The Plural Of Moose, More On Good Looking Material, and a Piece of History Rolls Out of Eagle

I know. The plural of mouse is mice. The plural of louse is lice. So you're thinking the plural of moose should be what? Mice? Meece? Nope. Just Moose. One moose. Two moose. A whole lot of moose, which is really the only point I'm trying to make here. There are a lot of Moose in Chicken. I know how that sounds wierd, but it's true. And lately they have been showing up just about everywhere. In Camp. On the claim. By the side of the road. In the pond by the air strip. And even strolling leisurely down the landing strip itself. I guess it's just a good year for moose. In the plural that is to say. Lots of moose!







Claim Director Gene and I are working side by side mini claims up on Myers Fork. The water is pretty low at the moment- there is (are) more moose than water at the moment so there is much anticipation on what will show up for "color" when we can start running again. Overburden is being moved. Bad looking material being thrown to the side. Good looking material being readied to run. But what of good looking material? Even in side by side holes in the ground, the "look" can be drastically different. So, the question becomes: Is one "good looking material" better looking material than the other. While that remains to be seen (we'll see how it all "pans out") the difference in the appearance of the earth as we excavate it is a most fascinationg part of the exploration for gold. And while we wait to see what will eventuslly come out of the ground- in the meantime we can enjoy more and more of our good looking material.




A piece of history rolled out of Eagle today on the back of a flatbed and not under its own power. At first I thought maybe it was an RV belonging to someone who failed to heed the "soft shoulder" warning on Top of the World Highway and wound up on the "bottom" of the world highway. But instead it turned out to be an old bus that just happened to be in the village of Eagle when the ice was unleashed from the mighty Yukon River during Spring breakup. This should give "Spring Break" a new face for sure. No. The bus was not in an accident. It had simply been crushed by a block of ice as it overflowed the river bank and headed into the village. I thought it funny to look at for a moment, then thought of how sad it actually was- this memento of an event , a time, a place, where lives and history both were changed forever by a single wave of the wand by Mother Nature. The bus is headed for recycling in Fairbanks. The people of Eagle are back home struggling to rebuild ...or have moved away to try their luck in some other place. The bus is but a sign of the times in Alaska.

And Two Years Ago, this time:

Exit Only: A look at one of Alaska's most popular glaciers

IDIDARIDE: A tourists first hand look at "mushing" behind a team of sled dogs

Kenai Fjord Cruise: A whale of a tale, uh tail- oh heck, lots of marine life and plenty if ice...

Sockeye It To Me: we ride um, rope um, catch um on a fly rod

The Gold Metal: a look at the gold from the early part of our first trip to Alaska

That about wraps up another post from Chicken headed into the end of July. It was hot today- well into the 80's. It will still dip into the high 40's tonight, but even that will seem warm and is perfect for sound and restful sleeping. And actually, that sounds pretty good to me right about now....