Lost In The Yukon

[HardPack]

A canoe trip on the Yukon Big Salmon River. The country is beyond words. Each evening they read from the book “Gold Fever; incredible Tales of the Klondike Gold Rush”  by Rick Mole. 

They end their trip with the poem by Robert W. Service  “ The Spell of the Yukon”.  Here’s a few lines that jump out to me.

There’s a land where the mountains are nameless,

  And the rivers all run God knows where,

There are lives that are erring and aimless,

  And deaths that just hang by a hair;

There are hardships that nobody reckons;

  There are valleys unpeopled and still;

There’s a land—oh, it beckons and beckons,

   And I want to go back—and I will.

[Valens Legacy]

Thanks for sharing the video I enjoyed it very much.

[HardPack]

In the 1950’s a close relation partnered up with a placer miner to ground sluice a claim along a northwestern tributary of the Trinity River in Northern California. His 70 plus year old partner claimed to have been a “Klondiker”. They periodically had to procure supplies, on the way back they travel by truck to the road’s end then hiked the remainder into a remote claim. From the stories told I learned this old timer was part billie goat, they had to relocate their cabin to sluice the ground under, they stored their concentrates in coffee cans and they both liked their whiskey.  

Nearly 50 years later I made a trip into the area of the claim. I ran into a man and his young son picking wildflowers along a hillside. When asked, they were quick to remind me it was Mother’s Day. The man had a small quartz operation which included a ball mill but had no recollection of the miner in question. He mentioned the old placers were depleted then hooked me up with a local whose father might recall the people in the area in the 1950’s.

Unfortunately the local’s father had dementia and did not recall much of anything. His daughter, my contact, had grow up in the area and had the following information to share.

There were several old prospectors in the area at that time who would uproot every time news arrived of a new strike. They traveled the world including the western US & Canada, Alaska, Australia and New Zealand. But she claimed most always returned to the Trinity. She stated they always recovered enough gold to keep themselves grubstaked and ready for the next big strike. I never learn this old Klondiker’s name and his young partner has been lost to time. 

[John-Edmonton]

Fantastic entertaining video. Perfect for this time of year. Thanks for the post!

[HardPack]

On 1/26/2024 at 12:39 AM, John-Edmonton said:

Fantastic entertaining video. Perfect for this time of year

Canada Over the Edge has a recent YouTube video Natural Beauty Surrounding Yukon Territory Largest City posted by Track Travel Documentaries. The video explores the area around Whitehorse with some scenes of the Kluane NP glaciers and river valleys. I didn’t link it because it is an hour long video. I definitely have the Yukon on my list.