Copper Creek Expedition

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Here is our story sad but true (Jim and Dale) of our boat prospecting trip to Cooper Creek. Lots of fun excitement !

It all started out by Jim telling Dale what how great Cooper Creek is as thats where his first nugget was found. Jim told Dale that hiking in was not a good option as he already had done that with Dons hiking expedition which turned out to be a ( 9.5 or maybe a 20 point hike, at least the way Don likes to walk ) ! So Dale said lets boat to the creek via Folsom Lake in with my brothers really old but working boat. So the expedition began on a really foggy but not so cold day last saturday. We launched the boat at Granite Bay with no trouble and put our packs in. The boat did start to Jims amazement and we were off up the north fork of the lake. We were really moving fast , about 20 miles per hour and then about a mile out the boat lurches a bit and out of gear it came ! Jim, having boated for many years in his own boat though this is no big deal as boats always have some trouble along tthe way. The boat did go back into gear but would now only go about 5 to 10 miles per hour at most. What we realized at this point was that it would be a long trip but we could really could enjoy the surroundings as we went. To add to our enjoyment along came a great Bald Eagle just perched in a tree along the way. We finally arrived at the creek which is a far as you can go on the lake before hitting rapids, We had to watch for rocks when almost to the creek and did not even have to slow down when we got to the five mph area.

Now we are hiking a little ways to the nugget area when we see Harly, Brandon and Dustin hitting the area hard. We both join in and don't find much of anything, while they do find a liitle here and there. knowing that we have a long boat trip back we leave the area after a couple of hours. To Jims utter amazement no one has stolen the boat ! Back in the boat we go ! Soon we were looking for underwater hazards and things were going slowly but smoothly. We relaxed and sat back to enjoy the foggy day. Bam and lurch went the boat ! Jim said to Dale , what the f@@@ was that ? Dale jumped to turn the motor off but hit the rocks we did ! Seeing no significant damage on we went, maybe a little faster after banging the motor ! We saw the bald eagle again and got great pictures. After about another mile (still many to go) again the boat lurched and things got really quiet , only the slight mist falling could be heard. Dale looks around and loudly yells WE are OUT of GAS ! Now we are in a real pickle but Jim says we are actually up a creek with a paddle !!! Having 2 paddles we start the long journey back to the launch (about 5 miles away and it was about to get dark after while). Every 15 minutes or so Jim needs a rest as he has been sick for about a week, Dale runs the boat like a slave captain and says keep rowing ! After about 45 minutes Dale says there may be a fishing boat around the corner and low and behold there was (We are saved at last ) ! They say they will take us home after they get done fishing so we lay back and take a long needed nap. 15 minutes later we are on the way and actually being towed faster than we had moved all day. Just before dark we actually get back to the truck tired but glad to be on land. We actually really had a great adventure but we will never set foot in that specific boat again ! So goes the tales and woes of Chip n Dales , I mean Jim and Dales !

Jim Ruppel

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