Aug 3

Written by:
8/3/2001 12:00 AM 

Greetings from Cripple River! The sporadic heavier rains seem to have left and we have days of light rain or overcast mixed with days of sunshine. The weather can be a little different up river at the other camps, but everyone, everywhere is more than ready for the sunshine. Today the sun is out, the ocean is calm, and the birds are flying in the sky. We have had a lot of animals close to camp recently. There have been two moose visiting the camp, a bull and a cow. There have been musk ox up by Bowhead and a heard of reindeer or caribou just across Cripple River. We have seen artic fox, a big seal and her baby, and several lucky people had a giant walrus pose for a picture. We caution everyone that these are wild animals, not zoo inhabitants, so do not try to get up close and personal with them. If they feel threatened they must either run away or chase you away. So always use good common sense and respect these beauties of nature. Of course in camp we have artic squirrels (locally called sisslik or sisiks). These critters hang around camp begging for the rare handout. The feeding of these adorable pets is discouraged. They can bite your fingers and their mouths are not very sanitary. Still, if you don’t try to get too close to them they are cute. All in all, even with the less than perfect weather, it has been a great summer. Salmon fishing has not yet opened but the Dolly Varden trout are here and feisty. These pink-meated fish are great fresh caught and fried or marinated and smoked.

As you may know, there are several classes a week given on rock hounding, metal detecting, gold panning, and other prospecting activities with occasionally even a fishing class tossed in. For people mining on the beach we have Ralph Backstrom with his mobile coffee cart. He started last year when he was only 90 years old, and this year he has continued the service. When he shows up on a cold day with his hot drinks, people have been known to cheer. This service has been a real crowd pleaser. Ralph is one of the youngest people I have ever met!!! He is 91 this year, and may his coffee carrying days go on for years.

This week one of the people in camp, Bill Potter, found a large round rock. This green stone has an off white matrix and has been called jade, jadeite, or green quartz. It weighs about 40 pounds, and now the proud owner needs to figure out how to ship this rock home to be slabbed, polished, and made into treasures.

The Nome Nugget Newspaper came out on Thursday and we got wonderful coverage with photos on both the panning competition and the monument dedication. (Check it out at www.nomenugget.com).

The new Cripple River Chapel held its long awaited dedication ceremony at 4 p.m. Saturday the 28th of July. While the chapel itself will not be fully completed until next year, it still needs the bell tower, steeple, and cross along with the entry room (narthex) and front deck. There are also still a few finishing touches needed inside. The chapel is finished enough that Sunday Services are now being held there as well as Wednesday Evening Prayer Meetings. This chapel has been more than a year in the planning stage. The funding for the project has been raised by the congregation. Using the proceeds from raffles, auctions, and personal donations, the materials were purchased. Interested individuals donating their time, energy, and their skills have accomplished the work of building the chapel. The dedication ceremony Saturday was not overly long in length, but was perfect in heartfelt love, fellowship, and pride. The chapel is non-denominational and opens its doors to everyone who wishes to stop by.

The chapel dedication was well attended and was a full house with standing room only. A plaque was placed in the chapel as a memorial to Woody Caldwell. This godly man was known as ‘the prospector’s preacher’. Sunday after the service, the members of the chapel signed a covenant with God, which will be framed and hung in the chapel.

I have said before we have everything in Alaska, even GHOSTS. Here is a story that makes you wonder. The year is 1986, and two Cripple River miners Jake and Leo are staying in a cabin above Casadepaga on Moonlight Creek. It is a nasty stormy rainy night with the wind blowing hard. Jake and Leo are woken up late that night by the sound of people talking and laughing and the sounds of pick and shovels. They open the cabin door, and the sounds stop! They go back to bed, shaking their heads. A few minutes later, the sounds start up again. They are so terrified that in the middle of the storm and late at night they leave this cabin and head down to the ‘Casa’. They wreck one quad and they ride into camp both wet, cold and muddy balanced precariously on one three wheeler. You can imagine the hullabaloo this caused. When they explained what happened and their ghosts, the other miners laughed. The year is now 2001. It is a stormy rainy night. The wind is blowing. Perry Massie, Corey Rudolph and Ralph (NN) Rogers arrive at this cabin nick named the haunted cabin. They replace the door, nail plywood on one window and plastic on the other, light a stove and the cabin is warm and dry. A while later, Perry hollers and jumps up. Something had poured a cup of ice water on his crotch! He hangs up a tarp. Back to bed. Something then pours ice water on Corey’s crotch. He hollers. More tarp goes up. Back to bed. They lay awake. Water hits Perry on the foot. Re-arrange the tarp. Water hits Corey on the foot. This time they both re-arrange the tarp. Next, Perry barely settles down in the bed when water drips on his head. Plastic covering goes up. Corey feels very secure as his head is up hill. Yes, you’ve got it!!!! Water ran uphill!!! and runs into Corey’s head. Then it dawns on them, they are staying in The Haunted Cabin. Meanwhile Ralph Rogers, sleeping in his ghost buster pajamas and dreaming of nuggets, slept through the whole thing. Below the cabin a few yards are two large foundations, burnt down to the ground, hinting at some past day’s tragedy that might account for the ghosts at the haunted cabin.

Well, take your pet oogruk(bearded seal weighing 1000 pounds), pack your Eskimo Ice Cream(made of whipped berries, seal oil, and snow), avoid the muskegs(deep swampy bogs that can suck your boots off or your quad down) and avoiding the Ice Worms(Which do exist) and go prospecting. And may the bottom of your pan turn GOLDEN!!!!!