Jul 16

Written by:
7/16/2007 12:00 AM 

The weather way up here in Alaska has been absolutely ‘beautimous’, especially for beach mining and adventuring! Hot, dry, and sunny with enough of a cool breeze to keep those pesky bugs at bay! The Bering Sea is so smooth that when you look out of the chow hall window at ten p.m. the sunshine reflecting off the blue water looks like millions of twinkling diamonds gently floating on the water. The air is so clear and clean Sledge Island, a bird sanctuary twelve miles west of our camp looks like you could reach out and touch its light gray elephantine shaped back. Some days there will be a light fog where the island meets the sea, and then the island looks like it just floating in the air above the water. From some areas of camp it reminds one of Diamond Head Hawaii, in miniature. Looking out the chow hall window by the coffee pot, the patch work of tundra greens and browns make a perfect setting for the yellows, purples, blues and whites of the carpet of wildflowers leading to the wide blue ribbon of the Cripple River. It is impossible to explain the beauty that feeds both the eye and soul in this unspoiled paradise.

Perry Massie is leading his ATV to the Sinuk River trip this morning and the people getting ready for this adventure are queuing up in front of the chow hall. Happy excited voices can be heard calling back and forth as the time for departure draws nearer. “Got bug stuff?” “Yes, do you have the camera?” “Sure do!” “What about sunscreen?” “Get the extra batteries?” “Here’s Perry!” “Here, we go!” and they are off! A modern day miner’s caravan. As the ATVs pass you can tell these people are out to have fun. The quads are loaded with white buckets, green gold pans, concentrate scoops, fishing poles; tackle boxes, video cameras, a tripod, binoculars, backpacks, and whatever else is needed for a day of fun and adventure. Twenty-six four wheelers, some carrying two people. Perry is in the lead, Georgia second, with Sandy Massie the last in line, ready to offer advice or assistance if needed. This year many of us in camp are sporting sunburns, and it is even hotter when you get away from the main camp. The Arctic Creek area is even warmer (on the average about ten degrees) than main camp, as it is protected by hills on both sides, and doesn’t get the cooling breezes from the Bering Sea. One potential problem associated with the lack of rain, is the water in the dredge area may run a little low. Shorts and short sleeved tee-shirts are being seen a lot, and wearing shorts with hip waders is becoming almost trendy. We are where the weather for the lower forty-eight starts, so why not set some new fashion trends.

Yesterday a pod of whales visited the Bering Sea about 100 yards from our camp. As these gentle giants swam slowly past you could see and hear them sounding from the shore. Water spouted up into the air in whale created geysers. The whales come here to check out the supply of their favorite food. Nice fat seals! The seals come here to check out their favorite food supply, nice fat salmon! In Mother Nature’ food chain, all is as it should be.

It would seem that the animals in the area are intent on checking us out this year. Today a herd of approximately 9-10 Musk Oxen spent most of the day grazing on a hillside across from our camp. When threatened these animals form a circle, with the young calves on the inside, heads and sharp horns on the outside. This is excellent defense against wolves and Brown Bears (what the Grizzly Bear is called in most of Alaska), but not much protection against spears and arrows. By the late 1800’s there were no Musk Ox left in Alaska. In 1938, several breeding cows and bulls were brought back into this area from Greenland, in an attempt to reestablish a viable herd. This was successful, and today the herd is maintained at approximately 2500 animals. These large dark brown shaggy animals, which look a lot like buffalo are a favorite to see and photograph. Their wool, qivet (kiv-ee-ute) is the rarest, softest warmest natural fiber on earth. The outer coat is usually dark brown and extremely soft, thick, and dense, with occasional long black guard hairs. Their undercoat is even softer still, a soft creamy or old ivory color. The qivet can be seen hanging from bushes, or in small patches on the ground. This wool is almost totally odor free, as only during breeding season does the Musk Ox enter a stage of musth where scent glands on the face exude a musky odor to attract potential partners. Selling for $250.00 a pound as raw wool in Anchorage, it is woven by native weavers using traditional patterns and designs. A scarf, muffler, mittens or other garments, are softer than silk, and extremely nice to have.

One of the benefits of my crew job in camp is getting to meet many nice people. Victor Yah, who hails from Mojave Ca., is spending six weeks at the Cripple River Gold Camp. Or rather at the Arctic Creek Dredge Camp. Victor is a relatively new prospector having joined G.P. A.A. about two years ago. A self proclaimed rock hound who makes jewelry and knives as a hobby, along with rebuilding Chevrolet cars, Vic acknowledges he is having a great time. Interested in learning to dredge, Victor brought his wet suit with him and is dredging on a four inch dredge in Arctic Creek. “My first time in the water, when a rock got stuck on the nozzle it was like taking a bone from a Chihuahua , but after a few hours, removing a rock was like trying to take a bone from a Pit Bull.” Victor laughingly explained. And he is right! Dredging is great fun, but it is also darn hard work!

There is a test to see if you are a rock hound. You first buy a bag of marbles at a toy store. Then every time you pick up a rock you leave a marble in its place. When you have lost all your marbles, you are officially a Rock Hound.

Note: the Musk Ox herd is on the move, today it is down by the Penny River, grazing on the tasty young grass, and intimidating ATV riders who want to cross the river and go to town. The small herd moved on after about an hour or so, looking for greener pastures!

Quick camp updates: the flour gold on the beach looks good, the fishing is improving daily with some real nice pinks being caught and eaten or smoked, chum are still catch and release only. Camp is running like a fine tuned watch. The ATV trips with Perry Massie are very popular, and the Truck Trip to the trommel, to run high bankers and try for coarser gold and nuggets, is also another camp favorite. Monday through Friday there are classes given in different aspects of prospecting, using mining equipment, gold recovery, flower and plant identification, metal detecting, geology, dowsing, gold smithing, garnet hunting, and birding to name some of the popular subjects. Each night, the chow hall hosts different games, from bingo to cribbage tournaments. A small but nice lending library is open 24 -7 to supply reading material on a ‘as wanted basis’, and hot tea, coffee, or hot chocolate is available at any hour. We may be considered a ‘primitive’ camp, but we do have quite a few ‘amenities’!

Wednesday is one of the favorite days in camp as it is crabby Wednesday! For ten dollars you can get fresh caught Alaska King Crab served with melted butter for dipping! The only way to get fresher crab is to catch them yourself! Some people buy two tickets, and eat crab until they are fit to burst. For the few no crab lovers, there is an alternative main course. Our own camp manager Ken Rucker cooks the crab, and last week, Perry Massie helped serve the crab and butter. These two men really know how to get a smile on your face. After dinner, smiles of contentment, and maybe even a gentle burp or two shows that crabby Wednesday can’t come often enough.

There has been a red fox hanging around camp this week, checking all of us out. He or she is usually sighted in the bright light about 3 or 4 a.m. Foxy checks out the fishing areas where people clean their catch, and will eat whatever offal is left over by the sea gulls. Later in the year as salmon spawn and die, the foxes feast on fish for several weeks. Three years ago I saw a fox trotting up the Cripple River with her head held high and a giant fish in her mouth. The head of the fish drug in the water on the right and the tail of the fish drug in the water of the left, as this was an enormous salmon! I had time for one quick picture before she climbed the river bank and took her booty back to her den, and her kits. This is a good time to be a baby fox, mom has plenty of nutritious milk, and you can grow fast. Up here the animals need to grow fast as winter comes all too soon. The Arctic Terns have nests of fledglings, and they nest right on the ground on the edge of camp. These normally mild birds become extremely aggressive when they have eggs or young in the nest, and they will swoop down and attack people riding too close to their nests on an ATV. With the whole neighborhood on watch with sharp beaks, the fox has had no luck robbing the nests, so sushi ala salmon is much safer fox food, it at least doesn’t fight back. There is a fox or two visiting dredge camp this year, and he is a real cutie. The pictures of these foxes will be going back to the lower forty-eight to brighten the hearts of everyone who sees them.