North To Yukon Gold.

   Jack London once wrote that he left the Yukon with nothing but scurvy and stories to tell. I left the Yukon a few days back with some great memories, several hundred pictures, and made some good friends while I was there. But in my case with the restaurants along the way, and that great camp-food out at the gold-mine, scurvy was the least of my worries. 

All grand adventures begin someplace, and mine felt like it had truly begun when the Boeing 737 began it's take-off roll and felt myself pushed back into the seat. A late flight, it would travel 2000 km. over the rugged mountainous terrain of northern BC and the south Yukon.
   Sitting in the departure lounge before boarding, and remembering the words of Jack London, I had studied my fellow passengers, trying to decide which one I was going to eat if we happen to go down in the mountains. It was a toss-up whether to go quality or quantity, and that big fellow up in seat 17c will never know the fate spared him when flight 555CD arrived safely in Whitehorse at 1am.

   The next morning after a few hours of sleep I rounded up my rental and hit the Klondike Highway for Dawson. Leaving just after 10, I figured if I didn't bugger around too much I could do the 600+ km. and get to Chris and Nika's mine on Stowe Creek about dinner time. 

The weather wasn't exactly the greatest out of Whitehorse, but I had the satellite radio dialed to the 60's station, pedal to the metal, and nothing was going to dampen my parade.

Once beyond Carmacks it cleared off and turned into a most pleasant day.

Pelly Crossing

Stewart Crossing

Gravel Lake is always stunning this time of year.

I completely by-passed Dawson City on the way in, my interest was out in the gold-fields, once up on the Hunker Summit you take your pick, the Sulphur Ck. Road would take me down past Granville and over to the south Indian River country.

Old stomping grounds.

At the summit overlooking the Montana Ck.valley, Haystack Mtn. center and my destination Stowe Ck. over at far right.

   In the olden days our switch-backy road down the mountain into the valley ended here at the formidable Montana Ck. crossing. This would be a first for me, being able to drive a vehicle across Montana Ck. and right into Stowe not too long later, none the worse for wear.
There I met Chris and Nika for the first time, all the kids, her parents, Sabine and Bernie, #1 man Riley from New Zealand, his wife and camp 'child wrangler' Charlotte, and the Cat operator David.

Stowe Ck. Hilton.

If you have watched the program Yukon Gold, you will recognize Chris and Nika's camp. All the comforts of home, and then some. Certainly a big improvement over the roughing-it out here we did so many decades ago.

Chris, Nika, Sabine and Zyla, chilling in the main-room.

The camp cat Digger is a character unto himself. Nika picked him up off the streets of Dawson City, and he pretty much runs the place. He enjoys riding around in vehicles with the crew, and puts up with no end of rough-housing from the kids.

The next day broke clear with a good frost, and I was eager to get out on our old creek once more.

The notorious Dodge Twins, Sierra and Hunter.

They gained national attention last year coming into this world in the front seat of Chris and Nika's pick-up truck en-route to the hospital. One of their favorite spots is up on the back of the couch where they can keep an eye on the comings and goings of the crew.

Chris took me for a tour down at the mouth of Stowe to the Montana bench they have been working the past few seasons with some degree of success.

Riley exposing the pay deep in the bench, mouth of Stowe.

He jumped down off the machine that morning and took several pans out of the cut, coming up with some good results.

David working the D9.

Upper Stowe.

We drove past the camp upstream a few claims, to the extent of their workings, where they had been stripping and preparing ground in their spare time with a monitor and excavator. The valley has not been mined from here up, the virgin ground upstream is the area I drill-tested back in 1981, so we had lots to talk about. I think he enjoyed showing me around as much as I did.

Nika taking the twins for a spin down the driveway, along with dogs Bo and Duke, and cat Digger.

End of season whoop-up.

Nika's Dad whipped up a couple tables that afternoon, the neighbors from over at Eureka Ck. were invited for dinner, and the spirits and mining stories flowed freely. 

Northern lights, Stowe Ck. style.

 The guys had dug out a great huge fire-pit and hauled in no small amount of dry wood for a bon-fire later that you couldn't stand any closer than 20 feet to. A spectacular wrap-up for the season, fire-works were set off down in the cut, lighting up the remote Montana Ck. valley.

    I hung around out there at camp all week trying to stay out of the way and just taking it all in until it was time to make my way south once more. It was a huge event in my little life, to go back out there one last time after 35 years and see what Chris and Nika have done at our old creek with today's gold-price. The weather was perfect, the people were wonderful, and the trip couldn't have gone better. I've got plenty more experiences from the trip to share in the next while, and sometimes the most interesting story is the one you can't tell.

http://hotspringlodge.blogspot.ca/2016/03/old-timers-on-stowe-creek-1901-1981.html 

Return To Stowe Creek, Take Two.

        If you have been reading me for any length of time, you may recall some posts related to my days spent in Yukon as a young man in the prime of life, mining and prospecting for gold.
I've been involved in many adventures, ventures, and misadventures in the 35 years since, but I've never forgotten those exciting days spent in the north seeking placer-gold.
   I often thought about our old Stowe Creek out there all those years which we never did get around to mining, and 10 years ago rented a camper and took what I thought was a once in a lifetime trip back to my favorite old creek for one last time to relive those exciting times, if only in my mind for a few days out at the remote valley, which at the time had changed little from our days of exploration there. Before the trip was over I was thinking how cool it would be to do it again someday. But getting up there in years, or so I'm told, and having been there-done that already once, I didn't think it would ever happen, let alone seeing an outfit in operation there. But an old bugger can always dream.
    In the decade since, with the rise in gold-price, Chris St.Jean and Nika Guilbault began an operation on Stowe Creek mining our old claims, that for the past few seasons has been featured on the popular program Yukon Gold, which I take every opportunity possible to brag about on here.
Well, I figured it couldn't get any cooler than that, but apparently, it has.
   Chris and Nika, and the producers of Yukon Gold have invited me back to my old gold prospect, I'll head out to Stowe Creek and move into camp like some visiting celebrity for a week, or until they get tired of me, which ever comes first.
I'm counting the days, and fly north the first week of September, the Yukon Fall leaves will be out, and Chris and Nika will be at the end of their 2016 mining season.
You can be sure I will let you know how it all goes.

http://hotspringlodge.blogspot.ca/2016/03/old-timers-on-stowe-creek-1901-1981.html
http://hotspringlodge.blogspot.ca/2016/10/behind-scenes-at-yukon-gold.html

Lightning Strike Above - Day 2.

   I went out this morning first thing and looked up the mountain behind to see how that lightning strike caused fire had fared overnight. There was some smoke way up there and it wasn't too much longer before I heard a helicopter coming. A larger crew and more specialized machine arrived this morning than had come out yesterday.

The response team had arrived early, they all piled into the helicopter and through the binoculars I watched as they all repelled down an 80 foot line into the trees up on the distant ridge.

The machine came back for a sling-load of fire-fighting gear and dropped it up there for the guys, and gals.

First chance I had I went down to check out the helicopter and bother the flight-crew, Jeff and Andrew while they had a little down-time. Wildcat Helicopters operates a fleet of these Bell 212 twin-engine machines all set-up for fire-fighting and search and rescue, and she was a pretty neat bird.

They can lower the flexible intake and dangle it in a water source and fill the belly tank in 30 seconds. They can dump or spray the load, and also drop a hose down to re-fill the portable water tanks the ground crew use up there. They picked up an initial load from the river to take up, then use some small lake up in the alpine the pilot yesterday located.

This winch comes in pretty handy I bet.

At the end of the day they began to bring equipment down off the mountain so I knew they had a handle on things up there.

No more smoke.
The ground crew walked down part way to a tight landing area where the helicopter picked them up.

A few of the guys stopped in on the way out to thank me for the use of the staging area. I didn't get their names, I'm so bad with names, but thanks guys, and girls too, that were up there in the heat and smoke and dirt and grime to get it put out.

I didn't tell them I spent the whole day relaxing on the bench by a cool creek enjoying the air-show.

There has been several times over the years the area has been used for a fire staging area.
Heres a major one from 2005.
http://hotspringlodge.blogspot.ca/2012/02/2005-fire.html

Lightning Strike Above.

    There was a pretty serious thunder and lightning storm roll through here yesterday. Socked the valley in and we were treated to about 45 minutes worth of nature's fury. 

Several sounded really close, and I wondered about the possibility of a local strike.

Turns out my hunch was right. A forestry fire-fighting crew arrived in the yard this morning, informing me of a fire going up on the high ridge above me here at about the 1200m level that had turned up on the strike radar, and I gave them the ok to use the area out front in their efforts to put it out.

Pretty soon a helicopter arrived on scene.

 I went down and chatted briefly with the pilot, Kevin was hooking up his long-line to sling a couple portable water tanks up near the fire for the ground crew that was hiking their way up to the strike site.

 He came back for his monsoon-bucket and hopped over to the river for a load.

 He dropped the load then disappeared behind the ridge where he had found some small water-hole up there in the alpine to bucket from, saving himself coming all the way back down to the river-level. 

He came back and landed when he was done to stow away his long-line, monsoon-bucket and stuff. He told me the fire was history, and went on his way back to base.

While I was sitting here writing this post this evening, someone drove in the yard to let me know they had been driving in from up-valley and had seen smoke up on the high ridge above, so it looks like the fire has flared-up once more, and there will probably be some more helicopter activity around here tomorrow.