A rusting hulk of a machine angled over Chicken Creek, calendars from 1967 still hanging on the walls and an assortment of abandoned trailers & cabins to choose from – this was what remained of the original reasons that brought the outside world to Alaska. In a manner of speaking, I was there too because of the same. A remote, inaccessible and hostile world was explored first for the most basic of reasons – greed a.k.a. gold. All the stories and all the adventure came out of this need to get rich quick. Most failed but the world would never be the same again. A portal had been opened into the edge of the known from where poured tales and characters and promise. Alaska drew all, from the greedy to the dreamy, some there for the glory, some for the story. After a long leading conversation, when Bill and Will, two struggling gold miners tried to sell me 1 gm of Chicken mined gold for ‘only’ $60, I wasn’t hurt by their attempts to swindle me. I was happy that the mischievous spirit of opportunity had still some space to play.
[Part of the Series: Notes from the Last Frontier]
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