Paddlers and panners

Friday, July 27, 2007

NORTH POLE, ALASKA — The pages of history came alive for us today. This morning we rode aboard a huge sternwheeler with four decks, built along the design of the paddleboats of the Gold Rush years.
The Discovery Riverboat program is more than just a cruise. Our first demonstration was a floatplane that took off on the river next to us, flew around and landed again, and then did the same for the passengers on the other side. The pilot conversed with us from his plane, telling us about his job and the challenges of flight in a land where winter remains for so many months.
Next, we passed the kennels of the sled dogs that race in the Iditarod. From our vantage point in the river, we saw how the puppies are trained and exercised when there isn’t any snow. The handler tied a team of dogs to an ATV instead of a sled. The dogs were leaping and yelping, barely containing themselves. Then they were off like a shot on a track that took them around a lagoon out of sight for a few seconds and back to the shore. As soon as they were let loose, they scampered to the water and took a quick dip in the river to cool off.
Shortly after that, we came to the intersection of the Chena and Tanana Rivers (pronounced TAN-ana). The latter is a glacier-fed waterway, while the Chena flows from a freshwater source. The Chena looked clear and brown, and the Tanana was milky with glacial flour and silt. At the point of meeting, it looked like milk poured into coffee as the two swirled together!
The Discovery slowed down as we came to a small Athabascan fishing camp. A young Athabascan girl spoke to us from the shore about how the natives cut salmon and hung it out to dry before curing it in the smokehouse. The smokehouse was there, and, on the shore, a fish wheel that they used to catch the salmon by the basketful as they swam by.
We went ashore at our final stop, an Athabascan village, where local Alaskans explained about animal furs and how they were selected, tanned and made into garments, shelters or tools. We learned about a lean-to, a skin-covered frame, a bark house and a sod hut. We also got to see some Iditarod sled dogs up close and learn more about the grueling 1,100-mile race.
As we returned to the starting point, we were offered free coffee, donuts, and samples of smoked salmon spread on crackers. It was a terrific morning, and based on the quality of this visit, we decided to sign up for the afternoon visit to the El Dorado Gold Mine that is run by the same family on the other side of Fairbanks.
We were not disappointed! A small steam train carried us toward the mining camp, and stopped in a tunnel (shudder!) to display the layers of rock and permafrost that miners had to work through to get to the bedrock where most of the gold was to be found. From our vantage point in the train, with the aid of TV monitors, we listened to a miner talk about underground mining. Spotlights shining on the rock and equipment made the experience a bit less scary, and it was brief.
Outside again (whew!), we passed a section where a young man was operating a steam engine attached to pulleys that brought buckets of earth from below the ground and carried it to a dirt mound, like they did in the Gold Rush days in wintertime. When summer came, they had a mound of thawed earth that they could wash through to find gold. It was fascinating to see this old equipment in operation.
Finally, we got to the sluice section, and, as we sat on benches on either side, they sent a gush of water and soil down the sluice. After the flow slowed, several young men demonstrated the art of panning for gold. The idea is to keep the water swirling in the pan, pick out the bigger stones and gradually pour out the remaining gravel and sand until all you have left at the bottom is gold. Since it is very heavy, it remains behind when everything else is flowing out.
Next, it was our turn! We filed into a covered area with troughs filled with water, and each of us was given a small cloth bag filled with dirt, and a pan. We dumped the dirt into the pan and, seated at benches on either side of the troughs, we scooped up the water and swirled it around just like we had seen. Helpers came around to give us tips. I kept worrying that I would dump the gold away with the dirt, but after careful swirling and pouring, I suddenly glimpsed the yellow gleam of tiny specks of gold in my pan! It was very exciting!
We each put our gold into little plastic canisters, and carried it in to have it weighed and evaluated. Val had about $13 worth, and my take was worth nine dollars — and we were allowed to keep what we found! The staff showed us how we could encase the tiny bits into a locket to hang on a chain around my neck, or make into earrings if preferred. So now I have a lovely necklace of gold we panned ourselves!
Our visit included a complimentary hot drink of cocoa or coffee and freshly-baked homemade cookies. Then off we went by train back to the starting point. It was a terrific day!