A
Anonymous
Guest
I always enjoyed sittin' and talkin' with my old trapper buddy . He was 40 years my senior and was right proud that he'd never held a job in his life . He trapped and that was it , and he made a pretty good liveing at it .
On one occasion he was telling me of getting lost in a particular area and haveing a devil of a time trying to find his way back out . He laid out his map , put the compass down and watched the sun set . The sun didn't match his compass . He figured that something in the ground was causeing a needle deflection and as he was thinking , 'something' , i was thinking , 'motherlode' .
I enquired as to whether or not he had ever come across any unusual mineral or rock outcrops in the area and he recalled two areas of unusual rock .
2 creeks ran parrallel to eachother and on each creek he had found a large outcrop of fools gold , iron pyrite . Between these two outcrops was where he got turned around . The creeks were about one mile appart and he had actually camped on one of the outcrops 30 years earlier . I went home , grabbed the topo maps and was back at his place within the hour . He pointed out the creeks and about where he camped on the outcrop and i told him that i was going in to check it out . At 80 years old he wasn't up to it so i called my youngest brother .
I explained to brother about the iron pyrite and told him that only a fool refers to it as fools gold as the metal/mineral content can be very high and warrents investigation and assay .
Rough country but if figured we'd could be in and out in 3 days , tops by doing a bit of canoeing and portageing down a creek , across a small lake and then a couple of more creeks .
Dureing phone calls over the next week we decided who'd bring what so we didn't double up on anything and Friday morning i was in his driveway with the 17 foot Grumman strapped to the roof rack . Brother tossed his pack and gear in the back of the truck and we had 2 stops to make before leaveing . Beer and dynamite . Beer is heavy so we only took one case of 24 cans and dynamite can be heavy also so i only bought a half case of 60 sticks .
About 3 hours later we were standing in front of the truck on an old logging road with the map on the hood and i reckoned that the first floatable creek was about 600 yards in that direction . Brother concoured but this was going to be a tough go .
A forest company had logged the area off a few years ago and now it was nothing but tag alder thickets and that's the hardest stuff on the planet to get through . It's tight and thick and can't be cut with a machete .
The first idea was to put everything in the canoe and drag it . We made it about 50 yards and realized that this won't do . The only option was to carry . It took 3 trips each and even though it was early october and cold we were soaked with sweat from the fight through the alders . We did manage to lighten our load somewhat dureing the carry by drinking about half the beer .
It was a beautiful little creek , just wide and deep enough for the canoe and flowing in the right direction so all we had to do was to use our paddles to do a bit of steering by pushing off the rocks . About 3/4s of a mile and the creek opened up into a large pond/small lake with a beaver dam across it . The dam wasn't high so we dragged everything across and floated for about 300 yards farther . End of the line and time to portage over a hill to a small lake . That took a couple of hours and by the time we reached the lake we we're starved so we had a bite to eat and a couple of beers and we set out across the lake which was as flat as glass . not so much as a ripple and the reflection from the sky and cliffs on the opposite side was beautiful .
As we approacked the far end of the lake we could hear rushing water where the river spilled out so we headed toward the sound and shot the first and only set of rapids . This was the right creeks so now all we had to do was find the old trappers campsite from 30 years ago and we'd find the outcrop of pyrite . The river narrowed and was now a creek and brother at the bow was excitedly pointing at all of the brook trout that were swimming down the creek in front of the canoe .
He commented that it was too bad that we hadn't brough our fishing gear as a trout dinner would be mighty fine . I told him that i'd brought mine and as he looked around to see i just nodded my head in the direction of the half case of dynamite . Brother laughed .
The shoreline was very thick but the topo map showed an area where the creek widened up into a small bay and the old campsite should be right on the other side . I wasn't sure if the old trapper was sure so i told brother to continue in the canoe and i'd hike the shoreline looking for any evidence . Not much farther and i walked right to the small bay while listening to the bottom of the Grumman scrapeing against the rocks on the bottom of the creek . I walked around the bay while brother paddled across and right off the bat i found the pyrite outcrop and found the remains of a few old tin cans that crumbled when stepped upon . This was it .
Brother pulled the canoe in and on the topo i showed him where we were , and also showed him where the other outcrop should be on the other creek about a mile away and pointed to the area between that would deflect a compass needle . A vein , an orebody , possibly millions of dollars but first things first . We'd make camp .
Brother had secured the canoe to a small ledge at a flat rock so we hauled out our packs , beer , gear and dynamite and i told brother to get the tent out of his pack and we'd pitch it right here . Brother looked at me for a second or 10 and then said , ' i thought you were bringing the tent '. I'll skip this part of the story since it was all profanity and threats of murder so we decided to build a leantoo.
We built a good one covered in pine bows with a nice soft floor of moss and the small ends of pine bows . The day turned strange for october as it started to warm up and the bugs were comeing out . Not just some but billions of black flies . We did have bug dope so we sprayed it on and went over to examine the outcrop .
The pyrite was shiny and there was so much of it . It appeared to be in a vein structure and we needed a clean , uncontaminated sample . 10 sticks of 70% nitro based dynamite would be more than enough but i bought extra just because i like blowing stuff up . I taped 10 sticks in a bundle and crimped a #6 detonator on 3 feet of black clover safety fuse . With a sharp stick i poked a hole into one of the sticks and inserted the detonator . We covered the charge with riverbottom mud and sand , in fact this technique is called mudcapping . lit the fuse and left the area .
40 seconds per foot and from behind some trees i looked at my watch . As i said , 'NOW' , the ground shook , a mushroom cloud went up and bits of trees and rock blasted in all directions . The bay was peppered with falling rocks with water splashing everywhere but i did hear a thunk that didn't sound right . As the last of the blasted debris settled we made our way back around the bay and i looked in the canoe to find a smaller than fist sized piece of rock laying in it . Upon closer examination there was a big dent but no hole so i tossed the rock in the bay .
The outcrop had been sheared clean but with no wind there was a heavy smell of ammonia in th air from the explosives . We gathered and bagged our samples .
Brother decided that he absolutely needed trout for dinner so i taped 3 sticks together , cut a short fuse and told him to get in the canoe . Out in the middle of the bay we couldn't see bottom and the bay was about 30 yards across so i lit the fuse and tossed the bundle about 10 yards away . I didn't realize it at the time but where i tossed the bundle in it was only about 2 feet deep and the water lifted with a horrific roar and a deafening blast with mud and swamp along with bullrushes and cattails flying everywhere .
I looked a brother and he at me and we both started to laugh uncontrollably as we were both covered in mud and weeds . We had to lipread and use sign language for an hour or two until our hearing returned but we got one trout . Actually we found one trout , there may have been a few sent sailing for hundreds of yards in the bush .
Brother cooked his trout and i had a can of stew and just before turning in for the night i layed my ruger security six .357 beside me and brother pulled his two pipe 12 gauge from his pack , loaded it and laid it beside him .
The night was warm and the blackflies were feasting on our heads . I tried pulling my stuff sack over my head to keep the flies off but instantly couldn't breathe so with a gasp pulled the sack off . Brother tried the same thing with the same result . I pulled my body down into the sleeping bag and covered my head and was instantly soaked in sweat . Brother tried the same thing with the same result . I retrieved the bug dope and sprayed my head and neck until it was running off . Brother did the same thing . The blackflies kept about 1/4 inch away but the humming of billions of them was driveing me crazy . Same for brother . Sometime in the middle of the night i managed to fall asleep for a second or two only to be startled awake by a horrific explosion right beside my head . I fumbled for my .357 and in the starlight could see brother laying beside me aiming his shotgun . What the f*ck was that i screamed . Brother replied , ' i donno but some cold wet nose touched mine so i fired '. Could have been a bear sniffing around , might have been a skunk but that was about it for me . I told brother that i was takeing the canoe out in the bay until sunrise . I'd anchor it and watch the stars . there was a bit of a breeze blowing so the bugs out there shouldn't be so bad . Brother agreed so we paddled out .
I managed a couple of hours sleep but woke up cold . We headed for shore and breakfast but i have to brush my teeth when i rise so as brother tied the canoe to the ledge i got my brush and toothpaste from my pack . The easiest access to the water was from in the canoe so i got in , applied the paste to my brush , took my glasses off and swished my brush in the water . I had my long range glasses on , i don't have bifocals and hadn't brought my reading glasses so i couldn't see what was resisting my toothbrush being swished in the water . I brushed , spit and swished again and again stuck my toothbrush into something and pushed it aside with my brush . One more brush , one more swished and i wiped my face off with a washcloth and put my glasses on . I peered over the side of the canoe to see what my toothbrush kept getting hung up on and found a muskrat floating with his guts hanging out everywhere . Probably a result of yesterdays fishing .
As the sun climbed higher the temperature dropped radically and it looked like storm clouds overhead . I told brother that with the temp dropping , storm clouds gathering and no tent we were going to get real uncomfortable real fast and i suggested that since we had the samples we came for we didn't need to make it to the other outcrop on the other creek a mile away . I told him that with the remaining dynamite we'd blow up beaver dams on the way back and if we left now we could be home for nightfall . Brother agreed .
It was all downstream on the way in and all upstream on the way back and most of it was done by pulling the canoe with a rope from shore . Hard work and hard going and our fingers were starting to freeze as the temp kept dropping . Eventually we spotted the first beaver dam from behind and as we looked over the top the water not only looked like glass , it was glass , frozen right across . We heaved the loaded canoe over and it slid and didn't break through . As it rolled on it's side we pulled it back and with sticks and small logs from the beaver dam we broke ice . Brother got in the bow with a 4 foot by 4 inch log and started breaking ice as i pushed us forward .
It was tense going because if i put any power to the stroke the bow would ride up on the ice and there was a good chance of rolling . Brother broke ice all of the way . The next creek was running fast so we pulled the canoe up that one also to find that the next beaver dam was frozen like the first , which is what we expected . I took the bow on this one and flailed and smashed the ice while brother propelled us along . My jacket was stiff from the water splashing on it and freezeing .
600 yards back to the truck through the tag alders and i decided that i wasn't going to carry the dynamite . Since we had a channel broken to the beaver dam i told brother to wait here , i was going back to load the dam and blow it to kingdom come . 47 sticks taped in 4 bundles and then taped together with the rest of the fuse which i estimated would give me enough time to get back to the opposite shore where brother was so i lit it and started paddleing . I lost track of the time but brother and i sat for awhile until all of the beaver dam and half of the pond vapourized in a blast that was just short of atomic . Brother commented that if we would have done that on the other beaver dam and then on this one we wouldn't have had to fight our way through the ice . He was probably right .
Monday morning i was at the assay office ordering a whole element analysis and was assured that it would be complete by wednesday . I spent monday and tuesday evening on the maps decideing on the best route for claim stakeing , how many claims were needed and how many millions my option agreement with a mineing company would bring .
Wednesday morning i was back at the assay office and they handed me the report . Gold , i wanted to see ounces per ton , i saw parts per million . Same for silver , same for platinum . The nickle percentage was interesting but not interesting enough to entice a mineing company , same for zinc and lead and the copper values we higher than a background trace , but not much higher .
We had an adventure and there's still gold in them thar hills , but which ones ?
On one occasion he was telling me of getting lost in a particular area and haveing a devil of a time trying to find his way back out . He laid out his map , put the compass down and watched the sun set . The sun didn't match his compass . He figured that something in the ground was causeing a needle deflection and as he was thinking , 'something' , i was thinking , 'motherlode' .
I enquired as to whether or not he had ever come across any unusual mineral or rock outcrops in the area and he recalled two areas of unusual rock .
2 creeks ran parrallel to eachother and on each creek he had found a large outcrop of fools gold , iron pyrite . Between these two outcrops was where he got turned around . The creeks were about one mile appart and he had actually camped on one of the outcrops 30 years earlier . I went home , grabbed the topo maps and was back at his place within the hour . He pointed out the creeks and about where he camped on the outcrop and i told him that i was going in to check it out . At 80 years old he wasn't up to it so i called my youngest brother .
I explained to brother about the iron pyrite and told him that only a fool refers to it as fools gold as the metal/mineral content can be very high and warrents investigation and assay .
Rough country but if figured we'd could be in and out in 3 days , tops by doing a bit of canoeing and portageing down a creek , across a small lake and then a couple of more creeks .
Dureing phone calls over the next week we decided who'd bring what so we didn't double up on anything and Friday morning i was in his driveway with the 17 foot Grumman strapped to the roof rack . Brother tossed his pack and gear in the back of the truck and we had 2 stops to make before leaveing . Beer and dynamite . Beer is heavy so we only took one case of 24 cans and dynamite can be heavy also so i only bought a half case of 60 sticks .
About 3 hours later we were standing in front of the truck on an old logging road with the map on the hood and i reckoned that the first floatable creek was about 600 yards in that direction . Brother concoured but this was going to be a tough go .
A forest company had logged the area off a few years ago and now it was nothing but tag alder thickets and that's the hardest stuff on the planet to get through . It's tight and thick and can't be cut with a machete .
The first idea was to put everything in the canoe and drag it . We made it about 50 yards and realized that this won't do . The only option was to carry . It took 3 trips each and even though it was early october and cold we were soaked with sweat from the fight through the alders . We did manage to lighten our load somewhat dureing the carry by drinking about half the beer .
It was a beautiful little creek , just wide and deep enough for the canoe and flowing in the right direction so all we had to do was to use our paddles to do a bit of steering by pushing off the rocks . About 3/4s of a mile and the creek opened up into a large pond/small lake with a beaver dam across it . The dam wasn't high so we dragged everything across and floated for about 300 yards farther . End of the line and time to portage over a hill to a small lake . That took a couple of hours and by the time we reached the lake we we're starved so we had a bite to eat and a couple of beers and we set out across the lake which was as flat as glass . not so much as a ripple and the reflection from the sky and cliffs on the opposite side was beautiful .
As we approacked the far end of the lake we could hear rushing water where the river spilled out so we headed toward the sound and shot the first and only set of rapids . This was the right creeks so now all we had to do was find the old trappers campsite from 30 years ago and we'd find the outcrop of pyrite . The river narrowed and was now a creek and brother at the bow was excitedly pointing at all of the brook trout that were swimming down the creek in front of the canoe .
He commented that it was too bad that we hadn't brough our fishing gear as a trout dinner would be mighty fine . I told him that i'd brought mine and as he looked around to see i just nodded my head in the direction of the half case of dynamite . Brother laughed .
The shoreline was very thick but the topo map showed an area where the creek widened up into a small bay and the old campsite should be right on the other side . I wasn't sure if the old trapper was sure so i told brother to continue in the canoe and i'd hike the shoreline looking for any evidence . Not much farther and i walked right to the small bay while listening to the bottom of the Grumman scrapeing against the rocks on the bottom of the creek . I walked around the bay while brother paddled across and right off the bat i found the pyrite outcrop and found the remains of a few old tin cans that crumbled when stepped upon . This was it .
Brother pulled the canoe in and on the topo i showed him where we were , and also showed him where the other outcrop should be on the other creek about a mile away and pointed to the area between that would deflect a compass needle . A vein , an orebody , possibly millions of dollars but first things first . We'd make camp .
Brother had secured the canoe to a small ledge at a flat rock so we hauled out our packs , beer , gear and dynamite and i told brother to get the tent out of his pack and we'd pitch it right here . Brother looked at me for a second or 10 and then said , ' i thought you were bringing the tent '. I'll skip this part of the story since it was all profanity and threats of murder so we decided to build a leantoo.
We built a good one covered in pine bows with a nice soft floor of moss and the small ends of pine bows . The day turned strange for october as it started to warm up and the bugs were comeing out . Not just some but billions of black flies . We did have bug dope so we sprayed it on and went over to examine the outcrop .
The pyrite was shiny and there was so much of it . It appeared to be in a vein structure and we needed a clean , uncontaminated sample . 10 sticks of 70% nitro based dynamite would be more than enough but i bought extra just because i like blowing stuff up . I taped 10 sticks in a bundle and crimped a #6 detonator on 3 feet of black clover safety fuse . With a sharp stick i poked a hole into one of the sticks and inserted the detonator . We covered the charge with riverbottom mud and sand , in fact this technique is called mudcapping . lit the fuse and left the area .
40 seconds per foot and from behind some trees i looked at my watch . As i said , 'NOW' , the ground shook , a mushroom cloud went up and bits of trees and rock blasted in all directions . The bay was peppered with falling rocks with water splashing everywhere but i did hear a thunk that didn't sound right . As the last of the blasted debris settled we made our way back around the bay and i looked in the canoe to find a smaller than fist sized piece of rock laying in it . Upon closer examination there was a big dent but no hole so i tossed the rock in the bay .
The outcrop had been sheared clean but with no wind there was a heavy smell of ammonia in th air from the explosives . We gathered and bagged our samples .
Brother decided that he absolutely needed trout for dinner so i taped 3 sticks together , cut a short fuse and told him to get in the canoe . Out in the middle of the bay we couldn't see bottom and the bay was about 30 yards across so i lit the fuse and tossed the bundle about 10 yards away . I didn't realize it at the time but where i tossed the bundle in it was only about 2 feet deep and the water lifted with a horrific roar and a deafening blast with mud and swamp along with bullrushes and cattails flying everywhere .
I looked a brother and he at me and we both started to laugh uncontrollably as we were both covered in mud and weeds . We had to lipread and use sign language for an hour or two until our hearing returned but we got one trout . Actually we found one trout , there may have been a few sent sailing for hundreds of yards in the bush .
Brother cooked his trout and i had a can of stew and just before turning in for the night i layed my ruger security six .357 beside me and brother pulled his two pipe 12 gauge from his pack , loaded it and laid it beside him .
The night was warm and the blackflies were feasting on our heads . I tried pulling my stuff sack over my head to keep the flies off but instantly couldn't breathe so with a gasp pulled the sack off . Brother tried the same thing with the same result . I pulled my body down into the sleeping bag and covered my head and was instantly soaked in sweat . Brother tried the same thing with the same result . I retrieved the bug dope and sprayed my head and neck until it was running off . Brother did the same thing . The blackflies kept about 1/4 inch away but the humming of billions of them was driveing me crazy . Same for brother . Sometime in the middle of the night i managed to fall asleep for a second or two only to be startled awake by a horrific explosion right beside my head . I fumbled for my .357 and in the starlight could see brother laying beside me aiming his shotgun . What the f*ck was that i screamed . Brother replied , ' i donno but some cold wet nose touched mine so i fired '. Could have been a bear sniffing around , might have been a skunk but that was about it for me . I told brother that i was takeing the canoe out in the bay until sunrise . I'd anchor it and watch the stars . there was a bit of a breeze blowing so the bugs out there shouldn't be so bad . Brother agreed so we paddled out .
I managed a couple of hours sleep but woke up cold . We headed for shore and breakfast but i have to brush my teeth when i rise so as brother tied the canoe to the ledge i got my brush and toothpaste from my pack . The easiest access to the water was from in the canoe so i got in , applied the paste to my brush , took my glasses off and swished my brush in the water . I had my long range glasses on , i don't have bifocals and hadn't brought my reading glasses so i couldn't see what was resisting my toothbrush being swished in the water . I brushed , spit and swished again and again stuck my toothbrush into something and pushed it aside with my brush . One more brush , one more swished and i wiped my face off with a washcloth and put my glasses on . I peered over the side of the canoe to see what my toothbrush kept getting hung up on and found a muskrat floating with his guts hanging out everywhere . Probably a result of yesterdays fishing .
As the sun climbed higher the temperature dropped radically and it looked like storm clouds overhead . I told brother that with the temp dropping , storm clouds gathering and no tent we were going to get real uncomfortable real fast and i suggested that since we had the samples we came for we didn't need to make it to the other outcrop on the other creek a mile away . I told him that with the remaining dynamite we'd blow up beaver dams on the way back and if we left now we could be home for nightfall . Brother agreed .
It was all downstream on the way in and all upstream on the way back and most of it was done by pulling the canoe with a rope from shore . Hard work and hard going and our fingers were starting to freeze as the temp kept dropping . Eventually we spotted the first beaver dam from behind and as we looked over the top the water not only looked like glass , it was glass , frozen right across . We heaved the loaded canoe over and it slid and didn't break through . As it rolled on it's side we pulled it back and with sticks and small logs from the beaver dam we broke ice . Brother got in the bow with a 4 foot by 4 inch log and started breaking ice as i pushed us forward .
It was tense going because if i put any power to the stroke the bow would ride up on the ice and there was a good chance of rolling . Brother broke ice all of the way . The next creek was running fast so we pulled the canoe up that one also to find that the next beaver dam was frozen like the first , which is what we expected . I took the bow on this one and flailed and smashed the ice while brother propelled us along . My jacket was stiff from the water splashing on it and freezeing .
600 yards back to the truck through the tag alders and i decided that i wasn't going to carry the dynamite . Since we had a channel broken to the beaver dam i told brother to wait here , i was going back to load the dam and blow it to kingdom come . 47 sticks taped in 4 bundles and then taped together with the rest of the fuse which i estimated would give me enough time to get back to the opposite shore where brother was so i lit it and started paddleing . I lost track of the time but brother and i sat for awhile until all of the beaver dam and half of the pond vapourized in a blast that was just short of atomic . Brother commented that if we would have done that on the other beaver dam and then on this one we wouldn't have had to fight our way through the ice . He was probably right .
Monday morning i was at the assay office ordering a whole element analysis and was assured that it would be complete by wednesday . I spent monday and tuesday evening on the maps decideing on the best route for claim stakeing , how many claims were needed and how many millions my option agreement with a mineing company would bring .
Wednesday morning i was back at the assay office and they handed me the report . Gold , i wanted to see ounces per ton , i saw parts per million . Same for silver , same for platinum . The nickle percentage was interesting but not interesting enough to entice a mineing company , same for zinc and lead and the copper values we higher than a background trace , but not much higher .
We had an adventure and there's still gold in them thar hills , but which ones ?