Jim_Alaska

Just be aware of your surroundings. Don't stick your hands in places you can't see into. Other than that, have fun.

I know what you mean JR. My legs have given out also. Mine is not just from age, but also have developed Neuropathy, which means I have no feeling in my legs and feet. It makes you extremely unsteady, which makes it dangerous on uneven ground.

Your pictures are making me homesick Steve. But don't stop, this has been a great story. I just posted a link to it on my forums, so you should have more folks reading your story.

JW, the gold in your pictures seems to be water worn. Is it glacial gold or was there once a river at the height you were working that slope?

That is a nice, portable setup you have there John. At my age I like "portable". Thanks for posting the pictures, it's always nice to see how others are setting up their equipment.

Ridge Runner, I am old enough to also remember Sgt. Preston on the radio. I was very young and remember waiting very impatiently for the next episode. Back in those days, before television, the radio was the high point of the day for family entertainment. Right after supper everyone gathered around the radio to listen, imaginations could run wild and the stories could very easily be visualized.

Wow, that is just amazing JR.

You are right Steve, the effort those old timers went to is nothing short of unbelievable. In Alaska's Interior where I lived I found a lot of evidence of mining in the old days. Not much for flumes like you pictured, but lots of old shafts, some as deep and 100 feet. Old wooden sluice boxes are common. And old boilers for thawing perma-frost and frozen winter ground. I found a lot of this kind of evidence because I was a trapper in winter and had access to ground that was inaccessible in summer. Some of those old boilers were huge. And just thinking about how they got them into those remote locations made me weak and tired. Of course some of that heavy stuff was hauled in by sled and mules/horses in winter along the frozen rivers. Many times old mining areas could be discovered by extensive old tree cutting, with only the stumps remaining. They had to cut a lot of trees for boilers and heating cabins in winter, not to mention building of cabins and sluice boxes. At the turn of the century miners started using huge riveted pipe to bring water from distant locations. This was in place of wooden flumes and a lot of it was done by bigger mining companies. Some of the large companies around Fairbanks brought water from miles away like this for running the bucket line dredges. Some of that riveted pipe was so large a man could stand up in it stooped over a bit. That reminds me, I think I have a picture of that pipe somewhere. Will post it if I can find it.

Great adventure and chronicling of it Steve. The pictures are an added bonus and really bring the narrative alive.

This post brought back memories. It was probably around the same time frame, maybe a bit earlier in 1978. I bought my first dredge, a Keene 2 1/2" on an inner tube from Steve's store. Wanna hear something crazy? I still have that dredge and it is not because it was little used, I have used it to death and everything is still original, with the exception of the inner tube. I have used it as a dredge and also made temporary conversions to be used as a high banker. The old engine still runs strong.

This is just for the New 49'ers board. I have to do the Alaska Gold Forums separately. I'll start working on those soon. Thanks for asking Steve. This would have been simple if I just used the cookie cutter board they supply. But both the club board and the Alaska board have lots of custom design features on them.

Thank you phrunt, I didn't even know anything like that existed. I'll look into it.

Thanks for this Steve, your posting this will help a lot and is very generous of you.

Don't ask me to explain it, but the forums are up again. There is no way to know if or how long they will be up. So if there is anything regarding past information that you want, you should find and save it immediately. I am still working to get new forums up. I have a host and also have a provider for new forums. It just takes a lot of time to learn the new process of putting them up on the Internet. I am also working to try to migrate some, or all of the old posts into the new format.

I live in this area. The specimens that are shown are very typical of what you can find in scattered places. There is a valid mine in the vicinity, so you have to be careful where you collect. There is one very good spot right next to the Forest Service road where you can see a great amount of float that gives you a huge selection to choose from. It seems like the whole hillside is awash in float HC Jade. Many people have picked over this one place because it is so accessable, but there are others that are not as noticeable if you drive slowly and look carefully for the Jade that has been exposed by weather. This sometimes leads to a good find where you are the first one to see it.