Saturday morning and at 9am the 4 of us Vaughn, Linda, Dave and I are on the road. We had packed lunches so it was going to be a full day of touring. Vaughn has a Ford Super Duty 4X4 Truck and we were going into the back country. We were going to see places in Alaska that unless you lived there you wouldn’t even know about the roads to take you there. Vaughn took us to Petersville and beyond. We bounced, we swayed, we drove through creeks, some really deep. We laughed so hard, Dave almost broke his neck a few times bouncing off the roof of the truck. Vaughn even darned Dave to fall asleep on this drive. We drove a total of probably 100 miles, round trip, and it took us 10 hours. And you know the only wild animal we saw was a darn squirrel. We saw a sign that said, RV’s and campers not recommend beyond this point, we did more climbing and bouncing and I’ll be dammed if there weren’t RV’s and campers back there. There is no way in hell our RV would ever get near something this . Those people were nuts, they had their 4 wheelers and were quite happy being back there. You know they were from Alaska because that’s the only way you would know about these roads.
After hours of climbing around this road we run into a truck that is broke down, 2 guys in it, and wouldn’t you know Vaughn knew one of the guys. He talked to him about how his mining for gold was going and if he knew if the person we were going to visit was out mining. The guy said he was out there and had a crew out in the streams dredging for gold. Vaughn was taking us to meet this guy with a dredger so we could see a real operation in the process.
We kept driving but didn’t find the guy. We crossed this one stream and there was a whole bunch of families out there with the kids and dogs. No phone service, no ipads, just 4 wheelers and the kids were in 7th heaven. Healthy and happy and not missing a TV at all, great to see.
We came across one stream that was a little too deep for all of us, so we turned around, or I should say backed up, no place to turn around. We ended up knocking off Vaughn’s mud flap and running it over. Shocked the hell out of me but there was a runway with planes on it, in these back woods. Forgot to mention there were a couple spots where we saw the people out in the streams dredging for gold, they would have someone in a dry suit diving in the water with a hose sucking up gravel then running it through a sluice looking for gold. Anyway, we drove to the airfield where some guys were working on some equipment they use for mining. If you have ever seen the show “Gold Rush” what they show is true. These guys are very closed lipped and don’t like when strangers come around. If you even thought about panning for gold on their turf they were shoot 1st and maybe asked questions later. A person could disappear very easily in these back woods. We stopped and Vaughn got out and ended up knowing one of the guys. Jeez, we are in the middle of nowhere and Vaughn knows these people. Vaughn use to own a gas station, many years ago, and would deliver fuel to these guys.
We were kind of bummed we never did find the guy Vaughn was looking for. We found his place but the road was chained off. I don’t believe it would have been very smart to walk the road, like I said they shoot 1st. So we headed back. On our way back we stopped at Cache Creek Cabins. There is an older couple there that have cabins for rent in their house they do cooking for you, if you don’t have anything. Linda and Vaughn know the people so we stopped to have a cup of coffee with them. We sat and talked, they showed Dave and I the history of the place. Come on this is in the middle of nowhere, like I said before, and the cabins are being rented. Too funny. In the winter they even leave the cabins open to anyone who wants to use them at no cost. Who is going to find those cabins in the winter anyway. The owners leave the water on, ha ha, and the heat on, just in case someone should get lost out there, if they have somewhere to stay then maybe they won’t break into the main house.
After coffee, we headed home. We somehow bounced our way out and did so much laughing, Dave was a comedian, which isn’t like him, he was quicker then me. Thank goodness for an ice cream and bathroom stop on the way home.
We got home and had some appetizers for dinner, ate a late lunch today, then to bed. This is one day we won’t be forgetting for a long time, if ever. Honestly there are places in Alaska that we would never have seen if we didn't have friends who live here. Vaughn and Linda have really opened up our eyes, we need to get off the beaten path and get on those back roads and really see things.
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