Mr. Charley and I are finally making use of some of the BOGOs in our tour saver coupon book. Today we took a train ride through the forest to one of Alaska’s Interior gold fields.
This was the starting point:
First we learned a little more about the Alaska pipeline:
They do monitor 24/7……a helicopter flew over as we were waiting to board the train
And…..away we go
First stop was an old site showing how the old pulley system worked filling and dumping the many buckets
Those pipes run water through the ground to keep it from freezing through the permafrost
That lady coming out is Yukon Yanda….she’s been mining up here for over 30 years (you should’ve seen her gold earrings!)
She explained how the old dredge worked, and how to pan for gold now.
Dredges are no longer used because they are not good for the environment. Panning for gold is prevalent up here; in fact, for $20 you can pan for gold all day at some places.
So, Mr.Charley and I panned for gold! Can’t tell you what how much we got, but….let’s just say I got more than him. I am thankful I don’t have to make a living panning for gold. It is HARD work and unless you hit some BIG nuggets, the most you end up with is small flakes. From the history we’ve heard here not many people hit it rich during gold rush time.
As we headed back, there was a bit more history and old sites to see
Then it was back home to the girls. We’re heading back down south towards Anchorage in the morning. We’ll stay over in Trapper Creek which is about halfway, then on to Fort Richardson in Anchorage. We’ll have a little over a week before Mr.Charley’s eye shot, so I’m hoping to get to Whittier & Portage Glacier , but…….you never know.
Have a good one everybody, we’re trying to.
RV Riding is riding on a train too
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