Back to Bill's Creek 2011

After the 2008 visit, I actually wanted to pass the Alaska connection on to the next generation. My son Simon was born February 1988, so he was 21 in 2009 and between jobs, living with his mother in Denmark. Exactly the age I was when I first worked for Bill, so I thought it might be a good idea to send Simon across and help out. I made the suggestion to Bill, while we were chatting during our 2008 stay in his camp. “If I can’t have a big dumb Swede, I will make do with a big dumb Dane,” Bill said. Born in 1936, Bill still had the impression of the poor Scandinavian immigrants coming to America with limited English skills as not too bright (Bill was of 7/8 Swedish descent himself!). Simon was indeed big and strong, 188 cm (6 foot two) and all-muscle; he had a 10 meter recreational diving certificate, and Bill was always looking for potential divers.   

So Simon did go in June 2009, on a 3-months visa, and drove up with Bill to the Creek, but the stay wasn’t a success. Bill told me later - when I came myself in 2011 - that Simon was not suitable for this. He had no skills and showed no willingness to learn. He helped Bill a bit with his computer, but otherwise he didn’t do much. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know exactly what happened; but the outcome was that after a week Bill drove Simon down to Coldfoot and put him on a bus to Fairbanks;  nowadays busses ply the Dalton Highway several times per week taking tourist up and down from Fairbanks to Deadhorse on the North Slope and back. After a few days in Fairbanks, Simon caught an early flight back to Denmark. In 2011, Bill gave me a beautiful medallion that he had crafted out of pure placer gold and told me to pass it on to Simon, as a token of his appreciation for trying to help. I did that the winter of that year when I went to Denmark and Norway to spend the Christmas with my Scandinavian family. I hope Simon still has that souvenir but I don’t know, I haven’t seen him for many years.  

As you probably know, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. In 2009 and 2010 I had summer trips to Denmark to meet up with my kids and my mother there, but in 2011 I visited Bill again. Life is wonderful this way: You always get a second chance! You never get EXACTLY the same opportunity again, that is why it is important to make the most of each event. However, there is nothing stopping you from trying again and again – and if you keep it up you are bound to succeed sooner or later. In 2011 I got the chance to relive my drive up from Fairbanks to Bill’s Creek one more time! It was a privilege that I will always treasure in my memories. I arrived in Fairbanks 27 April 2011 and departed 2 June.

It was around 5 pm by the time I made it out from the arrival gate at Fairbanks International, found my stuff and met Bill who was there to pick me up. Coming from the hot tropics, the sub-Arctic environment with low-hanging thin cloud cover, soft light and cool air was invigorating. “It is actually a pretty shitty day”, was Bill’s reply when I praised the conditions as we walked to his car! 

Bill took me straight across town to a hall inside Pioneer Park, where an event was taking place bringing miners from all over the interior of Alaska together in protest. Government officials had arrested some miners on the Yukon River during a rough encounter, I forget what agency they were from, Fish and Game as I recall. The other miners and residents were up in arms over this. There were a lot of people there and it was a good place for me to meet some of Bill’s friends as well as his step-daughter Janet whom I would get to know better later. 

In the evening I bought Bill a pizza nearby, on the way out to his place north of town. So we sat down and had a chance to catch up on all the news and discuss the plans for the next month or so. I think I will let the pictures tell the rest of my 2011 story.