Getting Ready - Day One

Just recently finalized trip plans and proceeded to pull up my tent stakes..... Time to get serious about this.
It just so happened that Steve was heading up to our last dig and offered me a ride. His girlfriend and son were also there. As we rode along the beautiful stretches of the Seward Hwy we discussed what we needed to get done while we were up there..... 40 miles from civilization.....
I needed to pull my sluice box and other equipment from an extremely steep canyon which is about 3/4 mile down...... and, back up... I secured the site camp at the bottom. It was absolutely beautiful. The water level was still flowing over our normal digging spots.

The memories I have of this area are some of the best I have. I've been digging here, along these cliff walls, for almost 7 years. I never really got much gold from this area, but the seclusion and closeness of the canyon walls were very comforting. Granted, the water we work next to happens to be class 2 rapids.... unless it rains, then it gets fun.

I Digress.....

I gathered my equipment, consisting of a large gold pan, small gold pan, classifier, Sluice box and my trusty shovel. The hike up from the bottom of this canyon is VERY vertical... At 5 different points, you need a rope assist to go up or down. This isn't very difficult if you have use of both of your hands.... a luxury that I didn't have.... But I did manage to climb down and back up in just under 90 minutes.

As I caught my breath at the top, I realized I was 15 minutes early for my ride. I swatted bugs away and thought about the new project...... 45 minutes worth of day dreaming went by before I snapped back into reality.... which said.... "You are out in the middle of nowhere, with equipment..... what now?"

I headed towards the upper camp where he had gone..... another 1 1/2 miles.... uphill..... with equipment...

I got to the gate.... locked. I walked around the gate and proceeded to a small campsite close by to drop my gear. I then started walking back up towards the upper camp.... As I approached the powerline trail I yelled..... I heard no response. I then turned around, grabbed my gear, and headed back out to the highway. Fortunately within the first 6 miles I got a ride from a really nice guy who didn't mind discussing gold mining for an hour.

I finally got back to Glacier City not knowing what had happened to Steve.

Apparently.... They had gotten stuck at the top camp, and in freeing the car, it blew the radiator. He had a 4 runner parked up there as well, so they were able to get home safe and sound.... 4 hours after I got back.

This is definately looking to be quite an adventure!