My Dry Diggins!!

[Stumpdust]

Hmmmmm - If my math is right that's about 25 miles to the gallon for two full 5 gallon buckets. I've done better (and worse!). Take for instance the time I flew on a Military Hop from Ohio to Alaska and back. The sad fact is that on that trip I found ZIP, NADA, NUTTIN' Gold - making the miles per gallon incredibly high that time. Thankfully "Uncle" payed for the fuel and maintenance on that one.

Joe

Gonna head up there in 2 weeks, if its cool enough ill dig some buckets, I am thinking about a metal detector,not sure which one? the gravel is only 4 to 6 inches on bedrock and the gold is rough and chunky pickers ,Anyways i have a home up there in the mountains where i get the dirt, I usually spend a few days and get out of the Rat race here in the San Fernando Valley

[Stumpdust]

Did a few buckets today, 2 little pickers and 6 or 7 specks,As you can see the channel in some spots is covered in 2 to 3 feet of dirt, then you come to the river bed, i have moved up stream about 15 feet as to where i have found around 6 grams. it has not payed well these last trips, gonna keep moving up until the rain and snow come, there has to be more somewhere

[russau]

Sounds like it would be a very nice place and pace for today's environment ! ENJOY !

[Stumpdust]

Heading up for a few days,hopefully ill have time to search for old yeller, have a few other thing to do like fix a leak in the roof.

[russau]

Have a safe & enjoyable trip !

[Stumpdust]

Thanks, didnt get to dig, had to fix this. now gimme a break its the first time i did a repair like this!,but view from the roof is great!

That big rock in the front yard was home base for many Natives, Lots of grinding holes all around it.

[Joe S (AK)]

The next time you climb up there you might re-consider sealing completely around that chimney base, Ice dams sometimes form and melt water will, depending on circumstances, back flow up to the sides or bottom areas and travel inside the roof. I had that sort of thing happen on the kitchen's skylights 2 years ago here in Idaho and it took a gallon of 'stuff', a hand trowel and hours of meticulous troweling to get everything sealed up so absolutely no water could get through.

Another source of water can be wind drifted snow working back 'uphill' or into the sides and then through or into a crack. All of a sudden, when the weather warms, there is a drip inside and you can't figure out where it came from.

GREAT view! A glass sided, large, observation cupola with inside stairs would be really something special to see there.

Joe

[Stumpdust]

Thanks Joe, I tore out all the wood down to the frame and found that whoever made the thing just had a plywood top with Henrys tar on it,the whole deal rocked back in forth an inch or two , after i tore off one side i peaked in there and no rot on the roof wood at all, when i looked up at the stack i saw daylight above the flashing, they used some white color sealer that was hard and brittle,that was the source of the leak i believe, ,i do have a five gallon bucket of Henrys so i may just do as you said , but i will wait tell after the first real rain,and do it before the snow flys , which is usually December. the new top is all metal now, sealed top and bottom with Henrys

[Joe S (AK)]

That sounds just like a solid plan!

Since you might have a weekend free before you climb back there again I think you should load your mining stuff on your mule and go back out for one last dig. (Of course, if there is crunchy white rain there now it just makes better sense to patiently wait until break-up).

Joe

[Stumpdust]

Well i had to make the trip to winterize the house, The weather was nice so off and dug 4 buckets , found a crevice exactly like a riffle in a sluice box, jammed full of hard pack gravel put it thru the wash plant and found 1 little picker!! oh well thats it for the year, the white stuff started flying the next mourning.