Experience real Alaskagoldpanning, be a part of the living history ofFairbanks and make memories that will last a lifetime. At GoldDaughters, you will learn how to pan for gold using real Alaskan “paydirt”. We play by the rule “finders keepers”, so you get to take home everything you find!
Your day starts with a bag of paydirt from FairbanksGoldCo. You can then pan all day from piles of paydirt that we’ve hauled in from a local operating gold mine.
There’s more than guaranteed gold… you also have the chance to uncover ice age fossils and cool minerals. It is not uncommon to find pyrite, quartz crystals and garnets. We’ve even had people walk away with woollymammothivory!
The passenger steamer SSWarrimoo was quietly knifing its way through the waters of the mid-Pacific on its way from Vancouver to Australia. The navigator had just finished working out a star fix and brought CaptainJohnDS.Phillips, the result. The Warrimoo’s position was LAT 0º 31′ N and LONG 179 30′ W. The date was 31 December 1899. “Knowwhatthismeans?” FirstMatePayton broke in, “We’re only a few miles from the intersection of the Equator and the International Date Line”. Captain Phillips was prankish enough to take full advantage of the opportunity for achieving the navigational freak of a lifetime. He called his navigators to the bridge to check & double check the ship’s position. He changed course slightly so as to bear directly on his mark. Then he adjusted the engine speed. The calm weather & clear night worked in his favor. At mid-night the SS Warrimoo lay on the Equator at exactly the point where it crossed the International Date Line! The consequences of this bizarre position were many: The forward part (bow) of the ship was in the Southern Hemisphere & in the middle of summer. The rear (stern) was in the Northern Hemisphere & in the middle of winter. The date in the aft part of the ship was 31 December 1899. In the bow (forward) part it was 1 January 1900. This ship was therefore not only in: Two different days, Two different months, Two different years, Two different seasons But in two different centuries – all at the same time!