Wanting to sluice along the Alcan Highway to Alaska

[Ziggenation]

Hi Gang,

My girl and I are going to drive up to Alaska from Seattle on the Alcan highway this summer. I've done quite a bit of prospecting but because of space limitations I just want to bring two small sluices. I just want to work a claim for a few days, nothing major, old fashion shovel and classifier.

Can I just rent a claim for those days, should I work a public spot? How do I go about accomplishing my goal.

Thanks everyone,

Zig

 

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[arizau]

There is a Canadian gold prospecting forum and may be a better place to ask your questions about prospecting along the highway before you enter Alaska. Here is a google link where you can find it...our forum rules say not to link it: https://www.google.com/search?q=can...ome..69i57.12615j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

[winners58]

I thought they had a no discharge into any stream rule in the province of British Columbia?
so it might be wise to look into their rules and regulations.
might look at areas after you cross into Alaska.

 

[arizau]

Yeah. I forgot about that. B.C. at least does not allow instream sluices.

 

[blackchipjim]

If I may ask a question off subject a bit. I heard that the Alcan highway can be dangerous due to unsavory characters that prey on travelers. Is that true or bull feathers?

 

[Goldwasher]

If I may ask a question off subject a bit. I heard that the Alcan highway can be dangerous due to unsavory characters that prey on travelers. Is that true or bull feathers?

I've done it twice. Early in the season late April once. Early May the other time.

First time was four nineteen year olds in a Chevy Blazer. Best trip EVER!!First night instant legal age to drink in a bar. Since its twenty one in the states.

Our sirst stop was somewhere along the Frasier River. Learned what Loonies and Twoonies were. Gas and cigarettes were insanely expensive. Compared to what we were used to paying.

Second Time we came in through Alberta. Two roomates and my girlfriend.
We split up after snowboarding in Banff for a few days.

Hitting secluded towns with just my girlfriend, being some of the first few travelers other than trucks running the Alcan for the season.

Some of the most unnerving times I've ever had.
I felt like if anything was gonna go down. The whole town was gonna be in on it.


Beautiful county. But, on both trips at most time 90 mph wasn't fast enough.


Oh yea. You can't sluice the whole way..

 

[KevinInColorado]

Last summer my wife and I drove the whole Alaska Highway. I panned for a while in the Coal River after getting permission from the local land owner which is the Coal River Cafe (where we had lunch). A bear came down to the river to see how we were doing, that was a bit exciting but my wife (!) scared it off

We did an 11 week trip up to AK and the Yukon with our travel trailer. I prospected in 17 different spots. Fun times and a couple/few spots produced pickers with just pan and sluice and Gold Cube.

 

[Ziggenation]

Thanks for all the info everyone. It sounds like sluicing in Alaska is my best option.

 

[OwenT]

Thanks for all the info everyone. It sounds like sluicing in Alaska is my best option.

I think so. I'm pretty sure in Canada you have to get a prospecting license to do anything and I bet they don't get issued to foreigners as easily. Just like in the US it's not legal for non-citizens to prospect if it's not on private land or a claim they have permission for.

 

[akflyer]

I have driven the Alcan many many times winter and summer. I never had any issues with the locals or felt unsafe. The only locals that ever gave me trouble was the wildlife trying to commit suicide at 2am in front of me when I was pulling a 14k load.. Gotta watch the bison and the caribou, neither one seem to have much respect for heavy loaded vehicles with limited stopping power!

 

[Vance in AK]

Akflyers experiences mirror my own. Many trips both directions and folks have always been great. Never an issue.

 

[KevinInColorado]

I think so. I'm pretty sure in Canada you have to get a prospecting license to do anything and I bet they don't get issued to foreigners as easily. Just like in the US it's not legal for non-citizens to prospect if it's not on private land or a claim they have permission for.

Happily I think the rules are a bit better than this. Check online on the websites of each province you’ll visit to get the facts.

Also, in the US, non-citizens can prospect, they just can’t file a claim...right?

 

[Goldwasher]

Want to mention it wasnt like freaky or scary the whole time. and this was in 1997 and 2000

If I was alone or was traveling later in the season with my girlfriend I would have felt better.

It was early season and the only other vehicles were trucks and locals.

In one remote area of B.C. we had a bit of a tense stop for food and gas with some creepy locals. Approaching my girlfriend and talking crap to me. It put me on alert the rest of the trip.

I've always wanted to do it mid season as a tourist.

considering I've only done it traveling for work.

 

[Mitch Dickson]

Why would you leave gold to find gold? Plenty in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It won't be any better in Alaska. The grass is not greener over the septic tank LOL! What would you do if you find gold in Canada? I had two buddies that worked in the Yukon for 4 summers. First year they were stopped at the border comming back and were fleeced quite well!!! Got about half their gold confiscated!!! Next three years they hiked for 3 or 4 days across into Alaska and sent the majority of their gold home by Fedex!!!! Last I checked the population of the Yukon territory was 30,000 humans and about 4 million bears

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Why would you leave gold to find gold? Plenty in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It won't be any better in Alaska. The grass is not greener over the septic tank LOL! What would you do if you find gold in Canada? I had two buddies that worked in the Yukon for 4 summers. First year they were stopped at the border comming back and were fleeced quite well!!! Got about half their gold confiscated!!! Next three years they hiked for 3 or 4 days across into Alaska and sent the majority of their gold home by Fedex!!!! Last I checked the population of the Yukon territory was 30,000 humans and about 4 million bears

There was an interesting write up I found awhile back written by Dave McCracken, of the “New 49’ers” prospecting club, that documented a summer prospecting in B.C. and Alaska.
Anybody remember that one? I didn’t see it on his web site. Maybe someone could provide a link?

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Why would you leave gold to find gold?

Obviously for an adventure!? Some people go on a cruise. Sounds like fun.

 

[Hamfist]

Ziggenation, I dig your avatar!

 

[mpgken]

Hi Gang,

My girl and I are going to drive up to Alaska from Seattle on the Alcan highway this summer. I've done quite a bit of prospecting but because of space limitations I just want to bring two small sluices. I just want to work a claim for a few days, nothing major, old fashion shovel and classifier.

Can I just rent a claim for those days, should I work a public spot? How do I go about accomplishing my goal.

Thanks everyone,

Zig

The locals are great. I've never had any problems with them. The prices are much higher than in the states so be prepared for that (two to three times more). I have driven the Alcan to my claims in the Yukon territory yearly and never had a problem either way. As for getting fleeced with the gold at the border that isn't true. The US doesn't care about the gold you bring back. It is just a metal and they can't tax it. They get you if you send it to a refiner. That's when you'll pay taxes on it. I've brought back plenty of gold across the border and never once did they say anything. In the Yukon the tax on gold you mine is 10 cents an ounce and that's ten cents CA not US which is about 8 cents US. Is that fleecing? Seriously, are you going to find a hundred ounces on a trip like you are talking about? No, you may get real lucky and find an ounce on the whole trip but that isn't anything to worry about. If you find an ounce of AU in Yukon just stop into the mining recorders office and have them weight it and place it in a sealed bag and pay them the ten cent tax. Then keep the gold in the sealed bag for the rest of your trip. You won't have to worry about paying anything else. I wouldn't worry about anything less than an ounce.

Don't need prospecting permits in Yukon. But understand the Yukon territory is 'real wilderness' not the kind of wilderness we have here in the states. You won't have cell service and in some places there isn't satellite service either. You are on your own so be prepared. Real towns are far and few between. In the Yukon there are only two towns. Whitehorse - the capital and Dawson up north. Everything else is a village but they vary and most are nothing more than a gas pump and maybe a cafe. Sometimes the gas pump is an automated thing and they don't always work. Be sure to carry extra gas with you, you never know when one of the gas pumps you were counting on won't be working. Propane can be scarce also. Even in Whitehorse one time none of the dealers had any propane and I had to drive about 60 miles out of town to find a village that had some. as a miner I couldn't hang around town for a day when the delivery truck was going to show up. Going to town is an all day trip. 6 hours driving from my claims.

Be prepared with good vehicle and tires. The Alcan is not an easy road to drive and the closer to AK you get the worse the road. Basically when it splits at Whitehorse if you take the Alaskan hwy you'll find it very rough and won't want to travel very fast as you get closer to AK. Going north on the Klondike Hwy the road is better for a while. I haven't been all the way to Dawson so I can't speak for the road going that far. Don't know about the road in AK. The earlier you go the worse the roads will be. It takes the road crews a while to get the damage from the winters patched up and some places be careful they can have half the road fall off the cliff and all the notice you get is a small orange cone a few feet in front of the problem (seriously, I have seen this). Pot holes generally get patched eventually but they won't alert you to them. Rough road areas they'll put up small signs down at road level. If you don't go up early the roads will be better but you'll run into a lot of road construction. They repave miles of road every year so be prepared to be delayed multiple times.

Plan on taking a good amount of time. Border agents will tell you you can drive to AK in a few days, well that may be true if you want to get their flintstone style and just holding a steering wheel. If you actually want to spend time along the way you'll need weeks. There is a lot of amazing things to see along the way. If you go through Muncho Park beware of the brainless mountain goats. They'll run head on into your vehicle. If there are more than one in the group the whole group will run head first into your vehicle! Ask the locals there and they'll tell you they are the dumbest animals. Also, in places the bear don't seem to care if you are traveling at high speed they'll run right out in front of you. No fun when my rig is 52' long going 50+ mph.

Don't know about the miners in BC or AK but in the Yukon they are friendly. All of them I have met are willing to let people pan on their claims. Canadians in general are friendly. Maybe I get along with them because I go up to mine and I tell them when I stop. Not sure which direction you are going but if you go from mile 1 on the Alcan up through the Yukon there is a little gas stop at Contact Creek. The guy is a great guy and he always has the least expensive gas on the road. Toad River is very expensive and Muncho Lake is the highest price at around $8 - $9 per gallon. They only sell gas by the liter so you have to do the calculation to get price per gallon. But on average I spend about $6 per gallon on my trips. I generally go up early spring and come back by Sept 1.

This will be the first year I won't be going up in a while. I have other mines here that I have commitments on. But it is hard not to be dreaming of going back up. It'll be harder staying down here this summer.

Best of luck on your trip!

Overall the trip should be a great time but be prepared. Get the magazine 'Milepost'. It's a yearly mag and will cost a little more than a normal mag but it will guide you along the route so you can see everything and know what to expect.

Hope this helps. It may have been more than you wanted to know but it isn't all that I could tell about it.

 

[infotraker]

We spent 2 months traveling thru Canada and Alaska going as far as Fairbanks then to anchorage then down to home near Sacramento ca. We went may 1 and got home end of June. Roads all the way were good enough for our 24 foot class c rv. Prospected a little but all rivers and creeks were high water bank to bank.

 

[Grizz12]

Don't waste your time, there ain't no gold in Alaska