Jul 24

Written by:
7/24/2007 12:00 AM 

Greetings from the Cripple River Gold Camp! The last three days the weather turned on us, and the hot sunshine turned into clouds and sprinkles of rain. A slow cold wind from the North Pole blew through camp one day and chilled everything down. Today, the bright golden sunshine is back, but the wind is still just a ‘tad’ nippy. Perfect weather for a lot of us who trek north each summer looking for gold, fun, adventure, and to escape the 105 plus degree heat of the ‘Desert South West’. You have bright sun to find gold or garnets, and a nice cool breeze to keep those little flying pests away. Today our normally light blue Bering Sea is a little choppy and appears a deep blue green. There are a few low clouds on the horizon sitting on the water separating the blue of the sea from the blue of the sky.

As I sit here writing in the chow hall, I can see people working in the panning tub area near the fish smokers, checking out their concentrates, or picking garnets and laughing with each other over some funny story, joke or experience. This camp is a good place for old friends to get back together again, or to make new friends, some for life.

Our camp manager, Ken Rucker from California, is spending his fifth summer at Cripple River, “This year we have been blessed with beautiful weather. The neat thing about this camp is that it is always changing and improving. Everything just keeps getting better and better! Our trusty crew is doing a fine job keeping things running as smoothly as possible.” Ken leaves us in a few days, and he will be passing his crown and scepter to the camp manager for the next (last) three weeks, Al Marconi. Al from Torrance Ca. besides being a real sweetie, is a true sourdough as he has been a regular at the Cripple River Gold Camp since 1992, and has prospected in the lower forty-eight for many years.

I know I write a lot about gold prospecting and beach mining, and that is as it should be, as the primary purpose of this camp is to let people learn how to find gold, and use some different kinds of gold getting equipment. Prospectors with experience can learn new techniques and refine their skills. One thing I have noticed, more men seem to be into prospecting than women. In this camp men outnumber women an average of three to one. Now don’t get me wrong, there are many women who are really into prospecting for gold, and every year to my delight, we get a few of these hard working lady miners in our camp, hoorah! However, many women also come up to Cripple River just to spend some real quality time with their husbands. (No television, cell phones, calls from work, video games etc.) These adventurous ladies run a beach box or high- banker, and then pan out concentrates and in general go along with their husbands, and work very hard. We even get the occasional husband who has not succumbed to the gold bug’s bite, at least not yet, who accompanies his wife (the true prospector) to Cripple River Gold Camp and beyond. There are, however, members of the female persuasion who do not “do gold”! So what is there for them to do in camp? Anything they want to! Practice singing, playing a musical instrument, dancing, or telling a joke so they can perform on stage in Cripple River’s Friday Night Extravaganza held in our ‘saloon’. Read some good books from our small lending library. Catch up on long lost sleep. Tour the town of Nome. Shop in Nome for souvenirs, T-shirts, post cards or gifts with an unusual Alaskan flair. Garnet pick, and fill up vials with these small semi-precious stones. Make unusual arts and crafts items with treasures found whilst beachcombing. Pick up unusual drift wood to ship home to family and friends. Hunt for smooth tumbled beach glass from the Bering Sea. Take photographs or videos of colorful flowers, unusual animals, or fantastic scenery.

Play cards or other games. Treasure hunt, metal detect, or dowse for lost items. Learn to ride an ATV. Go fishing for salmon. Smoke their catch to take back home, or eat here. Walk on the beach, inhale the health sea air and get in better shape. Sit of the porch roofs and re-paint the signs on the building’s old false fronts. Chuckle at the men standing by the washing machines who don’t know how to do laundry. (Not nice, but???) Practice playing the bagpipes. The list could go on and on, as you are only limited by your imagination. The most unusual activity I witnessed this year; was a lady scrubbing an enormous moose antler (she just has the one) with soap, bleach and a scrub brush to get it clean to send back home. Now this is not as strange as it seems, as this antler was found in the creek and was a little dark and funky before it was washed up. After its bubble bath and drying out, the huge antler is a real treasure! There’s never a dull moment in Cripple River!!!

Kara Redding, a personable young lady from Torrance Ca. has been in camp for two weeks, and really likes it here. “It is really old fashioned, most of the buildings don’t have electricity so you go want to go outside and be more active. Everyone is real friendly; you can strike up a conversation with anybody. I haven’t prospected for gold, but I have beach combed and I learned to ride an ATV here. This is a great place to come with your family. I know how to pan for gold, my grandfather taught me, but I have been too busy!” Kara admitted she wishes the bathroom facilities were more modern, but she also knows why this is not possible.

Russell Droll from Tucson, Az. just arrived in camp a couple of days ago. “Everyone is very friendly, the fishing is great and I caught a salmon on my first cast! I used a reddish pink lure that is about the color of like salmon eggs. I let the fish go and continued fishing. I also have been gold panning and went to the trommel to run the high bankers. I learned to ride an ATV. I hope dad buys me one for Christmas. I would like to come back to Cripple River again next year.”

People come here to celebrate many “firsts”. Gerald Beauchaine from Monterey, Ca. is a “First Timer”! This is Gerald’s first time in camp, it was his first time flying on an airplane, his first time riding a quad, etc. Yesterday he found his very first mammoth tooth! “I was riding down the beach towards the Sinuk River, following a friend. I saw something that looked unusual in the sand of the trail, so I stopped to check it out. I was very excited with my special Cripple River Find!” Gerald has only been a member of G.P.A.A. for two years, and has been prospecting for one year. “I’ll definitely be back next year!” he said emphatically. Well done Gerald! See you back here next year!

Perry Massie left camp for the lower forty-eight this weekend. Jack Tucker, from Wickenburg, AZ. volunteered to lead the weekly ATV Trip to the Sinuk River today, where Tom Massie will be making some movie magic for the Outdoor Channel Television show. This is a sight seeing trip, with a picnic and an opportunity to beach comb.

I’m sure you have noticed that from time to time cleverly hidden in The Chronicle is a miss spelled word or two, a grammatical mistake or an unusual punctuation mark. We try to please everybody, and this is for my college English professor, and those people who delight in finding things like this in print. Happy hunting! Last week, however, I mis-spelt a name. Victor Yawl, who dredges and fights with his dogs, was typed in as Victor Yaw. Sorry ‘bout that, after spelling Chihuahua, I was tired out.

The weather continues to be sunny and nice, and fishing is good again this year. Hope to have an update on Tom Massies’ prospecting trip for next week. Time for me to get out and about, and work up some material I found last week, so until next time, may your life and the bottom of your pan turn golden!

Your friend, Arctic Annie!