The Moose's Caboose

When I was kid, we lived in a small cottage, for lack of a better word, in the countryside of Pennsylvania. We had a coal furnace and running water but you took your showers in the basement by the furnace to keep warm during that exercise. Eventually we had "inside plumbing" too but there was an outhouse (yes, to the Sears Catalog thing) outside. Most all of us have become spoiled by our comforts nowadays and I can't help but wonder if a simpler time may have been a better time. I suppose perspective is the controlling factor. Here in Chicken, life is a lot like it was for me in the old homestead. I like it like that. Maybe not all year long and in the winter, but for now it is exceptional. Power to the camp is via a generator during the day. 20 Amps each- like one plug in the sheet rock in the wall of your house. You must be selective about the appliances you need and the appliances you want. There is no waste. Because there is no extra for the "extras." If you want water, you can go fetch it from the generator driven pump on the water tank which we tote in every day from a well nearby by truck. There is no wasted water, or you're out until we fill the tank. Brush teeth fast. Wash quick. Take a shower in the quarter driven, propane heated shower house- ah luxury! Shower quick. Most of us dry camp. Only a few sites with even the 20 amp electric. The nice thing about the out house is you don't have to flush; just close the lid and exit when finished. The seat may be a tad cool in the early morning hours, but they are kept oh so clean- even to the point where tourists comment about "the cleanest outhouses in the world." Well, yea! This is Chicken! Everything is special, even if it is simple, basic, the old-fashioned way.

But back to my point. Back in the Oley Valley, there was a caboose that was used as a residence down in the valley. For reasons I no longer recall (but mother and dad will refresh my memory when they read this for sure) we called it the Moose's Caboose. Maybe just because it rhymed and sounded nice. Like I said, those were simpler times. And that was the first thing that popped into my mind this morning when the moose and her newborn calf came dashing across the camp parking area, right smack down the side of the coach and disappeared with lightning speed into the willow brush at the back (the caboose, don't you see?) of the coach. It happened at high noon. Which, by the way, is only slightly "lighter" than midnight now, since sunset tonight was scheduled for 11:59 PM. I'd come back from the Myers Fork Gold Claim operated by the Chicken Gold Camp and Outpost. I had taken some folks up and guided them to some producing spots earlier in the morning in the cool drizzle and rain. I was wet for sure and a bit cool when I returned and had come back to the coach for some dry duds and the bottoms to my rain gear. With one foot in the pants to the rain suit and hopping on the other foot while trying to suit up, it is NOT possible to bound across the floor quickly enough to grab a camera and take a picture of a mother/daughter moose team moving at full tilt. Trust me, I now know this to be true. But it was another special moment on the Chicken Tour and if you were here and paying attention at exactly the right moment- you caught the action as well. Even if you didn't see the moose coming...perhaps you might see the moose's caboose!

I gave quite a few panning lessons today in the afternoon. We have a lot of European clients passing through and I enjoy them all. Gold panning is new to most all of them so helping them find gold in their pan is very rewarding all the way around. But sometimes something gets lost in the translation, as they say. So today when I finished my lesson with a very lovely German couple, and told them to give it a try on their own while I observed, the gentleman went and took a big shovel full of dirt off the paydirt pile, carried it over to his pan, but instead of depositing the load into the pan he proceded to dump the full shovel into the panning trough.
"Nooooooooo"
Too late. Gold sinks to the bottom of whatever it can when placed in water and this was no exception. We all had a big laugh! I have a new line to my panning lessons now. The gold gets "washed" in the pan, not the trough!
As I was finishing up with lessons for the day around 8 o'clock, boss man Mike came out and said he wished to do one more demo for all those at the panning troughs with me. That was something new. He said he knew I had already taught them to pan, but he wanted to do a "speed lesson" for them. So with a rather rascally smile on his face he carried his pan to the dirt pile and put a shovel full in it, came over to the trough, and said- "You don't have to pan slowly, you can go fast and the gold will stay in the pan." Well that's more than true for experienced panners but for novices- not so much. They are scared that they are throwing the gold out of the pan...and in fact some do. Anyway Mike panned his pan in under a minute, much to everyone's amazement. But what really sent them hooting and a hollering was that there was an ounce and a half nugget in the bottom of the pan when he was finished. Now this is a place where the panning dirt is NOT salted. There are no "fixes" here. It's real mining- you either find gold or you don't (trust me, though, everyone does!) But this was a nugget- the biggest that has been found here by tourists, by "pay to play" customers and Mike, in a masterful display of showmanship, dropped it in the pan for the sheer joy of the moment. I took it as a stroke of genius and personally I hope he repeats the event at least weekly. You see a nugget like that once in your life, you will think about it for the rest of your life. Ain't no doubt in my mind! No one that got Mike's demo quit panning until well into the wee hours.....


Continuing our That Was Then series, two years ago we were in Fairbanks seeing the sites and taking it all in. Some of the best values for your buck and some of the best all Alaskan introduction activities to be had in the state are in Fairbanks, so if you're headed North To Alaska, this should be on you "must read" list:

Fun With Fairbanks

The Fire Is Out!

Fire? Did someone say fire? I didn't hear anything about no stinkin' fire! Well, no, you didn't. Because I chose not to mention it until we knew what course it would run. No need scaring folks and making them change their travel plans out of fear of a forest fire that may or may not continue to grow. And I can now tell you- it's out and all seems well here in Chicken. Having just only a short while back written of a fire that, 5 years ago, threatened the village and burned 1.3 million acres of timber land, we were all a bit nervous a week or so back when a thunder storm passed through and a lightning bolt touched off a fire some three miles away from us. The fire was noticeable within minutes of the strike. The billowing smoke told us it was catching and spreading rapidly. A day later it had gotten much bigger and two days later it was getting downright scary. But then came the airplanes dropping fire retardant. And the Alaskan Fire Brigade. The Tok Fire Keepers. And Alaskan Fire Fighting Elite troops known as the "Hot Shots." The helicopters with their water dipping baskets gliding below the whirling blades. And so round the clock for days the epic battle between fire fighter and fire raged only miles away. Nature picks a winner in such struggles and on this occasion- Fire Fighters 1 , Fire 0 - game over. Now a smaller crew watches over the hot spots to make sure what is out stays out. We sleep better now, although it never felt like the danger was immediate.
"Shall we be nervous yet?" I asked several days into a growing fire.
"Not yet."
And so we never did. Get nervous, I mean. But the charcoal covered faces of the men (and a woman) who fought the fire when they came off the front lines for a break and a hot meal told a different story. They were dealing with the fire face to face. Taking the heat. Slapping it in its face with whatever they could hit it with....and this time winning. You could see the seriousness on their faces. The smell of smoke came along with them on their short respites. A hint of fatigue was brushed aside as they readied to go back in to do whatever it took. Being around them felt very special. They risk it all to protect a lot, and it makes them quite special.


Continuing with the That Was Then Series from our trip two years ago- here is what was happening then...

Frost Heave The Snowman - a piece on road conditions.

Midnight At The Oasis - a look at late night light in Alaska.

Odds and Ends - some interesting tidbits about Alaska and things Alaskan, like mosquitoes, caribou and PIGS?.

Back in the present day Alaska, this team of three of our early prospectors worked a section of "Gundy Mountain" and came up with some really nice course gold including a heart shaped penny weight nugget. Ain't that just purdy?

Just Like Opening Day...

You're a little rusty and you just have to pull it all back into shape before opening day. Getting a camp, especially a gold camp ready to open is a lot like the opening day of the ball season. Too much to do in too little time and all in the off season cooler weather. It's actually been quite nice though, relatively speaking. Night temps are still dipping down but we haven't hit freezing for a couple nights now and that's good. Marilyn has been helping ready the gift shop and cafe. I've pretty much taken over the chores of getting the greenhouse ready to put our flowering plants out (after June 10 -last anticipated frost) and getting the vegetable seedling going for "fresh" produce for the workers and the cafe. This is a labor of love, as it's really the main thing I miss about being on the road. Growing food works for me. Having flowers works for Marilyn. The camp gets the best of both. I've also done a bunch of panning lessons and some guiding up on Myers Fork Gold Claim, although that is not yet in full swing. There's still plenty of frozen banks along the creek and the perma frost has not given way at all in some areas where it will "yield" a little bit later on. Right now even the big bull dozer can not move overburden we would like to get rid of to make more workable territory. But the first prospectors on the claim are ALL finding some color. Mike and I went up the other day and did some scouting and we located a few spots where the color was pretty good. A couple pans fell into the "moneymaker" category- pretty good this early in the season. The dirt at the panning trough has been pretty consistantly producing a few pieces every pan- which is really good for the newcomers (and I like it too at the end of the work day.) It's not like it gets dark at bed time!

There are a couple of real stories I am working on that will take shape later. We've had several prospectors stay with us that have done exceptioanlly well and I will detail their efforts in a couple weeks. These self poclaimed "weekend warriors" come up from Tok each weekend, work really hard, at hard to get to locations on the claim...and have reaped the rewards. When I get more photos of them and more results I'll do a feature on them.

Already people we met along the way have been venturing to Chicken for a look around. Don't think anyone has been disappointed yet.

There will also be some nature tales to tell once they have some time to play out. Writing about things where we are basically "staying put" is quite different from when we are constantly on the go. It feels good to "do" without having to write every single day, but I'm sure the pace of that will pick up once we get a lot more people in here and the summer activities begin.

For now we are putting in long days to help get ready...and loving every minute of it. My hands are sore from working in the greenhouse and building extra capacity on - especially for outside cool weather crops. I'm peppered with cuts and scratches. I'm working this job alone so I don't stop to take pictures. It's pretty much utilitarian work and I don't take my own picture, but a few sooner rather than later will be coming. Still not too much to "see." Seeds in dirt! The outside gardens have to be protected primarily from rabbits ( the snowshoes are abundant here) and the moose. So even though the perimeter won't be fancy, it must protect both high and low. Rabbit low, moose high- they both eat whatever they can wrap their teeth and tongues around!

If you are traveling this way- remember our music festival, Cickenstock 2009, will be a two day event on June 12 and 13. The t-shirts are already here and under wraps as they go like hot cakes once they are actually out for sale. Sorry, no advance sales on collector items!

Here's a look back at a couple posts from the "That Was Then" series of our trip two years ago. Lots and lots of folks have written in to say how helpful that is for planning their trips and we're glad to oblige. I should also mention that our dear friend, Chris Guld's article about our travels, called Blogging To Alaska has made the top ten articles of the month for RV.Net and has been e mailed to just about everone who spends time on the road like they do, like we do. And while the story does happen to feature us (thanks everso, Chris) it is really a tribute to the way Chris and her husband, partner, and all around great guy, Jim, have built their business and their presence in the enormous RV community at large. We don't call 'em Geeks On Wheels for nothing, ya know! From their modest rig they do monumentally huge services for folks who live or play on wheels!

Before you get to Alaska (that is to say North To Alaska) it is actually quite possible to go South To Alaska. This tells about our trip to Skagway:

South To Alaska, Huh?

In Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, salmon that want to spawn ( and trust me thay all do- want to, that is) must get aroung the hydro electric dam in the middle of town. See what that's all about here:

A Ladder Runs Through It

I'll try to write again asI can. Please be patient while we get the bugs out of the system and deal with what we have going on pretty much full time this week. We have guests and prospectors here at camp already, and they deserve the same quality comfort, services, cleanliness and Alaskan hospitality that made the Chicken Gold Camp and Outpost famous all over the world. We're mighty proud to be a small part of all that... Our friends Lynn and Judy are also elbows to the wall in this all out effort. And as for Mike and Lou and their fully engaged in the business daughter, Josea....I've seen them eat, but I'm not too sure they EVER stop to sleep.

Oh, I forgot to tell you what I use to keep the rabbits AND mosse out of our seedling beds! You know, don't you? C'mon say it with me! CHICKEN wire, of course!