takotna.  On Thursday, about 40 forest rangers were camping on the school grounds.

  They were supposed to get air dropped in the mountains but it started to rain so the rangers cleaned the brush around Takotna to help protect the city.  The fire fighters were actually still there for Takotna’s 4th of July celebration.  George got a picture of them camping in their tents.

George and Dave were grounded and couldn’t get to their site 60 miles out in the wilderness because of the fire dangers and smoke.  Since the rivers were down, the town hadn’t gotten their fuel supply for the summer so that contributed to keeping the guys grounded.  Oh yeah, I remember telling you they had a plan B.  Lesson here is to always pursue your dream, PLAN A, and don’t get side tracked on plan B, C etc.  It takes your focus off your big dream and adventure.  Always move in the direction of your dream and keep that momentum going.  I always thought it was great to have a plan B but this is a great example to learn by.  My mission is to tell the adventure while inspiring everyone to chase after their own passion and make your journey easier by pointing out some pitfalls.  Some of my advice from the sideline to prevent some expensive lessons is: plan, research, plan, coordinate, research, research, research and communicate!  Since I have graciously agreed to have multiple staycations while the guys chase their dream, it is a little frustrating when  I'm told, “things just happen.”  I could vent and write more but we’ll move on.  I was informed these are “business trips.”  I’ll let you be the judge after viewing the pics. 

Our gold miners had plan B which was to go into the mountains of Takotna and do some metal detecting and mining on a local claim they had lined up prior to arrival

They had a nice hike in the mountains including some site seeing.  Strictly business, of course. 

They did a few test pans at the claim but there was absolutely nothing. 

When you are dealing with gold there are laws written and unwritten.  You never mine on someone else’s claim without permission so since this claim was a bust they had to abandon their plan B.  Since the owner wasn’t available the guys went back to Takotna.  No doubt there’s gold in them thar mountains; just none at that particular site.  Even in the lower states a trespasser can get shot if they cross this line.  Serious miners call it, “claim jumping.”  George and Dave have to always worry about bears and they don’t need to be worrying about getting shot too.  They just need to get to their own site but it just wasn’t meant to be this year.  They did get their grizzly welded together and on their last day and they were able to finally get up in the air and fly over their site. 

They mapped out their path they will take this next winter to get their bull dozer and excavator to their own gold claim on the Fourth of July Creek. 

They were also able to talk to a geologist about their claim and obtained some interesting information.  He explained there was an anomaly on their site.  Here is how they explain it.  The DNR flew over the whole gold belt area in 2010 with a giant metal detector and published their finding in 2013.  They found they had an anomaly on their site.  This doesn’t show exactly where the gold is but highly magnetic is associated with gold.  I don’t understand it all, but I was able to contact a geologist in Fairbanks and they did a conference call with George and I and we talked with one of their geophysicist.  I got a link to some maps and great info for the guys to decipher.  http://avcams.faa.gov. 

How to Fix a Dozer

Here is another video you should enjoy.  They have to fix the bull dozer sometime also.  I was just getting ready to jokingly say how it sucks to be them but after seeing the daunting repair manual, I think it really will suck to be them tomorrow. 

Their plan to get gold

 

The guys are in Takotna.  I found out the census is actually 60, not 28 like I have been reporting.  So here is what I am thinking about George and Dave.  If they told me the population was less than it was…is that how they report their gold findings?  Isn’t this like a fisherman is reverse?

So for an update:  The guys are in Takotna staying at the “Mush House” as they call it.  This is where the Iditarod mushers stay during their historic and famous race.  You can see it is very nice with a TV, comfy chairs and beds and all the comforts of home.  Here is a video of George and Dave discussing their plan of attack.  It’s fun to watch them live yet another chapter in their adventure.  I can’t wait till they do some metal detecting.  Listening to their plan pulls you into the excitement.  Will it work?  Are they drinking?  Who knows?  Hopefully we will know something tomorrow.  You have to know, they filter what they tell me because they are afraid I will give away their secret recipe.  But I have vays.  I will keep you posted.

George and Dave were at the airport and noticed this sled.  Just like kids, George had to get his picture taken with it.  Can we all say awwww?

They're there

June 30, 2015

They were both so excited they couldn’t hardly get to sleep the night before they left.  I have a visual, in my head, of two little school boys who haven’t seen each other over summer break.  Crazy visual huh?  Jumping up and down, singing, “we gonna get some gold” doing the happy dance…riding around singing North to Alaska.  Just getting all you readers prepped for the excitement.  They have been planning and dreaming (as you know) all winter.  They make me smile when I hear about their grocery shopping and you can tell they must have been excited when they went to Bass Pro because of all the pictures.   I actually blew their shopping pictures up to see how hungry they were when they went shopping.  Now for the plan.  They are in Anchorage right now and you know they didn’t make it to their claim with their heavy equipment this last winter so they are going to plan B.  They plan to fly out to Takotna tomorrow, July 1, and stay at the mush house (As they call it).  They will repair their bull dozer and then go up into the mountains of Takotna and gold mine up there.  George and Dave will be using their metal detectors so this will put an interesting new twist on things.  I don’t think they know yet if they will be setting up their sluice.  Santa brought George a new Mine Lab metal detector, so he will be stuffing my stocking with some gold nuggets this Christmas.   I think it’s only about 20 miles to the gold claim.  Takotna has a population of 28 so they can’t just run to Hertz rent-a-car for transportation.  The guys have kind of grown on the little village and they have developed some strong friendships.  Their Alaskan friends are very hospitable and will help the guys get to the gold and follow their dream.  I am anxious myself to have them metal detect.  I have a Facebook friend in Scotland who discovered the largest Viking hoard in Scotland with a metal detector.  You can check them out at www.facebook.com/Beyondthebeep to see what the possibilities are and why I am excited. 

 This is Dave. The guys are talking their supplies to the airport so they can fly out tomorrow

                       They did some shopping at Bass Pro. Looks like they were impressed

 Notice the pillows? And if you blow the picture up, you can see some coke and Dr. Pepper and some beer? The gold stories are going to be great

                                                           Their wings for tomorrow

                             Did I raise George right or what? Is that a shopping list I see on top?

These guys have been in the wilds of Alaska and they love this store. Such beautiful displays

     These guys have been in the wilds of Alaska and they love this store. Such beautiful displays.

Did you say fires?

George and Dave have been working hard to get their businesses back home in line so they can take off on Monday.  I asked George if he was aware of all the fires in Alaska and I saw that little boy surprise look that is thinking, but is saying on the inside: “I got nothing.”  I think his mouth was open.  I filled him in and he immediately called his other wife, Dave.  The guys have a system that works for them and Dave is the designated contact person for Alaska.  This way they don’t double call.  Dave called the forestry division and the lady was so glad to hear from him.  She told him they were going to have to evacuate the guys because they didn’t have enough man power or equipment to protect their site like they did several years ago.  Dave informed her that they weren’t there yet and he heard a sigh of relief on the other end.  The Alaska Forestry division has a priority list for wild-land fires and it’s based on threats to life, primary residences, buildings, infrastructure, cultural and natural resource value and Native allotments.  They compile a list each day based on the fire activity.  I know George and Dave are proud of their tin can condo, but it didn’t make the list.  So we will wait and see what lies in their future.  There is no way in to their site except to fly in.  They have no river large enough to river boat in and it is 60 miles in over the rivers and rough terrain.  Sooo…. They have a plan B.   They will go into the mountains of Takotna and gold mine and just come down every night and stay in what they call “The Mush House.”  It’s where the mushers stay during the Iditarod.  Note: Data can be found here: http://afsmaps.blm.gov/imf_lightning/imf.jsp?site=lightning

 

This is a picture 30 miles NW of their gold mining site. 

 

Does the danger never end?

After their traumatic attempt to walk their equipment in over the snow packed tundra this March, they are now facing forest fires that threaten the Fourth of July Creek gold claim and Deadwood.  Several years ago the forest rangers had to set up pumps and sprinklers to protect their site.  This was because the forest rangers first duty is to protect life and limb.  The guys were out in the middle of the wilderness without any way out except by plane so it is understandable why the forest rangers were concerned about them.  Well, as you know, their heavy equipment didn't make it to the site so the guys are going to plan B.  Remember... When one door closes; another opens.  Since their equipment is sitting in Takotna (population 28) they are planning to go into the mountains there.  They have located a claim owned by someone else that will let them mine for a small percent.  It's amazing how things work out.  One of my goals in writing is show how everyone can pursue their dream.  You just have to point your car in the direction you want to go and follow your lights.  The lights don't show your entire trip, but they light the way and you follow.  Think about it.  God lights your way and you just have to have enough faith to follow the path you have envisioned.  If you don't believe it by now, you just need to go back and re-read their adventure.  This is a picture of one of the many fires in Alaska the firefighters are battling.