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Two of my driving passions in this life would have to be writing and exploration. My drive to explore has lead me to some of the most incredible experinces. It has taken me the tops of British Columbia's snowcaped mountains in search of crashed B25 bombers to deep inside the earth in search of lost gold. When I have not been seeking for crashed airplanes and lost gold mines. I have been exploring the jungles of Central America. From the caves of the maya,to the jungle islands of Honduras in search of pirate treasure.When I am not in search of lost history I am trying to write about it. One of my obsessions over the years has been with the lost mine of Pitt Lake a local legend of gold here in British Columbia. I have published a book about it called Seekers of Gold. I also run a company called Spindle Explorations dedicated to my publishing efforts as well as my adventures into history.

Daryl Friesen..
free player from mysplayer.com
Below is one of the chapters from Seekers of Gold. You can google it to read more. If you like it or hate it please at least let me know. ThanksChapter One:The legend of the lost mine of Pitt lake Chapter Two: A Quest Begins Chapter Three: Gold Fever Chapter Four:A Location Revealed Chapter Five:Into the Unknown Chapter Six:The Real World Chapter Seven:Lessons Learned Chapter Eight:The Mystery Deepens Chapter Nine:Victory Chapter Ten:The Heart Chapter Eleven: Outlaw Prospecting and the search for Slumach's Lost Creek Mine Chapter Twelve:A Prospectors Philosophy
hhhhhh.. From Seekers of Gold:

A Prospectors Dream

You see we prospectors are a dying breed. The world doesn't function around us anymore like it used back in the gold rush. The people who care for you cant understand. What in the world would make you want to risk your life to look for gold? They don’t understand the dream, but in the old days everybody understood.
You didn’t have to worry about your wife leaving ya or your friends scorning you because you wanted to find the gold. Everyone was doing it. Everyone dreamed of the day when they would be the one to strike it rich.
The Prospectors dream represented freedom for all, but what does it mean to people today? I’ll tell you, a big house and a nice car. People don’t see that it’s so much more than just finding the golden score. It’s not seen as a building block for freedom. It’s been twisted and messed up to the point of being stuck on a scratch and win ticket. That is what is left of the prospector’s dream in today’s world. All the people around you don’t understand, they can’t see the freedom and the hope it brings you when you chase the dream. They just think you’re dreaming, but we know the truth don’t we?
The truth is you’re living and they are the ones that are dreaming. Their search for the big car and the nice house. Ha! Illusions I tell you brought onto their brain less minds by a media machine.
How I wish I could chase after it still, but the fight’s over for me lad. I’ve got a bad ticker you see, but you can, can’t you son?" he explained eyeing me almost enviously, "there is nothing better than standing high up on a mountain top and gazing down upon the world. It makes you feel like your own man. Free from all prison that the world tries to make of your life.
You see the world doesn’t want you to be your own man. If they did, they wouldn’t be trying to make you swallow the lie all the time and you know how they do it. Through that little box over there," he said pointing to the television across the room.
Look at those people over there," he explained pointing to the people staring at the TV. "They’re swallowing every word of it and it makes me sick. Our pioneer brothers are rolling in their graves I tell ya. They wouldn’t have wanted it this way, this isn’t freedom. People today don’t know what freedom is. That little box over there tells them that they’re free, but they’re not. You see when somebody tells you something enough times you’ll start to believe it.Tell me you won’t give up, tell me you will follow the dream to the ends of the earth. If not for yourself then do it for your pioneer brothers who help create this world and you become one of them. Remember freedom is worth dying for and I’m not talking about dying in a war fighting for some illusionary freedom that your government tells you have. I’m talking the real stuff that comes from the open spaces and when you spent enough time in the mountains you’ll no what I’m talking about. It will grab your soul and won’t leave you until the day you die. It’s what pushes all great men and once you see it you’ll chase it for the rest of your days
See the Map
In the Gulf of Honduras, Scouting the location of the Mitchell Hedges Chest. Read the story in my blog. Digging for the Mitchell Hedges chest near Roatan
Digging for Buried Pirate Treasure near Roatan Island

By Daryl Friesen

After my first trip to .... Roatan .. , .. Honduras .... , I wanted to return as quickly as possible to try to search for the missing Mitchell Hedges' chest. Who did I know had the courage to go to a third world country and search for pirate treasure? After all, we all had jobs, responsibilities and other things that keeps dreams from coming true. Who could step out of their life and gamble some money and time on the quest for buried treasure? The answer was simple. I had to convince my old treasure-hunting partner from the past, Shawn Gryba.....

Our first adventure had spawned enough excitement that the two us were willing to try our hands at a second adventure. It was to find the Mitchell Hedges chest that Sammy Hedges told me was still there. When I called her on a spring afternoon in 1996, she revealed to me the location of an old pirate chest that her father had left behind in a 1930s archaeological expedition to .... Roatan. Her father Mitchell Hedges was one of the first to investigate some of the Pech or Paya archeaological sites that can be found on the .. .. Island. .... . (See part Roatan Part One for further details)....

Before Shawn and I even left the ground back in .... British Columbia .... to go on this trip, we had the feeling that if nothing of value is discovered, it would probably be the last adventure we would ever take together. The world of responsibilities was .. s c .. closing in on both of us even faster than when we tried to find gold in .... Spindle .. .. Canyon .... back in the early days. If we failed this time, then it was all over. The days of treasure hunting would be put behind us. There was a great deal riding on this expedition.....

We arrived on .... Roatan .. .. Island .... and quickly made our way to the .. West End .. where we spent our first night in .... Honduras .... . It was strange to be back and it felt really good. I was excited about the adventure to come. Shawn and I discussed the up and coming search for lost treasure that evening.....

How do you know its there Friesen? You are not telling me a fish tail about this Anna Jennings thing are you Friesen Shawn asked.....

....

No, it's true man! I told you she told me the name of the key on the phone and as far as she knows, no one has gone back for the last chest. I explained once again trying to reassure him. "So what more can you tell me about this David guy anyway? Do you really think he can help us?Shawn asked.....

David operates a resort called the Reef House in .... Oakridge on the east side of Roatan. .. , .. Honduras .... . He will help us. David is a treasure hunter at heart. Will you just trust me already!> I explained. besides, we can rent a small boat in Oakridge that can take us out to the key if he has better things to do.....

Look, we'll talk about it in the morning I have to get some sleep, the jet lag is killing me. So with that I laid down on my bed and tried to sleep. I was then thrust into the strange realm of dream. As my unconscious took over my mind, I was back in my Langley,British Columbia, and I saw my father He was fishing on the Fraser River and he was fighting a great salmon. I could see myself walking beside him as a child. He seemed to be the master of life, a god who had all the answers and could ever die. Then out of nowhere came a great big blast like a nuclear explosion, which seemed to destroy the great scene and I found myself upright and conscious sitting in a hotel room bed screaming at the top of my lungs.I didn't know it then but my father had just had a heart attack around the same time I had the dream. ....

Suddenly the whole building started to shake, the windows rattled and the lamp fell from the night stand with a crash as the light bulb shattered on to the floor. It all happened very quickly, Shawn and I were both in shock. The shaking quickly brought me back into reality. What the hell's going on? What was that? Shawn said, sounding shocked. Maybe it;s the curse of Henry Morgan, I grinned. Felt more like an earthquake to me,explained Shawn.....

The next day as we made our way out of the hotel and towards Oakridge in the cab of a crazy Honduran who drove a hundred miles an hour down the windy roads of Roatan. He was driving faster then all the other cars on the road and as he passed by the other cars in a cloud of dust he cursed at how slow all the other drivers on the road were. and all he talked about in broken English was how the earthquake scared the hell out of him last night and how that was nothing compared to the one he was in back in .... Nicaragua .... back in the 1980s. This trip was already starting out with that special brand of chaos, which is the lifeblood of adventure.....

When we finally arrived a the Reef House, David was there and greeted us with a loud,Well look who is back in town! It's the hosers! When I first met him, I knew that deep down inside he was a treasure hunter at heart. He lived on Roatan most of his life and he knew that there was treasure out there somewhere just waiting to be found.   David had never searched for it because he was always too busy running the Reef House. When you first meet him, he is so in your face that its kind of a shock. He has no problem speaking his mind or trying to pack as much vulgar language into a single sentence as possible. David does not care what anyone thinks of him,He also knows everyone and everything about the .... island .. of .. Roatan .... , so you couldn't ask for a better guide. ....

<..[endif]> .. . The warm water was splashing up onto my face as we cruised into the old .. Port Royal .. in search of treasure. The thoughts I had inside as we got closer to the small key were of Mitchell Hedges daughter telling me about the treasure that was still buried there. It was one of complete wonder that finally my childhood dream is about to come true. As the salt water dripped down my face and into my mouth, the taste brought back such a wonderful feeling of adventure that I wanted the moment to last forever before we touched down on the beach of the small key. W

The key was littered with garbage. There were pop cans, metal wire, a beat up fridge, old buckets and buoys. You name it and it was there, washed up on the key. The first thing that came into my mind was that metal detecting was going to be very difficult. I didn't want to share that information with the other two treasure hunters who had come on this adventure. Their morale about this whole idea of searching for treasure was already low enough.....

David was the first to let out hi .. s c .. cynicism at the reality of what we were trying to do. "Man! We are not going to find a dam thing!" he said as he looked around the key.....

Don't worry, this metal detector has discrimination.I said with fear in my voice as I really wanted to find something....

I quickly started scanning the beach of the key as soon as we got to shore. I searched for several minutes with no hits. As I moved closer to shore we got our first strong hit, but as Shawn started digging we hit the remains of a rotted old tin can. I saw in his eyes that he was looking doubtful. I searched for almost a half an hour and found nothing, but more junk. I threw the metal detector down in frustration. Shawn walked over and picked it up and started searching. He dug one hole and found nothing, then he dug a second and found nothing. Slowly he made his way down to beach where we had landed the boat. ....

What are you doing down there? I tried there already and nothing is there.I cried from where I was resting. The metal detector let out one more of its irritating screeches and Shawn started digging and within moments he pulled a very old rusted piece of chain out of the sand. At first I thought nothing of it as he held the chain in his hands. It looked like another piece of rusted metal, and then it hit me. ....

I remember in the Mitchell Hedges story that when he found the first three chests they were wrapped in chains. He had to cut the chains to open the chest just before loading the chests onto his boat. We landed near the area where Hedges was because it was the only open in the mangrove to enter the key. The metal chain had to have been once wrapped around an old pirate chest. I quickly shared my news with my partners and everyone's spirit seemed to go up a little. ....

If the theory is true, here is a piece in our hands that was a link to the treasure! It brought the hopes of a successful conclusion to our quest closer to reality. Iâ€,,ve always found treasure hunting to be a struggle with reality because for me it has always had a parallel with religion. If you don't believe in the treasure, then it will not exist for you. You will never search and never experience the divine as you pull ancient gold out from underneath the sand. For gold is the god that we all search for, even the church has a collection box.....

<> We continued our search for another hour or so when David started staring at the black clouds that were forming in the sky overhead. "Ah man, there is going be a storm man. , we have to head back, so hurry up and find the dam treasure. Hey! You forgot to check the fridge he said running over and checking inside the old fridge that was resting on the .. East Side .. of the key. I tried to ignore David 's rant, but Shawn was laughing hysterically. As I swung the metal detector back and forth across the sandy key I could feel any hope of finding a treasure chest filled with gold doubloons slowly slipping away.   ....

The detector then made one louder screech that sounded different than all the other screeches it had made that day. This one sounded more successful, so I started digging when out of the sand I pulled a small silver statue of a carving of a naked woman. This sent a shiver up my spine. Come and have a look at this one boys! I yelled. Shawn and David came running over to where I was digging. They glared over my shoulders at the curious object I had unearthed which I had come to the conclusion was the handle of a dagger belonging to a pirate. Shawn and David looked at the object in question and quickly agreed that, yes indeed I had found an object, which once belonged to a pirate. ....

The treasure must be close, so we all assumed searching the key. Within five minutes the detector rang off again and this time we all started digging and almost at once we started finding large pieces of broken metal. We cleared away several pieces of the metal and came across what looked like the top of a treasure chest buried in the sand.   My heart was in my throat and my palms where sweating as the three of us tried to pull it out from the sand. We dug around it in a moment of excitement that I will never forget. No one said anything because none of u .. s c .. could really believe what we were seeing as we tore the chest out. ....

< ..[endif]> Shawn smashed at the lid with the shovel, which broke into pieces of shattered metal. We all looked inside and it was .. s c .. completely filled with muddy water. I reached inside the chest expecting to pull gold and jewels from the muddy water. For a second I felt something, but when I pulled my hands out of the water and there was nothing but mud. "There has to be something inside! Shawn said reaching into the chest. When he pulled his hands out he also found nothing but mud. ....< As my mind came to terms with the reality of the situation, I could feel my heart rip open and the hope of finding the Mitchell Hedge .. s c .. hest slip into thin air. We had found the chest all right, but it was fucken empty. How typical, I thought, as images from other failed expeditions raced through my mind. I came all the way to .... Honduras .... and found nothing but mud. What will the people at home think when they hear this one? I told you where dreaming would probably be the answer. Best to keep your head out of the clouds and stick to the meat and potatoes is how my father would so eloquently put it.....

As the three of us sat on the key with wallowing in our defeat, you could see the clouds rolling in and the ocean starting to get rough. We better get out of here,David said, as a loud crash of thunder echoed across the key. We all quickly piled into the boat and started making our way across the ocean.   The boat bounced across the waves and I could taste the salt in my mouth....

Rain started pouring down on us and within seconds we where soaked to the bone. It was great feeling though, a feeling of being on an adventure and of being free. Searching for treasure has a way of thrusting you back into a different age and that feeling which is so hard to come by makes this defeat a victory itself.....

That night Shawn and I sat in front of the Reef House drinking .. Port Royal .. beer and watched the lightning storms off in the distance. David stared off with a look of fright in his eyes, watching the lightning flashing down into the .... bay .. of .. Honduras .... . lightning man! he said, sounding scared it almost killed me once. I was living in .... Tegucigalpa .... at the time and there was this huge lightning storm and one of those bolts hit my house and burned it to the ground man. I came home that night and my house was in ashes. It burnt right to the ground. He then turned and walked back into the Reef House. Shawn and I didn"t know how to react other than to almost roll off our chairs in drunken laughter.....

Later that night as we got drunker and drunker on .. Port Royal .. beer, which is very foul stuff, if I do say so myself. David returned with a friend of his named Terry who had heard about our treasure hunting fiasco that day and was interested in what we were hoping to find on the island. He pulled up a chair beside u .. s c .. racked open a .. Port Royal .. for himself and we began a serious discussion of treasure, which lasted deep into the Honduras night.....

I heard you where out .. Comfort today man, he said. Yes we were.Shawn answered. You were on the right track my friends, let me tell you that,” he said, which really perked our curiosity. Why do you say that?Shawn asked. Last summer a strange ship entered .. Port Royal .. and took up anchor near Key Comfort where you were searching today. Everyday when I would make my trip to .... Helena .... , I would watch em. I would see them unloaded a bunch of gear on the key where you fellows were. One of the locals, a fisherman from .... Helena .... was out there and he told me he watched them pull a heavy chest from the ground and load it onto their boat.Terry replied.....

I couldn't believe what he was telling us.   I could feel my heart sink. He continued to tell us more, When I went out there the following day to do some snooping around the boat had gone, so I went to the key myself and those fellows forgot to fill in their hole, man. Those fellows had taken a treasure out of the ground I can assure you that. It looks like you two were to late. ....

<> So close! We were so close! Do you realize the last time I was here with Rob in 95, I sailed by that key and the treasure was there I said. I took another swig of my .. Port Royal .. , but I was really craving something stronger. I am not lying to ya man. It is the truth I am telling ya. Too bad you didn't dig in 95 man. You would have been rich!Terry rubbed the salt in the wound even more. ....

Shawn and I got lost in a sense defeat and began to drink more and more alcohol. We traded in the .. Port Royal .. beer and moved to Henry Morgan rum. I thought about the great pirate himself....

as I drank his brand of poison. He would have laughed at us today because his quest did not fail. When he sacked .... Panama .... and robbed the Spanish Empire of their riches and sailed off across the blue waters of the .. Caribbean .. , he must have felt like he had become a king. A feeling most of us, including myself will probably never feel because most of my attempts to seize the throne end in defeat ....

Terry watched us drink like we were punishing ourselves. Just because you are not rich today does not mean you may not get rich tomorrow man.Terry said. And why do you say that? I asked, trying not to slur my speech.   ....

Because this island still have loads of treasures.   I know all about that, I guarantees you.Terry said, trying to reassure us.....

That's great, but do you realize leads like the Mitchell Hedges treasure do not fall into your lap each day. I explained.....

I can see into that man, but let it go. I know where you can find more treasures. Said Terry.....

And what would that be? I slurred. ....

In the ocean man! Shipwrecks all over this country! Terry said with enthusiasm. ....

&nbspOur conversation was interrupted by a new and strange deep voice of in the distance. We looked over and noticed a large fat man who wore a ripped white shirt, which was open in front exposing his fat belly.

Nazi gold and the B25 Bomber Part I and II with Daryl Friesen

The B25s final resting place on the mountain