Announcing an eBook about my Gold Panning Tour Guiding Adventures

Hello Gold loving fans!  I just wanted to let you know I have been compiling all my photos and stories of the gold panning tours I guided for the Schnabel' Big Nugget Mine in 2011 and 2012 and for Dakota Boys Porcupine Creek Mine in 2013.  I hope to figure out how to add video footage to the eBook as well, because I have some cool footage of John Schnabel.  I know everyone loves that man as much as I did.  If you are knowledgeable on how I can create an enhanced, dynamic eBook, I would like to hear from you.  My goal date to have the book completed is April 1st, 2018.  I would like to launch it at that time.  Thanks for any help and support regarding this.
Stay Gold,
Holly Jo  

Gold Mining at Porcupine Creek is Over...

....at least for the summer of 2013.  Don't worry friends.  I am sure they will be back to the Porcupine Creek Mining District next summer.  In the mean time.... if you want to see what my gold tours were like check out this music video I put together.  It highlights the last three years of Gold Rush to Porcupine tours to the Schnabel's Big Nugget Mine and then to the Dakota Boy's Porcupine Creek Mine.

The last Cruise Ship of the summer came to Haines, Alaska on Sept. 11th

Surprise Visits by Princess, the City Mayor, and TV Celebrities of Gold Rush

The Grand Princess made a unplanned visit into Haines on August 13th, 2013 because their dock slip in Skagway was occupied by someone else.  We locals were delighted to get the extra business boost since the season is quickly coming to an end and many jobs will be on hold till May 2014.

GOT GOLD? In Porcupine Creek We Do!

Rainbow Glacier Adventure's Gold Rush Tour To Porcupine has exploded the summer of 2013.  I am grateful to be taking fans of the TV show "Gold Rush" out to Dakota Fred's Porcupine Creek Mine almost every weekday and some weekends.


Dakota Fred, his son Dustin Hurt, and Melody Tallis are warm, friendly, inviting gold miners at Porcupine Creek Gold Mine.  My guests are surprised

Gold Panning at Porcupine Creek and Other Haines, Alaska Tours

We are mid-way thru the summer season of 2013 and Haines, Alaska has been busy showing tourist one of the prettiest, sunniest summers yet.  Rainbow Glacier Adventures has many types of tours to enhance your Haines, Alaska experience, like Photography tours.

We have some of the most captivating Photo Guides around, with natural skills in composition and an easy going manner in which they teach it.  Joe Ordoñez, the owner of RGA, is a professional photographer himself, so that might be why he has an eye for hiring great talent.  All photos on my blogs are from me (unless I'm in them or otherwise stated), and I have come along way with their help and guidance....but I know I need to learn so much more.
Want to see Haines Alaska through the lens of a professional photo guide? Check this link out....one of my favorite photo guides, Tom Ganner's Time & Space Facebook page of phenomenal photos he has taken around Haines.

Time & Space Facebook Page

Tour Season 2013 IS GOING STRONG IN HAINES ALASKA

Hello Summer Tour Season 2013!  The Cruise Ships are back...making lasting memories for the lucky souls who travel up the Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska.
Haines received our first cruise ship one week early this year, due to the Lynn Canal being too windy for Holland America's Statendam to make it up to Skagway.  Their loss was our gain... but the town still felt a little like "getting caught with our pants down" as we scrambled to get last minute tours together and souvenirs put on the shelves.  It turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day, a great start for what we hope to be one of our best summers yet. Click here to read more

John Schnabel Turned A Young 93

Photos removed because people would steal them and use them on questionable web sites.

Well folks, next week is the last show of the season 3 for Gold Rush.  It is time for all the hard working gold miners to hit it big. I don't see how a season 4 will be made....what would they do to make it interesting?  Well, I can think of one way.  I think it would be interesting to have young Parker Schnabel go work a gold mine in the Yukon and be in competition with that young Yukon Gold Miner Girl we saw on Gold Rush Dirt two weeks ago (I can't remember her name).  Maybe they could have a love/hate competition and then fall in love and get married on top of a wash plant.  Hey, that would make it good TV......for women.  This show has been all grease and dirt, where is the romance?  Just kidding.  I know Gold Rush is a MAN SHOW. Click here to read more

Quitters Never Win - We Are In The Gold Now!

Yeehaw!!!!  We are finally seeing some rich dirt in everyone's pockets.  I am so happy for all 3 (or 4 if you split Todd Hoffman's crew up) of the mining crews of the TV show "Gold Rush" on Discovery Channel. I just love this show because it is teaching us very profound lessons.  I am a huge fan of the Law of Attraction and I think this show promotes that belief system.  The Hoffmans, Dakota Boys, and the Schnabels all have dreams and goals of finding gold.  Yet a large amount of the time they are faced with machines breaking down, the season being too short, MSHA coming down on them, communication troubles, money issues and the environment in general........but do they quit?

John Schnabel loves the Big Nugget Mine Calendar

I visited John & Irma Schnabel last Saturday night.  They were in high spirits.  John had recently returned from a Bridge Tournament in Whitehorse (4 hours away in the Yukon, Canada).  He said he took 3 and 4th place.  John said they used to be #1 in the tournament but the Whitehorse people have learned too many tricks from them (the Haines people).  John said he would be willing to teach me how to play too.  That would be very cool.

Well, I enjoyed Gold Rush.  I liked seeing behind the scenes with the cameramen getting in all sorts of trouble.  I was a little sad for Glenn getting reamed on by Parker so hard.  Glenn is so nice.  Parker is the Big Boss though ......you can see it huh.  He is not a boy any more.
I wish you a very Merry Christmas and thank you for reading. 

LOOK MA...I"M ON TV

HOWDY FOLKS - Tour Guide Holly here...

First things first - The Big Winner of my Christmas Card contest is Angie Goodwin from Idaho.
She won :
Big Nugget Mine 2013 calendar,
Parker Schnabel poster (cause he is such a "big stud")
and a John Schnabel greeting card.


Thank you to all my SOC Customers who participated, and CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU ANGIE GOODWIN!

55 OUNCES BABY - Parker Schnabel Wins

I had a great time watching Parker work super hard and FIND THE GOLD, 55 ounces - YAHOO!!!  It is more enjoyable for me to watch Parker Schnabel make his goals than to watch those poor boys up in the Yukon who can't seem to catch a break.  They work super hard and FAIL FINDING THE GOLD.  Bummer for the Oregon Crew.

Big Nugget Mine Calendar Up For Grabs

Big Nugget Mine Fans will love this.  

To show my heartfelt appreciation to all my loyal Preferred and Retail Customers and Distributors I am holding a Christmas Card Contest.  This is a simple way to become the winner of the extremely exclusive:

Living and Learning From Our Elders

 I liked all the air time Parker Schnabel received on last nights Gold Rush TV show.  He is a delight to watch because even when things aren't going right he makes it less stressful by saying something like 'I'm on a slippin' slide' when he was bogging down in the mud with his excavator.  Seeing John Schnabel is also a treat.  I read many chats about Gold Rush and everyone is a loyal fan of Grandpa John.  Me too.  He makes me want to give him a big hug every time I see him.  I got a little choked up when he told Parker that he did not want Parker to know what it was like to have someone die from a choice he made.  This tells me that John Schnabel has been through some hard experiences.  Parker is very lucky to learn from Grandpa John.

I am following John & Parker Schnabel on Gold Rush Season 3

I am super excited that Season 3 of Gold Rush is finally here.  I got together with my family in Arizona to watch the season premier.  It is fun seeing Parker Schnabel, John Schnabel, and Porcupine Creek on national television.  Especially since I got to take tour guests to the Schnabel's Big Nugget Mine all summer long to pan for gold nuggets.

 I didn't write many blogs about the Gold Rush to Porcupine tour this summer because I had to be careful not to post photos that would "give away" what was happening at Big Nugget Mine, but now that Gold Rush is airing I can post photos after the episode airs and not show things before they happened, right?
I was elated when John Schnabel suggested me as his gold panning tour guide back in 2011.  Rainbow Glacier Adventures ran the gold panning to Big Nugget Mine tours for the Schnabels and hired me as their "Gold Girl" guide.  I am so lucky!

My Close Encounter of the Bear Kind

I took Cruise Ship guests, Joe & Fred, out to Chilkoot River on Forth of July evening. 
We stopped at all my favorite spots. When we drove up to the Deer Rock pullout it was already taken by a little SUV, so I pulled over and parked on the hillside of the road.   The three of us walked across the road and down the path to the rivers edge where a young couple was hanging out, taking photos of the scenery and each other.  I set up the telescope next to them and we all watched a Bald Eagle feeding her new eaglets in their huge nest. 

I told my cruise guests and the young couple that Deer Rock is a special spot for me because it is where I got married to Pizza Joe in 2010.  

I told them how Speedy the Bear brought her cubs to Deer Rock, causing a 30-minute delay to my wedding.  Joe, my guest, jokingly offered to marry the young couple but they declined. 

The girl spoke with a thick accent,

“No, I just met him yesterday on the ferry”

We could tell they wanted their privacy so Joe, Fred, & I left them at the rivers edge, collected the scope, and walked back up the path to the road.  The sides of the path are lined with berry bushes that are taller than me at 5ft 6in.  I cautioned the men not to step in the bear scat on the path, noting that bears like the area. 

Right on cue, as I got up to the roadside a brown bear stepped out from the bushes of the hill near my bus across the street.  He walked onto the road and toward the front of my bus, sniffing at the doors as he headed away from me (approximately 150 ft away). 

I was standing by the passenger door of the young couple’s SUV.  Keeping their SUV as a shield between the bear and myself I hollered in a deep, low voice,

“BEAR! BEAR!” 

I was loud enough for my guests and the young couple at the rivers edge to hear me.  I also got the attention of the brown bear (Grizzly) that jerked his head around to look straight at me.  Normally it is a good idea to let a bear know you are there, then they will walk away from you.  This bear did the opposite; he forgot about my bus and turned around, heading straight toward me!

I backed up a few steps, keeping my eyes on him over the hood of the SUV.  I opened the back seat door of the young couple’s vehicle.  I told my guests we would need to get in their vehicle for protection.  They ignored my suggestion and walked behind me to the back of the vehicle for protection.  Joe told me later he could see by the look on my face I was terrified. 

He tried helping me by yelling at the man and woman more severely,

“Get your asses up here a bear is coming!” 

Hearing the urgency in Joe’s voice the young couple hurried up to us.  They did not understand what he was yelling since English is not their first language.  The bear made it to the middle of the road, continuing to head our way. When the man and woman got to the SUV the young man slammed the door I had opened shut, looking at me angrily…like I was trying to steal something of theirs.  He hadn’t seen the bear yet because of the high bushes.  But when he saw the fear on my face he turned to see what I was looking at.  He took a huge breath and stepped back beside me, his girlfriend stood behind us with my guests.  The bear kept walking straight toward us.

Then he got distracted, looking at the other side of the vehicle he stopped about 10 feet from the front of the SUV’s hood….like he didn’t know which side of the vehicle he wanted to walk around.  I glanced behind me and couldn’t believe it when I saw one of my guests had walked to the other side of the vehicle and was peeking at the bear.

I yelled, “Get back over here, there is safety in numbers!” 

He obeyed and the five of us huddled tight against the SUV; with me and the young man standing in front of the group.  That is when the bear started walking again, to our side of the vehicle!  He watched us carefully as he walked to the hood and toward us.  I had no idea my heart could pound so distinctly.  I worried the bear could sense my fear and I would become his next victim.  I pointed both my pepper spray and my air horn directly at him.  I said out loud, but to myself,

“ I don’t know which one I should use”. My thumb fumbled over the safety release tab of the pepper spray.

I was told the air horn was not deterring a certain bear at the river lately, so I wondered if this was that bear.  I also know how bad it feels to be pepper sprayed and was not looking forward to feeling that pain again.  Plus, what if the pepper spray makes the bear angry and he goes into a rage.

The bear was now rounding the front of the SUV, face to face with our little group, I had to make a decision and fast…. 

I let ‘er rip!

“BBBLLAAASSSTTTT” Piercing the air…. the horn made us all jump simultaneously, including the bear who bolted forward and diagonal all in one streak lighting movement.  Barely missing us, he shot down the path to the river.  He ran right to the rivers edge where we had been moments ago.  Then he started drinking deeply from the cold glacier water. 

I slowly lowered my bear fighting tools and we all started breathing again.   In a shocked voice Joe exclaimed,

“Wow….he is fast!”

Fred asked, “Where can we change our pants?”

Gold Nuggets are being Panned at Big Nugget Mine

Hello Haines Alaska Fans!  I have a new blog highlighting our first couple of tours to Big Nugget Mine.  Click on the link below to see photos of guests meeting Parker Schnabel and panning for gold nuggets at Porcupine Creek.

Gold Nuggets are being panned at Big Nugget Mine

I went to Haines, Alaska's 2nd annual Tourism Night on May 9th, 2012 at the American Bald Eagle Foundation. I was happy to see John Schnabel at the event.  He brightens the day with his big smile and contagious laugh.  He was there to listen to his grandson, Parker, who was one of the speakers during the program.   

Haines Alaska kicked off the 1st tour of the 2012 Season

Hello my friends - This summer I will be posting my HAT blogs about my Gold Rush to Porcupine tours on the website of Rainbow Glacier Adventures. I will add the links to this site when I post them.

Go to the link below to read the story that goes along with these photos of the 1st tour of the 2012 season.

http://joeordonez.com/2012/04/haines-alaska-kicked-off-the-first-tour-of-2012/

Thank you for visiting!

(Photos removed from blog because they were being copied and put on questionable sites)

2012 Gold Tours to Big Nugget Mine in Porcupine Creek will start June 1st!

Rainbow Glacier Adventures has exclusive access to give tours to one of the most famous gold mines in America right now!  Yep, that's right, The Schnabel's Big Nugget Mine at Porcupine Creek in Haines Alaska!  

Grandpa John & his grandson will be searching for the yellow..

2012 Season is coming soon

We are starting to talk about summer of 2012.  It sounds like the Gold Tours to Big Nugget Mine on Porcupine Creek are a go.  I can't wait to see how much gold the Schnabel Family find this coming season.  It has been fun watching last season on the Discovery Channel.
In real time Parker is playing basketball for our High School Glacier Bears.  They are playing in the Region V Southeast Tournament down in Ketchikan this week.  Many locals have followed them down to support our athletes.  I heard they have been winning! Go Glacier Bears!
If you get to come to Haines Alaska this summer remember to come visit Big Nugget Mine.  The tours will not be sold on the Cruise Ships.  Go to Tourhaines.com and book a tour with Rainbow Glacier Adventures if you are porting in Skagway or Haines....or if your driving through.
Summer will be here before we know it.  We look forward to seeing you soon!

Rainbows, Mudslides, Sink Holes, Bears, and Gold

Tour season is quickly coming to a close.  We have 3 Cruise Ship days left (today being one of the three).  We had our end of the year party with Rainbow Glacier Adventures a week ago.

 It was great fun out in the Mud Bay district.  Halibut and Salmon were on demand...