The biggest adventure for me started in a Ma & Pa type restaurant not far from the trailer park. It was an uneventful morning and we were trying to get a cup of coffee and some breakfast. The waitress was alone and service was non-existent at the time. Finally one of the patrons came over and asked if we had been served yet. We told her "no". Upon our reply she went off to fetch a couple of coffees and said she had rustled up the waitress who would be there shortly. We got to talking while we waited and during the conversation I mentioned that the one thing I had wanted to do in Dawson was pan for gold but that we had been scared away from the creeks by the aggressive claim protection signs, plus a stern warning from the campground about trespassing with a gold pan in my hand. I had no sooner mentioned gold panning when she broke out into a broad grin and hollered over her shoulder for "Karl". He was not tall, but stocky in a hard-working way. A rumpled mass of snow white hair adorned a face that produced a most charming smile. He had a twinkle in his eye that would have matched any Saint Nick might produce. "These good people wish to pan for gold", Vicky announced with a smile. Karl joined us and we started talking gold. Karl was, and still is a competitive panner, having placed in several competitions through the Yukon. Originally from Germany, his accent was strong and it gave his words a charming sound. All in all he looked and sounded every bit the part of an old time prospector. Karl owned a claim out on one of the creeks that feed into the Yukon west of the city, which he works on a regular basis. At the end of breakfast he invited us to join him the next day around 5 PM and he would show us how to pan for gold. I have to admit the next day seemed to drag on as I anticipated this special experience. We arrived right on time at the designated place and Karl was already there. We talked about going out to his claim to which he just smiled and shook his head. Instead he produced a couple pans already filled with dirt. Most of the heavy gravel had already been removed. He took us over to a water source and began showing us how to move the pan. It's not as easy as it looks. The trick is to create a wave motion in the water of such force that the gravel and sand on the top of the pile, is washed up into the water as the water enters the pan and then out and away as the wave action returns. During this time, Karl was a continuous source of information about the entire gold process, from how it was done in 1898 to how it is done today. He told us that gold is about 14 times heaver than the rest of the material in the pan and thus will settle to the bottom. The trick is to wash away all the stuff on the top leaving the gold at the bottom. He talked about rocker boxes and sluice boxes and dredges, always coming back to the final finishing process of floating the dirt of the gold in a gold pan. He talked about Placer gold, the flake gold that sinks down into the banks of the river, and of nuggets that can be found in any size. He talked about recognizing where the gold should be from the lay of the land. How one needed to find a turn in the river with a sand bar in the middle. Then you could shovel out the flowing side and pile it up on the bank. This would be the stock that you would use to pan. As we got close to the end of the gravel, he repeatedly cautioned me not to lose the last little bit in an aggressive wave. Finally, at the very end he reached over and took my hands in a solid but not overbearing way and moved the pan very gently creating a perfect small wave. Right there in front of me, sparkling like the sun, as shiny as anything I had ever seen was gold. Not just a small flake but dozens of them, forming a very thin line along the bottom crease of the pan. Amazing, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it could happen. As I hopped and hollered and danced around Karl and Vicky looked at each other and both said "Gold Fever" and we all laughed. We took our findings to a small gift shop and bought a locket specifically designed to show off such delights, and Laura now proudly wears my findings around her neck for all to see. What a day!

*** THE END ***

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