Return To Gundy Mountain

Two years ago after we dug our little shovels into the side of a gold claim on Myers Fork- a gold claim owned and operated by Chicken Gold Camp, Mike and Lou Busby were gracious enough to rename that part of the claim: Gundy Mountain. It has been referred to thusly ever since, even up to the last few days as Mike was talking to some other recreational miners and told them of the really good finds that both we and quite a few other clients had made in that same basic area and on that same basic "mountain." Today, for example, a pennyweight or so of an almost perfectly heart shaped nugget was found by a team of three who have been here digging and a pickin and a grinnin ever since we arrived. Fortune granted them a good wish today for sure! For, us, we hit the mountain again for the first time since arriving on May 22. The camp is getting in great shape for the official opening June 1 and and so Lou and Mike told us to take some play time on the claim. It took a while to organize and pack after finishing chores (oh, and we built the steel frame of the new walk-in cold frame today; it is awesome). Mike, Lynn and I measured, cut, welded, fitted and presto a new add on to the greenhouse. Photos another time! Back on Gundy Mountain, we set up our highbanker and started to pump, sending water from Chicken Creek up the hill. By about 4 in the afternoon we had started official operations and run the better part of a tank of gas (we're talking about a quart here) which took us about three hours. We moved a lot of dirt- mostly fractured basalt, or bedrock that has been severely damaged and broken by frost and thaw over and over again. There was color in the sluice at the end of the run- good color, but nothing big enough or impressive enough to want to go running up and down the creek showing to others. Not yet anyhow. A few others did earn some bragging rights today though and that is just fine. We like it when EVERYBODY finds good gold. It's what they come here for; it's what we aim to help them find! While being part of the team working shoulder to shoulder to get camp ready is loads of fun and rewarding in its own right, the feeling of pitching the shovel deep into the rough gravel, and the sound of it hitting the tines of the metal classification grizzly, then being washed by the water jets in the highbanker wash hopper with water sent from the pump running down below on the edge of the creek - well, that's just magical my friends. There may be gold in every shovel. There may be none. But the possibilities keep you working and thinking and hoping and figuring and planning right up until the time when you know you simply must stop for the day before you reach the point where even if you lean on the shovel you are sure you will fall over. It is a blessed fatigue. It releases joy in the soul even as the body surrenders. A late dinner on the grill tonight. Maybe some ribs and a salad. Then bed. Tired never felt so grand! No, it isn't Walton's Mountain, John Boy. This is the view from Gundy Mountain. And this is what carries the long journey to fruition. There will be more in the days to come. Much more. And new friends and new faces to share the experience of prospecting for gold in the magical moments of our time in Chicken, Alaska. Wish you were here? Well be waiting for you......

Check 'Em Out

I've wanted to find the time to do this ever since we left Tok...and here's the opportunity. New friend, Harry Pherson works for the Jernigan family at Tok RV Village. We spent quite a bit of time swapping stories and experiences and getting to know each other. While he calls himself an amateur photographer, I think we might all beg to differ. His website is blessed with many of his exceptional pieces of digital wildlife "art." I know many of you ride with us for the "wildlife" and this association might just add richly to your viewing pleasure. So when you get a chance, please visit his website and check it out! Looking all you want is free, but you can buy prints through the site if you find one (or more) that you just can't live without.

Harry (H.E.) Pherson Wildlife Photography

I know a few of you are still making your way north behind us, so here's a piece you might find interesting about our stay at Destruction Bay on the 07 trip- That Was Then series:

By Polar

I finished the new outside beds for the greenhouse and cold frame area today. I'd take a picture if I thought you just loved the idea of looking at dirt, but what say we wait til we have something with a bit more color ...or at least something of interest. This I will tell you: quality dirt for garden beds is a challenging find here in Chicken- probably considerably harder than finding gold! This represents the first time in my life when I screened loam for a garden and thought of the left over rocks as a "tailing pile." Marilyn asked me if I "prospect panned" the dirt for gold before throwing it in the new beds. NO! Garden soil is "overburden" in the mining world and should be cast off before getting into pay dirt anyhow. So far gardening in Alaska reminds me a lot of gardening in Maine - you think things should come up fast but they can only go on slow. The greenhouse is a wonderful bridge between winter and spring, but even inside, plants just take their sweet old time this time of year. I've loaded up the flats with lots of "tests," fully expecting to learn as much as I can about what will and won't work here. Some "tests" will stay inside, others I'll move out and we'll see how they do in that regard as well. We expect (and hope) to be able to put plants outside June 7 - 10. The last full moon is in that time frame and generally the last freeze occurs around then. No guarantees though. That is late for planting, so the season is and will be short. Timing is everything. But then, just when ISN'T that true?

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!

Coming To Chicken

If I had forgotten how wonderful it is coming to Chicken, it would now be fresh in my mind. I said "If." But I hadn't forgotten at all and driving the last bit of the Taylor Highway made us all giddy again at the prospects of pulling into the little village. The expansive rolling terrain that rivals the Top of the World Highway scenery in some regards is quite striking. Snow capped mountains on the horizon, large forests of spruce accentuated by birch stands and young willows...and the much more contrasting stretches of burned out forest left by the Taylor Complex Fires that burned 1.3 million acres back in 2004 and threatened the village's very existence. In that same year a total of about 6 million acres burned in Alaska. That's a lot of timber land, but only a tiny portion of the vast Alaska wilderness. What is so striking about the burn area is how slowly the vegetation returns. This is not the tropics! Much of the surrounding area sits permanently atop frozen ground and what can grow at all must do so in the short window afforded by the warm summer sun and rain. Vegetation tends to stay small and compact here, which is interesting in its own right. Nature has a funny way of dealing with what we tend to think of as tragedy; it uses these times to refresh itself and to work new miracles with the land. Any morel mushroom fans out there? They often grow best after a fire and this has been no exception. Sun dried mushrooms from Chicken, Alaska. I hope to find a few soon as this is coming upon their time to grow.

There's still a touch of snow along the highway which is largely paved, but has stretches of "broken" highway and loose gravel patches. Taken slowly it's not a big deal. A few frost heaves are thrown in just to keep you alert. The Milepost advises watching out for "sluffing" at places along the Taylor. Personally, I always thought sluffing was what you did in your bathrobe and slippers on a Sunday morning before that first cup of coffee- but guess not! Up here it refers to "poorly organized and non cohesive avalanches." See I had that non cohesive thing wrong too- thought that was what you got when you tried to understand someone that had way too much to drink. Anyway, it was a good thing to warn about (depending upon when you drive the Taylor) as there really were some snow "slides" measuring something between three and four feet thick that were pushed right up against the road in places "where the sun don't shine" if you get my "drift." There are also some paved but deeply rutted parts of the road that pop up unexpectedly from time to time and they can "sluff" you around if your wheels get caught in those grooves. Once again, the slow and steady win the race.

Then we pulled into Chicken Gold Camp around noon time. The camp was already bustling with the activity of preparations for the season and the first few campers and prospectors were arriving. Mike and Lou wasted no time throwing the first party of the year which included the "help" and the neighbors. It's a family suitable camp, a professional (in the recreational sense) miner suitable camp, a novice panner suitable camp, a just plain tourist suitable camp, even an "I'll just stop in for lunch" camp. For sure it's a see the real Alaska suitable camp. It's a family feeling camp to all though, and that's what has made it so special and endearing to us.

So the rest of day one was used to convert the coach to a home for the next three or more months. It takes a while to get everything set up after such a long haul in which everything has been carefully packed and transported. Feels good to set down a few roots for a period of time. I had plenty to report at the end of day one, but the wifi dish was getting a makeover, Alaskan style, and Mike was up on the roof with a welding unit to take down the old dish and put up the new Hugh's Net dish. A day of fine tuning and as you can plainly see we are back up and running.

Abby decided quarter of 7 in the AM on day 2 was a good time to head out for a look see on the new day and the new digs. The sun was already well up. The air was crisp but the sun made it feel pleasant. Shirt sleeve weather. There was a young bull moose right in front of the coach in the still quiet campground munching on the willows on the hillside. Rabbits, still with white winter feet, were bouncing around the camp sites and the morning birds were just starting to chat each other up. Take a deep breath. Reach for the camera. Not this time - but maybe tomorrow, same place same time.

Gave my first half dozen panning lessons later in the day. Some folks from the US and a group of visitors from Slovenia. The lessons went very well and the pay dirt pile the panners worked off of produced at least a couple flakes of gold in every single pan and even a couple small pickers. My extremely limited Russian language skills turned out to be a fun ice breaker- it's not their first language but they can understand it pretty well and it made for a couple good laughs around the old water trough! Tomorrow's another day


...the very final stretch to Chicken through what will surely be a less than clear windshield by the time you arrive....

Poking Around Tok

We're seeing what's in Tok, talking up the Outpost, meeting folks we'll need to do business with, and taking care of a few remaining items of our own that need dispensing sooner or later, where sooner would be better but later would be easier.

Meanwhile, here's a few look-backs at the 2007 trip up the Alcan Highway:

The Great Alaskan Highway Begins

Mile Marker 300

"Yu-Kon" If You Try Hard Enough

When The Waterfall Is Closed

Why Not Willard's?

Well, sir, we lumbered on in to Tok to a big sigh of relief that we hadn't had to abandon the rolling beast on the last stretch of highway and have to go off in search of HELP! But now what? Was there someone here who could take care of business? We inquired at the Tok RV Village where we were staying for a couple days. The hostess asked one of the owners, Mike, who he might recommend and he suggested that Willard's would be a good place to go. Now I don't know about you, but we try to keep safety as job # 1 in all things. Turning over a coach brake problem that COULD be very serious to just anyone isn't in my play book. I quickly e mailed Mike at Chicken Gold Camp and he fired back with a comment that Willard was the "go to" guy in Tok, yes, indeed, and that he was reputable and fair. That sounded good to me, so off to Willard's we went to see what Willard himself thought about the problem. He thought it was a "can do" situation so bring it on in first thing in the morning. When we got there (it's right across the street from the RV Village) Mike the Mechanic came out to meet and greet. Have you noticed that so far everyone involved in the fix is a MIKE? Surely this was the proper alignment of the stars that would lead to a healthy resolution of the problem at hand.

Mike the Mechanic explained what he expected the problem to be. But to be safe we called the expert support staff at Newmar and logged some time on the phone with them. Then we called the technical experts at Spartan Chassis for some more helpful hints and logged some time with them. When that didn't pan out, we called the experts at the manufacturers of the sensor units and controls that still seemed to be giving us the problem. Hours passed. I admit to feeling a bit down. But Mike the Mechanic was hanging in there and finally we did what he was thinking all along- remove each and every wheel, clean, lube, wire brush and make sure everything was the way he knew it should be once he could actually get a look at it. The mud, grit and grime from our two "mudding" episodes and the long haul on the Alcan had pretty much gunked up and bound up the timing wheels on the anti-lock brake computerized system. Now it just so happens that our Mike the Mechanic is also a computer builder and network system installer, so we surely had all bases covered. Removing and thoroughly cleaning each part of each wheel is no fast fix. But as Mike had known from the get-go, it was the correct fix. And when the eighth and final wheel was finished and back in place, we rumbled the big engine and rolled off the jacks and presto, chango, "wellah", the computer reset and began reading again and the big coach boo boo was all better. Kiss, kiss.

Like the other Mikes had said, the work was professional, reputable, and very thorough. And the bill? Well, talk about fair! It was that and then some. So since you have to come by here anyway if you are driving to Alaska, if you develop anything iffy about your rig and think it ought to be fixed sooner rather than later....Why not Willard's? Ask for Mike!

Coming To Alaska

There were supposed to be two more runs to Tok- one from Burwash Landing at the end of Kluane Lake to Border City just over the Alaska border and after clearing customs (which by the way was quick and easy, despite the fact that they took two of our lemons to keep Citrus Canker from spreading the Alaska citrus crop- yea, right!). The second run should then have been from Border City on in to Tok. But when the alarm sounds on the dash and the Anti-lock Braking System indicates a failure, well, it's time to reconsider things. So since the regular brakes were in tact, we decided to keep going and do it all in one run to the only place left where help of this kind may be available. This run must be done slowly. Despite the fact that most of the road is paved, there will be times when you wish it were not- it gets really bad at some places and too much speed could be a real problem in a hurry. I don't call this stretch the Alaska Highway. I call it the "Are you really sure you want to go to Alaska Highway." because if you don't- time to turn around. If you do, keep it in Drive and proceed with caution. Drink something other than hot coffee in your mug on this road, otherwise you will be more likely to wear it than drink it. You will pass IDA's place by Beaver Creek. The old knock knock jokes will start to fly. Who's there? Ida. Ida who? I'da been here sooner but the car broke down! This is a fitting joke for this road. It could happen!!!!!

With bad brakes on your mind, the trip, which is other wise wonderful despite the road condition, seems like an awful long run. We joked that we would not stop in Tok and proceed to Siberia across the polar ice cap just so that we could color in Siberia on our visited places map.

As you will see from the slide show, the swans were pairing up and beginning to rest, eat, and nest. They are beautiful birds and frankly unexpected in these parts. You wouldn't think such a large bird would come all the way to Alaska to summer vacation...but that is what they do for sure. Also in the slide show today, expect to see the wounded coach get encircled by hungry and opportunistic coyotes looking to feast. Then watch for the moose in the construction zone who held us up even further by playing "Chicken" (see the theme here) with the pilot car.

Not on the slide show is the fact that Alaska has a time one of its own- 4 hours earlier than the time on the East Coast. Which is somewhat important as the insurance adjusters on the East Coast start calling us here in Alaska at 4 in the morning because of the accident in Whitehorse back a few days. I have mixed feelings about this. I am delighted they are right on top of things. I just wonder if we could take care of business a little later in the morning. Yawn! And now off to see if Willard can get a handle on the brake issue!

Oh and in the "Alaska Is Heaven" department- All but the 5 of the last 47 miles into Tok is a brand spanking new, nicely paved, smooth road into town. And by the time you get here? The last 5 miles will be done too.

The Center Of Attention

A few posts and quite a few stops back, we explored the Center Of The Universe. That, as we found out, is pretty darn soft. But what about being the center of attention? That, it seems, is pretty darn hard. If the president is asked to give a graduation address at, say, Notre Dame, for example- he is going to be the center of attention and have to deal with the tough issues of the day. If an unwed woman gives birth to 8 kids (and it's an otherwise normal news cycle) she is going to be the center of attention and have to deal with whatever it is she did and whatever it is everyone thinks about what she did. If I find the biggest nugget of the year in the gold camp, I'm going to be the center of attention. But that's easy, isn't it? All good. But what if I spent a couple days fixing my frozen coach steps on a trip north, finally get my electric motor on my step cover working again, spend an entire "day off" hunched over under the coach trying to fix a diesel furnace I know very little about and NEED desperately) and then decide near the end of the day I need a nap? What about if some yahoo (not the web site) drives his Fifth Wheel into the front of my parked-for-the-night 4x4 van and staves in the front quarter and clips the passenger side mirror while I am sleeping. Should I become the center of attention for that? The answer is: In a campground- yes! The guy who smacked you had an "accident." Or was an ignoramus- your choice. But the guy who was hit? He gets to be the center of attention. Everyone comes to see for themselves. Even if they sat in their rig and watched the whole thing happen. Same thing with the guy who has a flat in the morning. Or the guy who pops his hood to check the oil, but everyone else assumes has "a problem..." Campers love other campers with problems. The very reason that Robin Williams RV Movie was such a hit. They think this way (I THINK) because they are just happy it is not them. A problem "on the road" is often far worse than a problem at a fixed place of residence. There you have a support staff, a phone book, telephone service is almost guaranteed, and you can call a buddy if you are really in a jam. The dealer will give you a loaner car, yes? On the road, you first need to declare, "Oh, sh_t", panic for at least a full 6o seconds, then go off to find a phone book, a support staff, and someone who may be able to help in some way, but who is gonna be gone in the morning regardless of what you have left to deal with. In the Yukon Territory, the police are called the Mounties. Maybe they rescue damsels in distress like Dudley Doright did with Little Nell, but a motorist is of no concern whatsoever unless he is bleeding on the shoulder of the road, in which case they will come out for a look. But if a guy from, say, Texas, hits a guy from , say, Florida, they can't be bothered. If you wish to come to them, well OK, but otherwise, deal with it! If you can't drive your vehicle to them, apparently that is not their concern either. I found that to be less than helpful all around, but what do I know? Push here. Shove there. Tape all around...and roll out of camp in the morning. No longer the center of attention. And glad of it.

So now with a wounded bird flying in tow behind the coach, we head toward what we know will be the nastiest piece of road the Alaska Highway can dish up- the stretch from Whitehorse to Destruction Bay. Destruction Bay. First established as a relay stop for construction materials and crews for the building of this highway. A place where the trucks, IF they made it this far, could pull in for repair. It got its name from a storm that blew through and wiped out nearly everything that had been set up. But oddly enough, the name now is more apparently related to what it will do to your vehicle as you drive through. This is an area of extreme perma frost. The heaves, the holes, the graveled broken road now becomes the center of attention for this part of the trip. You THOUGHT as you headed for Lake Kluane that the mountains (the largest non polar ice field in North America) or the lake itself (the largest lake in the Yukon Territory) might just be the center of attention. And then you feel the gravel, and the washboard slows your vehicle to 8 miles an hour- that is, if you want the parts of your vehicle to stay fastened to each other. If you stop and scan the mountain before you as you come down to the lake, you will realize that those white specks on the mountain are Dall Sheep. We stopped counting at 150 sheep, thereby making them the center of attention for a brief moment in time, until we started rolling again. Destruction Bay is where we are camped overnight- about half the rough patches behind us. We know there is more up ahead described to us by some who have traveled it recently as "holes in patches." For what its' worth, if you are following behind this trip, seems to us like the 22 miles of destruction we ran two years ago is reduced down to 10 this year. A step in the right direction for sure. And even the parts that are still bad, have so far not been as bad as they were then. I hope I don't have to eat those words. 'Cause, wouldn't that make me the center of attention again?

Still Photos Only

Here's a few of the still shots I've been trying to get to upload using Yukon Wifi. No mosquitoes yet, but still need to "work some bugs out!"

Go Rams! (Stone Sheep)

Muncho Lake Thaw Begins

Acting Sheepish

A Close Brush With A Moose

Foxy Lady Picnic (Cross Fox)

Running Bear!

Wild Life (Liard Hot Springs)

That Was Then....

Two or three days of not getting connected caused a setback to my series of look-backs at the 07 Alaska trip. We hope that will be helpful for all those doing the trip now, or soon. In Whitehorse tonight, we once again took care of a chip in the windshield (got it in S. Dakota NOT here!) Our good friend and consummate professional, George Sahlstrom, the Glass Doctor, the Glass Magnum Man was called in for the job. He has perfected his skill and elevated it to an art. If you are making this trip and the windshield does the "boo boo" thing, just save it for George when you get into Whitehorse. He'll come to you! Here's what we wrote last time around:

UNPAID ADVERTISEMENT


Remember, two years ago we were running the gauntlet a week later than we are this year, so we were not this far along:

May 10, 2007 Why, Oh Why, Wyoming

Also, May 10, we posted this: Owning Montana

May 11 Checking Your Altitude

There were four posts that went up on May 12, 2007:

Ahead Of Our Time

RV-ing Northern Montana

The Forest And The Trees

And this back-by-demand classic: Our Readers Ask

By May 13, we were in Alberta and posted: Alberta, Canada, EH? This post tells the tale of meeting Gary and Judy Skaggs for the very first time.

And finally (it was a busy week wasn't it???) we visited The Calgary Olympics- which had been over for years by the time we got there! A Ticket To The Winter Olympics

That's a look back at this week- two years ago on our first ever run to Alaska....