Jul 10

Written by:
7/10/2009 12:00 AM 

Greetings from the Cripple River Gold Camp! We have been having absolutely perfectly-scrumptitious weather! Today it is hot, still 76 degrees on the thermometer outside my hooch at 6 p.m., sunny all day and up to 1 or 2 a.m., and barely a breeze to be felt. Miners were out and about everywhere, with the laughing comments of "I’ll be back before dark!" As we’re in the Land of The Midnight Sun, that means don't wait up. (I think the first real "dark" is in October). The Bering Sea is smooth as blue-green glass, and there are black and white puff balls floating all over it off in the distance. They appear to wink in and out of existence like a magic show. The sea birds are diving for their sushi fish lunch. The air is so clean and pure you can see the colors of Cape Nome 12 miles in the distance. And you're in Alaska - a perfect day.

Crabby Wednesday is still very popular with fresh-caught Bering Sea Alaska King Crab being available, with drawn butter and strawberry shortcake for desert. For the non-crab lovers, it is noodles and meatballs, three-bean salad, and a delicious homemade roll, and strawberry shortcake. Plenty of good food for all!

This year in camp we have a talented woodcarver. Actually he’s been here before but has kept his talent a well-hidden secret! Rodger Bartley from Tiffin, Ohio, has been coming to our camp for four years, the first two years as a participant, and now this is his second year on crew. Rodger has been carving wood for 15 years.

"I started carving seriously by taking lessons so I could carve a realistic face, not a folk-arty one," Bartley said. "Now I design my own pieces. I take that piece of bark, or tree limb, and carve what I see in it. Every individual piece is different. Even if I tried to carve the same face in two pieces of wood, it would come out different. I carve to relax. I enjoy it, for me it is just like anybody else who really likes their hobby. People must like the same things I do because they seem to really like what I carve.”

Everyone here who has seen Rodger's art knows that he doesn't just see a face in the wood. He sees the hidden magic, and he uses the skills in his hands and in his heart to bring that magic (and its face) out of hiding and into the light of day, setting it free for all to enjoy. And seeing that special face - that no one else could see - come out into the world is what everyone in camp responds to with such ooohs and aaahs of approval and excitement! Waiting at home is Rodger's first love, his wife Janet, who is really into flowers, as well as Rodger, but he doesn't deal well with temperatures below 70 degrees. Janet is waiting more or less "patiently" for her man to return with his stories of his Cripple River adventures and his photographs of Alaskan Wildflowers. And especially to mow their enormous yard. To us, Rodger is a talented artist. To Janet, he is also her long-missing husband and I’m sure she has a "honey do" list just waiting for him that doesn't include a lot of carving!

Fishing has improved with the salmon run starting, but it seems that fishing can be a dangerous job. This week, one man tripped over his fishing pole and skinned his knee, and one man got a fishing lure in his thumb on the Sinuk River Trip! Be careful out there. Accidents can happen when you least expect it.

Perry Massie led a group of 18 ATVS carrying 22 hardy ATV riders up to the Sinuk River on his famous (or is it infamous?) ATV trip. This year, the beach trail is rough and bumpy, with rocks to dodge, driftwood scattered everywhere, a slide to cross, and is a challenge. Several riders ended up with water in their hip waders, crossing a small stream. Once there, fishing was great. Perry cleaned eight fish for 22 people, though hot dogs were also cooked. Beachcombers hunted for sea shells, rocks, jade, and interesting driftwood then, satiated with food and adventure, the ATVers mounted their trusty metal steeds for the trek back to the civilization of the Cripple River Gold Camp.

On the same day, another group of adventures headed for the east beach of Nome and a tumbled beach glass hunt. Some hunters weren't just beach glass purists, and they also looked for rocks, jade, driftwood, or whatever interesting 'beachy' things they liked. This group was escorted by Arctic Annie, accompanied by Bonnie Ofchar. This was an ATV and a truck trip. Both beach glass and beach pottery was found, one piece of jade, and many tumbler quality quartz rocks were picked up, along with many other interesting small and medium (fist-sized) rocks with unusual colors. Lunch was taken, but everyone was too busy and too excited to eat on the beach, so lunch was eaten in town later instead. Everyone had a very successful day, and a great time. Most people went shopping in Nome afterwards, took photos, toured the museum, and came back to Cripple River loaded down with rocks, glass, purchases, pictures, and lifetime memories.

Nancy Dawson from Henry, Ill., is here with her husband, Ken. They came to Cripple River Gold Camp for one week this year as they "love Alaska for its natural beauty, wildness, and gentle people." Ken enjoys prospecting for gold and is taking his concentrates home to work them out over the next two weeks. Nancy enjoys walking the beach looking for beach glass, and picking up beautiful rocks.

"I really liked the Bering Sea and the salt air, the camp fox, and the good food," Nancy said."The people here are so nice. I have no complaints."

Nancy and Ken plan to sell their home and build a cabin in Circle, Alaska. They are brand-Lost Dutchman Mining Association members and plan to travel, prospect and do Gold Shows.

The hig-bankers at the Trommel Camp are doing well this week, good coarse gold with some pickers, but still no nice size nuggets have been reported. We have had several truck trips to the trommel this week, one in particular turned into a mini adventure when two trucks left our camp Tuesday for the trommel. One of the trucks 'died' along the way. Don Cady from Belfair, Wash., was on that truck. It broke down while going 25 or 30 miles an hour and jumped out of gear, out by the Nome Corrections Center. The other truck, driven by Sam, transferred the lady miners and a couple of the guys he had room for into his truck and finished his run to the trommel. The rest of the men waited alongside the road with their disabled truck. While they were waiting for rescue, Don saw a wrecked plane he is sure was Amelia Erhart’s old airplane.

"The world thinks she is lost in the Pacific somewhere, but I know better, as I’ve seen her old plane at the Fire Training Center outside Nome, Alaska," he said.

While waiting for rescue, the rocks in the pit were closely examined for gold or jade or whatever, and the roadside was thoroughly inspected. You never know what you might find, or where! The temperature was a hot, sunny 80 degrees! The group was about an hour late arriving at the trommel, where Don and his high-banking partner, Jack, managed to shovel at least one-third a yard of material in about an hour to make up for lost time! In retrospect, Don feels they ran too much material too fast, and next time they will slow down a little, to give the material more time to wash properly so the gold can be separated from the rocks and dirt.

"I came to the Cripple River Gold Camp to learn about gold prospecting, and I’ve learned more than I thought I ever would," Don said. "I’m so impressed with the camaraderie and the Massie family values, how the whole family works and stays together, and support each other, you see it in their TV shows, and that attitude extends throughout the entire camp. I plan to come back.”

Today is another sunny, beautiful day, and the Bering Sea is a beautiful blue, the tundra is glowing with a green energy, and I can hear it calling to me, inviting me to come out and play. And so I must go!

Until next time, may your life and the bottom of your pan turn golden! Your friend, Arctic Annie