Getting there is half the battle... Sometimes your mining property is close – within eyeshot – but still hard to get to. It's unlikely you'll have a gold strike in your back yard. You'll probably have to go out into the back country, sometimes ending up miles from the nearest highway. The old saying, “Gold is where you find it” certainly applies to gold seekers, and gold is usually good at playing hide and seek with prospectors.
I've taken this picture from the side of Highway 37 - the Stewart-Cassiar highway. The mine's right there - within easy eyeshot of the road. Here you can see "The Wizard" - the gold mining plant. It's at rest in this picture, but when it's operating, the tailings ponds to the right of the plant will fill up with muddy water.
At Holloway Bar, we don't have quite the problem of the gold being far from the road, as the mine is located within “honking distance” of Highway 37, otherwise known as the Stewart-Cassiar highway. But, there's the issue of McDame Creek to consider.
Here's a picture from the same location, but now looking to the east. In the spring when the water's high, the creek turns into a raging river and is impossible to cross. This picture was taken in early July - the leaves are fully out on the trees - but there's still a lot of water in the creek from the last of the spring run-off. As this country has long winters (snow on the ground from late September until late May), quite a bit of snow accumulates in the mountains. When it melts, it begins its long journey to the Arctic Ocean via McDame Creek.
So, what's a miner to do? Well, there are a few options. You can choose to drive across the river. This works early in the year (until the first part of June when the water gets too high) and from mid-summer on to the end of the year. But, the water gets so high and so fast that it becomes just too dangerous to risk going into the water - you'll be washed downstream and will likely die of hypothermia before you could struggle to the riverbanks.
This cable suspends a small platform that you can ride on to get across the river. This was Scott's first solution to the high water problem. While it worked, it still presented a great deal of danger to those pulling themselves across. And, when you're only inches above the raging river, you tend to appreciate life just a bit more!
A lot of materials and supplies - the daily necessities needed to live - were hauled across this tram. It does require strong hands and a strong constitution to pull yourself (or your gear) across, and is also a little tough to operate by yourself. But, everything from people to propane tanks were delivered to the mine this way.
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