In 1981 when I was 6 months old my dad quit his trader job at the Vancouver stock exchange and staked a claim on Churn Creek in the caribou. He sold our house in North Vancouver and I spent my first 2 years growing up in a shack that had the roof blown off by a rescue helicopter whose pilot thought we were stranded... when my mom finally brought him to his senses he cashed in his gold, sold his equipment and bought a horse ranch which I grew up on. I worked staking claims with my hipchain and compass through highschool for a few companies but never thought much of it. My dad and I were close and he had tried to get me into gold panning all my life but it wasn't until he passed away in 2007 that his gold fever was passed on to me. The past two seasons I have fed the beast with weekend hikes up creeks with a pan and a few grams of gold to show for it but I am craving more. I have a great job and a new family but I can't shake the craving for the gold! But my mom keeps me in line as a Scottish immigrant knows how with a crack upside the head with something heavy and a horror story everytime I talk about prospecting.

Good Luck Folks (...and feel free to invite me to your claim if you need a strong back)
Thanks,
Ken