August Fave Five #5

Yukon dan

This August, Yukon Dan, held his second annual gold panning competition at Yale Campground, just East of Hope.  A friend of mine had highly recommended we give this competition a try based on her families experience last summer.

I was surprised by the large number of people who came out for the fun.  The event drew a total of 180 competitors out this year which grew from 100 competitors last year.  It was great to see the passion Yukon Dan had for Panning.  It his desire to keep the tradition of gold panning alive by teaching even the youngest children to pan. 

The weekend started with some training in the tradition of panning for gold by the professionals.  Following this we all had our own competitions to compete in.  Unfortunately no winners in our family, but that’s OK.  It was all about the fun.  We all did manage to find some gold flakes in our pans, which was the point of it all anyways.

Cayden also did manage to learn how to pan for gold with the help of a professional gold panner. Of course he had more fun chasing other children with sticks, playing of the swings and bike riding through the campground.

The week-end started out rainy, but it did turn beautiful and sunny. So a trip to the Fraser River also became part of the agenda.  I really wasn’t planning to swim but the decision was out of my control once Ivan managed to give me a shove right into the river.  Thanks IVAN!! 

The whole camping trip was alot of fun.  We hope to give it another try next year.  You can visit Yukon Dan’s website for information on his third annual gold panning competition planned for the last weekend in August of 2010.