Jul 8

Written by:
7/8/2003 12:00 AM 

Greetings from the Cripple River Gold Camp! This week the weather was cool and wet, and at times breezy. We even had a williwaws in camp. Williwaws is Alaskan for an unexpected gust of wind that can reach up to ninety miles an hour. This williwaws went through camp about three a.m. one morning last week, and blew two pairs of long johns off a clothes line and into a bush, blew over a few partially filled buckets of concentrates, rattled a few windows, then took off across the tundra to harass a small herd of musk ox. Or is it musk oxes, or musk oxen?

I’m often asked what do we do in camp when it rains? We work, or at least most of us do. Some hardy prospectors worked on their beach claims getting that beach gold. Some people worked material from the beach that was brought up to the camp cleanup boxes. Other prospectors were out with gold pans and shovels, sluice boxes or even metal detectors; the expensive detector protected by plastic baggie ‘rain suits’. And, of course the dredge crew and trommel crew work come rain or shine. Some prospectors went to our Ketchmark camp to high bank, others took classes on different aspects of gold prospecting. People wrote post cards, went shopping in Nome, read books, played games, or went fishing. There is so much to do here that less than perfect weather doesn’t slow us down. One good thing about cool, damp weather---no mosquitoes.

Perry Massie guided a group of ATVer’s up the beach to the Sinuk River. There they caught Dolly Varden Trout and cooked them for lunch. The Sinuk River trip, to the west of camp and past Sledge Island, is a beautiful half-day’s ride. Across from the island is a place to hunt for Alaska Jade. The jade is rare, but occasionally is willing to be found. On another day, Perry led a group up the river road past the dredge camp and on to the trommel camp where high bankers can be worked. Trips with Perry are GREAT as he has so much knowledge about this area and he’s always willing to share. The gold claim here is 2300 acres that you can prospect, so there are lots of places to go and things to do and see.

We had one sunny day last week, and a group of people who had been playing dominoes in the chow hall decided to stay up and see the midnight sun. Here it was 12:30 a.m. and the sun was shining high up in the sky, highlighting a few clouds. With almost everyone else in camp sound asleep, we all stood outside drinking in the beauty and silence. We went to bed knowing that Alaska is truly an enchanted land.

The cool, wet weather did not dampen our Fourth of July spirit. Many of us from The Cripple River Camp attended the parade and festivities in Nome. As our distinctive trucks rolled down Front Street, G.P.A.A. members riding in the back of the trucks threw bags of candy to the children, and brightly colored bead-type necklaces. The necklaces were popular with the adults as well as the children. We waved American flags and helped our country celebrate her birthday. Later that “night” a few fireworks were set off in camp, we enjoyed the sounds, but with the sun being up, you couldn’t see the aerial display.

I interviewed several participants this week to find out how things were going. Laura and Ronnie Hall from Hermleigh, Texas were given a one-week trip to Cripple River by her mother as a gift. As a new prospector, Laura took a lot of classes, and she and Ronnie did get some gold. They both had a great time, “people here are great, but one week is not enough time” commented Laura. The only complaint she had was that the weather could have been better. Ronnie was not talking a lot, as he was “hung” in the saloon during Friday night’s miner’s court session for being a card cheat. Actually, he helped Laura make a play that he could only have seen by peeking at her hand. Many of us do this, but he was “caught” doing it! He was tried, convicted and hung as a warning to other spouses who are tempted to ”back-seat drive” at card games. Laura, also charged by the Honorable (translated “infamous”) Hanging-Judge Spike, was found not guilty based on her self-defense plea. “I saw the play, and I didn’t ask for or even need his help. He did it on his own”. Ronnie is doing fine, and is much wiser now!

Melvin Bailey from Longview Washington is here for two weeks and is having a great time. He stated, “The people are good, the crew go out of their way to help participants, the weather has been cool, but today is a good day. The seas are calm, the sun is shining, and best of all, I worked the beach and I did get some gold!” I talked to Melvin today, as we both were panning out our concentrates, and I learned that next week he is going up to the dredge camp to be a dredge tender for his friends. Way to go Mel!

There have been more animal sightings, a herd of musk ox, (oxen or oxes) a lonely female moose down by the penny river, and from camp we watched a walrus play in the Bering Sea. The dredge camp has several red foxes that trot through at night, and the ptarmigan babies (also called tundra chicken) are learning to fly. Chip Yorde looking out the chow hall window at 5:30 a.m. saw two big moose and a little baby moose grazing on the tundra on the other side of the Cripple River. An otter is living up by the dredge camp and the trommel has a musk ox and a caribou that watch the camp for them.

Sometimes the wild animals seem to watch us as much as we watch them. I often wonder what they think about us silly humans. Do they talk to each other, “pssst look at that human with the funny hat on, she looks as silly as that guy in blue did last week when he fell into the mud puddle, and then the river. Humans are strange for sure, they leave all the grass, moss, lichen, and seeds and collect those yellow rocks. Don’t they know that those yellow rocks they collect aren’t even good to eat? So what good are they? Oh well, as long as they leave us alone let’s leave them alone.” And shaking their heads the two wise moose walk off.

Until next time, may your life and the bottom of your pan turn golden.

Arctic Annie