[pct-l] Chips Creek Revisited

[Montedodge at aol.com (Montedodge@xxxxxxx)]

 Old Route up Chips Creek wasn't complete without stopping by old time Gold 
panner Rex Williams. ( He was 68 in 1977) He built his cabin  in 1952 and made 
between 8,000 to 32,000 a year from his claim on the creek. I got to pan out 2 
small nuggets with his help which he let me keep. He use to go to his buddies 
claim a few miles up the trail for tea or coffee. One day he dropped by for a 
cup and smelled something dead. He followed smell to his buddies body covered 
with rocks with only an arm sticking out. Someone had knocked him off for his 
stash of gold dust and nuggets. 
     Rex had a homemade suction dredge  and would put on his dive suit , mask 
and put it in steep fast flowing chips creek to suck gold off bottom .Air was 
pumped to him by a compressor which was turned by bike rims with coffee can 
rivited to them and cans cut at an angle. Smart guy and I don't know if his 
cabin and outdoor kitchen still stand and he would have to be fairly old. His 
knees dure bad in 77 and he was the first person I even say hiking with 2 poles . 
( just like todays hikers do with hiking poles)