Chapter 2

The next morning, we woke on the cruise ship hearing lots of activity outside on the deck. People were running around, loading equipment and supplies, while passengers were walking up the gangplank being welcomed aboard.

Sue and I walked down to the galley, where the crew's mess was, to see if we could get some coffee. Luckily, just as one of the cooks was trying to get us out of the area, the captain came in saying that we were welcome anywhere on the ship. If we wanted coffee, they should get us a cup, and for the cooks to rustle us up some breakfast. He told us that we would probably enjoy eating with the passengers later, but for us to come down here anytime for some coffee.

We did eat, and went back up on deck to join the other passengers so we could hear the announcements and schedules. There was a lifeboat drill at which all the passengers went to designated stations with their life jackets on. Considering that there were two hundred passengers, the drill went pretty smoothly. The next step was a film in the big lounge. Passengers were offered bar drinks that could be charged to their cabins, and could also get extra snacks if they wanted. I could see that there were additional ways that the ship made money.

We saw a movie about the trip, where we would go, what we would see, and the places of interest we would want to be outside on deck for. They assured us that we would have plenty of notice before passing by these locations.

Our departure was so smooth that when the movie was over and we went back on deck, we were out to sea with the coast far distant. Sue was busy with the camera, continuously taking pictures of the ship and the various islands we passed. Her only limitation would be her supply of CDs.

The trip was memorable. We stopped at a couple of small ports before we went to see the glaciers. Everything was magnificent. When you look out and view the snow covered mountains, you realize how little of this great Earth you have seen. On the ninth day, we arrived at the port nearest Anchorage. We ended up on a train that took us into Anchorage where I called the number for the pilot who was going to ferry us around Alaska.

He gave us directions to get to our hotel and said he could come by this evening to discuss what we would need for clothing and gear. Sue said she was really excited, as she had never been camping before. I told her that there were parts of camping out that were not fun, but she just said that she was ready. I told her I was worried that both of us may not be able to keep up with our mutual injuries. She just said, "Let's try anyway."

That evening, John Stevens came into the dining room just as we sat down. He seemed to know us and walked straight to us. After introducing himself, we all sat together, waiting to be served. John said we had been highly recommended by his friend back in the islands. We talked about what we wanted to see and what we could expect. He said he had requested and received permission to land at the oil camp where I had worked, but there were no facilities for us to stay there. We could go into town, sixty miles away or we could camp out. He recommended that we fly into town and get a hotel room, as he could also fuel up there.

He went over what clothes and equipment we would need. He recommended that we go to a second hand shop he knew for equipment, a tent, and sleeping bags. He gave us the name of an outfitter that was fair, and that we should get two sets of clothes for cold weather backpacking and camping. John said he was excited, as he loved to camp and had not been out yet this year.

Next, he recommended that we purchase a used rifle, as it was something that we could sell before we left. We discussed various types, but we both agreed on the universal 308 as the easiest to make a deal on.

He told us to gather everything tomorrow and that he would meet us for supper tomorrow night, same time, same place.

The next day found us at a big barn where they had bins of various camping gear. They had snowshoes, dog sleds, small portable huts, and of course, sleeping bags and tents. I told the owner that we were going camping and I wanted to buy only what he would welcome back. He laughed replying in a Frenchie, broken English accent, "I never had nobody ask that question. They always axe me what's best, not what I'll take back. Tell you what, let me get out the stuff that will do best for ya and what I be happy to get back."

He got out a big ground cloth, a small tent, two down sleeping bags that looked almost new, and a stack of backpacking cooking gear. Next, he got a case of assorted trail meals that only required water to make. "This'll do ya. You say you're only going out for four to five days? Well, this will cover you for at least ten days. Ya need to be prepared up in the Yukon. Now, let me show you what kind of boots I got back here in my private stuff. He had Sue fitted in minutes, and found me a good pair of boots. He pulled several pair of socks off a rack for both of us and said, "Put nylon socks on next to your skin and put the wool socks on over them. That way your feet will stay dry and warm, and won't blister. Make sure you change socks every day."

He motioned me over to a side of the room, "You gonna get a rifle?"

"Yes sir, I was going to look for a 308. Probably a Winchester, or perhaps one of those Browning pumps."

"You know guns, huh? Well, I got one of those Browning pumps in 308 but it's kinda 'spensive."

"If I don't want to take it back to the lower forty-eight, would you buy it back?"

"Course."

"Then I'll take it. Do you have heavy caliber handguns? Something like a forty-five or better yet, would be forty-four magnum with a reasonable length barrel."

"Can you shoot a forty-four?"

"Yes sir."

He opened a drawer and took out a Colt forty-four magnum with a six inch barrel and box of shells, turned, and motioned for me and Sue to follow him. We went down a hall to an area that was a range that looked to be twenty-five yards. He clipped a target onto some clips and wheeled it on a wire about half way down range. He pointed to the pistol and the box of shells and said, "Show me."

I stood in front of the little table, picked up the pistol and checked the chamber and thumbed the action a couple of times to get the feel. I sighted the pistol down range with one hand, then two hands, before laying it back on the table. I opened the box of shells, picked up the pistol, and flipped over the chamber and loaded the five rounds that it held.

First using two hands, I brought the pistol up slowly cocking the hammer on the way up. When I was on target, I squeezed the trigger and hit the paper target in the center. Then to continue I pulled the hammer and fired twice more, and finally just pulled the trigger for the last two rounds. The paper target was in small pieces by then.

"Well, you seem to know how to shoot that thing, now how about some distance." He wheeled the small target in and put a larger cardboard target in the clips and wheeled it to the far end of the range.

This time I had to dump the empty brass before I could reload. I filled the chamber again and seated it, but this time when I raised the pistol, I used only one hand. Again, I cocked the hammer as I brought the pistol up on target, and squeezed the trigger. I hit the target center followed by squeezing off the last four rounds hitting the target near dead center each round.

"Damn, you can shoot."

"Actually, I have one of these and do get to shoot fairly often. Can I see if Sue can shoot it?"

"Be my guest."

I dumped the brass and laid the piece on the table. Sue came up and loaded the gun, and with two hands she cocked the gun on the way up, and fired when she was on target. She hit the target, but way on the high side. She corrected and fired again this time a little low. Her third through fifth round was as good as mine, dead center.

"Little lady, you can shoot too. You guys want two of these for your trip?"

"One should be enough. We'll pay for the rounds we used and buy an extra box. Hopefully we won't see a bear that we would have to use this on."

"You be careful up in the bush. There are some people up there that think city folks are toys. If they come up on you, don't be afraid to shoot first and talk later. Now have good time."

We loaded up, complete with a couple pans to use for real the act of panning for gold.

Back at the hotel, we spent the afternoon renewing our physical commitment to each other, knowing it might be a few days before we had the privacy or opportunity to play.

We had dinner with the guide as planned, describing everything we had purchased.

The next morning, we were up early packing. We packed what we were taking with us and what we were leaving with the hotel until we returned. John Stevens, our pilot and guide, said we shouldn't take all of our luggage with us and advised us to take only what we could backpack.

Sue and I agreed we should call home to see how they were doing. It was six-thirty here and would be nine-thirty at home, so we called the shop. Ruth cheerfully answered S&S Enterprises. When she heard my voice, she squealed with excitement, asking how our vacation was going. I told her we were in Alaska, about to take a trip out to the Yukon. She told me all was well at home and said she would send me to Tiny so he could fill me in.

Tiny sounded on top of the world. "We had our best week ever last week. It must have been because you were out of town, ha, ha. So far Steve, everything is running smooth. Your men are putting out product, and Phil's staff is bringing in the orders, a regular business. Across the street the plant is turning out merchandise at a record clip. So far everything is going smooth."

I asked if there was anything he needed my input on, but he said everything was under control. I told him Sue would call across the street when I hung up. Tiny assured me everything there and at home was in good shape. I told him I would call when we got back from the Yukon.

Sue called and spoke to Betty and to all the other girls at once on a speakerphone. They told her all of the new products were online, plus they were coming up on being ahead of schedule for the previously contracted goods. Again they gave Sue encouraging news that everything was fine.

When we were finished with the calls, Sue and I agreed we would have to take vacations more regularly. We also agreed that we needed to begin sending our key staff on vacations so they would be refreshed as well.

We took a taxi out to the airport to meet John. When we asked directions to where he had his plane, the man working at the small aircraft counter pointed toward the end of the runway where there was a lake. He said he would have one of the flight line men drive us down.

An old guy in a pickup drove us to the lake where there were dozens of floatplanes tied up to docks. John had his plane tied up out at the end of one long dock, ready to go. As we approached the plane, Sue said, "That's a Cessna 185. That airplane is supposed to be one of the best floatplanes there is, plus it is known as a great bush plane."

"How do you know about airplanes?"

"I took flying lessons for a year and got my license, but when I got hurt I didn't go back for another physical. One of these days I'm going to fly again."

I said, "I used to belong to a flying club in the service, but after I finished flying school I was only able to fly about thirty hours. I signed up for instrument school but never did get to finish. If you begin flying again, I'll take lessons and learn with you."

Before we loaded our packs, John wanted to check our gear. He looked over our cooking gear and ready to eat meals, along with some freeze dried meals saying he thought we were ready. He was happy to see we had a camping burner with a coffeepot, as he had failed to pack one.

John loaded our packs and stowed the rifle with his behind the rear seat. I told him that Sue might want to sit in the right seat with him so she could enjoy flying with him, as she used to fly. John said he would gladly let her help fly out to our destination.

After giving the plane a thorough pre-flight inspection, we strapped in and started the plane. This Cessna was only two years old. John said that the man that had sent us on our cruise, and up to him, had helped him buy the new plane after a drunk boater hit his old one. The little plane was powerful, reaching take-off speed on the water in a relatively short distance.

Three hours later we landed at a small lake that John said was a good refueling point. We stretched our legs, had lunch and refueled before taking off on the second leg of the journey.

We landed at a familiar site to me. This was the main headquarters for the pipeline administration. There was no one I knew at the site except the native cooking staff. After showing Sue and John around, I told them, "Let's get out of here. This place is history and I'm all for the future."

This time we flew for almost four hours before descending onto a lake joining a fairly large community.

We taxied up to a dock where a man pulled the plane around and tied it up next to the dock. John gave the attendant instructions to refuel the plane and to do a hundred-hour inspection for him. We took our gear, and found his contact that had a four-door four-wheel drive pickup truck that was going to take us out to the trail where we were going to hike. The bed contained two huskies that seemed to be friendly when Sue immediately began petting them.

On the way, the driver told us that we needed to be alert as there had been a couple of grizzly attacks, and that there were some pretty mean thieves that were preying upon tourists around the area.

John told the man he thought we would be okay as he was prepared for both eventualities. The man cautioned us again saying some of the men out here in the bush were not nice guys and could be very ruthless. "Just watch out for yourselves."

When we arrived at the drop off point, the man gave us a leash and told us to hold on to the dog as she was going with us. He said having a dog was good luck out in the bush. He had Sue hold the dog, telling her the dog's name was Sadie. The man gave us some dog food to carry with us, but said Sadie would prefer red meat if we would get it for her.

We were planning to go up this trail about twenty miles. The last ten miles would be next to a fast flowing stream that we could try for some gold in a couple of places.

The first day we walked the first ten miles easily until we came upon the stream. There were some areas on the shore with numerous small rocks so John gave us a demonstration as to how to pan for gold. He scooped down into the water bringing up a half a pan full of tiny rocks and sand along with a lot of water. He swished the water round in the pan pouring sand out a little at a time. Since gold is heavier than the rock or sand, it stays in the pan while the chad, as he called it, flowed out. It took him several pans of water to finally get down to a couple tiny flakes. John took out a little leather pouch and put the two small pieces into it. "See, there is gold in them there hills."

Sue and I tried several pans of gravel and sand but only came out with one piece of gold each. The entire time we were near the water, Sadie sat near us, seeming happy to be with us.

We decided to set up camp and stay there for the night as we had water and a flat place to pitch our tents. It didn't take long to get the big tent up and water boiling for coffee.

John said for us to sit and watch while he procured dinner. About fifteen yards from our camp site was some rougher water that flowed down and over rocks and boulders. John pulled a collapsible net from his pack and went to stand on a boulder in the middle of the stream. Fish were jumping up the short level from the stream area we were on to the pool a foot or two above. With an ease that told of years of experience, John caught two large fish before he hopped back to the shore and carried them to camp.

"Do you know how to clean salmon?" John asked me.

"You want them filleted, just gilled, or skinned?"

"Fillet them, and I'll go get a couple more so Sadie can eat with us," John answered while heading back to his ambush spot.

I took the fish down to the stream to fillet them, and had just finished the two when John brought two more large salmon. Within a few minutes big breaded salmon fillets were in the frying pan, while some freeze dried potatoes and green beans were expanding in some boiling water.

John explained that this was one of the benefits of staying next to a stream, as at this time of year, salmon were running up river to their spawning beds. He said that shortly we could almost hand catch the female salmon when they came off the beds as they would be too tired and listless to avoid being caught.

Before we got into the tent and our sleeping bags, we hoisted all our food and cooking gear high in the air in a bear bag so big furry critters couldn't help themselves.

The cold weather, the hike, and the excitement of our first day had us asleep in minutes, with Sadie snuggled up to Sue and me.

I woke to Sadie licking my ear. She obviously wanted me to get up so I scooted out of the sleeping bag trying not to wake up Sue or to disturb John. John rolled over and said, "Thought you were going to sleep all day." I laughed and looked at my watch, it said five-thirty.

"Guess it is time to get moving. I'll get some coffee water going before I wake Sue." She had a big day yesterday, and as yet, I didn't know how being pregnant was going to affect her usual exuberance.

"I'm awake," Sue said. "Sadie was licking my ear before yours. I think she needs to go out."

As soon as I unzipped the tent, Sadie was out the opening like a shot. I put on fresh socks and my boots to start the day. Waking up in a tent when it is barely above freezing is a shock. When that cold morning air hits you, you need the bushes quick. I joined Sadie in relieving my morning needs.

I had coffee water boiling when John said he would give us a Northern treat this first morning. He started a frying pan with a piece of bacon and when it was done added shortening until it was at least a quarter inch deep. He rolled flour with egg and brown sugar into balls and dropped them into the grease. When it was time to eat them he had some packets of maple syrup to spread over the delicious balls of fried dough. John said there were many variations you could make using onions or pieces of meat. Sort of like a doughy omelet.

While we ate, we gave Sadie some of her dog food that we had soaked with hot water. She ate heartily, licking out the gold pan we used for her dish.

We cleaned up burying our scrap and the grease. Once we were packed again, John suggested we should carry our rifles loaded from this point on as the area had bears and could even have some of the roaming thieves we had heard about.

Before I put on my backpack, I got out my shoulder rig, loaded the forty-four and holstered it. As I was doing this John asked, "Can you shoot that thing?"

Sue spoke up, "That's what the guy at the gun store asked. Steve is as good with that thing as most are with a rifle."

I had to tone it down a little. "I can't hit much at a hundred yards, but if I'm within forty to fifty, I can usually hit what I shoot at."

"I'll have to get a shoulder holster," John said. "I never thought of that. It keeps the pistol off your hip where it brushes on everything but is out of the way of your backpack. I tried to carry a pistol but it was too much trouble. Your idea is a good one, where did you learn to do it that way?"

"Most Special Forces people carry handguns in a shoulder rig. It's that last measure of defense and it needs to be easy to get at but not in the way when you're using your rifle."

John thought for a moment and asked, "Did you get hurt in the military? I noticed both of you limp a little."

"Yeah, I got hurt in Desert Storm. Sue was in an automobile accident. We do fine though, we don't even realize we're limping unless we're very tired."

"You did great yesterday. Let's go up to this next pool and pan a little before we go up stream another ten miles or so. I have a little cabin up there that will be our base camp for a couple of days."

We walked the quarter mile to the little pool that John talked about. It was fairly deep but you could see many fish swimming beneath the clear water. The bottom and shore was covered in sand and small rocks.

All three of us panned for about an hour. Sue found two small nuggets while John and I added a few flakes of gold to our pouches. While we were playing on the shore, Sadie had ranged out from us. We heard a commotion in the brush and Sadie came back, proudly displaying a large snowshoe rabbit.

John cleaned the rabbit quickly while I built a small fire so we could cook the rabbit a little for Sadie. The man who had lent her to us had said she liked to have her kills cooked a little, but would eat them raw if we didn't. She was a good companion so it didn't hurt to indulge her.

After Sadie had eaten and we had cleaned up and repacked, we walked the next ten miles, arriving at the cabin around one. John went through the cabin saying that usually there are signs of people having stayed there at one time or another, but none this time. He said the cabin was known by many trail people and was used as a stopover as there was fresh water from the stream, plus he had a privy. There were not many places around that had facilities, so his cabin was popular just for that.

Inside the cabin, he showed us that it was divided into three sections. There were two small rooms with cots and one large room with a big fireplace and what could be considered a kitchen area. The center of the room was taken up with a rough-hewn table and benches. The other furniture was four large rocking chairs grouped around the fireplace.

The kitchen area had a large wood stove. On the wall was what looked like a cupboard. When you opened the door, the cupboard was deep and went to the outside. The outside area was covered with wrought iron bars and heavy mesh wire with screen wire on the inside of that. John explained that it was the refrigerator. The only problem was during the winter, it became a freezer. He said when the weather was really warm and the temperature got up to the sixties, you just put the stuff that you wanted cooled into a mesh bag and put it in the stream. He said it was almost always around forty degrees in the water.

John showed us his bathtub and shower contraption. In one corner of the big room he had an old tub with a canvas water bag over it. He said you just filled it with warm water and when you wanted spray, you pulled the handle and that let water rain down on you. He said it was easy to fill the bag mostly full of cold water and heat a bucket in the fireplace to warm up the water for the bag.

The first thing was to cut some firewood. John had what looked like half a cord cut but said we would go through a lot of wood quickly. He led me out to the woods where, with a two-man saw, we cut up a downed tree and dragged chunks of it back to the cabin to split. We spent the rest of the day cutting and splitting wood, plus making kindling for the stove. He said we could cut some more, but we had enough for several days.

Before supper, he took us to his special panning place. John explained that every winter, more rock and sand washed down from within the mountain where a big spring came from. The stream also washed down to this point as well so there was new rock and sand every year that almost always had lots of small nuggets plus lots and lots of gold flakes.

Sue instantly found another fairly good-sized nugget. John and I each found small ones plus all three of us found several flakes. John said that tomorrow we would get a shovel out and use his screens to filter through the gravel. He said he usually got enough from this spot to carry him through the next winter.

Sadie enjoyed her time around the cabin exploring all round and coming back with another rabbit. This time after cleaning the rabbit, we cooked it in the fireplace while we were preparing some MREs for us. John suggested we hunt a deer so we would have some fresh meat for all of us for a couple of days. He said he didn't want a moose as we would waste too much meat, but there were plenty of deer in the area.

That night, Sue and I blew up our portable air mattress and spread our sleeping bags out so we could zip them together. We both washed up real good before bed and enjoyed some matrimonial coupling while Sadie looked on.

John had suggested that we leave the little room doors open so Sadie could roam the cabin as she wanted, but I think that as soon as Sue and I settled down she was curled up at our feet.

I woke up hearing a low growl in Sadie's throat. It took me a minute to understand that Sadie was standing in the room at the door with her fur up around her neck.

I slid out of the bag and hurriedly dressed, including my shoulder rig. As I walked out to the big room with my rifle in hand, I saw John at the front window looking out. He turned to me and said, "We have a large grizzly poking around out there. Sadie woke me up before she got you up. You think Sue would want to see a grizzly?"

"I'll get her. She wouldn't want to miss this."

Sue was up and dressed in a minute standing at the window with us as the grizzly roamed around in the yard. He came up to the door and pushed on it but it had a huge log across it holding it shut. He looked in the window and snorted but mostly just walked back and forth in the yard. At one time he went to the treasured privy and pushed and banged on it until he lost interest and wandered off into the woods.

"That's why the privy is built like a bunker. The damn bears love to knock over outhouses. You have to build them with several layers of logs so they can't be pushed over or torn down."

John looked at his watch and said, "It's five so why don't we make breakfast and get started on finding some gold. This afternoon we'll climb up this little mountain so you can see out over the stream and the far valley."

Powdered eggs and some bacon, along with some biscuits and gravy, are a perfect breakfast. John said we were going to have to get some more fish as they made a great breakfast too.

When some time had passed, John said we could go out to the outhouse now and Sadie could run a while. He said dogs were smart enough to not chase a bear unless they were threatening their people.

We were very successful all morning. By the time we broke for some coffee and lunch, we had a small mound of nuggets that we heaped together on the table. John said, "Another day like this and I won't even have to fly tourist around for another year. You guys are good luck charms for me. All three of us are going to have some big bucks when we get back."

It took us over two hours to climb the little mountain. There was a game trail that went up the side, but it was steep and narrow. You had to be careful because if you slipped off the trail, you would slide hundreds of feet down the side before you could stop yourself.

We didn't go all the way to the top but to a flat open area about hundred feet from the top. John said this was one of his favorite camping places but it got cold and windy at night. Since the day was clear and cold, you could see probably thirty to fifty miles out over a long valley between two groups of low mountains. We were told we were at about three thousand feet above sea level where we stood and over a thousand feet above the cabin. You could see the trail of the stream as it meandered through the heavily forested valley below. Far away, you could see smoke coming up. John said there was a couple of families that lived about fifteen miles that way and would possibly come over on their four wheel buggies while we were here.

We spent most of an hour looking at the beautiful sights. I asked John why there wasn't snow where we were and he said they had a warm snap that had cleared the snow off the lower mountains and most of the valley, but it was still early enough that we could see some snow before we left.

Walking back down the narrow game trail was as hard as walking up as you were constantly trying to keep from sliding down the steep trail. When we arrived back at the cabin, John said that he was going to get us a small deer and that we should keep Sadie inside until he got back. John had a 30.06 with a breakaway scope that he took off before he left the cabin. I guess he figured on a shot of less that a hundred yards considering he was going to use open sights.

It couldn't have been fifteen minutes until we heard the crack of the rifle. Twenty minutes later, John came dragging a small deer to the cabin clearing. We dug a deep hole under a tree where we hoisted the deer up and stripped it of its hide. John said we were not going to save the hide or head, but we would salvage the brains, heart, and liver for Sadie. With buckets of fresh water from the clear stream, we washed the carcass and began butchering it into steaks and roasts. Inside the house, we cleared the table and put a big plastic cover over it so we could finish trimming the bones. When we were finished, we had pans and bags of meat for the refrigerator. I took all of the uneatable scraps and bones to the pit beneath the tree and filled it in, firmly tamping down the dirt. We probably should have done this farther from the cabin but the hole was deep enough that a wolf would probably give up before it dug halfway down.

Chapter 3 »