Paul Larouche has been hunting for treasures since he was young, but now the Sooke man has hit the mother lode.
With more than 215,000 subscribers on YouTube, the 29-year-old spends his time creating content around finding gold, gems and odd treasures from his travels under the name .
You won鈥檛 find many videos where he isn鈥檛 wearing his signature red and white toque with Canada written across the front.
He鈥檚 found an old pickaxe, Spanish coins, jewelry and obsidian arrowheads during his travels across the province and into several American states. He鈥檚 even visited Australia for gold.
But all the treasures in the world couldn鈥檛 convince him to get out of bed four years ago.
At the age of 25, he was living a different life. He was working as a security worker after leaving the film and TV production industry. As someone who struggles with anxiety and depression, he felt like he was hitting a wall.
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鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 doing much with my life,鈥� Larouche said. 鈥淚 was at a point where I just felt so lost and completely stuck. I was staying inside and didn鈥檛 want to leave the house.鈥�
That is until his uncle, who lives in Langford, tried to get him outside and unearthed a passion for gold panning.
The 29-year-old remembers that day he first went out with his uncle back in 2017.
鈥淚t felt so strange just digging in the mud I thought I was wasting my time,鈥� Larouche said. 鈥淭he first time I washed out my pan, I saw something so bright and shiny. It was surreal when I found my first speck of gold. I was almost speechless. I didn鈥檛 know that this stuff still existed out here.鈥�
Since then, he鈥檚 dedicated his time to be an expert at the hobby-turned-career.
He scoops a mound of dirt into a gold pan at the water鈥檚 edge along Sooke River, where he bought a gold claim. He pointed out that because gold is heavy, the metal will drop to the pan鈥檚 bottom. He always looks for low-pressure spots along the river whenever he goes out.
He brought a metal detector to use on land and a diving suit to gold snipe, where he uses a mask and snorkel to find pieces of gold in the water.
What鈥檚 鈥榞old sniping鈥�? The 29-year-old YouTube star took me down to to show me himself. 馃た
鈥� Aaron Guillen (@iaaronguillen)
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Not too far down the same river is where he found one of the biggest pieces he owns, clocking in at 7.5 grams. In one instance, he found 13 grams tucked into a crevice of bedrock underwater. He assumes a gold miner visited decades ago but couldn鈥檛 continue looking into that spot, as he also found a broken pickaxe nearby.
Looking to the future, Larouche dreams of one day pitching a documentary-style show to a major broadcasting company or a streaming service, like Netflix.
He鈥檚 hosted several celebrities on his channel, including DALLMYD, an adventure YouTuber with more than 11 million subscribers and Michael Einziger, co-founder and lead guitarist for the American rock band INCUBUS.
Ever tried gold panning? One man has made a career out of it with his YouTube personality ! 馃拵
鈥� Aaron Guillen (@iaaronguillen)
He鈥檚 planning to travel to Alaska when the borders reopen, and he鈥檚 got his eyes set on Africa as well.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping to convince him to go up north into Nunavut and the Arctic Circle soon,鈥� said Jeremy Woolsey, his second cousin who lives in Ladysmith and grew up gold panning.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all about timing, though, because we don鈥檛 want all the ice to freeze over. We can pan in one of the glacier creeks, and it would be a first for both of us. Since they鈥檝e got long days and nights up there, I鈥檇 rather go up when we can get the most sunlight.鈥�
Until then, Larouche doesn鈥檛 mind filling his days with dreams of buried treasure, just waiting to be unearthed.
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aaron.guillen@goldstreamgazette.com
