[old gold miner]

A lot of times, I go prospecting far off the beaten track. When, I say far off, I mean 40 or 50 miles of 4 wdl road, just to get to the pavement. Then, miles further to little local stores that most often charge arm & leg prices for supplies.

Unless it’s a family affair, except for my dog, I am usually alone. I use a classic jeep Cherokee & take both the bottom & back rest seat out, to give me more storage space. I can pack everything needed, for a 2, 3 week or even month long stay, if need be. Laptop, Sat phone, gps nav gear, power inverter, 2 spare tires, 3 gas cans, small cooler, tent, tarp, cot, folding table, sleeping gear, coleman stove, lantern, shot-gun & Glock 40, EMT med kit, fishing gear, small chain saw, come-a-long, cable & tools. It's a tight fit & loaded near full. But, it comfortable, self sufficant & can go about anywhere.

The "jeep" is a "dedicated" prospecting vehicle. Have tore off mirrors, (paint matters not), broken a few windsheilds & bent rims, blown lots of tires, going up "goat" trails, that have not had a tire on them in 50 years. More than once, scared hikers, who could not believe, I got a vehicle to where they were. Have wore out 1/2 dozen of them prospecting.

If it appears I am likely to be out & about any extended period. Besides a cooler with items frozen rock solid, to make them last. As well as keep ice longer, for an evening cocktail. I used an All American 925 pressure cooker / canner to can various meats & poultry, in both pint & quart mason jars.

I can beef stew meat, boneless pork loin, chicken breasts & various other cubed, or ground meat, as well as sausage of all sorts. All of which, since its pre-cooked makes for quick, easy to cook high quality meals. If you have a decent sized good quality pressure cooker, it is not that much trouble to do. There are lots of on-line UDSA type meat canning guides on-line you can google. So, I won’t go into the recipes. But, there are enough to suit about anyone’s tastes.

I assure you, when you are able to cook / prepare home style meals, the same quality as if it were cooked in your own kitchen at home. Camping becomes a pleasure, rather than an ordeal. Sure, I know glass mason jars are fragile, but with good packing, I have never broken one yet.

Other little tricks are taking along a 2ft wide, 6 ft long piece 5/8ths, or ¾ inch exterior plywood, a few 2X4’s & a length of light weight chain. Anyone handy can use lag bolts & screws to build a light weight sturdy cooking platform, in a jiffy. Hang a duel fuel lantern over that, set up a Coleman duel fuel stove & your ready to start cooking.

LOL, all the cooking gear I use is extreme old school. Other than the stove & lantern. The newest thing I use is a 56 year old coffee pot, the rest of the stuff is closer to 75 years old. That were passed down grandfather to my father, to me. I can cook for myself alone, or an infantry squad, if need be.


Date on the double skillet on the left is 1924

The purpose of these extended trips, is looking for a placer claim, with water, I could stake, that would pay, if worked on a large yardage scale. Meaning, hundred ++ yards a day, once the dead work was done, as I have the EQT to do that. In a life time of looking, I have found only 4. One on a patented claim, I bought. Three, I staked, we worked 3 & did well. The 4th, turned out to be to costly to "permit".

Those old timers did not miss much.

[Gilaoro]

Good post and Pics!!

I can well remember hog killing time in the fall on the farm, it was at the first cold spell when the meat would keep,my grandparents did not have electricty, they canned everything, the best parts where fresh "Chittlings" and chittling cornbread, pork sausage was made into patties and fried until about half browned, then they where packed into a crock and hot lard poured over every layer. They would keep till the next winter. Hams where rubbed with meat treatment and a liquid mix was injected with a big syringe next to the bone. Then they where hung in the smoke house and a corncob fire smouldered for days, they would keep for ever! Whole sides of bacon too. The meat turned a red color and they where the best eating ever! my mother and grandmother caned everything else in Mason Jars, even chicken! Fresh eggs where coated with "Water Glass"and packed in crocks too.

I admire your stick to it atitude! If people today could get real ham and sausage they would never eat that pale watery crap they sell for ham now, of course most people could not drink real milk either! And if you have never had a dish of cold clabbered milk you have missed a treat. It would be well after dark even in the summer by the time the cows where milked and we cooled milk for supper by pouring it over a small block of ice in a dishpan, you had no doubt when the cows ate wild onions or bitter weed but you drank it or did with out'

Would I go back to those days ? Hell no it was WORK, if you have never chopped or picked cotton or planted and took care of a garden big enought to feed a big family you don't know what real labor is! Give me my supermarket and hot shower and I'll dig for gold!

Max

[old gold miner]

LOL..... Max

As a kid I recall come late fall in Alaska….Grampa, Dad & I would butcher 3 or 4 steers, 2 or 3 hogs & about 100 chickens.
On top of that, clean & smoke, or can 50 or 100 salmon.
Clean, fillet & freeze 3 or 400 lbs of halibut.
Always a moose or 2, and a couple caribou to butcher & freeze, to boot.

Commercial salmon fished & crabbed seasons of 64, 65 & 66.
To this day, I don’t care for salmon, or crab, because I worked in them, hip deep, days on end.
Flew bush planes 67 & drafted fall 68.

Your right, it was work. But, young & strong, I loved it all.

You cannot find whole canned chicken breasts, center cut loin pork chops, beef stew meat, ground chuck, or canned pork or link sausage, in any supermarket.
Give me a bunch of that, couple bags of potato's, a bag of onions, some rice, dry beans, flour, oil & I can cook stick to your ribs grub. Not fancy, but good eats.

Also keep 10 MRE in the rig, just in case the going gets tough.

If you ever run across an EHOB waffle air mattress, the kind hospitals use.
If the price is right, grab that puppy up. Sometimes found on eBay around $25.
One of those, on a cot. You will sleep like you are in heaven.

Used to be I could sleep on a rock, with a thin bedroll, NOT ANY MORE.
Now use a cot, EHOB air mat & 5 piece modular bag system, good to -50F
Even have a little soft pillow.
I’m turning into a sissy.

8x10 tent, with artic liner, if need be.
Cot on 1 side, folding table on the other, with a folding chair in between & rug on the floor.
With a lantern for light & if need be for heat.
A back pack duel fuel coleman stove, with a #10 tin can of sand on top it, you got an extra heater, to boot.
Dog curls up on rug, under my cot.
(good bear alarm, that dog is too)

If the weather is rainy, I use a come-a-long to stretch a cable tree to tree.
Then, run a 20X40 tarp over the cable & peg it tight.
Then, set the tent up, under that.
The tarp length gives you enough awning, to keep firewood & supplies dry

My little out in the woods office.
If I can hit a cell phone repeater, have laptop internet & cell phone connect, plus text messages.
Worst case, have $1.50 a minute Sat uplink phone.

Always call or EM home with GPS position of camp.
Always leave a note in my pillow case, where I am going, that day.
(just in case, I don't make it back to camp, or home & anyone needs to come looking)

[garimpo]

From the sounds of it you two were my neighbors....at least in

deeds remembered...hog killing time...big black kettle cooking

down the hog fat to make cracklins....big hams rubbed down with

brown sugar and rock salt then put in the smoke house for the

hickory smoke flavor...head cheese....brains with scrambled

eggs and green onions...quart jars for the pickled pigs

feet....slabs of cured bacon that would last all winter...

hours and hours cranking the sausage grinder..sausage mixed

with black pepper then put in the hog gut for storage in the

smoke house...I could go on and on but after remembering the

two hundred cows...5 horses....10 hogs...3,000 chickens....

home made corn bread and butter milk...the butter churn....

it would take to much space to talk about it....decided at the

age of 17 war would be better than the farm...good choice...by

1968 military finished and had my CFI & II flight instructors

ratings...sure do miss those cured hams....

[old gold miner]

Yes Sir, I miss those kind of old school slow smoked cured hams myself.
Shot down in a U17, 70 klicks out of Pleiku, Tet, 68.
Injuries from that fubar quickly ended both my military & flying career.

[El Dorado]

OGM..... don't you ever sleep? and were you flying for a three letter or four letter organization?

[old gold miner]

LOL......
I get enough sleep.
Plus, a cat nap or 2.
Retired, no scedule, can when I want to.

3 letter, under circumstance.
Was drafted, things changed when they found out I had a FW PL.
If I went a different way, would have been a Raven.

[El Dorado]

Thanks a bunch, you guys provided some very interesting info that led to many many bombs dropping

[creekhunter]

Old Gold miner
I often wondered how long I could go out by my self in the wood,tried it a couple of times overnighters only
and man did that feel strange to me sitting in camp alone I dont think I could get used to it.

[old gold miner]

creekhunter, on 04 November 2009 - 05:56 PM, said:

Old Gold miner
I often wondered how long I could go out by my self in the wood,tried it a couple of times overnighters only
and man did that feel strange to me sitting in camp alone I dont think I could get used to it.

Having good wireless communication equipment helps quell that feeling of isolation.
A good dog, as a companion, does to, plus serves many other useful purposes.
Being well equipped, armed & capable of doing whatever needs done, also gives you confidence.
I enjoy the solitude, and the thrill of the hunt for a good pay streak, or possible big bonanza.

Usually, one needs to re-supply about every 3 weeks.
Which is a good excuse motel up for a night or 2.
I tell you what, an hour long hot shower & shave, is really appreciated over quick cold water camp sponge bath bathing.
So is even mundane restaurant food, served by a slow waitress, is good because you are being served, rather than fending for yourself.
My significant other enjoys my returns, as I am usually pretty "loving" when I get home.
The time apart, gives us both time to reflect on one another & our good relationship.

It works for us.
My adult children worry sometimes.
But, quell that with emails, or text message, if I am camped in range of a repeater.
If not, they call my Sat phone in the evening every few days, to insure I'm still kicking.

It has become a family tradional "right of passage", as they get old enough & able, sometimes a grandchild goes along.
It teaches them self sufficiency, like nothing else can.

[creekhunter]

old gold miner
About your jeep cherokee your absolutely right about it beeing a trustworthy mining rig.You can carry alot of supplies.I dredge way back on the yuba river
steep canyon road cross the river eight times and cross many boulder bars and always made it in and out without breaking anything.I can pack the inside
with a weeks supply of beer and food,ice chest and camping supplies for two and the dredge goes on top the roof.I love my cherokee!

[Gilaoro]

Garimpo,

I can't remember the last time I had fresh brains and eggs! It was a long time ago, the closest I can get the wife to them is Salmon & eggs, can't even buy calf brains around here!!

Old Gold Miner,
In '67/68 I was a Chief Boatswains Mate on the CGC BITTERSWEET in Ketchican , AK and made many a fisheries patrol out of Dutch Harbor, In '71 I was back as a new CWO-3 on the CGC SEDGE out of Cordova,AK, the most northerly stationed US ship in the world and made even more N Pacific & Artic patrols, made many a MED-EVAC off of those crab boats and not a few from the Russian and Jap factory ships.

EL Dorado,
Anything more than 5 hours in the sack is wasting time that cound be spent prospecting!

You guys/We guys are a bunch of OLD FARTS

[old gold miner]

Gilaoro, on 05 November 2009 - 06:39 AM, said:

Old Gold Miner,
In '67/68 I was a Chief Boatswains Mate on the CGC BITTERSWEET in Ketchican , AK and made many a fisheries patrol out of Dutch Harbor, In '71 I was back as a new CWO-3 on the CGC SEDGE out of Cordova,AK, the most northerly stationed US ship in the world and made even more N Pacific & Artic patrols, made many a MED-EVAC off of those crab boats and not a few from the Russian and Jap factory ships.

You guys/We guys are a bunch of OLD FARTS

LOL, had some crazy good times in Dutch Harbor, Kodiac, Cordova & Valdez.
Those were the days of my youth when the beer & whiskey goggles, made ugly women look mighty fine.
If I recall correctly, partyed hard once with some sailors off what I believe was an ice breaker, in Valdez, in 64.
Was just a month or so after the big quake happened.

[goldstonehigh]

You guys were talking about food to take in the bush with you.

Yes home canned meat(in glass Mason jars in a pressure cooker or open boiling takes longer) is great. Some people have a metal tin canning set up also.

Some more ideas are first of all, home canned fish with a little vinegar-water and ketchup brine.

Also in glass Mason jars many garden vegetables can be put into a very weak(we do like a weaker brine is much better, as some other people mix stronger like 1 to 2 or 1 to 4) brine solution of 1 cup white vinegar to 7 cups water ratio is best with the appropriate minimal amount of salt. Not neccessary but the optional things are dill weed(NOT seed, too bitter), whole garlic, and/or pickling spices.

This brine solution above will prevent rotting-spoiling of raw vegetables by preserving carrots(are very popular), green beans, cucumbers, green tomatoes, turnips, asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, snow peas, onions, and green-red peppers(all packed tight in the jars) which remains very crisp to those who do not know(but use the salt very sparingly in the Mason jars). All these above vegetables are put in Mason jars raw, not cooked. But the brine is boiled and then poured hot over the vegetables to about 1/2" from the top then seal with a lid. The lid should pop down after cooling. Date the top of the lid and wait about 2 weeks before using, but the vegetables will keep in the jars for about a year or more.


Also my dad tried cooked potatoes this year in this weak brine solution above and it worked great.

Beets are put in a different brine solution with a stronger vinegar ratio to water with sugar added and are also pre-cooked the same as potatoes.

Pickled eggs are very easy to make and are always good.

Take the Mason jars with food in them into the bush with you in the original cardboard boxes the jars came in, with cardboard between the jars to prevent breakage.

Also home dried JERKY meat(any red meat will do, preferrably deer). Partly freeze the meat(easier to cut thin), slice thin with the meats grain, soak in a terraki type, etc. brine overnight then put on a cookie sheet(a wire rack works best but you must catch the drippings. Cabelas has a wire rack that goes over a cookie sheet for this) at the ovens very lowest setting(about 150' F) for about 4 to 8 hours. Keeps meat from spoiling for a period of time and is GOOD.
OVEN DRIED JERKY
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1952,148170-233193,00.html

[old gold miner]

I've canned all sorts of meat, poultry & sausage for years, in mason jars.
Just for extended prospecting & mining trips, where supplies were far away, very costly or even sometimes difficult to find.
Doing so, has served me very well.

I don't can veggies, potatoes & the like in mason jars.
Simply because you can buy store bought canned goods (in cans, rather than glass jars)], at competitive prices.
Which does away with all the time, effort involved with doing it yourself.

If cared for (kept in shade, cool & ventilated), fresh whole potatoes, onions, carrots will keep a long time.
So, that’s what I take.
Plus, canned veggies, etc.

I do however can very thick, meaty, tomato/veggy combo spaghetti sauce myself.
As I prefer mine, over thin store bought kinds.

Hard breads & rolls will also keep a long time, if well packaged & cared for properly.
If I run out of bread, I used a Dutch oven to make batches of farm biscuits.
Which, once made also keep a long time.

I also have thick mil autoclave bags, vacuum pump & an impulse sealer.
With those, and my large commercial sized pressure cooker.
I can, if need be, sterilize, vacuum & impulse seal about anything I want in bags.
Which is far lighter & unbreakable, in comparison to glass jars.

It just requires a learning curve, to can in autoclave bags, rather than glass jars.
But, once you get the hang of it, it’s not much different.

If need be, I also supplement food supplies with local grouse, quail & fish.
Which, are often plentiful in area’s I prospect or mine in.

[sawmill]

Creekhunter
I camped for 21 days during September prospecting.
Just me,the critters and my buddy Fred the lizard.
Fred don't say much ,but he's a laugh a minute,and
kept those ants in their place. That darn lizard is a
regular show off. Don't have a clue what kind he is but
he has black and white rings on his tail and long funny
toes on his back feet like flippers. When he runs he curls
his tail over his back and looks like a big scorpion.

During the day a Cactus Wren would drop by. The little tweety
birds that hang out in the brush would perch on my bucket and
watch me work. Now and then the Blue Racer that lives in the
thicket would slither over for a look see. The quail family
that lives on the claim were pretty sociable. You can always
tell when they are coming because of the funny little sounds
they make. They are always good for a laugh when they are
peering over the edge of your diggings.

A little cotton tail homesteaded under my camper and loved
apples and potato peels. Had a young jack rabbit hop right
up and sit by my leg as I was digging. The little feller was
not one bit scared and stayed close until I moved on. At night
I had the coyotes singing while I watched meteors . Just how
much company does a feller need?

The only down side was making a 2 minute call once a week.
Had to remind my old wife that I was gone,so she would feed
the cat.

[goldstonehigh]

Thanks for that story "sawmill". And thanks for all the advice "old gold miner" and also check this out. Be careful which potatoes you buy. Home grown is best, get from a reliable grower, or buy some you can trust:


The Farm Director Won't Eat: Nonorganic Potatoes
http://lifestyle.ca....22463436&page=4

The Farm Director Won't Eat: Nonorganic Potatoes
Jeffrey Moyer is the chair of the National Organic Standards Board.

The problem: Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes--the nation's most popular vegetable--they're treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they're dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting. "Try this experiment: Buy a conventional potato in a store, and try to get it to sprout. It won't," says Moyer, who is also farm director of the Rodale Institute (also owned by Rodale Inc., the publisher of Prevention). "I've talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals."

The solution: Buy organic potatoes(or grow your own). Washing isn't good enough if you're trying to remove chemicals that have been absorbed into the flesh.

Budget tip: Organic potatoes are only slightly more expensive than conventional spuds.

[bedrock bob]

The tater stuff is true! Very few of the commercial taters will sprout eyes and even when they do they will make a plant with no taters underneath! Just little pea sized things if at all. An oragnic tater is a little more expensive, but when they get eyes sprouting you can just take them out in the yard and plant them...Any time of the year. Since most of my taters (store bought or organic) seem to get old before I cook them all, I have been planting them. I have the best darn fresh taters all summer long from the bad ones that I have put in the ground. If'n you dig them all up in the fall and set them one layer deep in a cool spot they will generally last all winter as long as they dont freeze or touch at the sides.

In a cool mountain climate with rocky soil they do GREAT! One of the easiest and most productive vegetables you can grow. You can actually feed yourself on a small plot of beans, and crops like swiss chard and pok choi will grow under the snow! I have swiss chard growing well at 20 degrees below zero. I shovel the snow off the plants to harvest and they come right back up under the ice. I grow taters, pok choi, and chard under the eaves of the house and never even have to water them. I rarely pull the weeds either. Lambsquarter, poke salet, mustard, horseradish, asparagus, and dandelion are all very nutritious and delicious and grow wild here.

Of course the onions in the Mesilla Vallet are a big crop and I get 50-60 lbs each year from the garbage dump. Just like taters they last all winter if they are stored right. Red chile is dry and hanging in ristras under the portal, and I get my pinto beans straight from the cleaner in Estancia...$20 for 50 lbs. The best damn beans you have ever tasted. You can get all of the free cabbage and lettuce that you want and we make chow chow and a spicy sauerkraut in jars so it will last the season.

If you have never had a fresh puffer mushroom in the fall when things cool off you have never eaten mushrooms. Those things are great! After my first meal I waited several hours to die and never did. So now in the fall I know exactly where the mycelia is sprouting and pick as many as I can before they turn to dust. Fried in a little butter with salt and pepper they are a true delight.

Most of our valley land here has been irrigated with a system of ditches that were originally dug by the Puebloans way back in the time before history. All of these ditches, as well as our creeks and rivers are just chock ful of crawdads (crayfish). Those little lobsters are much better than a shrimp and you can catch enough for a good mean in just a few minutes witha tumbleweed and a piece of bacon. We enjoy a crawdad salad, as well as some mighty red gumbo several times each summer.

Of course the meat is elk, venison, turkey, quail, grouse, trout, catfish, crappie, walleye, and bass. I have my freezer filled by May of each spring with fish and again in the fall with fish and game. Every acre here is grazing land and even if you dont have a lease you can generaly run a momma cow on someone else's lease for a pittance. That means that good range fed beef is on the menu every other year or so for next to nothing.

Indian tobacco and Manzanilla grow wild and make a stimulating drink or bath, and there are dozens of medicinal plants that supply anti inflamatories, and remedies for minor illnesses. Even if you dont know wildcrafting there are many herb stores and curanderas in every town and they are cheap and effective.

It is truly a land of plenty and there is no reason to want for very much if you just know the basics of the world around you.

Bob

[old gold miner]

Another great thing to have when you are out & about in isolated area's, is a product called "Vetrap", made by 3M

It is a tape that doesn't stick to skin, or hair.
It sticks to itself & breaths.

It is used by Vet's to bandage all sorts of animals, horses, dogs, cows, etc.

It comes in differing colors, in various widths & length rolls.

Can be found at about any feed store for a couple bucks a roll.
It you cannot find it in stores near you, it is all over eBay.

This stuff is hands down the best emergency first aid tape made.
I would suggest everyone have a couple rolls of it in or with your first aid kit.

You can use it as a bandage, or make a cast, or splint with it in seconds.

[Steel Pan]

Kinda with the topic,....
I found a whole hill side full of Wild Goose Berries.
Took a mess of 'em home, canned 'em up, and now have
enough jelly to last me quite some time.

Left two jars in the claim's cabin.

[goldstonehigh]

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[bedrock bob]

Prikly pears (tunas). Great juice, jelly, and the best darn wine you have ever tasted. The desert is fuscia with them each year. TONS of good tasing protein at NO COST.

I smash them in a 5 gallon bucket and juice them, then filter through one of those 5 gallon paint screens available at Sherwin WIlliams. The thorns will float, or you can roast the tunas over tha fire and singe them off first if you like.

The wine is fantastic! I put a jalapeno in the jelly and it is hot and sweet. What a hoot!

In Spanish it is "jugo de tuna"... I know tuna juice is not too appetizing but hey, when in Rome...

And once again it is off topic. Should I talk about the five ounces I have found this year? The meteorites? I think not. I will stick to tuna.

Bob

[Regmaglitch]

Roberto,
Ay, favor..... Esta jugo del "Opuntia"!!! I think that's the proper name for it. Do you also make home-made pulque? I gotta whole lotta Yavapai Blue agave from my property up north.
Ben

[bedrock bob]

Optunia. You are truly a cunning linguist. It all comes from latin but it is all greek to me. Optunia is truly the genus of the prickly pear and cholla but I have never heard it used in Spanish. Just "la tuna". Anyhoo the juice of the tuna is a delicious treat. And I suppose that if I had the optunia I would ferment that juice and make a fine wine.

No pulque for me! I tried it down south one time. It was pretty awful. The stories about how they get the fermentation started might have influenced my palate as I was sampling. Even if they DONT spit in the pot it was pretty foul. I am not sure I could drink enough to get a buzz. There must be some kind of Mexican magic happen between that stuff and a shot of Patron.

The agave is a neat plant. Some plants make a gret pair of sandals but a poor soup. Agave is one of these I believe. Arent those families of plants actually one plant connected by a big root system? Like a mushroom colony? The heads grow, ripen, fruit and die but the larger underground plant exists independently of the agaves?

Some years the tunas are as big as apples and stain the cayon walls purple. You can squeeze a couple of gallons of juice mighty quickly. I have tasted some really delicious prickly pear "jack" that is about 10-12 proof and tastes like a cross between a rasberry and a mango or something. You just want to GULP it down. You would not want to drink too much though because if you barfed that shade of purple it would damage your head.

I even froze the juice and made popsickles when my son was small. The juice is just slimy enough for an interesting popsickle. It turned his hands and face, and ten square feet of concrete bright purple. Damn tasy though!

Bedrock Bob