Remote Prospecting?

[Jim_Alaska]

The most amazing part of this "fish and river" controversy is that they decry the fouling of the river due to natural events and even wage war on miners because they claim we kill the fish. They ever even think or admit that their decades long mission to remove the Klamath River Dams will release mud and sediment that will cover the Salmon spawning beds for very long time. This is not to even mention the horrendous fish kill it will implement on the very first surge.

[Geowizard]

Jim,

Very true.

- Geowizard

[Geowizard]

Wait, not one, but two Remote prospecting options;


- Geowizard

[Jim_Alaska]

It is true that The Chena River Recreation Area cuts off overland access. But it is also true that Alaska is mining friendly and on certain occasions will relax rules. When I lived there a mining company got special permission to access their claims in the headwaters by going through the rec. area. Yes, they needed a special permit and had to abide by special instructions. A couple of the requirements that I remember were:
1. They had to bridge the river with huge logs for equipment to cross. They were to use the existing Cat trail.

2. All mobile equipment, such as dozers, Loaders and excavators had to be moved "blade up". and in winter, to lessen ground damage.

I know of one other lone miner that got access for a small crawler dozer. He used to be a member of this forum. He mined at Ottertail Creek where it dumps into the Middle Fork, this is where I once dredged.

The river freezes sufficiently in winter to move equipment, especially if the equipment is not the size of a D-8.
The cat trail is accessed right off of the Chena Hot Springs Road at a gravel pit; it runs the entire length of the river valley, up into the headwaters.

The headwaters have seen a lot of mining over the years, especially at Van Curlers Bar. All of the creeks and pups in the headwaters have had, or currently have claims on them.

[Geowizard]

Jim,


- Geowizard

[Geowizard]

If the shoe fits;


- Geowizard

[Geowizard]

The third dimension,



-Geowizard

[Jim_Alaska]

If the shoe fits;

Remote Prospecting is becoming a Brand, a style and a way of life for many people in the world.

By "remote" I mean extremely remote. There are places and I have seen only a few that qualify as being a world apart from this world. You can sense it when you enter into that space. NO human has ever been there. You have entered into an untouched world and realize you are alone in a remote forest surrounded by fuzzy moss, ferns and mushrooms. A place where time stands still. It's hard to explain unless you have been there.

Remote Prospecting today has risen to an unprecedented level of stealth and predictably so. This is serious business! To continue forward, we as a discrete group must plan and make decisions on HOW we go forward.

For example;

When I was mining a Ophir, each season, a couple of airplanes, new Cessna 206's, would land at the runway. Because I was the self appointed sheriff, I would note the passing of these characters that looked like prospectors with back packs, pans, small picks and shovels as they walked, trekking on foot on their way to "somewhere". Nobody knows where. Nobody asked either. These guys were not known to anyone. You wouldn't want to track along behind them sniffing their trail to find out either! A week later, the airplane engines would start and they were gone.

As I think back to that point in time, I am beginning to understand. There are prospectors on a mission. It's their mission and it doesn't require a discussion.

Frequently, I am busy plotting geophysical anomalies on Google Earth. On occasion, in a high resolution imaged area, way past "way to helen gone", I will plot an anomaly and notice a bush airplane parked on a sandbar nearby. No mining claims. No information. No nuttin'. Yes, maybe it's just another fisherman out there fishin'.

Stick around! There's more!

- Geowizard

As I am sure you can imagine Chuck, I have had my share of all the things you imply in your last two posts, during my time in Alaska. I can also read between the lines and agree that there are things that you just don't discuss on a public forum, or even one on one with others.

Much of my prospecting and mining was done "under the radar" so-to-speak. This is only one part of the reason that my operations have always been extremely small scale. For instance, dredging doesn't leave a footprint. But even having said that, dredging can be visible and even after the fact, if you know what to look for. So, although my operations were not all that remote as far as distance goes, they were remote in the fact that no one ever went there. Most of the reason for that is that it took special equipment and expertise to get there and once you got there, there had to be a a reason you went in the first place. As it turns out "there" is nowhere and no reason to go there.

And so, I was able to be successfully invisible, but even then there was one unexpected exception, which shall remain unspoken, except to say that "loose lips sink ships"; that old war time term applies to prospecting today also.

Suffice to say that I did have one advantage over you in that, I lived there year round, and this has many benefits not readily seen on the surface.

[Geowizard]

Foley's Trapline;


-Geowizard

[Jim_Alaska]

I didn't know about a neighbor on the river. He must have come into the picture after i was gone. I don't understand about access by truck, there is no road. Jet Ski I can see, but the last I knew he bought an airboat after sinking his jet boat.