Aug 8

Written by: alaska
8/8/2007 12:00 AM 

Greetings from the Cripple River Gold Camp! Today it is rainy and cool, almost cold. This is the sixth and last week of camp, and while many people are feeling a little sad, the pace in camp is fast paced. For people here for the entire six weeks, the time has flown by. It is easy to put off until later many of the activities you want to do, or places you want to go to, or even checking out that interesting gravel bar in the river when you have the entire 6 weeks of summer ahead of you. However, with this season soon coming to a close, everyone is trying to do as much as possible as “later’ has become right now! Procrastinators are now active ‘doers’. Gale Reamer a crew member from Paso Robles Ca., says it best “It is kind of like the week before Christmas, when everything you want to do isn’t done yet.” Yep, that’s the feeling!”

One activity that has been quite popular this week is whale watching. A group of several people including Jan Stromme Winooski Vt., Jeff King Upper Peninsula (U.P.) Michigan., Mike Refner Big Sur Ca., and JR Brandvold Eureka Ca., as well as a couple of people who didn’t identify themselves, spent a good half hour watching a cow and calf play in the Bering Sea about 75 yard out from our camp. The two Minke Whales surfaced every minute or so, moving slowly westward. The cow was blackish in color and about twenty feet long. Many photographs were taken along with videos.

The same day Bill Reamer was working on his beach box running the rich black sand down the riffles to get the gold out, when he again saw a Dahl (pronounced Doll) Porpoise. These aquatic animals are named for the biologist Dr. Dahl, who discovered them along with the Dahl sheep. This porpoise has been hanging around the same area of the sea and has been seen by Bill on five or six different days. I’m sure that the porpoise is wondering why Bill would spend time working for a heavy cold metal when there are so many warm tasty salmon just asking to be invited to be dinner! ‘People watching’ seems to be a favorite pastime with the local wild life this year! At least the polite musk ox and the moose don’t expect us to pose for their cameras!

With the abundance of animal sightings this year (or people sightings by the animals) unusual meetings have also happened. One such meeting, Called Close Encounters of the Animal Kind, would have made a good reality T.V. program. A group of Cripple River-ers, on their way to town were almost ran over when a group of about a dozen musk ox came galloping over the tundra, down the hill and onto the beach right in front of the startled Atvers. The musk ox, is called ‘omingmak’ or the animal with skin like a beard by Inupiaq-speaking Eskimos. These are large animals with the cows standing four feet high at the shoulder and weighing in at 400 to 500 pounds. The bulls are five feet high and weigh 600 t0 800 pounds. Calves are born in the spring and weigh between 22 and 31 pounds, but gain weight rapidly and will weigh 150 to 235 pounds as yearlings. Not exactly what you would want to sit in your lap while you were riding your ATV! The herd, mostly adults, also had a very young calf in it. With a young one to protect these massive and usually gentle beasts were probably frightened by someone in a vehicle who got too close for the little one’s safety. This area of the tundra has several back roads on it and they lead past an old bucket line dredge that attracts many sight seers. After the initial shock and surprise, everyone in the group enjoyed the excitement of the unique experience of being so close to a herd of wild musk ox. Cameras were quickly pulled out to record this event for posterity.

Sunday morning about 10 a.m. Bonnie Ofchar Hanover Mi., was standing out by the panning shed looking for garnets when she happened to look out at the Bering Sea. She saw three large animals swimming west. These were Dahl Porpoises and were dark in color and they were porpoising through the water, taking short curving jumps up into the air, landing back in the water and then immediately jumping again. With three porpoises playing at the same time it was like watching an elegant dance across the water. There have been so many animal sightings, moose and musk ox across from the chow hall, fox at the dredge and trommel camps, and so many ‘critter’ sightings at the Ketchmark Camp, there is not enough room to list them all!

I did not mention last week that again members from our camp did us proud at the annual Poorman’s Paradise Gold Panning Contest in Nome. John Elander from Ca., took first with a time of 42 seconds, Blake Harmon from Ca., took second with a time of 45 seconds, and a local man Angus Mazoona from Nome was third with a time of 58 seconds. Perry Massie did an exhibition of speed panning and his time of 18 seconds was only what was expected from this ‘pro’. This event celebrated the 108th anniversary of the discovery of gold in Nome, and is hosted by the Gold Prospectors Association of America Temecula Ca. and Rasmussen’s Music Mart in Nome Ak.

The number one draw Friday night was again more than respectable, weighing in at 16 pennyweights, or slightly more than ¾ of an ounce. Number two draw was unusual as it had a small piece of rose quartz in it. All gold is beautiful, large gold is special, but the most extra special gold of all---large or small---is gold that is yours to keep!!!

Fishing is good, with many Silver Salmon being caught, with some being released, some being cooked and eaten, and some being smoked and vacuum sealed. These fish seem to really like salmon eggs this year. Young Jake Yorde, a mature 13 year old angler caught a 31 inch 12 ½ pound Silver using salmon eggs and twelve pound test line. This nice example of fishdom was frozen and will be taken to the lower 48 where it will be the main attraction at a family dinner. One Silver caught by Jayel Magruder, when held up reached from his belt buckle to the ground. And many more nice fish are being caught daily. Some people come to Cripple River Gold Camp, every year and never once prospect. They come only for the fishing. This week, for many, the search for ‘Silver’ seems to be outstripping the prospecting for gold!

Tom Massie started a camp frenzy last night when he announced at supper that he had again hidden 20 of his Fantastically Fabulous Treasure Tins. Small Altoid Mint sized boxes filled with super nice ‘gifties’. Each box is wrapped in duct tape so it can also be buried for metal detecting. And the hunt was on!!! Monday night Bingo is usually well attended, but not last night’s game. Treasure Fever; a close relative of Gold Fever; bit many of the people eating dinner, including Lindsey Rudolph who found the very first Treasure Tin at the camp’s wood pile. Mr. Robert Castrop, found two of Tom’s Treasures near the old ATV’s sitting past supply. Seventeen more to go! Skookum of Tom Massie (Chinook for pretty darn smart) to announce his treasure hunt at dinner!

Now I am frequently asked where can you find gold at Cripple River, and I answer “almost everywhere.” This year I did an experiment. I asked one of the crew who cleaned hooches to save the dirt from one or two for me, and I panned it out. There was some fine gold, I snuffered it into a gold vial. Dirt from my hooch, panned it out---gold. I saw where the dirt had been swept out of the trading post into a small pile. I scooped it up and panned it out---nice gold, some coarse. The black sand in the bottom of the panning tubs, gold again! I used a stiff bristle brush and swept out the dry fresh water clean up boxes---gold, mostly flour. Several people brought me their dirt from their own hooches in order to help me with my experiment; you’ve got it, gold. Ralph Rogers gave me the sweepings from his container, 7 washers, 5 nails (three bent and rusty), two bolts and nuts, chunks of wire, and a rusty what-was-it? And GOLD!!! After five and a half weeks of ‘prospecting the discards’ I shocked everyone except my husband, by actually coming up with over 2 ½ penny weight of found gold, including a small nugget and two ‘pickers’! Now in 2005 I compiled a list of Arctic Annie’s helpful hints, and I will repeat one here. If you sweep it up---Pan it Out! (You may not have lost much gold, but what about the people who were there before you?) So I repeat, if you sweep it up, pan it out, or give the dirt to me!

For me, yesterday was almost a perfect day! I was at Arctic Creek for the weekend and panned out concentrates left from last year. It feels good to finally get those done. Not a lot of gold, but it is still gold! Right after noon I left Arctic Creek Dredge Camp, to ride the seven miles down to main camp, alone. Now this worries my husband as he is concerned I will get stuck in a mud bog; or worse wander off on some adventure or other and forget to be cautious. Now I like to ride with other people---usually. But now and then, a trip all by myself is a fantastic treat. I can ride really fast and not worry about others keeping up with me, or ride extremely slow, and look at every interesting rock or flower, or animal track. I can stop for musk ox wool, turn over rocks on the trail to see what’s under them, you name it. Take flower picture after flower picture. I can turn off my ATV and wait for the clouds to blow over and the sun beams to shine on me. I stop at my favorite place on the trail--- at the very tippy top, shut off my quad, and let the silence fall. As I look down and behind me I can see the sparkling blue of the Cripple River as it curves and snakes back towards the dredge camp. A curving ribbon of turquoise blue in a veritable sea of rolling greens and browns, relieved by the occasion snow white rock. The varied shades of green look like silky smooth velvet, but I know this is an illusion, and that in reality the tundra in this area has many little hummocks and valleys in it making walking an effort. I’m in shade, but the sun is shining on the hills all around the dredge camp. “Good light for the divers on the eight inch common operation to dredge in”, I muse. The area towards the Trommel is in shade. I look down the trail in front of me at the brown of the trail that seems to cut through the brightly colored flowers and grasses that line the trail. Purple, gold, yellow, white, and blue, the colorful flowers are gently nodding their heads in the breeze. Then the clouds blow over and the golden sunshine washes over the ground all around me, the beautiful colors of the flowers now glitter and glow in glowing brilliant color. I look down towards the river, snow white birds are flying over the water fishing for their lunch. Yeagers? Probably. I imagine I can almost hear their shrill cries, but I know I am too far away. The sunshine has warmed the air around me; the light breeze is keeping the mosquitoes and gnats away. I feel like I am alone, but I’m not the least bit lonely. I’m on a hill top in Alaska, with only my guardian angel watching over me, I can feel her warming golden presence. I am fully at peace with the world, and I let the peace and contentment wash over me, and through me filling up the empty places in my soul. Life is truly precious and beautiful. I am surrounded by a blanket of beauty and a silence so deep, I can soak it in. I look at my watch, oops, forty-five minutes have gone by, time to head on to main camp. I’m off again, slowly, looking at rocks and flowers singing softly to myself. Yes sir-ee, almost a totally perfect day. You see, I forgot my hip waders at the dredge camp, and I am riding back to main camp in my slippers, and the mud from the bogs is getting all over my pants, socks, and slippers! Yick, what a black gummy mess! But my trip was well worth it!

Al Marconi from Ca., our camp manager wants to say a few words to everyone today. “Camp is going great, everyone has a real positive attitude, plans are being made, even as you read this, for improvements for next year. We are always looking forward, to future gold camps. I want to thank everyone in advance, both participants and crew for making this a fun year.”

And on behalf of the crew, “we all want to say a heartfelt thank you for a job well done, to Al, and to Ken for a good year here.”

We have a thief in camp! Lock up your valuable fish! A mother fox has been seen in camp carrying off fish scraps this year. Yesterday she took an entire fish! It had just been caught and was lying on the river bank waiting to be filleted when a hungry mother fox with extra mouths to feed snuck up, grabbed the fish and ran away with it. Pictures were taken of her leaving with the stolen goods, and a good description was available. She is small, reddish or golden brown with dark or black legs, a slim body and long bushy tail. As of this writing there is no reward for information on her wherabouts, but fisher-folk, be warned. Guard your catch.

I see Al Marconi, Camp Manager Extraordinaire, and he is selling crab tickets for our Crabby Wednesday Pot Latch, (Alaskan for pot luck)! Now I love to eat those Alaskan King Crabs almost as much as I like to prospect, so I’m off to buy a ticket or two! As camp closes this Saturday, this is so long until next year! May your life and the bottom of your pan turn golden!

Your Friend, Arctic Annie!

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