CHUTNEY Chapter 2: GOLD

There's No Place Like Nome.
I caught the first few nights of US Olympic Gold Rush Fever.  But on August 1 a charter flight took us to Nome and that was the last we saw of TV and reports from London.  But Nome is Gold.

The Wild Ranger and other gold boats in Nome's 'small boat harbor'

Our crew was growing along the way.  Groups from AK offices and universities joined us for the flight.  Nome is different.  The roads are dirt (mud really) and ATVs are the primary vehicle.  People drive them fast.  Our ship was anchored offshore so we went to the small boat harbor to wait for a ride.  The small boat harbor in Nome is mostly made up of gold panning boats.  The reality TV show Bering Sea Gold is shot here and one of the most colorful characters of the show (Captain Scott Meisterheim) was on the dock while we waited.  This is a crazy occupation.  They dive in the cold waters off of Nome basically getting dragged by their boat and using huge hoses to suck up bottom sediments from under rocks that they move.  Then they sift/pan the material looking for gold dust.  At $1,600/ounce there is the potential to make some real money.  But given the state of their boats, gear, ATVs, and trucks it’s hard to imagine that they really do that well.   Meisterheim had one of the nicer ATVs at the dock, but I’m guessing that was earned through the TV show more than gold panning.

 And that seems to be the thing about AK.  Natural resources are here – everywhere.  Gold, oil, fish, eveything.  And people are here to find them and take them.  Gold diggers, oil drillers, fishermen.  People talk about how much money they make…or will make…or could make.  It’s not clear though if the work or the extractions are truly profitable or sustainable.  The work is hard and the extractions destructive.  The ‘industries’ are often in conflict too.  Minerals versus fish, oil vs whales, money vs culture…maybe. Money may be the culture.  And it runs deep. The resources bring the industries and the industries bring the support industries: transportation, food, lodging, logistics, science.    Science is embedded it in all from exploration to extraction to monitoring and regulation. And the scientists are here for the same reasons as the gold diggers. But the prospect of money is also a sort of excuse – a rationalization – for these people.  The gold diggers aren’t really making that much money and neither are the fishermen or scientists.  The real attraction is the remoteness, the unique settings, the challenges, and the overall experience.