Aug 10

Written by:
8/10/2002 12:00 AM 

CRIPPLE RIVER CAMP CLOSES FOR THIS YEAR!!!

Greetings from Cripple River! This year has definitely been a year of extremes, especially here at the Cripple River Gold Camp. This summer the weather was hot and dry, except for one week of cool weather and light rain, making it perfect for most mining. Dry conditions keep the mosquito population way down, and many people were sporting sunburns! On the other hand, the lack of rain water did make dredging more difficult. A good supply of clean water is a plus for dredgers.

The flowers were blooming in great abundance, and the Tundra has never looked so colorful. The late cool weather did not get the blueberry blossoms, and blueberries were abundant this year. Also abundant were low bush cranberries, their brilliant red reminding me of fields of rubies. Add the white of Alaska Cotton and the Tundra, in spots, had the color of an American Flag. Natural beauty to delight the eye, everywhere you looked. Many native animals came out to enjoy the great weather, with several herds of musk ox seen. At our Ketchmark Camp, Donna Fairless and husband Richard saw the elusive Artic Hare wearing it’s gray summer coat. Caribou also visited the camp ”in velvet” with their new antlers not fully grown and hardened. The gold gathering opportunities at Ketchmark were really good this year, but as with all gold, you had to work smart to get it.

I know why I come to Alaska each year, but this year I took a ”Man On The Street Poll”. Here are some of the results: Barbara Wimberly came to the camp because her husband Sam wanted to be here. Sam had NEVER mined before, but saw “The Gold Show” on television and wanted to do something new and different this summer. They came for a week and had a good time, got some gold, and met some nice people. Carol Wolfe and her husband Ron McKee came for two weeks to fish and prospect, in that order. Carol said “We found gold, fished a lot, saw a giant musk ox, and had a blast! My favorite part was Marvin Rapose’s singing in the saloon during the Friday Night Miner’s Party”. Paul Mummy came to Cripple River to finish a life-long quest. He wanted to visit all 50 states, and with this trip to Alaska he finally did. Congratulations Paul! New quest: now visit each state twice. Robert Gydesen saw our camp on T.V. and wanted to come. His wife Chris gave him this trip for a birthday present! He had such a great time he now wants to bring Chris back next year and share Alaska with her. Robert got good gold even though he didn’t expect to. He found a picker sitting on a rock on the beach. Primarily, Robert went everywhere he could and saw as much as possible. No moss grew under his feet. He traveled so much he lost his shadow for two days. He was one active man. Frank Ferguson came into camp with a group of family and celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary. He has seven children, and his wife gave him this trip as a present. He is just 39 plus plus, but didn’t want to tell his age. He doesn’t look his age (whatever it is) either. This was Frank’s first time ever flying, and he visited Pilgrim Hot Springs, where half of his party put on swim suits and proceeded to get in real hot water. Frank felt that the rental ATV’s were a real plus as they allowed him and his group to easily see a lot more of the 2300 acres of the claim, and some of the local area. Victor Maskey fell out of bed with a big crash the other night, and woke up the entire camp! Luckily he wasn’t hurt. I know this news doesn’t really fit here, but I didn’t know where else to report it.

Perry took numerous trips to the Sinuk River, and the trommel. A trail trip people really loved. It seems almost everyone here (99 percent) had a great time. The National Park Service had a Thursday night presentation in the chapel, there were two talks, one on the Iditarod, and one on Alaska and the Native Culture. All in all there are many things to do in camp. You can keep as busy as you want to, or just sit back and relax.

Jerad Yager, grandson of Irene and Ralph Yager and a teenager, caught a 32 and one half inch salmon that took him twenty five minutes to land. It was a real Old Man and the Sea epic battle. Jerad was a little tired, but had a grin ear-to-ear. Way to go Jerad! Cripple River Fishing Champ of 2002.

In the lost and found department, our weather rock is still missing, and the weather has been so nice PLEASE DO NOT return it.

Closing the camp for the year is always a bitter-sweet task. Looking ahead, plans are already in the works for our Cripple River Gold Camp next year. Repairs to existing structures are in the works as well as new buildings scheduled to be built, and many other surprises. Camp is always improving, and yet we try to keep the old time miner’s camp ambiance.

The sun is shining, the Sea is blue, and the great outdoors calls me. I close for now, hope to see you next year. May your life and the bottom of your pan turn golden.