Independence Mine

[Blue_In_AK]

We explored Independence Mine today, an old gold mine in Hatcher Pass north of here, which stopped producing in 1951 when the price of gold dropped so low that it was no longer profitable to keep it operating. It is now a state historical park.

Here are some photos...

[superconnected]

1. is that in Arkansas?

Looks facinating and dangerous.

[TahitiNut]

2. 'AK' = Alaska

Snow is a clue. :silly:

[superconnected]

7. Okay, I feel like an idiot.

[TahitiNut]

8. Hey! I feel like that every day!

I've learned to enjoy it. :silly: :silly: :silly: I'm a nut that aspires to be a total fruitcake. :dunce:

(I love Arundhati Roy!)

[Algomas]

20. Most beautiful woman in the world: Arundhati!

[Blue_In_AK]

9. Don't feel bad, it happens all the time...

At least you know Alaska is part of the United States.

[superconnected]

11. omg! people don't?

[Blue_In_AK]

12. It comes up occasionally...

People's misinformation is kind of mind-boggling actually. My husband, especially, who does a fair amount of buying on eBay, gets ticked off when people want to charge extra for shipping to Alaska, even when they're sending something by U.S. mail. I can recall some fairly heated e-mail exchanges regarding the fact that it costs the exact same amount to mail something here as it does to someone in the Lower 48. My guess is Hawaiians run into the same problem.

[amazona]

18. shipping doesn't cost the same, you know

I used to be an Ebay seller, and the price of shipping is not the same everywhere in the United States. It is based on your zip code, my zip code, and weight of the package. I could mail a heavy box to Houston, Texas for around $4.00 that costs more than twice as much to ship to the Seattle area (where I had several regular customers) or Alaska (where I had a couple of customers). Your husband is wrong and is being unfair to sellers by indulging in these "heated" exchanges. Whenever I encountered people who did not know the price of shipping by U.S. mail, I invited them to put in the weight and zip code for themselves at the www.usps.gov website, which is the United States Postal Service website.

There is no reason for your husband to be having heated exchanges. He is just incorrect and it is the work of a moment to verify the actual cost of shipping.

Forgive me if I sound a little testy. Because it is a matter of easily verified public record that shipping prices are higher for longer distances and greater weights, then I'm afraid I had to assume the worst about people who wanted to browbeat me over the price of shipping. The cost is set by the USPS. Not by me or by any other seller on Ebay.

I do agree that sellers should not artificially inflate shipping costs. But there is no way that I could ship to Alaska for what I can ship to Texas or Alabama. Distance does make a difference.

The major reason I no longer sell on Ebay is the anthrax guy and the increased shipping costs, which no longer left any room for me to have a profit. I am very keenly hypersensitive to this issue.

[Blue_In_AK]

19. We're not talking heavy packages here...

...we're talking about things that weigh no more than a .37 letter. I understand about the different zones and whatnot, but he gets charged extra for mailing something that can be folded within a sheet of paper and stuck in an envelope. There is no reason to charge $10 for that, I'm sorry.

Testiness forgiven, by the way. Everybody gets testy sometimes (including my husband).

[TahitiNut]

15. Alaska... isn't that the state in a box off the coast of California?

:silly: (Yes, I watch Jon Stewart.)

[Blue_In_AK]

17. Yes, that's the one...

:) ... if we even get that much recognition.

[TahitiNut]

3. Snow on the ground on June 28th??

That's UUUUUGLY! (I hate snow. :puke: )

(Nice photos, though.) :shrug:

[Blue_In_AK]

5. Yes, there's still snow up there...

It's about 3500 feet elevation. Our original plan was to drive over the pass, but the road was blocked here at the mine because the DOT hasn't been out there yet to grade the road (it's gravel) and clear the last of the snow. So we changed our plan and explored around here for a while until it started raining too hard.

[GOPFighter]

4. Did you see any gold laying around?!

Wow, where to begin? That's someplace I could spend a week just trying to get the right angles, the right settings. I like the last picture best. Did the wind do all that damage? So forlorn!

[Blue_In_AK]

6. Funny you should ask...

I did find a rock that looked to be gold-bearing, so we brought it home and HullBoss took some scrapings off the side, swished them around in his gold pan, and, sure enough, he found several little flecks of gold. I'm sure there's lots and lots of gold still up there because there are claims all up and down the Hatcher Pass road and signs saying in effect "you can walk around here all you want, but don't even think about putting your gold pan into this stream."

The damage is probably a result of many factors...the '64 quake for one, very heavy snow load, wind and rain. I can't even imagine what it must have been like for the miners working there, but at one time there were enough people here that they even had a school.

Here's a link if you're interested.

http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/units/indmine.htm

[GOPFighter]

10. "..several little flecks?"

umm-hmmm. Well remember that when you tell us about your new Nikon D2X!

:evilgrin:

[Blue_In_AK]

13. I wish. :-)

[F.Gordon]

14. Are most of the buildings still standing?

I'm lookin' at the map link you provided.... quite a large operation at one time. I'm also surprised how well preserved the buildings/structures are. Suspect there is still quite a bit of gold there. Nice to see that this area is protected from corporate strip mining.

As usual.... an excellent group of photos Blue'.
:applause:

[Blue_In_AK]

16. Some of the newer buildings are still standing...

but most of the older ones are pretty trashed as in these pictures. I didn't realize until I looked at the map that the "boomtown" was on up the trail, so we didn't see the two houses that are supposedly still standing. The site has deteriorated quite a bit since I first moved up here in 1975, but it's still very interesting to see all the old equipment and so on laying around. I took over 50 pictures up there and would have gotten more except it started raining too hard.

[Algomas]

21. Wow, thanks for posting those, brings memories. Love #2.

[Maestro]

22. It's funny how dilapidated shacks set within

a beautiful backdrop can seem so gorgeous! Great shots!