Western & Eastern Treasures Magazine
Featured Online Article #2 from
Volume 33 January 1999
 Will these two do? Ed Hill holds a 1/2 oz. nugget in one hand and a whopping 1-1/2 oz. hunk of gold in the other. Things "panned out" well for Ed on his first trip to Paradise Valley, where he found 21 nuggets... 46.1 dwt. of gold. (Photo by Melissa Hinojosa) |
Searching for a different type of vacation, Ed Hill and Melissa Hinojosa settled on a trip to Paradise Valley in the Alaskan Brooks Range. Melissa is assistant volleyball coach at Spokane Community College, and Ed is a painter at a local automotive shop. They had been planning the trip for a year and had purchased a Garrett Stinger and a Fisher Gold Bug to take with them. After spending a few days in Fairbanks first, to see the sites before catching the plane into Paradise Valley, they joined ten other eager hunters in the search for gold.
Paradise Valley is situated in the roots of the Brooks Range. As the small plane flew through the valley fenced in by the mountain range on either side, they could see rivers curling below. Finally, there was only one, Flat Creek, and they could see Birch Creek entering the larger stream. Birch Creek would be their working area for the next two weeks. Little cottages were nestled among the trees below, each a private domain out of sight of the others. One of these would be their home.
The trees there are skinny, not big around like those in the Lower 48. Tundra makes for hard walking when shortcuts are taken, so it is best to stick to the paths or roads that the pug (four-wheeler) has made. The hunting area is approximately a mile and a half up Birch Creek, and rubber knee boots must be worn since the stream is crossed several times.
 Visitors to Paradise Valley arrive in small planes like this one about to be boarded by Ed and Melissa. |
The first few days, the searchers just worked over ground that had been hunted before- old piles left by floods, and some that Mick, the owner of the claims, had previously scraped up. Then one day they heard Mick coming up Birch Creek with the cat. After scraping the earth down to near bedrock, layer by layer, he motioned for everyone to search the mounds of earth and exposed ground. The earth "wept" and formed small rivulets of water where the soil had been removed.
This year the area had really changed. After being ravaged by three different floods, the landscape was almost unrecognizable to those who had been there before.
The group represented a hodgepodge of states, including Washington, Vermont, Arizona, Georgia, and British Columbia, Canada, but it soon became evident that a lot of the nuggetshooters had something in common. After a few sweeps it was discovered there were too many Fisher Gold Bugs working the same area. In fact, Ed Hill was the only one with a Garrett Scorpion Gold Stinger.
 Here's a closer look at the larger nuggets Ed found, impressive not only for their weight but also their beauty and character. |
Luckily, he didn't have to worry about his detector "cross talking" with another operating on the same frequency. Ed's first nugget weighed in at 1/2 dwt.- not much, but he was happy with his first piece of gold. Melissa started finding small ones, also; and just a few days before they were to leave, Ed read a signal and couldn't believe it when he picked up a 1-1/2 oz. nugget! Excited, he jumped up and motioned to Melissa to come over. The beautiful nugget in his hand wasn't just a lump of gold... it had character, and it was a treasure he would keep forever. When Ed arrived back in Spokane, he had 21 nuggets, for a total weight of 46.1 dwt.
 Canadian nugget hunters Bryan and Judy Sturt enjoyed their Alaskan adventure... and found what they were looking for! |
Bryan Sturt from Nelson, British Columbia, Canada was next in line with 101 nuggets weighing in at 36 dwt. Quite a few of them had real character, too, and Judy, his wife, named many of them for animals and birds that they resembled. Bryan had a really nice poke full of gold, including a 1/4 oz. and a 1/2 oz. nugget. He also had a big smile when he showed off his gold.
 Looking for "a different type of vacation," Ed and Melissa found it here, in Alaska's scenic, exciting, and gold-rich Brooks Range. |
Bryan and Judy had previously been gold hunting in British Columbia, enough to know how to pry out gold from deep crevices in the bedrock. He had brought along pry bars, suction tubes, crevice tools, and a strong pick. Mick furnished the shovels. Judy's detector was one she had borrowed, and it quit working the second day, which put her at a great disadvantage. However, she grabbed Bryan's whenever he laid it down for a few minutes, so she did come away with some gold.
 Bryan Sturt brought home his share of gold, too... 36 dwt., in fact, including 1/4 oz. and 1/2 oz. nuggets. |
Randy Clements of Cochran, Georgia had 32.2 dwt. comprised of 48 nuggets, the largest weighing 1/2 oz. Randy has a metal detector shop in Cochran. Irving Eaton of Parksville, Vermont found 80 nuggets totaling 29 dwt. This was Irving's second year at Paradise Valley.
Everyone else got gold, but in lesser amounts. Gold is where you find it, and sometimes a little elusive.
 Congratulations all around- and maybe just a twinge or two of envy! Fellow hunters huddle for a closer look at the monster nugget Ed found. |
Loading into the plane at Paradise Valley, Ed knew he would feel better when they landed safely in Fairbanks; but soon the butterflies in his stomach gave way to the magnificence of the country they were flying over. It had been an exciting time for him.
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