Caribou Creek Alaska 2007-2008
 |
 |
Sarah & I purchased several State mining leases on Caribou Creek, Alaska in 2008. We began in 2007 and spent a year and a half sampling the claims before making our decision to purchase. We will continue mining on our Tincan Creek claims as the mining season is different between the two claims.
Caribou Creek has a long mining history. I would not recommend anyone trying to prospect for gold in this area without a thorough knowledge of land ownership. Almost The entire drainage system has active mining claims, and most miners who have spent years of hard work locating and developing a gold mine dont take too kindly to claim jumpers.
 |
The trip in is always a spine tingling adventure. It's about a 12 mile ride on a 4 wheeler from the parking area. The trail has miles of some of the worst mud-holes you could imagine. We use 4 wheelers equiped with wenches & always have a tow rope handy to pull out a stuck ATV.
After several miles of mud, the trail follows a rocky creek into the gold mine. It's a toss up between mud or rough rock as to which part of the trail I care for the least.
We took several trips in the summer of 2007 with permission from the folks who owned the mining claims. We brought a 4 inch dredge in over the summer trail on a home built 4wheeler trailer. That was quite an experience. It took 8 hours to cover the 12 mile distance. By the time we finally got to the river, we were so exhausted we spent most of our time recovering from the trip instead of mining! We decided that it would be much easier to bring in equipment and supplies in the winter with the ground firmly frozen.
 |
After getting some sleep I finally had enough energy to get the dredge going. I launched it about noon on the 2nd day of our 3 day trip. I had been wanting to sample the opposite side of the river as it seemed to be a likely place for gold to concentrate. I ran the dredge for about an hour exposing a small bedrock shelf. This is always promising as the larger gold nuggets seem to always work there way to bedrock. I shut down the dredge & washed out the carpets hoping to see lots of gold.
 |
I did'nt think there would much there as I had not seen any gold while vacuuming the material with the dredge. To my suprise there was few nice flakes visible on the carpet. I put a handfull of conentrates into a gold pan and this was the result. Deffinitely a showing of gold, but a long way from filling a bank vault! It was enough to keep me searching some more, and I was glad we would not go home completely batting zero.
One thing is for sure, the beauty of Alaska is amazing. Just to be in such an incredibly awesome place, with the sun shining down on my wife & I, Gold in the pan.....priceless.
 |
 |
 |
The Long ride home