Hiked out to the Lake cabin

To follow up on the last post, Ken and I did end up finding a little gold but it wasn't enough to get really excited about. Since then we have traveled farther and farther up the Steese highway, that parallels the Chatanika river, looking for un-claimed creek beds to dig into. A lot of the spots we wanted to go were not quite thawed out from winter yet or were already staked mining claims.

I had really been itching to get out to the Lake cabin on the Chatanika. Doing some gold prospecting with Ken was a great way to kill some time waiting for the trail and river to become passable. On Friday the 13th I decided to take a chance and hike out to the cabin. The hike in was actually quite nice and crossing the river was not too bad either. I didn't get in touch with Doug, to let him know I was coming out, so I had to wade across the river instead of using a canoe. I figured I was going to have to walk across the river so I brought an extra pair of shorts and shoes. The water was cold, really cold, but the crossing went without incident. When I approached Doug's place the geese started making quite a lot of noise so Doug came outside and was quite surprised to see me walking up the hill.

I was so happy to be re-connected with Sammy and I think the feeling was mutual. Since I have arrived back at the lake cabin I have been hard at work doing some spring cleaning and am also working on putting in a garden!

The weather has been nothing short of spectacular since I've been out here so lots of work is getting done. Unfortunately I will not be out here to long because I have to head back to town to start a summer job. My plan this summer is to still spend as much time out here as I can when I am not working. Since I have decided to start a garden I'm sure that will need a lot of attention.

I have a pic from one of the days Ken and I were 8o miles up the Steese highway, digging into the Chatanika river shortly down stream from where it begins. The weather turned sour on us all of a sudden and started dumping quarter sized snow flakes! Before we knew it there was a couple inches of fresh snow on the ground. You will have to look really hard to see Ken digging in the river in the center of the picture. I'm not sure if that material had any gold in it because right after we brought back what we had run through a sluice box I took off for Doug's and the lake cabin.

I have some pics of all the work it takes to put in a garden out here and also a few pics of a new lake resident! Those things coming up next.