Australians have told me that emus, being very curious, will pick up and swallow anything shiny or unusual. They say aborigines will kick and pick apart any emu poop they see to check them out for nuggets.

Saturday came and it looked to have the makings of a dreary, misty day. Undaunted, I loaded my truck with my sluice, buckets and gear, and headed for the claim.

The catch being was that it was about 60 miles from Anchorage near Hope, and a good four or five-mile hike uphill to the claims.

We started off excited and enthusiastic as we began hiking up the river, daydreaming about finding big gold.

Midway into my first tank of gas I was beginning to see color in my sluicebox. Needless to say, I was excited.

The temptation to enter the dark interiors beckoned to me before the day was finished but I resisted.