klondikesteveblog

Kathy and I have gotten most of the things done that were really pressing.  They kind of build up when you leave for 3 months!

I am now ready to share this years trip to the gold fields of the Yukon!  Well part of the pictures and commentary are about getting there.  Getting there was made much more difficult because of the poor performance of Jedi drilling in Corpus Christi Texas.  They lied to me about the condition of the Morooka with the drill I bought from them.  They didn’t do repairs and shorted me on drill augers.  Bill Jones, owner of Jedi drilling said he would send a refund for at least some of the things he shorted me.  He has of course forgotten to send anything.  It was a used machine, so I am responsible for the mechanics of the machine that are not visible, but the machine wouldn’t turn when it got to Bellingham ferry terminal.  I could have saved thousands of dollars if Bill Jones would have told me it still didn’t turn very well.  I could have taken it to our shop to start with.  Jedi Drilling is certainly responsible for the costs of the repair they charged me for and didn’t do, and the 5 drill sections they shorted me.

And this was the easy part!

It was a fairly big job, but Kathy and I worked hard and with help from a few others we got the Morooka to the gold fields.  My brothers, Robert and Ron, Roger and Randy Brown and Israel from Premier Hydraulics, all went beyond normal efforts to make the repairs and send us north.  Now that I think about it, maybe they just wanted us to leave………naw!

Robert honored us with this self portrait. I guess I should be happy this is all he put on the camera! Note to self: Do not leave Robert alone with camera.
Other than that he helped out a lot!

I taught Kathy how to weld……she welded a lot, MIG and stick! What a woman!

Amazing what some us will do to keep from having a real job!

My daughter in-law recently made a short documentary that was shown in Portland at the Mission theater.  The subject was about our experiences mining in Alaska in 1983.  She assured me that no Danielsons were shown in a bad light-heavy editing-thank you Terri!

She emailed me that Alaska public had put it on their web site.  You may look at it if you wish.  Even though her husband is probably the hero of the piece, it is still a plug for klondikesteve!  Ha!

“Here is a link to where the Alaska Gold Rush video is posted.  Note another shameless promotion of Klondike Steve.

http://www.alaskapublic.org/2012/06/12/alaska-gold-rush-1983/

Teri

Nothing like a family with a sense of humor!

Steve

I am planning to upload a lot of pictures and write a lot more too.  I will probably need to wait until I get back home for most of them though because they limit our internet here in Dawson and there is none most of the way here!

We are happy we have started drilling on my hill top claims now…..well not today….we are waiting for parts today!  They are flying parts in from Edmonton …then I can drill some more!  I have been finding small flakes of gold in the drill cuttings…sometimes as many as 20 flakes!!!!  It is looking pretty good!

It has been a slow start.  I bought the drill from Bill Jones in Corpus Christi Texas.  He calls his company JEDI drilling.  He did a very poor job on his part of the bargain!  He shorted me on drill stems, he didn’t service the machine as agreed, he charged me for repairs he did not do.  I have to believe George Lucas would not like to share the Jedi name with him!  If George Lucas performed that poorly we would never have seen any of his movies much less the next Star Wars!

OK enough of that!  I repaired the drill at great expense and am getting done what I need to do.

Kathy and I are getting in great shape walking all over the claims and hills.  We have been finding the claim posts for the claims…so I drill in the right place.  The hills are quite high and steep, but the tundra is the most challenging.  Imagine walking on a soggy very soft foam mattress, with a whole bunch of low vines and brush to trip you.  Oh yes life is good!  After a while the mosquito bites don’t really itch that much.

I drilled 72 feet deep on this hole!

I know this sounds like a dream vacation to you ladies out there!  Sorry I’m taken!

You can see the Yukon river behind us. It is a great view from the claims!

My cousin and good friend Gary Carr was planning on visiting the Yukon this summer with his son Jared.  I just found out that Jared was killed in a motor cycle accident!  I am in shock!

I am so very sorry.  My heart goes out to Gary and Patty!

My deepest condolences!

Steve

I am finally in the Yukon!  I am in the Caribou RV park!  We had a nice drive up the highway seeing many animals along the way.  It was a nice rest after working on the drill I purchased. It has taken about a month for 12 hours a day to repair the drill!  Todd Hoffman asked me what happened to it?  I only have 50 megabits of internet here so not enough time by email or blog  I can say that Jones Environmental Drilling who I bought it from did not service it as agreed, or provide what they agreed.

I will share more when I have more megabits!

I had it taken back to Portland from Bellingham as it broke down before it got on the ferry!  Israel from Precision Hydraulics repaired the Morooka and I hope it will ship next Friday.

I am headed to Dawson tomorrow!

Kathy has been wonderful!!!!  She has enjoyed the trip maybe even more than I have!

Steve

Another hill

I finally got the results of my prospecting with Tom Hubbard last February.  I am excited to go back to Arizona this winter to do some larger scale testing!  I spoke to Tom and he is ready!  If my math is correct there is about 1 ounce of silver per ton of dirt!  That is pretty rich!  That was just on the surface!

Steve

One of the people I met in Dawson last summer is leasing my test plant.  He has secured some claims in a remote area north west of Whitehorse Yukon.  I am going to ship it along with my drill on the Alaska ferry.  I hope to go visit him at his mine too!  He is in the neighborhood….only about 500 miles away!

Steve

A nice little test plant!

It might do 5 yards per hour!

Kathy and I met with Jack and Todd weekend before last.  They were getting loaded up to go north again.  I am really excited to see what they are doing this season!  They told me some of what is going on, but Todd swore me to secrecy so I can’t share anything!  I think I am safe saying that there are more dogs and there will be more ice, mud and gold!

Steve

Kathy and I are getting ready to head north!  We are very much looking forward to an exciting trip up the Alaska Highway!  I have an excellent new travel mate!!! Kathy has never been up the Alaska Highway!  That will make it even more fun!

I bought a drill in Corpus Christi Texas last week.  It is mounted on a rubber track carrier called a Marooka.  I am working on getting it shipped to Dawson and the creeks.

I would like to work with a Canadian driller to operate the drill.  If that is you please contact me at klondikesteve.com

We are planning on spending most of the summer in the Yukon and Alaska.  If anyone has been thinking of visiting the gold fields this would be a great time to do it!