This is so true. John Andrews taught us how to mine beach gold at Nome. During the mining season he spent 12 to 14 hours 6 days a week shoveling into his beach box sluice. On the seventh day he did concentrate cleanups and laundry. In the winter John retired to Arizona where he had another mining claim. He was 84 years old.
Bill Munz would let us come out to his old bucketline dredge and show us how it worked. For the most part he ran the whole operation by himself. He invited us out to go scouting some good moose hunting sites at the end of the mining season. I'd have declined if I'd known we were going to be hiking 20 miles across the tundra. Bill was also an accomplished pilot. Unfortunately his plane was almost as old as he was and due to a mechanical issue he had to set it down in the tundra on the way to the Omilak silver mine.
In recounting the event Bill said "I was able to crawl into the back of the plane and turn on the ELT. After waiting about 15 minutes and realizing no one was coming I determined to rescue myself."
He retrieved his back pack and rifle. He told me he coulda hiked back to Nome or continued on to the mine. He choose to go to the mine. He said he'd made it about 18 miles when a helicopter appeared and circled around him before landing. He recounted a State Trooper got out and asked him if that was his plane that was upside down. He said the trooper told him they were there to rescue him. Bill told him that he'd already rescued himself but if they'd fly him onto the mine he'd be much appreciative. Bill was only 79.
I've met lots of characters like that over the years. They all shared the same common trait. Lots of physical activity.
