On the fourth day of our Ultimate Alaska Cruise, we visited the city of Juneau, the capitol of Alaska, and took a tour of an old Gold Mine. Gold! That’s what Alaska is all about, I thought. It turned out that Rain was what it was all about, at least in coastal Alaska that morning.
When we woke up on our interior stateroom, we had no idea what the weather was like. But we could tell by the thrumming of power running through the ship that we were still making our way to Juneau from Ketchikan. It was further than you’d think. I was coming to like the idea of the ship’s crew busily paying attention to navigation all night long while we slept, so that the passengers could enjoy full days spent in port. It’s one of those miracles of scheduling that simply works. I also learned to check the webcam on the bow using the TV in our room. There were raindrops all over the lens! So we dressed ourselves accordingly, and made our way to the Sun Deck. Or perhaps it was the Rain Deck.
It turned out that we were getting quite close to port, and I got to watch some of the maneuvers as we tied up at the Cruise Ship Terminal. It was a busy place, and several other ships were already there. We went back to our room and got our daypack ready for our shore excursion to the mine, then headed down the gangway to the pier.
We boarded the correct tour bus (we were issued printed tickets earlier in the cruise) and drove southeast along the Gastineau Channel to the site of the old mill. We drove up some steep dirt roads to the mineshaft, and were issued hardhats and earplugs. We were feeling like gold miners already!
We began our tour up above the remains of the mill. By design, the opening to the AJ Mine was located on a steep slope, so that its ore output would head downhill (thanks to gravity) into the grinding rollers of the mill, which then extracted the gold. Or so our guide informed us. Chuck was an older gentleman who had worked in mines all over the west coast for over 35 years, and he really knew his stuff. He led us deeper into the mine, which had a wooden walkway (wheelchair accessible!) and a string of lights along the ceiling. Old mine cart rails and compressed air and water lines ran alongside the path. This was a Hard Rock Mine; it didn’t even need to be shored-up or supported with wooden posts. It was raw rock all the way.
Chuck explained a bit of mining terminology as he led us deeper into the mine. We turned a corner and arrived at a larger platform. There were quite a few of us, and we filled it to capacity. He said that the “Glory Hole” was where the gold-containing ore was fed into a funnel-like chute system via gravity so that it could be hauled away more easily to the mill down below. This mine had a chute outlet near the end of the first long passage.
Chuck explained how the end of the shaft was enlarged, using eight-foot long drill bits to create a square pattern of holes in a radiating pattern from the central hole. Multiple sticks of dynamite (and wiring) were inserted into these holes, except the center hole. Then everyone backed away to a safe distance and the charges were detonated sequentially, so that the ore would be blasted inwards toward the empty hole. It was needed, because the rock had to go somewhere, after all. Once it was all done, there would be an 8 foot by 8 foot by 8 foot pile of blasted ore, weighing about 38 tons! There was already a face showing the pattern of holes.
He then demonstrated the rock drill on a perpendicular face, so that we could see how it worked. He insisted that we insert our earplugs first, as this pneumatic drill was exceptionally loud. It was even hydraulically-assisted, so mostly he just had to hold it in place and watch what it was doing. Power tools to the tenth power!
After all that loudness and excitement, he herded us backward along the wooden pathway. He stopped at a strange machine that was sitting on some ore-cart rails. He called it The Mucker. Its job was to load the ore carts with the newly-created ore. Once again, we had to insert our ear plugs. He powered up the mucker and we watched it scoop up a bunch of water (there was no more ore in front of it, of course) and toss it over its shoulder into a waiting mine cart. Pretty cool. And potentially dangerous. If drills and dynamite weren’t enough for you, there was always the Mucker to get your heart rate up.
After that, it was time to head back outside the mine. We walked along the wooden pathway, with the blinding glare in our eyes. I’m not lying when I say that it felt good to be back, out under the open sky.
It was still drizzling out there, so we got into the bus and the driver took us down the hill to the old mill. The only things left from the mill were some concrete foundations. They must’ve sold the equipment off or moved it to another mine. Supposedly, there were over 60 miles of shafts within these hills near Juneau. A huge amount of gold was extracted from veins within the stone.
We got to see some old mining equipment in the yard, and also an antique stamping mill that was brought in from elsewhere. Then we got a different tour guide, who led us under a roofed area with large pans of water and sand. He then handed out very small pans, half full of sand, and told us that we were going to pan for gold. He demonstrated the technique, and watched as we all tried it. Luckily, the water in the big tanks was warm, or our hands would have been frozen. It took a while, but eventually we all shook out the non-gold sand and were left with tiny bits of gold on the bottom. The guide offered to put it in a vial for us to take home. Vicki and I pooled our pans, so we almost felt rich. It wasn’t an easy way to make a living, I figured, especially in icy water!
The bus dropped us off near the ship after the tour. We were free to explore Juneau for the afternoon. So we made our way through the streets. It was still drizzling off and on, but I had my little umbrella. Vicki’s rain jacket worked better. Oh well. We headed for the Alaska State Capitol building, and also made sure that we found a supermarket. The ship didn’t have the soda pop I preferred, and what they had was pricey, so I bought myself two 12-packs of cans. This turned out to be quite heavy. I put one of them in my backpack and I carried the other. We made our way back toward the ship, walking in the rain.
There were tons of expensive tourist-style stores along the harbor. We saw some well-made totem poles, and wandered past the other cruise ships. There were old geezers like us everywhere. We started our cruise in early May, so any children that might be interested in cruising were still in school. Eventually, we ended up back at the ship, and up the gangway we went.
We dropped off the wet clothes and soda cans in our stateroom and headed up to Deck 14, the Lido Deck, for a meal at the buffet. There was food there during most of the day, for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. We ate a bit of lunch and watched the drizzle outside through the glass.
Later on, we had dinner in our chosen restaurant, and decided to sit at the same table every day, to dine with some other folks we enjoyed talking to. We could have taken random chance, but we liked them, and we also got to know our servers. It was a fun table.
That evening, Vicki went to see a seminar about dog sledding by Libby Riddles, who was on board for the evening. Tomorrow we were heading to Skagway, and Vicki was going to get a sled dog ride!
I went to the treadmill and worked up a sweat, pretending that I was hiking up a mountain. I do this at home, too. For me, a dedicated hiker, every day was Leg Day at the gym. Later on, after my shower, Vicki and I took a walk around the Promenade Deck, and then it was time for bed. Tomorrow we would be in Skagway, and had a big day planned.
For a topographic map of the cruise see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the voyage see my Flickr Page
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