Aug 10

Written by:
8/10/2010 9:56 AM 

Week six is upon us, it soon will be time to return to the lower 48 and most of us think we will go back to life as usual - but not really.

It is impossible to have been here and seen this beautiful place, had all these new experiences and not to have changed. Some people change just a little bit, other people experience a much deeper change. The beauty, quiet and untamed qualities of this Last Frontier seems to sink into your very being, if you will.

You may find yourself thinking new thoughts, or embracing new ideas, thinking about your friends you made here, and the new skills you learned. The love of the freedoms in Alaska has a way of entering your blood. Hope to see you back next year, and to see you first timers too! Now on to the camp happenings!!!

A prospector since the mid-1960’s, Ben Volk from Lakebay Wash., came to the Cripple River Gold Camp to please his loving wife Jo Anne.

"I was originally planning to go to Nevada to some old claims areas, and these went back into the ground with tunnels that ran at different levels and such," Volk said. "My wife was very worried that something might happen to me, so I checked on the cost of a personal GPS in case of a cave-in. She was still very worried.

"Now when you’re married, it is a partnership and part of this partnership is not to cause unnecessary distress or pain to the one you love," Volk added. "So I asked what if I went on the Alaska trip? Jo Anne turned a smiling face to me and with a big sigh of relief answered 'that would be just fine.'"

So here he is, and I am proud to meet a man who knows the secrets to a happy marriage, compromise, and tries not to cause his partner (this goes for gals as well as guys) undue stress or pain. The winners in the marriage game are the happy ones!!!

Once here, Ben was working so hard on the beach, he decided to lie down at the end of the Keene beach box, and let the water flow over him to cool off. Still not cool enough, he walked out into the Bering Sea four feet deep and sat down. Ahhhh much better - until his clothes sucked up lots of water weighing his body down.

His hip waders formed an airtight seal to his wet pants and the air in them caused his feet and lower legs to float upward. Then a big wave flipped him over, face down in the salty water and sand! Upside down, like a large, ungainly, multicolored seal, Ben splashed his way to the surface for a breath of good, fresh clean air, and to spit out a mouthful of Bering Sea salt water. Ben was now cool enough!

"I’ve enjoyed the beach immensely, and have a large baggie of super concentrates. I'm here for the experience and the adventure," Volk said. "I have learned many new things about prospecting, and I've enjoyed myself so much here, the gold is just a nice extra. Best of all, Jo Anne, who is the love my life is waiting for me back home.”

GOLD! Now that I have your attention, here goes. I had a request to write more about gold in the Chronicle each week. As a trial, here goes. Gold is not always easy to find, nor does it appear easy to hang onto once you find it. Simple things the old sourdough knows that the newbie may not yet know that can effect your overall gold recovery. Fine gold can float if there is oil on it.

Last week, someone took a bottle of hand soap from the chow hall out to the panning tub area. Bad idea! The bottle of hand soap contained softening agents (OILS). No matter how much soap you used, it still wouldn't work right, but we had bubbles blowing everywhere. I took the bottle away and put out some blue soap that will work properly. You don't need a lot of soap, just a tiny pinch, or the amount on the end of a tooth pick.

When you get the gold, always hold your vial over your gold pan to open it, so if you drop the vial, or if gold has worked its way into the cap threads because the cap was loose, the gold falls into the pan, and not on the floor or in the dirt. When working your concentrates or super-concentrates, be careful because there's gold in there! Twice, I have swept the table off around the clean-up machine and twice I found a fair amount of gold from people being careless with their material!!! You worked hard to get it, don't throw the gold away just a few minutes from being finished! Take your time, do the job right!

One man was going to use Vaseline to put his snuffer bottle together! NO! NO! NO! Do not use oil around gold. Any oil. If you find gold with mercury on it (it will be a dull silver color), separate it or the mercury can spread to your other gold in the same vial. Do not hold your snuffer bottle upright and shoot the water up in the air because occasionally you can shoot out gold this way. Shoot the water out into your gold pan. If you shoot out gold, you can re-snuffer it up! Was any of this helpful? I hope so.

He did it last year and he's done it again! In 2009, Ben Castricone and Patti Yamane from California found a 1901 $10 gold eagle in the riffles of their high-banker at the Trommel Camp. This year, Ben found a 1909 gold 1 dwt (penny weight) Alaska token - about the size of the 1877 three cent nickel - while metal detecting on the beach glass trip to the East Beach in Nome. Ben's great good luck continues to hold out, as this token looks to be in perfect shape with no visible wear or scratches from the Bering Sea or the sand it was washed with and buried in from what must have been years! He also found a great brass military button and several other nice treasures! Ben is Mr. Lucky in love and in prospecting, and wouldn't you know I forgot to get him to pick some lottery numbers for me!

Al Marconi, our trusty camp manager, has a few words to say about our year here at Cripple River and our outer camps.

"People are reporting having found a decent amount of gold this year, and the opening of the Creosus Camp has been a success," Marconi said. "Crew has been working very hard to make the camp the success it is. Next year looks to be even better than this year, and a special thanks to everyone who helped make this year great - crew and participant alike."

Alaska Expedition Coordinator Blake Harmon had a few comments about this year at Cripple River.

"Outer Camp participation and the amount of gold being recovered there was better this year than ever, with many people going to all of our outer camps, the Dredge Camp, the new Creosus Camp, Ketchmark Camp, and the very remote and primitive Stella Camp, as well as the day trip only Trommel Camp," Harmon said. "In Main Camp, with the new beach equipment, flour gold recovery on the beach is also up. This year we added so many new classes and activities to our already-busy schedule that you really must pick and choose on what you want to see, do and learn.

"There is so much more to do here than ever before, so if a couple comes, and both aren't interested in prospecting, the non-prospector still has plenty of activities to peak their interest," Harmon added. "Our all-star crew really pulled together to ensure that all the participants left with fond memories and the experience of a lifetime. Without the help of each and every one of our volunteers, this camp would not be able to operate. We are already in the planning stages for next year. I want to give my personal heartfelt thanks to everyone, participant or volunteer crew, who were here this year, and hope to see you back next year!"

Corey Rudolph, a very-experienced prospector from Phelan, Calif.,was charged with the task of prospecting the Cripple River property between Creosus and Ketchmark. It was his discoveries that started the mini gold rush in those areas. Corey, you get two thumbs up for this one!

Well, it has been a busy year, and the time has just flown by, and again I didn' get enough prospecting done! My prospecting quotient is running too low, so back to the lower 48, and off to Stanton in December. I hope to see you all next year. Until then, may your life and the bottom of your gold pan turn golden!

Your friend, Arctic Annie