An Eclectic Collection of Photos with Computer Filtered Versions

This post is a collection of photos taken over many years.  I think that you will find then interesting and enjoy seeing them.

Over the last several years I have been using a few different photo editing programs.  I started with Windows Picture It 7, which is no longer available, however, Microsoft has replaced it with another that is free and available online.  Another app or program that is great is Picasa 3 that is also available free online.  And, Picasa is good for organizing your photos.  And, of course there is Adobe Photo Shop.

 

 

 

 

I hope this gives you some good ideas on how to enjoy your photography. 

Goodbye for now!

The Kenai Peninsula and the Iliamna Volcano, Alaska

In 2012, I had a vacation to the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska.  The scenery is spectacular and I hope that you enjoy the photos and a bit of geology from my trip.

The map is from the website of the Alaska Volcano Observatory  https://www.avo.alaska.edu/ .  The map shows the location of volcanoes west of Cook Inlet.  The active and dormant volcanoes (Black Triangles on the map) are within the Aleutian chain.



Mount Iliamna is a dormant stratovolcano, but with eruptions at 300 and 400 years ago.  These were pyroclastic flows.  The top of the volcano is at an elevation of 10,015 feet.  Much of the volcano is glacier covered.  The volcano is still seismically active and has hot springs and fumaroles.  The volcano can be seen from the west side of the Kenai Peninsula.







Mount Iliamna viewed from the Kenai Peninsula across the Cook Inlet.



Informational poster at the entrance to the Harding Icefield Trail.













Exit Glacier and outwash.

Seward Harbor.

Seward Harbor as a water color.

Photographic reflections from the Kenai Peninsula.

"Kenai Locals"

There is much to see and do on the Kenai Peninsula and in the Anchorage area.  I used to think that Alaska had to be overrated, however, that was before I visited the 49th state.  The other places that I have visited are Juneau, Skagway, Fairbanks, Sitka and McKinley (Denali).

I wish that everyone could get the chance to see Alaska!









A Photo Excursion to the Klondike Gold Fields, Yukon

The Klondike Gold Fields of the Yukon Territory have had an estimated placer gold production of 20 million ounces of gold.  The Yukon and Skagway, Alaska, are the location of the last major gold rush.  Since my first trip to the Yukon in November 2008, I have had several more trips including one in June of 2015.  The Yukon is a great region for tourists with hunting and fishing, site seeing, beautiful and rugged mountains, great rivers, wonderful restaurants in Whitehorse and Dawson City.  It is now a very popular destination for German, French and Asian tourists.

There has been considerable information written on the Klondike, so this is merely an introduction to the excitement of the Klondike Gold Rush and the scramble from Skagway to the Klondike from 1897 to 1900.

On the night August 16, 1986, gold was discovered by Skookum Jim , Taghish Charley, Shaaw Tiaa , and George Washington Carmacks (husband of Shaaw Tiaa).  The gold nuggets were found in Rabbit Creek, later renamed Bonanza Creek.  Carmacks and the others staked claims on the discovery.  The claims were filed at Forty Mile on the Yukon River north of the Klondike.  Carmacks also spread the news of their discovery.  Many more prospectors staked claims on Bonanza Creek and the surrounding area.

The placer gold was deposited in the drainage of the Klondike River, White Channel Gravel (Pliocene conglomerates with round pebbles and cobbles of white vein quartz), and in the modern channels of Bonanza and Eldorado Creeks.  The placer deposits of Bonanza and Eldorado Creeks are some of the richest in the world.

The enigma of the the Klondike is that a lode gold source for the placer gold has yet to be discovered.  There are only modest lode gold deposits in the bedrock of the Klondike Gold Fields.


Embroidered patch for the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park.



Stampeders packing their supplies over Chilkoot Pass near Skagway.

Satellite image of the Klondike District.

Dawson City with the Yukon River (left) and Klondike River (right) looking north.

Dawson City looking south.



Dredge tailings placer mining along the Klondike River (looking westerly).

White Channel Gravel overlying Klondike Schist (black rocks.)

Open cut mining of the White Channel Gravel.

Quartz veins in the Klondike Schist.

Gold nuggets from the Yukon.



Gold nugget formed from an aggregate of gold grains and quartz grains.



Gold dredge on Thistle Creek south of the Klondike District.

Drag line excavator on Thistle Creek, it was brought to the Yukon after it was used to build the Panama Canal.

Three abandoned river boats on the banks of the Yukon River.

Riverboat on the Yukon at Dawson City 2015.

Sourdough geoscientist from Alaska and a statue of "Kleopatra" from the Dawson Museum.

A Yukon sunset.



The following books on the Klondike are great reads...

• The Illustrated Robert Service, 2006, distributed in Canada by PR Services Ltd., Whitehorse, Yukon, 1-866-648-4144.  Great poems by Robert Service and historic photos of the Klondike Gold Rush.
• The Klondike Quest a Photographic Essay 1897-1899, Pierre Berton, 2005, The Boston Mills Press, 239p. Excellent text and photos of the Klondike experience.
• The Streets were Paved with Gold, Stan Cohen, 2001(first printing 1977), Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., Inc., 202 p.  Mostly photographs, but also includes historic maps and newspaper articles on the Klondike discovery.
• The Call of the Wild, Jack London with illustrations by Philippe Munch, 1996 (story first published in 1903), Penguin Books USA Inc., 126 p.  This is the classic story of the Klondike by Jack London.  This edition is beautifully illustrated with colored drawings and historic photographs.

The Yukon and Dawson City are worthy of your "bucket list."





The Marshall Gold Discovery 1848 - Coloma, California

Hello from Highway 49 in the Mother Lode of California,

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of visiting the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Eldorado County, California.  The gold discovery park is located on Highway 49 between Auburn and Placerville (originally named "Hangtown").  The park is located 26 miles southeast of Auburn and 11 miles northwest of Placerville.  It is a scenic drive through the foothills of the Sierras.



Aerial view of the Marshall Gold Discovery Park (looking northerly).

The discovery of placer gold was made on January 24, 1848 by James W. Marshall at the lumber mill built by John A. Sutter.  The lumber mill was built on the south side of the South Fork of the American River.

The first newspaper account of the discovery was on March 15, 1848 appearing in the The Californian of San Francisco.  A copy of the brief article is shown in the following (New Helvetia was the original name for Sacramento):


 

An excellent prediction of the importance of the discovery.

 

Sutter and Marshall partnered to build a lumber mill on the South Fork of the American River near the Native American community of Cullumah.  The name was later changed to Coloma.  On January 24th, Marshall found gold attempted to keep the discovery secret, however it was not possible.  The secret was revealed in San Francisco by Sam Brannan.  He went about the streets showing off his quinine bottle filled with gold from the American River.  Gold samples from the discovery were taken by an army officer to President James K. Polk .  The nation's newspapers reported the discovery and the rush was on in 1849. The discovery was also carried worldwide.

 

Much of the above information is from the park brochure "Marshall Gold Discovery State Historical Park," 2015, California State Parks. 

 

Their website is www.parks.ca.gov/marshallgold

 

The placer deposits of foothills of the Sierras has yielded 42 million ounces of gold.  The placer deposits were formed by the erosion of orogenic (aka mesothermal) lode gold deposits (quartz veins and disseminated gold).   The age of the lode gold mineralization is Cretaceous at 125 Ma +/- 10 Ma (Goldfarb, et.al., 2008, Orogenic gold and evolution of the Cordilleran orogeny, in Arizona Geological Society Digest 22, p. 311-323.).  The placer deposits are two types:  paleoplacers ("fossil" placers) and modern placers.  The paleoplacers are in Tertiary sedimentary rocks ranging in age from Eocene to the early Oligocene.  Mining of the placer deposits was by panning, sluicing, hydraulic mining, large gold dredges and by underground mining in the Tertiary channels.

 

These photos are from the recent trip to the park at the original Gold Rush discovery in California.

 

 

 

Park building with museum displays and gift shop.

 

 

Monument erected in 1948 at the original site of the gold discovery.

 

 

Plaque on the discovery monument.

 

 

View north of the South Fork American River at the site of the discovery.  Recreational gold panning is permitted.

 

Replica of the Sutter lumber mill.

 



An excellent craft brew establishment in Auburn.

www.auburnalehouse.com













Empire Mine State Park, Grass Valley, CA

Greetings from Reno,

I am sure that many of you that live in Reno, Sacramento, or the Bay area have visited the Empire Mine State Park located in Grass Valley and adjacent to Highway 49.  But, for those of you that have not, it is well worth taking in this wonderful outing!

The park's website is http://www.empiremine.org/

The Empire is an underground mine which produced gold from 1850 until 1956, with a few years suspension of production during World War II.  The total gold production from the Empire and other gold mines in the Grass Valley and Nevada Districts is approximately 12 million troy ounces.

Gold was discovered in June 1850 by George McKnight at the Gold Hill Ledge.  The discovery was of a quartz vein filled with abundant visible gold.  The Empire and nearby North Star mine operated profitably until the late 1920's when it was less profitable owing to increased costs.  In 1929, Newmont purchased the Empire mine from W.B. Bourn for $250,000.  Newmont also acquired the North Star mine.  In 1929, the gold price was $20.67 per ounce, but in 1934 to gold price was set at $35 per ounce.  Overnight, this turned a marginal mine into a highly profitable mine.  The mine closed in 1956 when the costs exceeded the sales.  In December 1974, the State of California purchased the property from Newmont for $1,250,000. The park is a treasure for geologists, mining enthusiasts, historians, and those that love beautiful landscaping and buildings. Source:  McQuiston Jr., F.W., 1986, Gold:  The Saga of the Empire Mine 1850-1956, 95 p.

Highlights of the park include beautiful grounds with flower gardens, the mine owner's mansion, fountains, a small museum, mine buildings, an inclined shaft (12,000 feet deep on the incline), a large model of the mine workings and geology, and ore carts.

I hope that some of you get a chance to visit the Empire mine and park.




The Empire mine mansion.



Ore carts at the mine.

The inclined shaft at the Empire mine.

Mine model.

Ore sample of gold-bearing quartz, probably similar to the discovery outcrop at Gold Hill!