Greetings from the Cripple River Gold Camp! It has happened here in our camp again!!! It happened in the night and took the entire camp by surprise! Everyone is out looking and searching, hunting and hoping! What was it you ask? A kid-napping? Nope, we had a kid napping once, we just woke him up and told him to go outside and play! I’m talking about the fact that Pirate Tom “The Treasure Hiding” Massie has been at it again! In the wee hours of the morning, taking care not to be seen and this is not easy to do as it is still light at 3 a.m., ole Long Tom the Golden (possible distant relative to Long John Silver who chased the wrong precious metal) slipped through the camp as silent as a shadow, (okay, a rather large shadow) and hid 20 boxes of his special brand of treasure. These along with boxes still not found from previous years means there are a score and five beautiful little bodacious beauties waiting to be discovered! No one is sure what is inside these metal Altoid like tins. They are covered with duct tape and numbered on the top, and they are well worth the effort to find them!!! In years past they have contained items like gold nuggets and pickers, jade or walrus ivory carvings, signed drawings by Tom, hat pins from years past, new 1/8th ounce gold coins, and/or various other treasure items. They may be on things or in things or buried for metal detecting. They will be between the Penny River and Edwards Creek, and on this side of the Cripple River. They will not be in any private hooch, containers, workshops, or in places or things where you shouldn’t be! From the Ole Pirate Tom himself, “If you think, ‘I wonder if I should be looking here’, you shouldn’t! I didn’t hide them anywhere you shouldn’t be.) So happy and safe treasure hunting!
Our fearless Camp Manager left for the lower forty-eight today, and will be missed by participants and crew alike. Brandon Johnson hopes to be able to return next year for all six weeks. In the short time whilehe was here Brandon started to carve a special spot out for himself in our camp, and he can’t come back too soon.
In Brandon’s absence he has named Dennis Yorde from Waterford Wisconsin, as Assistant Camp Manager, through the end of this year! This is Mr. Yorde’s seventh year at Cripple River. Dennis says, “This is going to be a challenge to fill Al Marconi’s and Ken Rucker’s big shoes. But with their past training I hope to do as good as they did in this assignment. Camp is running fine except that the weather is not co-operating, so we are not getting people on ATV trips, or to the outer camps as much as we like. The fishing is good. The silver’s are running! The radio reported (while I was truck driving) that this is the biggest pink salmon population in recorded history, even bigger than 2004. I have an open door policy, so if you have a problem that you can’t resolve, whether you are a participant or crew member, feel free to bring it to me! I am always available! For you”
Every year Nome celebrates her golden past and the discovery of gold in her streams and on her beaches with the Poor Man’s Paradise Gold Panning Competition, this year is the 109th anniversary. Held in East End Park, and co-sponsored by Leo Rasmussen’s Music Shop and the G.P.A.A., the celebration is a favorite with people of all ages. Everyone loves a good reason for a festival! This year in the speed panning contest the Cripple River Gold Camp again did itself proud. The camp sent in a truck with people who wanted to see the festivities, and/or enter the panning contest. Other Cripple River hopefuls rode in on their ATV’s. The panning contest works like this. A gold pan is filled with sand. Three gold small nuggets are placed in a gold pan of sand, and pushed down out of sight. Time starts when the participants have their pans on the edge of the panning tubs and the judge says go! You pan as fast as you can, and as soon as you can see the nuggets you pick them out and place them in a large glass vial and screw the top on. People pan two at a time. The person with the fastest time for the day wins. No tricks, no smoke, no mirrors. Just skill and maybe some luck! This year Kenneth Rucker, our Camp Manager from Temecula California, took first place, a beach miner from Nome, (I’m sorry I don’t have his name) took second, third place was awarded to Richard Beneville, a delightful one man goodwill ambassador from Nome, who comes out to our camp every Friday night for the Entertainment Extravaganza and sings New York, New York! Fourth place was taken by Cripple River’s John Lechliter, a champion wood-splitter as well as gold panner from the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, and our camp photographer, store keeper, author of the Cripple River Annual Year Book, and all around good guy, Blake Harmon from Big Bear California took fifth place! All in all a great showing for the G.P.A.A.
The weather continues to be ‘iffy’, even the locals are complaining about the colder summer weather and the rain. One elderly woman I spoke to, named Ismalda said, “When I was a little girl my mama told me that summers like this happen so we would appreciate the great summers that will follow. Next summer and for several years after will be almost perfect weather. That is the way.” I sure hope she’s right! We did have several nice days last week, and some of us went to town on two of them.
The first trip was to find Bering Sea beach glass. A Cripple River truck dropped a group of us ladies and gentlemen off at East Beach for a two and ½ hour beach glass hunt, and we took food from the self serve shelves in the chow hall to have a beach picnic, and we were off for the day. A few of us rode our ATV’s as the truck was full. After a storm or two the waves had washed up beach glass in abundance, and it was there for everyone to find. Even first time collectors managed to find a nice selection of this nicely tumbled glass from the past. Greens, browns frosted/clears, aquas, even cobalt blue and five or six red pieces were found! Some white milk glass, not to be confused with old white beach pottery, which when found is mostly plain but a few pieces still have blue and white or other color designs. As well as the glass some interesting rocks and unusual driftwood was found. A good time was had by everyone on this trip.
The second trip to town a few days later was to the same beach to hunt more beach glass, combined with a birthday lunch in Nome. Time slipped away, the day was warm and nice, and we went to a different beach for more glass. Then on to the grocery, clothing, everything store. Finally we started home, tired but happy, a day in town spent with good friends! On the ATV ride back to camp I was watching the sea. The salt water was a medium blue with tiny waves dancing in perfect step---row after row after row, as far as the eye could see! (It looked like the Bering Sea had blue marcelled hair!) These waves were gently washing into shore, not even disturbing the sand. Low tide is over I thought and it is the changing of the guard for the waves. The beach road was smooth, and we were making good time. Sea gulls sitting on the beach in front of me would wait and take off at the last moment in a kind of lazy protest, they would grudgingly move, but let me know they weren’t happy about it. As we headed towards the camp the sun started reflecting off the water to shine right in my eyes, temporarily blinding me! I refused to put on sun glasses as I enjoyed the sun as it sparkled and shone and jumped on the water, almost like it was playing tag with some invisible water sprites. At home with the sun in sky in the 2:30 to 3:00 in the afternoon position, it doesn’t bother the driver, but the glare off the water was bright. Beautiful blue water, blinding yellow-white-bright glare, so finally I started watching the green tundra more than the water. I did keep on smelling the delicious fresh clean smells ever so lightly touched with salt; filling my lungs with the most perfect sea air on earth, and my entire being with a perfect day. I was sorry to get back to camp. As Jim and Bonnie and John and I stop in front of my hooch I look at my watch, it is 9:15 p.m!!! The land of the midnight sun had fooled me again!!!
Until next time, may your life and the bottom of you pan be golden!!!
Your Friend, Arctic Annie