Jul 18

Written by:
7/18/2006 12:00 AM 

Greetings from the Cripple River Gold Camp! This week we have had several days of intermittent rain in a row, and today the weather is cool with a heavy mist in the air. Early this morning (about 3:30 a.m.) there was a dense thick fog blanket covering the Bering Sea, tundra, and camp. The midnight sun was trying to shine through the heavy clouds in the upper atmosphere, causing these earthbound clouds (ever so gently swirling and coalescing) to glow a bright white while they distorted all sight and sound. You couldn’t see ten feet in front of your face, and if you did not have a good idea of the layout of the area you could quickly become lost! The camp was safely asleep with people in their warm sleeping bags lightly snoring while dreaming their golden dreams. A few individuals were starting to swim their way out of their deep slumber heading towards waking consciousness and all the possibilities held by a bright new day. I quickly dressed and slipped out of my hooch, being careful not to bang the door as I closed it. As I walked through camp I heard two prospectors sitting outside the chow hall talking. I couldn’t see these invisible folk sitting in the white mist, but I could hear snips and bits of their conversation. “You have to be careful panning this fine flour gold, don’t work it too fast.” advised the one I dubbed the ‘sourdough’. “How much do I pan at once?” questioned the second one I then nicknamed the ‘tenderfoot’. “Depends on how concentrated the material is, and how big your pan is.” As the conversation continued I became aware that I was eavesdropping, and as I turned away I realized this conversation could be taking place right here and now in July 2006, ---or was it possible this conversation happened over a hundred years ago in this exact same place (maybe recorded by the salt air, the sand, or the fog) and this old time/brand new advice was just now being played back for me to hear after a century of waiting for someone to walk by and listen! A long other-worldly cold shiver worked its way up my back and even the hair on my neck stood on end. I headed quickly to the chow hall for a hot cup of relaxing herbal tea. Now as then, the advice I heard from the fog bank is timely, and it is every bit as important today for the experienced folk to pass on their knowledge to the new prospectors in our camp. Finding and working that gold bearing material is an art form, and experienced prospectors are great artists of the earth. Ghostly voices aside, I took my hot drink and headed back to bed for another twenty winks of sleep before my alarm clock woke up and heralded the start of a great new day to prospect in Alaska, and at our Cripple River Gold Camp!

Fishing continues to be fantastic with salmon being caught on almost every cast, mostly Pinks, better known as Humpies, with the occasional Silver. In fact the fishing is so good that our family of seals numbering ten to twelve has moved back into their temporary summer home, the salty water just offshore from the Cripple River Gold Camp. A hundred yards or so from land, where the smiling mouth of the Cripple River gently greets and kisses his lover the Bering Sea, you can see sleek-shiny black heads, flippers and bodies swim, bob, and dance in the seal’s centuries old ritual of fishing. The fish caught and enjoyed by these aquatic mammals insures the continuation of another generation of playful seal-kind. This small family group of seals range from fairly young calves and their mothers to several enormous old timers, all of whom are happy to enjoy their fresh caught salmon sushi. As most of our human fisher folks catch and release, there is plenty of fish and fun to go around!

Everyone in camp knows if they see a small seal pup on the beach, to leave it alone, and don’t approach too close. Oftentimes new mothers will place their young on the beach for safety which allows mom to hunt for fish. After she has eaten her fill she will return to the beach to nurse her pup, and then take it with her back into the sea. If people get too close to the pup sitting in the sand the seal baby may be frightened back into the sea. Once in the water the pup is fair game to walrus, whales, or other predators, and is easy to kill. Even worse is when the little fellow can’t find its’ mom again and starves without her extremely rich hot milk. Wildlife has been following the instincts of its species for centuries untold, and surviving very well indeed. Look, enjoy, take photographs, but please do not try to touch or handle the wild creatures!

Lindsey Rudolph, our Beachmaster for the first three weeks is off duty now, however she wanted to leave a comment on the beach gold situation. “I have been coming to Cripple River since 1990, and the beach gold this year is the best I’ve ever seen. You have to dig for it, but it is there waiting for you! This year we have been testing some beach box modifications for enhancing gold recovery. Depending on the final results of this testing changes may be incorporated into the beach box design in the near future.” Jon Hagen, our current Beachmaster (for the rest of the year,) reports that the beach gold continues to be very good, and all the equipment is up and running fine. “If you have any problems, or need any help or advice just ask. We are here to help you make the most of your beach mining experience. Nothing is sadder than someone who waits until almost the last day to bring something to our attention. We can’t help you if you don’t talk to us. I, and my crew, have worked this beach, for quite a few years, and there is no such a thing as a dumb question, unless it’s the one not asked.”

Tolly Beames from Willard Ut, is enjoying his second trip to Cripple River, the first time was for two weeks in 2004. Mr. Beames likes to prospect and fish or maybe fish and prospect depending on his mood. By prospecting, he means not just for gold, but for rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds too. He is a sincere treasure hunter. He has joined the G.P.A.A. twice, once in the 1980’s, but as he let his membership lapse he rejoined in 1994. Now he is an L.D.M.A. and lifetime G.P.A.A. member. This trip to Cripple River he has been very busy fishing. Tolly relates,” I set a fishing goal of catching and releasing 12 to 24 fish a day, yesterday I caught 12 fish in twelve casts, and it took me about twenty-twenty five minutes. All were salmon. The fishing here is the best there is! In his spare time he works the beach box, or goes to the trommel to run the high bankers.

Ray Alden and his son Bryant, are here from St Helen’s Or., for one week. Father and son are relatively new to prospecting (cheechako’s in Alaskan parlance); they joined the G.P.A.A. about two years ago in order to learn ‘how it’s done’. Sharing their love of the outdoors and of gold prospecting is Ray’s better half (and Bryant’s mom) Linda, who had to stay home this trip due to an injury. Linda maybe in the lower forty-eight, but in her heart she is here with her family. Bryant and Ray will have many stories and adventures to share with Linda when they return home, and here’s hoping she can come up to visit us and share in the fun in the near future.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, this weeks’ ATV trip to the Sinuk River was cancelled! There were a lot of long faces around today, as the fishing trip with Perry Massie to the mouth of the river is one of the most anticipated trips in our camp! We have a lot of fun scheduled events, but as we are dealing with real life and Mother Nature here in Alaska, a person has to remain flexible! The truck trip to the trommel left on schedule, even in the rain. Now running some gold gathering equipment is wet business, rain or shine. I have run high bankers many times before and I learned I had better wear wet weather gear, as every high banker I ever worked liked to spit, splash and spray water and mud all over me! I know I will get wet, so the only difference I see is the rain keeps the insects at bay. Wet or dry, that beautiful gold makes it all more than worth it!

Speaking about mud and wet and dry, the ATV trail out of camp to the dredge camp, the trommel, and Ketchmark is muddy, and the tundra sharks are out in force! No matter how many times you ride this trail it is always an adventure, and you never know what is going to happen! Last week, on the trip back from the trommel Perry Massie drove into a boot-sucking bog of the worst kind.

He was leading the group through an area where a tractor had made deep ruts in the trail. His four wheel drive ATV sank so deep and so fast there was nothing he could do except jump off the bike and let several other adventurers help him to pull the ATV free. After years of helping other bogged down people get out of the muck, mud and clay, it was Perry’s turn to get helped! This is a rare happening, as Mr. Massie is truly the best ATV rider I know! I heard that a picture of this once in a lifetime event was taken, but I have yet to see it! Good sport that he is, Perry took all the good natured kidding in stride, as he knows if you are lucky enough to be able to ride the trails out of camp getting stuck happens to the best of us.

Sam Rua’s geology and rock identification classes are going strong, as well as his classes on how to use many different kinds of mining equipment. The nature walks I hold on flowers and plants have been harder to schedule due to the rainy days and the very late starting summer which caused havoc with the scheduled appearance of many of the flowers and plants. Many modern cameras have a moisture sensor, and quit working in damp conditions, so pictures are hard for some people to get! There are lots of wildlife sightings being reported, but again, pictures seem to be limited. We had three moose who stood on a hill across from camp and watched the chow hall, and seven musk ox were seen in a group near Bowhead. We have several very fat sisiliks in camp, one of which is absolutely enormous for an Arctic Squirrel. The dredge camp has a Red Fox the size of a small wolf, and Donna Fairless, from the Ketchmark Camp has seen so many different ‘critters’ it would take pages just to list all the sightings! The birds are out and about and we have had a record number of puffin sightings. Bernie Swiney is holding bird watching tours near camp weekly.

The dredge and the trommel are both in rich looking areas, so the Friday night gold draw should be a great one!

All this talking about things to do and see is really getting to me, so it is time I got out of camp for a while. Until next week, may your life and the bottom of your pan be golden!

Your Friend, Arctic Annie