Jim_Alaska

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.

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.

I have only detected with Steve twice at Crow Creek, but both times I made an amazing discovery. The first discovery I made was that you don't ever let Steve get in front of you, the ground will be sterilized after he passes through. The second discovery I made was that you don't ever let Steve get behind you, he's like a turkey on a June Bug. Anything you miss, which is everything for me, he will have it in an instant. In other words, you get it the first time or it is gone forever, no second chances.

Simple....old age. Alaska is no fun sitting through 7 months of cold and dark when you are too old to do the things you went to Alaska for. I'm in Siskiyou County on the Klamath River.

On this kind of specimen (gold in quartz) the quartz is what makes any particular specimen unique. Once it is removed it is just very rough looking gold. I had a large specimen at just under 1 oz that the original owner had given an acid bath. It removed all the quartz and left a very rough look to it, almost like a sponge. If it were mine I would give it a vinegar bath to enhance the luster of the gold and clean off any dirt residue and iron stain. Specimens are quite impressive if you have a number of them, with each one displaying it uniqueness and contrasted against the others when on display.

No JW, I've not seen him. Like Steve I am not longer in Alaska. I now reside in Northern California.

Historically he always went to HI in winter. I think he used to do beach detecting there also.

Mac, I have a friend by the screen name of Joe_S_Indy on other forums. He originally lived in Indy in winter and mined on Alaska in summer. He now lives in Idaho in winter and still mines in Alaska in summer. He is based at Trapper Creek, AK. and mines out toward Denali. He is up there now. He has some real problems with crime. His cabin has been broken into twice while he was in Idaho for the winter. They stole everything they could. That would line up with what you said about crime in south central.

Mac, I was in the Fairbanks "area". By area I mean well outside of Fairbanks almost 30 miles out the Chena Hot Springs Rd. My mining was farther out though. It took two hours by airboat to get to where I dredged. So it was remote, I actually never saw anyone else once I was in camp. It took some real skill and knowledge of the river to get there.The first pic is of my claim and dredge, the second is my airboat with the dredge in the distance. I am now in Northern California, on the banks of the Klamath River, which is frustrating because we can't do anything mining related that requires any kind of engine. I left Alaska because I had just retired and my wife's medical condition demanded that she not be exposed to severe cold. I have not been back to Alaska. Mostly because I am too old to do the things I did all my life there. I'm crippled in the legs and just old. I just don't see any sense in living there through 6-7 months of cold and dark to be able to enjoy a few months in summer.

Mac, what general area of Alaska are you in? Or what general area did this happen in? I lived in Alaska's Interior for 37 years and although I have not lived there since 2003, this sort of thing was not very common where I was, when I lived there. I left a five inch triple sluice dredge on the banks of a river over the winter and into summer and it was still there when I went back, minus a few bear ripped off fuel lines and bear bites to the plastic gas tank. Bears seem to have an insatiable fondness for gasoline for some weird reason.

You deserve it Steve. But you left out the best part......where are you going for your adventure; Nevada or California?

Yes Kodiak, I know. That is the main reason I never went there. God put those bears on that island for a reason and I have no reason to visit. My friends always tried to get me to go there to hunt deer. To me it is not worth having to fight bears to keep your deer. I'm probably guilty of keeping this thread off the topic of detecting and instead dwelling on side issues. For that I apologize and will quit.

Yes phrunt, I do understand the difference. I just posted that because many people who do not and never have lived in remote situations just cannot understand what it is like to live where you have to be extremely careful about what is around you and where you are walking. Their lifestyle cannot prepare them for even thinking in terms of life and death encounters with wildlife. Like you said, where you live the most dangerous animal is a farmer's sheep. lol

You are right Fred. I lived in Alaska for almost forty years. The places I lived were a bit remote, in that they were not close to any town. So you could step out your door and possibly run into a bear or belligerent moose. It is true that people in Alaska that live in or very near towns and cities may not feel the need to go armed, but in most other places they do have a need to go armed. If you want to enjoy the outdoors in places like this you should take into consideration that you may run into trouble and need to defend yourself. Self defense is natural for all living things.