THE KALEIDOSCOPE JASPER MINES
THIS IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICE-BERG ON WHAT THE KALEIDOSCOPE DEPOSIT HAS TO OFFER. ITS A HARD NAME TO LIVE UP TO, YET IT DOES IT WITH SUCH EASE...!!!
THE KALEIDOSCOPE DISCOVERY IN THE LATE WINTER OF 2009 ON A PROSPECTING TRIP WITH MYSELF AND TWO OF MY FOUR SONS, DEREK, AND BRIAN, HAS PROVED BEYOND ANY SHADOW OF DOUBT TO BE ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DEPOSITS EVER DISCOVERED IN THE NORTHWEST....WHY??? THE NAME SAYS IT ALL....
IT WAS ALL BY GUT INSTINCT THAT THE DEPOSIT WAS EVER FOUND, THAT AND FIRSTLY, THE DILIGENT PRAYERS OF MY DAUGHTER SINCE SHE WAS OLD ENOUGH TO TALK...
WE HAD SEEN THIS SPOT FOR THE FIRST TIME ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO AND ALWAYS WANTED TO MAKE THE HIKE UP AS IT JUST HAD (JASPER DEPOSIT) WRITTEN ALL OVER IT, BUT ALAS SO MANY FRUITLESS HIKES TO OTHER AREAS LIKE THAT KEPT US FROM EVER MAKING SUCH A HIKE...
ONE DAY THIS PAST WINTER THE SNOW HAD MELTED AND THE GROUND THAWED JUST ALITTLE, SO WE DECIDED TO GO PROSPECT AND WE WERE ALL DRAWN TO THIS AREA HAVING DECIDED IT WAS TIME ONCE AND FOR ALL TO SEE IF THE MOUNTAIN DID HOLD JASPER...
AS MUCH AS I WANTED TOO I SIMPLY COULDN'T HIKE DUE TO HEALTH REASONS SO THE BOYS TOOK OFF UP THE MOUNTAIN. THE HOURS WENT BY SLOWLY AS I PIDDLED AROUND THE RIG, HAD MUCH NEEDED QUITE TIME TO REFLECT BACK ON MY LIFE. AS I SORTED THROUGH THE MANY OBSTACLES AND HARDSHIPS OVER THE YEARS AND NOW FACED WITH SO MANY MEDICAL AILMENTS THAT HAVE DISSOLVED MY QUALITY OF LIFE, HEART FAILURE, SEVERE APNEA DISEASE (OBSTRUCTED AIRWAY APNEA)WHICH EVEN WITH A C-PAP THE SLEEP STUDY SHOWED I WAKE AN AVERAGE OF 44 TIMES AN HOUR AND STOP BREATHING UP TO 100 TIMES PER HOUR, A DISEASE THAT KICKS THE HELL OUT OF YOU BUT THE WORSE IS ADVANCED COPD, AN UNUSUAL LUNG DISEASE THAT I REFUSE TO ACCEPT I HAVE, YET IT REMINDS ME DAILY IT HAS ME... AS I REFLECTED AND WONDERED JUST HOW MUCH TIME DO I HAVE LEFT, SO MANY THINGS I WANT TO DO, SO MANY CHANGES FOR THE BETTERMENT OF MAN-KIND I WANTED TO ACCOMPLISH, I DECIDED IT WAS TIME FOR SOME PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD...
MY LIFE'S DREAM OF A FEW ACRES OF TIMBER AND A CABIN TO RETIRE IN HAD DWINDLED LAST YEAR TO JUST WANTING A SMALL PARCEL...IT WAS CLEAR THAT WASN'T GONNA HAPPEN EITHER...SO MANY TIMES THE LAST FEW YEARS I FELT SO MUCH INWARD PRESSURE TO GET LIFE INSURANCE BUT NEVER EVER COULD I AFFORD IT....I AM NOT TRYING TO TURN THIS INTO A PITY PARTY, THATS THE LAST THING I WANT FROM ANYONE, BUT I DO WANT YOU TO TRY AND GRASP THE FRUSTRATION AND WORRY I WAS FEELING...
IT WEIGHED HEAVILY THAT MY PERSONAL AFFECTS WERE ALL THE MATERIAL THINGS I HAD TO LEAVE MY FAMILY...
THIS PAST WINTER (2008/09) I COULDN'T EVEN CALL RHODESCABBIN A ROCKSHOP ANYMORE AS THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE HAD FORCED ME TO SELL MY SAWS AND GENIE...I WAS TO WORN OUT AND SICK TO RUN THE SHOP, YET I REFUSED TO GO ON DISABILITY AND TO THIS DAY I AM NOT ON IT...
MY SON DEREK HAD ACTUALLY CAME UP FROM HOLLYWOOD TO HELP MOVE US INTO A SMALL HOUSE NEAR THE HOSPITAL IN PRINEVILLE...BUT FOR SOME REASON THERE EXISTED THIS UNEASY PEACE AND DRIVE TO GO PROSPECTING ON THAT COLD WINTERS DAY...THERE WAS WAY MORE THAN AN URGE TO GO HUNT ROCKS, THIS WAS A THRIVING, PUSHING, DRIVE THAT I MUST GO ROCK PROSPECTING...
AS I SAT THERE IN THE CAR, MY THOUGHTS KEPT RETURNING TO GOD. I COULDN'T HELP IT NO MATTER HOW HARD I FOUGHT IT, I FELT ANGER AND HURT AS I HAVE LIVED MY LIFE DOING MY BEST TO FOLLOW HIS COURSE, YES I HAVE SINNED BUT ITS HARD TO ACCEPT SEEING THROAT CUTTERS, CHEATS, LIARS DOING SO GOOD ALL THE TIME. ALWAYS TRYING TO BRING ME DOWN, THEY HAVE NO CLUE WHAT ITS LIKE TO TRULY STRUGGLE JUST TO EAT...GOD ALWAYS REMINDED ME ALONG THE WAY THAT JUST AS THE BIBLE SAYS, THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL SUFFER. BUT I ALWAYS BELIEVED I WOULD ENJOY SOME TIME ON THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD HE HAD MADE...................
AS THE HOURS SWEPT BY, I CONTINUED TO SORT THOUGH MY LIFE AND KEPT FEELING A PEACE THAT ALL WOULD BE FINE. I WAS REMINDED OF THE SERMON JESUS GAVE (THE LILLIES OF THE FIELD)
I GLANCED TOWARDS THE RIDGE I HAD LAST SEEN THE BOYS GO OVER AND I SPOTTED THEM AS THEY SKY-LINED THE RIDGE-LINE ON THEIR WAY DOWN THE MOUNTAIN AND THE CLOSER THEY GOT THE MORE I COULD SEE THEY HAD LOADED PACKS AND SURE SEEMED IN A RUSH FOR COMING OFF SUCH A DANGEROUS SLOPE....
WHEN THEY GOT CLOSE ENOUGH I COULD SEE THEIR FACES AND ALL I COULD SEE WAS GRINS!!! THEY WERE EXCITED AND MY MIND RACED AND WORDS WERE MINGLED AS THEY BOTH TALKED AT ONCE, PHRASES SUCH AS (UNBELIEVABLE) (MIRACULOUS) (BREATH-TAKING) AND (ITS ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!) FILLED THE AIR...THEY DUMPED THE PACKS ON THE GROUND AND IN AWE I SLOWLY KNELT DOWN AND PICKED ONE UP, I LOOKED AT BOTH OF THEM AND BACK AT THE ROCK AS THEY CONTINUED TO SPEAK OF MANY DEPOSITS OF DIFFERENT ROCKS THAT DOTTED THE SLOPE...WE STOOD THERE, SAT THERE, STOOD THERE, ALL THE WHILE IN UTTER DIS-BELIEF AND ALL AGREED A MIRACLE HAD TAKEN PLACE!!!
THE NEXT FEW DAYS WERE SPENT SECURING THE CLAIM AND SURROUNDING AREA...IT WOULD BE 2 MONTHS LATER BEFORE I WAS ABLE TO LOCATE A WAY TO DRIVE UP AND THAT WAS YESTERDAY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS WRITING...
I WISH DEREK HAD BEEN WITH ME SO WE COULD ALL SHARE. I WILL CHERISH THAT DAY AS I WALKED OUT ON A SMALL LEDGE WHERE I COULD SEE MOST OF THE DEPOSITS. IT LOOKED AS IF GOD HAD GENTLY LAY HIS HAND DOWN AND BLESSED THE GROUND. I SAT BACK AND RECALLED THAT DAY TWO MONTHS EARLIER AS I SAT DOWN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MOUNTAIN, AND MY TALK WITH GOD AND WAS OVER-COME...
I USED TO WONDER WHY MR MITCHELL AND SHIRT QUANT, BOTH WHOM DISCOVERED JUMPING JEEP, MITCHELL HAD WANTED HIS ASHES SPREAD ON JUMPING JEEP RIDGE, WHEREAS SHIRTS WANTED HIS SPREAD AT A FAVORITE SPOT IN THE OCHOCOS. IT WASN'T UNTIL THAT DAY THAT I COULD GRASP WHY....IT WAS SOMETHING SPIRITUAL, BETWEEN GOD AND ME AND I FELT AT PEACE, AS IF MY LIFE HAD COME FULL CIRCLE...I KNEW IT WASN'T SO MUCH THE ROCK THAT BROUGHT SUCH PEACE BUT RATHER FEELING THE EARTH BENEATH MY FEET, AND KNOWING WITHOUT ANY DOUBTS THAT THIS IS THE SPOT...THE VERY PLACE, WHERE GOD FULFILLED HIS PROMISE TO ME...
