The Conclusion to Dempsey Mining 2012: Part Two

David and Danielle Dempsey had spent their first few years of life on a gold mine. Valdez, Alaska was no stranger to them, but their memories of the place and of Dempsey Mining and Construction (1986-1991) were blurry and child-like.  Dave recalls the wildlife and playing with his Tonka's in the Mineral Creek gravel.  Dani doesn't remember much at all until the later years when she was seven and spent the summer on the mine.  However, they had heard the stories told by their parents so many times that they knew of the hard work and ruthless weather that they had to endure just to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.

They also had learned not to romanticize the profession.  Even I had come to understand that notion after marrying into the family and hearing their stories.  Sure, gold mining has it's moments.  There is the gold fever; that first glisten in the pan, the luster of a nugget peaking out from the ripples of the sluice box, and there is the excitement and adventure of the find.  And, of course, there is the time spent with family, the great outdoors, and the prospect of memories and treasures so rare that no amount of story-telling or picture-taking could do them justice.  Yes, those moments, those precious instances that can be over in a season, or in an afternoon, or in a heartbeat, are the reasons that we gold mine.

But one also has to be realistic and remember the enormous amount of difficulty required of such an operation.  Dempsey Mining season 2012 was one filled with considerable bumps, bruises, and mechanical mishaps.  Then there was the grueling hours, the close quarters, and the extreme weather.  We all also had to understand that the success of a season relied on three things and three things only.

One: That we find some gold.  Two: That we sell some gold and make a profit... or at least break even.  And Three:  That we all make it out of there alive and in one piece.

Well, as Dave and Dani stared down into the landslide that fateful 2012 fall morning, they knew that the first two concerns on the road to success had been taken care of.  But the third and final piece of the puzzle had seemed to crumble before their eyes and was now being washed down the enormous creek-turned-river.  And what little was left of their optimism and their spirit was quickly being pulled away with it.

Danielle couldn't control it.  There had been so many reasons to cry that summer, and a few of us did.  But Dani had impressed us all with her work ethic and her tough, get-it-done attitude.  But at the end of the season she was done, she was worn out, she was beyond ready for her home, for her bed, and for her husband.  She wanted to get the hell out of there.

So, now, when it looked like none of that was within her grasp, she could no longer keep the emotions at bay.  There was no stopping the anxiety, the panic that seemed to be consuming her body.  She bent over and began to dry-heave.  Her breath was short and quick and followed by violent expulsions of air.

David, still shocked at the sight of the missing road, stumbled on his words as he tried to console her.  "It's okay. It's okay." he said, patting her back.  But it wasn't okay.  He was playing out the possible scenarios in his head, all the while thinking, What the hell are we going to do?  What the hell are we going to do...now? We are going to need help.  But who could help this?

My nephew, Jesse, standing on the road in the infamous
"rockslide section," months before the flood.

The missing "rockslide section" after the flood.

Remember, there had been emergency evacuations occurring all over the state that week.  And as the rain kept coming down, it looked as though there was a strong possibility that I was going to see David, Rita, Danielle, Uncle Mike, and Aunt Peggy on the news, being airlifted to safety.  There was a strong possibility that all of our campers, all of our equipment, worth thousands and thousands of dollars, would have to be abandoned and lost in Valdez's unforgiving mountain winters.

Dave was considering these scenarios, while consoling Dani, and staring into the abyss, and repeatedly thinking, We are going to need help.  And as he stared across the vast, 100 yard gap, right then, at that moment, help arrived.

Dan Dempsey was standing on the opposite side of the opening with a loader and a rope in his hand, waving to them.  John Perry, the mine claim owner, was with him.  Dave and Dani couldn't help but feel a slight relief at the sight of him.  Dad is here.  And, although they didn't know his plan yet, they knew that if anybody was capable of a rescue job, it was Dan Dempsey.  We don't call him Doctor Dan for nothing.

He was shouting but no one could hear him across the gaping hole and the roaring river.  He motioned to Dave and Danielle that he was going to climb over to them with the help of Dave on the other end of the rope.

Both Dave and Dan jumped into action and found a thick section of alders against the bluff on either side of the landslide.  They began to climb, using the alders for support.  Danielle and John Perry watched as Dave and Dan disappeared into the alders, into the mountain above.  Several minutes passed by before they spotted them again near the top, scaling across the bluff towards each other.  They met halfway, and supported each other, each on the end of a rope, father and son, back across the muddy mountainside.

Dani couldn't help but feel nervous when she and John Perry lost sight of them again.  They were, after all, on the side of a rapidly eroding mountain.  She and JP would exchange shrugs across the gap as they peered up into the rain-soaked slope, searching for Dave and Dan.  When they finally saw them again, an entire half hour had passed since Dave had left her side.  They appeared out of the alders and made their way to the north end of the road.

As soon as their feet hit the ground, Doctor Dan wasted no time in informing them of his plan.  He was going to get the excavator and rebuild the road.  Dani was going to stay with him, radio in hand, and alert him of any falling boulders or major landslides headed his way.  Dave was going to move the rest of the crew and the equipment across the creek and have everything lined up, staged, and ready to drive the rest of the road as soon as Dan achieved the impossible and repaired the enormous missing gap.  There was no time to waste.  So the three of them immediately went on to their separate jobs and did exactly as Dan instructed.

They all worked, long into the night, under the watchful eye of claim owner John Perry.  He later informed us that he had the number of a helicopter waiting to be dialed in case the entire plan went awry.  Dan drove the excavator to the edge of the hole and began digging into the bank and dumping mud below him.  Danielle radioed Dan each time a large boulder or significant slide came down, each time bracing herself for "the big one."  Dan would strategically move the excavator out of the way then back again when the slide had ceased and continued digging.  Dave rounded up the rest of the crew and continued the creek crossing.  They staged each vehicle, each camper, and each piece of equipment in a line, ready for takeoff.

Dan rebuilds the road as Dave and Uncle Mike watch for landslides.
This photo was taken by claim owner, John Perry, on the opposite side.

Right when Dave, Rita, Uncle Mike, and Aunt Peggy had pulled the last fifth wheel across, the sun had long been set, and Dan had finally decided to call it quits for the day.  He parked the excavator, and he and Dani said goodnight to John Perry, who retired to sleep in his truck on the opposite side of the gap.   Then the entire crew retreated to their campers once more for a worried night of sleep.

The next day they woke tired, but ready.  So far, the road that Dan was building was standing the test of time.  The mud, for some reason, was cooperating and stacking vertically below him.  And the mud above the crew was staying intact and any major landslides had come to a halt.  For now.  They all knew that time was of the essence, and since the rain showed no sign of stopping, they set to work on the road.

Dan continued to dig into the bank and drop the mud 100 feet beneath him, slowly filling the 100 yard gap.  Dave kept watch on the rocks and landslides and radioed each time one headed Dan's way.  The rest of the crew readied themselves and prayed.

Meanwhile, the Dempsey-May's on this end also prayed.  We had received a few, static-filled phone calls.  We were aware of their situation and we were ready for the worst.  But we, like the crew, were also very aware of Dan's capabilities.  During one conversation with Uncle Jeff, he said, "They'll be fine.  They've got Dan there."  And I agreed.

So we waited for the next phone call and the Dempsey Mining crew worked rigorously to make the impossible happen.  Any nerves that needed soothing were treated with the smaller comforts they could find.  A positive thought, a hug, some food, and a small sip of Jameson from time to time, worked wonders for the battered and beaten crew.

By 5 o'clock that evening, it happened.  Dan put the last scoop of dirt in it's place, tracked it over with the excavator, and gave the go-ahead for the crew to follow with the campers and equipment.  Everyone immediately fell in line and, knowing that they weren't quite out of the woods yet, began the slow trek across Doctor Dan's miracle makeshift road.

Doctor Dan's miracle makeshift road.

It was a slow and arduous process, filled with steep drop-offs, close calls, and a lot of anxiety.  The wide loads came across the road with no room to spare on either side.  The Dempsey Mining crew drove and prayed that the road wouldn't give way beneath them and that the mud above them would continue to hang on for just a few more hours.  Each vehicle, each piece, including four campers, a loader, an excavator, a dump truck, a water pump, a trommel, a mill truck with a trailer, and an enclosed trailer all made it across safely.  And, more importantly, so did the Dempsey Mining crew.

By dark they were all on the south side of the gap, away from the enormous abyss that nearly swallowed them whole, and they were driving their campers and equipment to a quieter, safer part of the road known as Macintosh.  They set up camp, called us Dempsey-May's in Anchorage and Wasilla and informed us of their success.  Somehow, some way, they had achieved the impossible and had gotten out of there alive... and with all of their equipment to boot!

The third piece of the successful mining puzzle had fallen into place.  Dempsey Mining Season 2012: A Success!

The crew carried on for three more days, making multiple trips to Glennallen with campers and equipment.  They were exhausted.  But they knew that if the Mineral Creek hell-road hadn't brought them down then nothing else could, even when they pulled into Dan and Rita's driveway and an absurd comedy of errors ensued.

Perhaps it was the exhaustion or the worn out nerves, or because God knew we'd need something to laugh about later, but the circus began when Dani, drove our red truck, towing the Free Spirit, all the way from Valdez to the Glennallen Dempsey compound.

When she arrived, she accidentally turned the truck too sharply and the top of the fifth wheel rammed into it, breaking out it's back window.  Having met Daniel in Valdez, she had him make the call to Dave.  He wasn't too far behind on the Richardson Highway when Daniel broke the news to him about his red, Ford baby. To their surprise, Dave took the news well and said not to sweat it.  After all, they had survived the last few days and that's all that mattered.

But upon Dave's arrival, he couldn't help but be distracted by the sight of his truck parked in the Dempsey yard.  He was driving Dan and Rita's white truck, towing their fifth wheel.  As he glanced at the red Ford, trying to make out just how bad the back window looked, he wasn't paying attention to his own driving and he managed to drive Dan and Rita's fifth wheel right into the house deck.

Well, needless to say, he was pissed at himself.  He yelled and cursed and mentally kicked himself for the rest of the night.  Meanwhile, Dan hopped into the driver's seat and, trying to get the fifth wheel unhooked from the deck, he had to turn the truck at a 90 degrees angle.  So, inevitably, his back window also fell victim to a sharply turned fifth wheel.

By this time, Rita and Dani, had called me and informed me of their safe arrival home.  They relayed, with an almost giddy attitude and jovial giggles, that the trucks were missing their back windows and Dan and Rita's camper was missing a chunk of it's side.  But they didn't care.  They were warm and dry for the first time in days.  They were alive.  And they were home.

I laughed with them and understood their great sense of relief.  It was wonderful to hear their voices.  And when Dave arrived at our Anchorage home the next day, I could see the relief in him as well.  He played with Dylan and Keiser and soaked up the comforts of home.  We had dinner, cocktails, and we talked late into the night about his past week from hell, and how we, Dempsey Mining, would Never. Ever. Mine In Valdez.  Ever. Again.

Well, never say never, folks.

Dempsey Mining Season 2013 is about to commence in Mineral Creek, Valdez, Alaska.  What can I say?  There's no cure for gold fever.