The fur on the Grizzly's neck gleamed golden in the sun, merging with the wet brown fur of its legs as it fished in the clear water. It paid no attention to our helicopter passing overhead, neither did the cow moose standing knee deep in a kettle pond, one of the many ponds dotting the valley landscape. Beneath us, the creek banks were lined by Alder and Willow and silt laden braids of the Susitna River flowed toward the sea. Brown islands of beetle killed spruce stood like silent sentinels in an otherwise green landscape.
Our helicopter steadily gained altitude and the Kanikula Glacier came into view with its rock covered terminus and melting rivulets of ice water. In the past, I've seen moose standing on the glacier's tail as if on a foreign planet, but smartly placed out of the reach of hunters. We abruptly banked hard left sweeping into the steep sided Bear Creek valley.
These AK hills and streams are known to hold GOLD. So, in keeping with the 2021 summer Olympics and honoring our golden years (Bucky just turned 75), we became gold seekers.
Bucky began our search by walking up Bear Creek toward its source in the hills; however, we never made it up very high. The Willow and Alder grabbed at our ankles and unseen raised roots sabotoged each step. The steep slope created a fast running current with water too deep for our knee boots. We had no choice but to head back downstream. I had hoped the abundance of Willow would yield a Willow Rose, but none appeared.
Here Bucky was able to shovel desirable river dirt into his spackle bucket, while I enjoyed the wild flowers and birds that surrounded us. He eliminated large rock and worked through his dirt leaving what seemed promising to be sifted further at camp. Mosquitoes hummed and occasionally hit their target but weren’t a big problem. After taking dirt from three different sites, we headed back to camp, looking forward to a Mountain House dehydrated meal which taste surprisingly good at times like this.
Bucky sat on the creek bank sifting dirt and sand. Finally, the dirt was reduced to fine grains of sand that could be shifted easily back and forth over the ridges of his gold pan. Occasionally a flash of gold could be seen. It resembled the glitter bought in tubes for a child's art creation, minute specks that appeared, disappeared and then reappeared. These golden pin points would slide beneath larger grains of sand making them impossible to retrieve. Eventually, the pan was washed clean and the process repeated with the remaining dirt.
Our evenings were spent watching shadows form on the hills and clouds come and go across the high peaks.
This is one of the loveliest spots we have seen in Alaska and it's only a half hour flight from our cabin in Talkeetna. (see in archives January 22, 2019 for our first visit)
Around 7:30 one evening, we watched a large black bear move laterally across the terrain. The black fur was easily seen against a green background . Anything seen as large with the naked eye in this big country, is BIG. We watched as the bear dipped into ravines disappearing from view only to reappear yards away. The bear crossed snow fields and at one point ran quickly forward as if startled or chasing something.We talked about what might have prompted this. I found myself imagining this bear’s thoughts and what life would be like as a bear in Bear Creek Valley. I had heard the story behind Carlisle’s large bear hide hanging in our cabin. Up here, man is the sole predator of these animals. I include this image so you see the bear as we did.
We saw moose both from the helicopter and while sitting at camp. We watched a cow stride effortlessly through brush, its head high above the branches and within minutes it disappeared into the safety of Denali National Park. I thought of our walk the previous day, navigating tangles and the time it took to go a short distance. Taking strides with long legs that defied the entanglement of Alder and Willow, the moose had no difficulty covering the steep terrain. A large bull moose, accompanied by two cows, innocently displayed a massive set of antlers as our helicopter flew by. He would be smart to be less obvious next month when hunting season arrives.
I’d like my next image to be of a large gold nugget, a chunk of yellow metal that through the ages has been sought after, fought over and has adorned the bodies of the wealthy. I would have mounted mine in a ring or necklace, but that’s not possible. We had low expectations of finding gold so there was zero disappointment, but instead, a reminder of our many riches. Gold is found in many forms and is available for us all to mine.
Our buddy. He liked my dish washing bowl. His perfectly erect posture, balanced on his tail, is a story in itself. We never named him and just when we thought he was a solitary ground squirrel, we started seeing him in multiple places!
Our return trip to Talkeetna was as interesting as our arrival. We passed some large gold mines in Petersville that had been in family possession for generations. The digging at these mines was not by hand and shovel, but by large equipment. However, it’s the same process, large rocks are discarded, water is used to separate material until it becomes finer and finer with gold always sinking to the bottom.
I’ve included a few pictures that I liked but couldn’t fit into the text.
This outhouse had the most outstanding view!