2010 Klondike Day’s in Eagle River..What a great weekend!!
March 8th, 2010 |
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Since 1997 I have been waiting and waiting for my opportunity to go to Klondike Days. When Smurf told me what he did and actually he had just gotten back a month previously before we met from Klondike Days I was totally excited about the idea of doing this. Never been to a rendezvous in my life but I wanted to go to Klondike Days. He asked me if I was titch in the head. I said what a better way to celebrate my birthday by going to Klondike Days. Well 13 years later I got my birthday wish.
The members of Hidden Prairie had meetings and meeting discussing what we were going to do, what we were bringing, who was coming, how cold it would be, etc. I have to honestly tell you that I was a little apprehensive about going. Talking is one thing but doing it is something totally different. I would sit at home and watch TV at night with my blanket wrapped all the way up to my nose and would tell Smurf…”man I am cold”. And in the back of my mind all I kept thinking was how the hell am I going to survive through Klondike Days. It is going to be colder than the 68 degrees in our house. And will the kids be warm enough. What if they burn down the lodge trying to keep warm? Would they get frostbite on their feet? Questions and the worrying mama gene kicked in. And with buying the house back it was just too much to think about all of it.
Anyway…..Wednesday loaded up the trucks to the brim. Couldn’t have fit a fart in there it was packed so tight. Thursday morning….signed the papers to buy the house back at 9:15 a.m. and by 9:30 a.m. we were on the road to Eagle River. The weather was suppose to be great. We were pumped! Arrived in Eagle River at 11:00 a.m. and after the hugs and kisses were passed around it was time to set up. Walking Eagle, Josh and Jerry were already there set up. They came in on Wednesday. Heard from them that Dick’s brandy new sleeping bag started on fire the night before. Sparks flying and sputtering must have hit his sleeping bag and he felt something hot. Yep! It was him on fire…small one but he was okay luckily.
This was a totally new and different experience in setting up in the winter than in the summer. We couldn’t just unload everything at once and put it on the ground like in the summer because everything would have been wet. Got the lodges up and set up camp finally. Sam told me that he was cold. yikes! already? well actually all of our feet were wet from walking around in the snow setting up. Told him to go change and make sure to put dry socks and boots on. ESSENTIAL to getting warm again. About 10 minutes later I hear “Sam! you’re on fire!” Charlie yelled because he saw his jeans smoking because Sam had put his wet jeans on his wood stove to dry and he had it roaring in that stove. Obviously his wet pants started smoking. All he could say was “that was my best pair too”. No injuries…we are good!
Charlie and Kristen and Doc and Roxie arrived about the same time close to 2:00. It was like watching the flight of the bumble bee with watching Kristen and Charlie setting up. The actually looked like they have been setting up for years!
I made up a ham and fried tators for supper. Everyone got in dress and sat around for awhile shooting the breeze and/or getting their things ready for Friday’s School Days. Had a few beers for a night cap. Before we got to Klondike Days we were told that there were approximately 350 kids attending. Thursday we were told that over 600 had RSVP’d. 
We were all nervous. None of really have ever experienced this kind of crowd before. Especially kids. Peshtigo had about 350 and we thought that was a lot. Everyone pretty much hit the hay early that night….and good thing we did.
Friday morning came. Holy cow it was pretty cold. The weatherman said it was only suppose to get down to 13 for the low. Amy came in that morning and told us it was -6. yikes! no wonder it felt cold. It was! Make leftover ham, tator’s and eggs that morning and of course lots of coffee. Amy (the leader of our buckskinner pack) was running around like a chicken with her head cut off. She was nervous too. We all had pretty big shoes to fill that weekend with starting something new from year’s past. Gretchen (another Klondike member) brought in cookies for us for breakfast dessert. What a champ and were mighty tasty with coffee. Then after breakfast it was on with getting ready for the kids. 9:00 came….the cannons’ went off and we were on our way. We had 11 stations I believe. Good thing…647 kids showed up. Groups of approximately 50 kids per group with their chaperons or guides. I have to say that these kids were awesome. I didn’t see one kid that was disrespectful or anyone that looked bored. They were awesome with asking questions and were really interesting in everything. Dick demonstrated trapping skills, Jimbo did firestarting and cannon shooting, Jerry did blacksmithing, Sam and Josh did hawk throwing, I did cooking, Kristen did lead ball making, Charlie and Bob were in charge of the blackpowder gun shooting, Doc and Roxie did the tipi etiquette and Smurf was the runaround for the day helping out anyone that needed it. His real demo came Saturday. 
One of the funniest things of the day was when Jimbo would have the kids yell “FIRE IN THE HOLE” and Doc had his group of kids yell “MORE POWDER”! And they were on opposite ends of camp. The day went really fast! Couldn’t believe it when they said it was already lunch time. The day wrapped up around 2:00 and we all felt it afterwards. Most of us were pretty beat. But it was a great day!! About 5:30 we were off to Eagles Waters for supper. I tell ya this is a pretty hoity toity place. Very nice! But I felt kinda out of place walking in with our garb on. Kinda stuck out in the crowd. But man we were treated damn good. Had an awesome buffet. We were in the back by a stage and you should have seen the stage lined up with capotes. After dinner we had a few drinks and talked with some of the members from the Klondike Board. They had nothing but good things to say about us and how much the guides and chaperons enjoyed the school days. We then headed back. Smurf and I were in bed at 8:00 p.m. that night. A few others stayed up sitting around the fire and enjoyed the night. Sam told me on the way back from Eagles Waters that night that this was his favorite rendezvous so far and he has been rendezvousing since he was 6 years old, so he really meant it when he said it. Was great to hear him say that!!
Saturday morning was to say the least totally unexpected. We were told by Doc and Roxie how many people come through but you don’t get the real feel of it until you see it. 9:00 came and the cannons were shot off again. Then all of a sudden it looked like someone let open the doors at a stadium and in came the people. LOTS of people…in drones! Heard later on that there was over 15,000 people that came in and even ran out of parking. The beautiful weather was helping out the attendance greatly! It was great to see so many people asking questions and most were totally amazed that we were actually sleeping out there. Smurf went to the fort to talk to Amy and see how it was going and he took over for her for a bit while she went on a break herself. When she came back she couldn’t even get into the fort. There were lines and lines of people waiting to get in there It was like Smurf walked back in time and he didn’t step out of it until after 4 that day. He looked like a natural speaking of the way the mountain man life was back then. Nate came in on Saturday and it was a welcomed site to see another one of our members come in. He helped out in every way he could in everyone’s camp and also the shoot. Sooo appreciated! Chris, Amanda, Kaitlyn and Kaleb also came in on Saturday and Sunday morning’s. They helped out with the demonstrations throughout the day too and it was also very much appreciated. Even found out that Kaleb is a natural lead ball maker. He did a great job! The day winded down around 4:30/5:00. Went to the tent to have a bite to eat. Man! lots of participants there too. I had went back to the lodge just to sit down for a bit. I was tired! I laid down that night at 7:00 and was down for the night. Josh, Sam and Nate were pretty much out for the night too. Luckily Sam had a bunk mate that night to help him keep the fires burning…and not his pants. They also enjoyed good talk and cocoa. Kristen, Charlie, Chuck, Bob, Dick, Jerry and Jimbo stayed up at the tent and listened to the music and had a great time with the members of the board from Klondike Days. We really made a great bunch of friends by meeting them. They are awesome!
Sunday was pretty much like Saturday but not quite as many people, which was a good thing because it was more relaxed a bit. There were still a lot of people and we heard more than usual than previous year’s on Sunday most likely because of the good weather. We started tearing down at 4 and were home by 7:30.
The weekend was a total success! We would have loved to have had more of our members there but there is always next year. And I am almost 99.9% positive that we will be going back. Amy did say that even if she has to come and get us and our things with a semi we will be coming back. We told her “GOOD! because then we don’t have to haul it.”.. LOL!!
It is a whole different experience being there. Luckily we had great weather. Next year it may be colder but I am sure we will do great. So if ya get a chance to come next year make sure you do. It is an awesome time! And next year I am stocking up on vitamins and sleep so I can whoop it up next year!
