Greetings from the Cripple River Gold Camp, the summer has come and gone, and this is the last week in our camp! In some ways it seems like we just got here, and like every year I didn’t get everything done I had planned to do, but I also did things not on my to do list so I guess it all evens out in the end! The weather has been a little strange this year, so we all need to put in our request for good ol’ gold prospectin’ weather next year with lots of sunshine, and just enough rain to keep the dust down and the bug type critters away!

Greetings from the Cripple River Mining Camp, where Week 7 is just starting, and things are just zipping along. For the fisher-folk the Silver Salmon continue to run, and the Pink Salmon, called Pinks in camp are still running strong. Catching fish is NOT a problem here as often you catch nine fish for ten casts. Many anglers have learned to vary their retrieval to let the fish “slip off” the line close to shore, for a no hands on “catch and release”. The fish never leaves the water, and the angler never even has to touch the fish. This doesn’t always work, but when it does it’s the best fish trick I’ve seen.

Greetings again from the Cripple River Gold Camp! The last few days it has really rained some, cleaning the air of imaginary impurities, as the air is pure enough here as it is. Great duck weather, as they have oil on their feathers so the rain just rolls off them like, well, like water off a duck’s back. Prospectors however, not being blessed with feathers, have to wear wet weather gear. Our chow hall, especially at meal time, has looked like a mobile flower garden for the last couple of days as rain gear comes in all colors, blue, yellow, green, tan, gold, orange, dark maroon, and even white to name a few colors. With prospectors coming in all shapes and sizes and you could give each one a flower name, and start a brand new unique flower book. If you did it might sound like this: Look, there’s a blue and black Cute Karla they are up and shining early, and like places warm and food related, while the same colored Dandy Dean variety is out and about all the time, and there’s a purple K.O. also called a ‘wood-chick’, this flower blooms mostly in wooded areas, while the orange to gold Roaming Joe is found everywhere in camp.

Greetings from Cripple River Gold Camp, where we have had days of golden sunshine, and just enough gentle breeze to chase away the tiny flying critters! After working hard on the beach all day it is nice to relax with a nice quiet game of ROWDY BINGO, A Cripple River Original. In this game you can talk, laugh, tease the caller, make paper airplanes out of used bingo cards (Rhoda) and fly them, or steal the pots like the Husman family. Glenn Husman from Berthoud Co., played bingo last night for the first time in over 40 years, accompanied by his sons Jason and Rodney who haven’t played for over 10 years. And NO they didn’t come to our gold camp for the BINGO! Jason, his son from Manhattan Beach Ca., saw information about this camp on T.V. on a show called “The Alaskan”, and called Glenn and Rodney and suggested they all come to Alaska. They each joined the GPAA and here they are!

Greetings from the Cripple River Gold (and everything else) Camp! This has been an interesting year here in camp, and with lots and lots of different activities to choose from; there seems to be too much to do at times. You must pick and chose how to spend your time when at camp for your best benefit! Most people are here to gold prospect or at least learn the basics of prospecting and the ins and outs of individual mining equipment, but not everyone! So there are additional activities and classes for the people who haven’t been bitten by that pesky and highly contagious “Gold Bug”. Or at least haven’t been bitten yet! Be Warned it can bite you anytime!

Greetings again from our Gold Camp 12 miles west of Nome Alaska! The weather this week is what we old timers in the camp are used to — summery sunshine! Hurrah! Now maybe the more exotic wild flowers will venture out, they’ve been mighty shy the past year or two. Of course, we always have a plethora of colorful wild flowers with their rainbow of jewel bright colors to delight the eye, and make the inner person smile, but some of the more delicate ones don’t always grow well without a lot of sun! One of the ones I miss is a plant that blooms a dark blue green and is a member of the Gentian family (Gentian Violet is a relative with a purple blossom that has a medicinal use). This shy flower is only a few inches high, and blooms only in bright sun. If your shadow hits it, or a cloud blocks out the sun, the blossom will close up before you can snap a picture! It is that fast, and so is a challenge to photograph unless you are very careful! Who said flower photography is simple!

Camp is ticking along like a well oiled watch. The weather, always a concern in Alaska, has been---I was going to say a bit unusual, but waaaay up here where the weather for down below (the lower 48 states) is being made, it is always unusual! We have had a few days of light rain; some fog has rolled in, stayed a brief while then rolled back out to sea, some cold wind, and some days of bright sun. Through it all our hardy gold prospectors have dressed for the day and kept on prospecting! Everyone learned fast to carry rain gear, and bug spray, liquids to drink, a can of pork and beans in your pocket (a Buzzard Massie trick) layer your clothes, and you are ready for anything!

Greetings once again from the Cripple River Gold Camp! To all the new people coming here for the first time Welcome!!! To all the people returning to our camp Welcome Back! Summer has arrived in the far North Country bringing with it interesting animals to photograph, exotic colorful wild flowers, flocks of returning migratory birds — especially the rare but ever faithful Cripple River Gold Prospector Birds!

Greetings again from the Cripple River Gold Camp! The last few days it has really rained some, cleaning the air of imaginary impurities, as the air is pure enough here as it is. Great duck weather, as they have oil on their feathers so the rain just rolls off them like, well, like water off a duck’s back. Prospectors however, not being blessed with feathers, have to wear wet weather gear. Our chow hall, especially at meal time, has looked like a mobile flower garden for the last couple of days as rain gear comes in all colors, blue, yellow, green, tan, gold, orange, dark maroon, and even white to name a few colors. With prospectors coming in all shapes and sizes and you could give each one a flower name, and start a brand new unique flower book. If you did it might sound like this: Look, there’s a blue and black Cute Karla they are up and shining early, and like places warm and food related, while the same colored Dandy Dean variety is out and about all the time, and there’s a purple K.O. also called a ‘wood-chick’, this flower blooms mostly in wooded areas, while the orange to gold Roaming Joe is found everywhere in camp.

Greetings from Cripple River Gold Camp, where we have had days of golden sunshine, and just enough gentle breeze to chase away the tiny flying critters! After working hard on the beach all day it is nice to relax with a nice quiet game of ROWDY BINGO, A Cripple River Original. In this game you can talk, laugh, tease the caller, make paper airplanes out of used bingo cards (Rhoda) and fly them, or steal the pots like the Husman family. Glenn Husman from Berthoud Co., played bingo last night for the first time in over 40 years, accompanied by his sons Jason and Rodney who haven’t played for over 10 years. And NO they didn’t come to our gold camp for the BINGO! Jason, his son from Manhattan Beach Ca., saw information about this camp on T.V. on a show called “The Alaskan”, and called Glenn and Rodney and suggested they all come to Alaska. They each joined the GPAA and here they are!