GPAA Outings nationwide
Jun
22
Written by:
6/22/2011 1:04 PM
Outings offer GPAA members taste of LDMA camps
By Brad Jones
GPAA Editor / Content Director
East Coast Outings Representatives Bill & June Cox are already at the Athens LDMA Camp in Michigan to kick off the last of three GPAA outings this month. The first two outings were held at Lost Dutchman’s Mining Association camps at Loud Mine near Cleveland, Georgia and Vein Mountain near Marion, North Carolina.
Vein Mountain LDMA Camp Caretaker John Boudreau and his wife, Abbi, were quick to offer me a warm welcome as I entered the camp and by all accounts the participants — both LDMA and GPAA members — had a great time and found some gold.
At Loud Mine, Camp Caretakers Jimmy & Barbara Braswell made sure the camp was running smoothly, while Assistant Caretakers Joe and Nina Sankey helped coordinate the outing.
Jack "Happy Jak" Kinser and his wife, Cindy, as well as camp Sheriff Victor "Derail" Wunderlich and Deputy Devin Sypien added some life to the party. Participants were jailed for various nebulous offenses and participants had to bail the offenders out to raise funds for the camp. At the end of the event, Judge "Happy Jak'" sentenced Derail to a beard shaving and haircut on trumped up charges of impersonating an officer of the law. The trial was well attended and was a lot of fun for participants.
Meanwhile, the Alaska Gold Expedition is set to begin at the Cripple River camp near Nome and West Coast Outings Representatives Kathy & Mike "Klondike Mike" LaBox have been busy organizin events for partiicipants at Burnt River LDMA Camp in Oregon, Scott River, LDMA Camp in California and are now at the Italian Bar LDMA Camp in California.
To check out photo albums from June GPAA Outings, including the Loud Mine Outing and the Vein Mountain Outing as well as some photos from the Oconee LDMA Camp in South Carolina, go to www.facebook.com/GoldProspectors.
We have also recently launched an Outings Photo Gallery on the GPAA’s official website: www.goldprosptectors.org. Here are the links to the Loud Mine Outing and the Vein Mountain Outing.
Photo caption: GPAA Editor/Content Director Brad Jones cops a feel of The Nugget Man’s two-pound gold nugget at the Vein Mountain LDMA Camp in North Carolina. Wil Wilcox is a longtime prospector and a familiar face at GPAA outings, LDMA camps and and Gold & Treasure Shows. He is the author of "The Nugget Man."