S.E. strorms

[russau]

Sore as ever ! My surgery got re-scheduled 3 times now and it is set for Friday Oct 14 early in the morning ! I'll be 8unable to put any weight on it for approx. 3 months! LOT's of chair time for this ole bird !

[Joe S (AK)]

Russ,

After the surgery I'd suggest you reflect back on all those mining adventures (or tragedies) that you've had over the years and then skillfully craft them into tutorials, right here, for us newbies. You know we only learn from great legends like yourself and this is the perfect time to start.

In fact, since you're all banged up right now - well - you could start today. Limber up those two typing index fingers and begin the sagas. Multi posts do count for extra credit.

To start off how 'bout "How I Got Started on the Gold Finding Journey." Catchy, don't you think? Then there's the crowd pleasers like "...and then Leonard said ..." Maybe something 'bout Jim Foley also - he's a good sport and always up for a good time. Endless possibilities especially in the "... and so I was Skunked again ..." catagory.

Joe
"The Instigator"

[russau]

Joe don't laugh about the 2 finger's typing............ I got 18 words a minute in a Highschool Typing class ! BUT that was 50 plus years ago ... AND I passed the class !

[Joe S (AK)]

So Russ - just how did a guy from Misery get started in all this?

For me it was after a move to Anchorage in '66. Bob, a new friend of a friend, asked if I'd like to go with him and learn how to pan on Saturday - and I jumped on it like a duck on a June Bug. We went panning every weekend afterward until the water got crunchy and then back after break-up in the spring along with my newly made wooden sluice box. Geez, that box got heavy after 2 days in the creek.

The thrill and challenge never dimmed over the years.

Joe

[russau]

Joe I heard of some Engineer at where I worked that he was into prospecting and that he quit "work" and moved to Alaska to run a dredge for a group up there ! That got me thinking and I talked to a guy I worked with and , in the past he also did a lot of prospecting out west. THEN I went to a party of another friends house and he had some guy that wanted to meet me . We talked a lot that night about prospecting and he gave me a small gold picker . That hooked me right there , and then some years latter the Gold Shows started on T.V. ..... I taped everything , Gold Fever , Buzzard , Tom and Perry , ETC. Then one night I was talking with the guy I worked with and he was telling me about his trip to Alaska . He used to be in the Air Force up around Fairbanks and that did the trick and the hook was set ! and that was the start of my adventure ! I traveled lots of places and meet a lot of really nice people all over the Country ! BUT my biggest treat was meeting Leonard ,Geno ,Matt , Corky , John . you and your wife and a million other's that shared this sickness and loved every bit of it ! Well that's the short story ! I wish I could have started younger and do it all over again BUT>>>>>>>> P.S. dredging was / is the best fun a guy could have !

[Joe S (AK)]

You know - Jim Foley makes it a point to try to swing in here whenever he can - I wonder how he got started? I know that he dredged for years in Alaska - around Fairbanks - and between that and his air boating and trapping I bet he has a few things to say right here.

Just to keep things going I remember the day that I found my biggest piece of Gold - about 3/8" x 3/4" and 1/8" - 1/4" thick. I turned it into a necklace and BJ still wears it from time to time. I found it at the end of an 8 hour shift, working by myself, high up (75 feet above the stream) at the end of a ledge trail (after I shoveled it all through the Nome Beach Box). It was at an inholding in the Wrangle St. Elias Park and in the middle of nowhere. Flew in and flew out for 18 days. Sometimes good Gold and many clean-ups almost nothing. I never mention how much Gold I have found - SAY, have you heard how many new IRS agents are going to be hired by sleepy Joe? A lot and I have heard 'bout they operate on the net. Lucky that I never sold any of the Gold I found - although almost all of it was lost in that robbery when almost all my guns were lost.

Maybe Leonard will wade in a little here - he ALWAYS has stories. Great stories like that time he spent in the tent on the Nome Beach.

Sure is tough not to see the old names posting - even just to say they're still plugging away in life.

Take Care, Russ!

Joe

[russau]

I had a friend Ben (R.I.P.) that found what we thought was the biggest gold nugget EVER found in Misery ! as it turned out latter under magnification that it was some poor souls gold tooth ! Man that had a lot of Misery people out there looking!

[golden optimist]

Matt:

There should be some good metal detecting on the beach after the sand all being turned over. It might have made the maps and data the Fisher's had no longer any good.

Did you see the program on the Atocha last night.

Leonard

[russau]

I saw it and it was a riveting show ! BESIDE'S ,watching T.V. right now is just about my limit !

[Matt Mattson]

Matt:

There should be some good metal detecting on the beach after the sand all being turned over. It might have made the maps and data the Fisher's had no longer any good.

Did you see the program on the Atocha last night.

Leonard

No - didn't see it. Connie and I are over the air here in L.A. (lower Alabama). I used to see him (and the crews) quite a bit though at the yearly treasure salvors meeting in Vero Beach. He always had a gold bar or two in his pocket.

It moves stuff around, that's for sure. Andrew took out some of the wrecks I found or re-found off Elliot Key almost directly opposite on the Atlantic side.

As for your earlier comment: Connie and I are really glad to be out of there.