Dredge 8

Today started with lots of rain, and we were afraid that our afternoon tour was going to be very uncomfortable, but we got lucky and the sun came out as we were on our way there.  The afternoon turned out to be warm and dry until we got into the car to leave when the rain started again.  Fortunately, it didn't last long.

Our visit today was to Gold Dredge 8.  This was somewhat different than seeing Dredge 4 in Dawson City.  We boarded a narrow gauge railroad train that took us past some re-enactments of how drift miners had to work to get the gold from the bedrock here.   They used steam to power their machines to dig down to where the gold was found.



Then the big companies came in, bought up the claims, and built dredges, such as Dredge 8, to mine the gold.  It is truly a fascinating story.

When we arrived at the dredge store we were given a poke filled with pay dirt, and we tried our hand at panning for gold.   It is harder than it looks, but as promised we all found gold.  After it was weighed, Steve and I were told that we had found $40 worth of gold, and David and Jackie had found $31.  Jackie had hers made into some jewelry, but I'm taking mine home and hoping to get the $40 from my jeweler!

I also got to hold a nugget worth $75,000.   They wouldn't let me keep it, but Steve bought me a beautiful pair of dolphin earrings made by Alaskan artists from Alaskan gold.

After returning to the parking area on the train, we learned about the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS).  It is very interesting how the pipeline fits into the ecology of the land and the lives of wildlife across Alaska.  It is also unusual to be able to get so close to it due to security concerns.  

These are called "pigs" and they are used
to clean out the pipeline.