TryingAgain

So... this is the deal...

I’ve saved up a shitload of money & am contemplating beginning my dream;

to set up an alternative, environmentally respectfull community based upon unstructured, simple, earth connected, independent labor and straightforward cooperation.

The game plan works like this:

1) pull together 8 to 12 people who are willing to communicate, mutually support, plan and dedicate themselves to this kind of idealism over the course of about the next six months.

2) turn that willingness into action. my job, for the moment, is good, but there’s a lot of shitty stuff to deal with, & i need help to remain focused on what i dream, in order to stay through the crap to get as much as i can from this fucking job so that when we move to our site, our essentials are in place & we’re supplied for about 6 months, until we become reasonably self-sufficient.

3) this is going to be a lot of hard, miserable work, and lthough i could *probably* take off now & get started, i really don’t want to, because i’d be going at it alone, and i’ve been trying that route for way, way, way too long..

4) the actual property will be a 160 acre gold claim in the pacific northwest, probably northern california to upper washington. I’ve seen a few, and for between 5 and $10,000 a decent one can be gotten.
a couple of links below show what I am talking about.
Mineral extraction can be done with nominal environmental impact, so long as there isn’t a lot of greed involved.
pull enough out to maintain the claim, do some aquaculture, do some low level gardening & use the gold proceeds to get staples from as local sources as possible.

something like these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/160-Acre-Unpatented-Oregon-Gold-Silver-Mining-Claim-/140418768973?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Land&hash=item20b19c604d

http://cgi.ebay.com/160-Acre-Oregon-Placer-Gold-Mining-Claim-Claims-/140424659371?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Land&hash=item20b1f641ab

5) i’ll also have enough for at least one bus.
i just got burned to the tune of 6500 fucking dollars for a bus that would have been great,

but...
the person i bought it from screwed me over pretty royally..

pics of that bus are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skygull/sets/72157624529934814/

the new bus may or may not be more of a shell, since it will have to haul equipment, if we have to go the 1 bus route.
2 buses, if we’re lucky.

i’m looking for diesel, if possible, to go veggie, but i may opt for an old multi-fuel army truck... they can be gotten in good shape, pretty reasonably...

6) the deal is to outfit ourselves & stock up on supplies, as well as mechanical necessities.

gearheads are welcome, as are big guys who can leverage rocks.

the first shelters will most likely be sturdy yurt-tents or substantial lean-tos or shacks, built from native materials.
operational rv’s or an additional bus(ses) may be cool, so long as there is no danger of needing to abandon them. I have one 20’ rv at the ready, as either a cargo or person hauler.

with luck we can pick up an old vw or other small block diesel vehicle & go veggie on the one or two personal transports we’ll need.

7) most likely we’ll get an old diesel generator for conversion to biodiesel for some electrical generation, particularly welding, or battery charging & amplified music is definitely on the to-do list.
i’m not sure how we’ll decide to manage proceeds from the claim..
it has to be discussed, at length.

hopefully just some kind of honor system that will work itself out.

this is not bullcrap or a pipedream.
i’ve tried to do this in the past, with less money & could absolutely have made it, but the people i decided to align myself with were far more unreliable than they said they would be.

what we need here is devotion, courage, dedication and communication.

it will be WORK.

it shouldn’t be super hard work, but it will be work, and lots of it.

some WILL be super hard, but not all of it.

if i can hold on for another 6 months, i should have about $30,000 to work with..
that’s a big if..

the people i work with are ASSHOLES, and they think the fucking same thing about me, so life isn’t very pretty.

if i can hold on until the spring of 2011, it should be a bit more, and *then* we can forward and establish ourselves with far more security and strength.

one thing i’d *like* to do, if possible, is a good, solid road trip before planting ourselves.
one of the main things for this to be is a place to call home, but still hold on to nomadic roots.


anyways..

that’s the deal.


sounds like a lot, but you know?

i think it sounds like a plan.


peace & everything else,


love,

john

 

Hey, I saw a guy who had an ad on craigslist with sort of a similar idea. He had a 160 or 180 acre claim in Petulma CA and was looking for help. Was a 50/50 splt iir, just need camping gear and money for staples. I'll pm you the info I have.

 

I'm down with the idea b.t.w. and have a bit of small scale foundry experience, good mechanic, crude blacksmithing skills, just an all around tinker by birth really. Just in a shitter of a position at the moment, been sort of listlessly drifting around since 08'. Just trying to get reliable transportation, outdoor gear and a decent set of basic hand tools together before I start visiting communes. Hopefully I'll get that taken care of in the next 6 months or so,,, we'll see I guess.

 

hello, im robin and i live in oklahoma with my partner/boyfriend and my one year old son. we are looking for a community of open minded and free thinking people who will take us in and give us an opportunity to cultivate ourselves. in oklahoma we have been shown a lot of discrimination because we are not married and this is the bible belt. i am a christian, but not a confrontational evangelist. i just want to be free to raise my baby to love God. my church will not let me take any positions of leadership because i am not married. im not as close to my family as i used to be, most days i feel like i am wasting my life by not fulfilling my potential. if you would like to contact me
robin marshall
806 w nevada
chickasha ok
73018
405-224-0859
much love, robin

 

hey, fritz...

been waiting for some word from drew, so maybe this isn't the right place to reply to you, but yeah.. exactly what i'm looking for...

winter is cold, though, & trying to pan for however many hours a day in those waters would be rough, right off the start... if things work out, i probably won't be sluicing until march or april, most likely.. dunno..

i need to spend time studying national forest & BLM title law concerning claims...

i really don't want to set up & find out there's some defect with the grant, you know?

eBay is great for eye candy, at the moment, but before i sink 10 grand into land & equipment, i want to make sure title is clear, the property sold is the property pictured and that the water is constant, and not just seasonal..

if drew gets back to me & says "hell yeah, i have a crew, & hell yeah, we'll go to oregon & start panning", then this roadtrip stuff will be called off, unless someone still wants to ride up into the northwest & do the coast a bit, before settling down.

i can't afford to feed 6 to 8 people through the winter, as well as provide shelter, because all i have for certain, right now, is one 20' camper.

you're the *only* one who's been in solid communication with me since the post:
http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=404042&f=57

& unfortunately, it's not a 2 person operation.. 4 - 6, minimum.

2 *can* start, but only if the weather is warm..

or if the claim were in a different region...

sooo... that's where that is at...

i plan on camping near one of the state capitals when i get out there, or finding a solid library & banging my head for a week or two...

whoever is onboard will have to let me know what they think, also..

my line of work is surveying, so title law is right up my alley.. i should be able to figure it out & make a solid choice..

maybe save some money, too...

hope yer doing ok..

if anything major changes, believe me, you're first on the list for a hitup..

wish i had something heavier..

peace,

john


hmm... looking deeper at that auction.. if the title really is pretty good, it might be the thing to do...

i'm going to post on blinkin's thread (drew, captin' of highwaychild tribe..) this really is just about as solid as it's going to get with hippies trying to set up camp & live off the land..

i will get *BOTH* of those claims for the full 1/2 mile, if we get the crew together...

sheeeshh...


good post, pal!!!

 

One of the things thats really got my curiosity up is just how they define a "Permanent structure" and if something like an old wattle & daub / mud & thatching structure might be looked upon as semi or non-permanent. I mean it would be great if the only defining factor for Permanent structure was having a real foundation or not. Would Tree houses count as Permanent?

For next season we could arrange some cisterns to hold a couple thousand gallons of sluicing water and keep them warm with wood fired snorkel heaters like used in hot tubs (Yea, 4 old, free hot tubs off craigslist should do along with an equal number of 55 gallon drums to use as the burn barrels.) A good number of ways we could power the pumps, i.e. if we have buses, find a PTO unit to fit it.

Just thinking out loud

 

Found a few links over at the BLM site on the subject of finding, staking and keeping claims in case you're interested.

California

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/iac/faq.html

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/folsom/rocks.html

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/iac/faqmc.html

Oregon

http://www.blm.gov/or/programs/minerals/locating-mining-claims.php

http://www.blm.gov/or/pubroom/files/ORWA-BLM-MINING-PACKET.pdf

 

gonna go over them..

great job, man..


a lot going on here that has to be resolved by friday...

solid followup may take a couple of days.

will be on it.

cool cool cool.......

 

From what I browsed over and perhaps to no great surprise, Oregon seems far less encumbered with regulations than Cali. but that was simply a first glance. Still the fact that Oregons BLM page had all the necessary forms in PDF on one page gives me the idea they're a bit more hospitable to crazy old Prospector types like us.

Oddly enough while I was discussing the idea with one of my current roommates he mentioned he used to be a pretty active panning hobbyist some years ago and that he had also heard of Georgia as having a number of good areas for panning as well as some reports he heard about N. Carolina.

At the moment I'm really liking the idea of SW Oregon as an area to shoot for as we're only a short ride to the coast where we can stock up on fresh Crab and other seafood and iir, Oregon has a fair selection of edible wilds with which to supplement the diet.

 

Thinking a bit on it I'm somewhat of the opinion that we may be better served by doing a bit of traveling and claim hunting of our own rather than to grab something off ebay thats already been possibly worked to death or might require us to divert streams and such so we can pull or blast the large boulders the fines get stuck under. Theres lot's of places available to where we could simply camp out for a couple weeks and work BLM lands without having to place a claim of our own like at abandoned claim sites and other unexplored BLM lands.

Might not be as profitable but could perhaps get us moving on this project with less hassle & paperwork. Sort of like Highway Child but with Prospecting being our thing as opposed to Hemp Jewelry?? It could also put us in places like AZ or NM or SoCal in the Winter as opposed to tying ourselves too closely to one piece of property.

A map like this one might prove useful if we take a more nomadic route. It's not mineral specific but does show where there have been allot of mining claims made so combine that with a bit of research on the area and we should have a good idea of what we'll be finding when there.
http://www.geocommunicator.gov/blmMap/Map.jsp

And a database to cross reference minerals to locations or track current usage & claim status to the map above is somewhere on this page,
http://www.blm.gov/lr2000/

For Arizona info,
http://www.admmr.state.az.us/Info/mineralrights.html

I'll dig for more info later on some different states.

**Edit**
Now this seems worth investing in if we end up being semi-nomadic,

http://www.goldmapsonline.com/index.html

Provided of course it's a legitimate company that actually took the trouble to correlate the BLM database like they say.

I think with the price of gold these days nearly any remote placer claim that had been abandoned years ago could very well be worth picking through even if it involved a 5 day backpacking excursion to get to it imho.

Again, just more thinking out loud.

 

hmmmmm..........................................................................................

hmmm hmmm

hm

hmm
HMMMMMMM...............

let me look at buses.

 

fritz, man..

i like those ideas...

i just pm'd you about vehicle concerns...

pm me with where you are.

do you have a driver's license?

i have insurance from my old bus.. that's one thing..

my rv is down in florida... to my way of thinking, that would just be the launch vehicle...

she's pretty rough, but ok, mechanically...

i also have an old toyota sedan... '98 camry..

the rv has a big block v8, sow towing isn't a problem...

the blm sniping sounds pretty far out.

i have a "fuck you, you fucking assholes" letter i need to finish to my employer..

then i need to finish some other writing i'm doing, but that may be doable on the road.

i have to be out of my place in 6 weeks, & i need to strip myself of a lot of my shit & then get down to florida to get the camper up & running, again..

how much stuff do you have?

peace,


john

 

I was just looking around the net for such a place (and people) Too bad I am in Tallahassee.

 

hey, moss..

yeah.. there's a lot of tactical stuff to consider, as well as who's finally going, when & where, etc etc etc...

vehicles are the primary question, right now...

until that's resolved, the full character of this expedition is unknown.

know anyone with a 4x4 diesel schoolbus???

turn us on to one n good shape, cheap, & yer in.

: )

hope everything is ok,

peace,

john

 

Commerce City CO, (Northern Burb of Denver sort of)

Yep, just no vehicle. And if I haven't made mention of it before, I've been working on vehicles since I was 16 (23 yrs ) so as long as we can gather the basic assortment of hand tools and such I'll be able to fix the majority of issues we'll come across. I haven't worked on Diesel, but it's not a big stretch for me as long as we can find a service manual I can fill in the blanks.

Yea, I just got to thinking after some of the stuff I read about how sparse the findings can be and with it being completely Kosher to "play around" on Abandoned and un-claimed areas it makes far much more sense to me to take that route till we find something worth staking ourselves wherever they may be.

It also seems to answer the other unspoken problem I've faced the past few years of an unquenchable wanderlust thats been working in slow motion since I left Chicago in 08' so hitting a particular BLM region for a few months at a time, working the various claims nearby, moving every 2 to 14 days depending on the local restriction (or enforcement)

Interesting timing there, where in FLA are you heading?

Suitcase & a duffel bag & I'm packed.

 

fritz, hey... gonna PM you on this too, just to make sure you get it timely..

going to spend some time here taking care of a lot of loose ends.. probably not heading out on a permanent basis until about the beginning of november..

HOWEVER.. **BEFORE** then, i'm heading down to florida to pick up a bus..
craigslist looks cheaper than ebay, by far..
i've seen some diesel bus conversions for about 4 grand & some straight, low mileage diesel schoolies for a lot less..

conversion to RV title is simple, and maybe the best thing to do is convert from the ground up..

ripping the seats out gives the most volume to start with.

depending on what surfaces between now & then, plans will change..

a good low cost pre-conversion, or a solid line on a 4X4 schoolie (SUPER BEST SCENERIO) will change to going to where i need to, to get that vehicle..

something problematic may be doing the title conversion to RV before the 4x4 is actually titled in florida..

dunno..

florida titles are very easy to convert, but as far as i know, only for existing florida titles..

that's a level of complexity to be addressed if & when it appears.

just a heads up.

gonna pm you with a lnk to this post, and address a couple other things.

 

how can i jump on board... strong back and many skills available, just hoping to find some good family to align with

 

this trip/relocation/endeavor at freedom... whatever it is you want to call it.. is not just about having a good time...

it is about placing ourselves.. whomever comes along... in a situation that allows us to not be *merely* free,

but to help others, also.


this is not merely about *being* free...

this is about *using* that freedom...


let's put the deck on the table, all cards face up...

i am a Nut...

i believe in good things, i hope for good things, i even, on occasion, try & *do* good things...

but i am goddamn tired of trying to do them alone, in the vision that i have...


i am looking for *other* goddamn fucking crazies, but ones who are sane enough that they believe in work, more than they do in magic,or...

at least that heavy duty fucking miracles require heavy duty fucking work, even if that means only trying to be good...


i'm going to digress here, for a moment...

there are lots of kids out there selling jewelry... lots of filks doing ceramics out of their kilns...
lots of folks farming truly organically, or trying to make a subsistence living by the work of their own hands...

anyone.. **ANYONE** who chooses the labor they do to be a product of their own hands, and to let that work be a way that *others* may also come to, or continue to, live by the product of their own hands, also,...

*they*...

THEY are engaged in the "great american dream"..

that is why people like us really are under attack..

money is not made by exploiting those whom live simply, but by making people live as complexly as possible..

shrinks that force coping with industrial culture, rather than explaining the the true cost of self-liberation...
doctors who make $ to drive high cost cars by cutting people up for symptomatic or aesthetic purposes to serve preferred social norms.

lawyers that veer from honesty, and judges so jaded that cannot tell truth from theatrics..

*they* are why foods now labled "organic" can be treated with industrial sludge, just because fucking worms have eaten it...

( http://www.hort.net/lists/community_garden/may01/msg00039.html
http://realestate.aol.com/article/n...lsec0003&icid=100214839x1205722618x1200296948 )

*they* are why pigs are generally so fucking *stupid* and *mean*.. dig this:

http://drx.typepad.com/psychotherapyblog/2009/08/too-smart-to-be-a-police-officer.html
and this:
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/09/n...rules-that-police-can-bar-high-iq-scores.html

fucking mind-blowing..

fucking worse than.. fuck... antifreeze in moonshine or fucking paraquat..

& so, what this trip is about,

is finding

a way

to live with one's hands...


& to help others to do it, too...



now...

if that need to help..

if that urgency

or that love

makes me suspicious,

or needy

or whatever the fuck it is that you think is negative,

then whomever it is that reads this & thinks so,

well, then...


you can go fuck yourselves..

go fuck yourselves along with the dumb cops, the shitty lawyers, the fucking agro-mcdonalds and the shitheads who make money from the environmental rape of china & the yang-tze, because plastic injection and slave labor are how we've chosen to pay our fucking rent...


go fuck yourselves, if you don't know what work means.. not that you have to break yourself into a fucking hernia,

but that you have to work enough to equal what it took to grow the calories in your fucking food...


i *need* love...


i *need* sharing...

i *need* people giving to those people whom want to help...

not because it is a way to assuage guilt,


but because it is the essential nature


of being human...


& if you don't fucking see it,


then go fucking fuck yourself,

because when the war comes,

when the meteorite hits,

when the fucking plauge decides to equalize us...

WHATEVER it fucking is...


all that is going to be left

are those whom chose to help each other...



and i will give you one great truth,

at the end of this...



the reason the meek

shall inherit the earth

is because the violent shall

have killed each other off...



peace..


because that really, really is

what this trip

is all about...





john

 

sounds great we are in CA/NV on the border husband got laid off for god knows how long he was working for a gold drilling operation so we paid attention to the geologist and been camping out have a suburban converted like a camper van we are thinking about just hanging out on blm and looking for gold while we wait to see whats next would be nice to find some gold and just start mining I know there is gold here where we were just working and even know where the veins are but suffer from wanderlust so not sure about sticking to one spot just yet

 

lemme drum up the troops!!

gimmee 24 hours or less!!!!

cool!!!