Home Sweet Nome

Nome and the surrounding countryside surpassed Bucky and my expectations.  For me, it was the realization that Nome is not flat and not all tundra, but instead has rolling hills and mountains with snow.  Traveling to Nome from Anchorage is a quick 1 1/4 hour flight with a stop in Kotzebue, putting one above the Arctic Circle.  But, alas, we were nonstop, so I'm not sure if we passed above the Arctic Circle or not.  That still might be a box left to check off.  We quickly picked up our rental vehicle from the Aurora Hotel, one of the fancier buildings in Nome.  Our Jeep Liberty turned into a Toyota Tundra which later proved to be fortuitous.  We began with a trip through town on Front Street heading to the mouth of the Nome River where we found a few fisherman and some locals playing in the river.  Gold miners were busily dredging the sand of the ocean floor offshore.  Along the roadside were the remains of dredges and equipment used during the Gold Rush.  Nome is all about the Gold Rush.

Looking along Front Street, Bucky scans for refreshments, while entertained by a sidewalk musician. 

More refreshments

The mouth of the Nome River

Old dredge

Nome has three roads heading north from town, each being about 70 miles one way.  If you think of it as a capital W, with Nome at the base and south, Teller Road is to the west, Kougarok Road is in the center and Council Highway is to the east. It was our plan to travel all three of these roads before leaving Nome, so we wasted no time in starting.  Bucky made phone connections with Chris, a friend of a friend of a friend of Carlisle's who turned out to be a wonderful resource and exemplified the hospitality we found to exist throughout our stay.  After leaving Nome, we seldom saw people and spent hours looking at wildlife, discovering mine sites and watching spawned out salmon make their final journey.  There seemed to be something around every corner bringing us to a halt, making each 70 mile trip even longer.

Nome, like all of Alaska is really about the sea.  Could I see Russia?  "You betcha" !

We started on the Kougarak Road, with the Nome River flowing along beside us. 

Pink Salmon or Humpy

Well kept cabins along the Kougarok Road, but no people to be seen

Camping on Salmon Lake, half way to Kougarok

The Hobitat

After a rainy night by Salmon Lake, we left the tent set up, hoping it would dry while we headed to Pilgrim Hot Springs.  We had learned that this spot, once owned by the Catholic Church, had been the site of an orphanage for children who lost their parents during the flu epidemic of 1917.  The road required 4 wheel drive and we saw no tire tracks in the wet mud, so we were fairly certain we would be alone.  Once again, Bucky and I felt like we were either on a movie set or about to become characters in a Steven King novel.  We decided that the either was OK because the water felt soooo good despite the cold drizzle or maybe better because of it.

                   It didn't look like much

 

Should we mysteriously disappear

Soaking in the shadow of the cross

The Lord will provide

The orphanage dormitory

And it was too soon over

Processing

While trying to make it to Larson Lake, these sockeye met the Dorias.

Carlisle, our guide and boat driver, is also an above average fisher woman.  With her help, we were able to catch our limit of three sockeye each day we went out.

Hauling the catch home to fillet later. 

Some of the work begins at the river, known in AK as fillet and release. Throwing the carcasses into the fast moving water from whence they came, feeds the gulls, eagles and bears, resulting in not having to deal with fish guts at home. We saved the remains of the fish we filleted at home, putting them in the freezer to be used by a musher who will make a nice stew out of them for her dogs. 

Back at home, Bucky and I began freezing, canning and smoking the beautiful red meat.  The average weight of each fish was 10-12 pounds providing nice fillets.

 Finally, with some sun, the caning was done.

Salmon loaf, salmon patties, salmon wiggle, salmon salad, salmon omelet, salmon kabob, salmon sushi, salmon pate, grilled salmon, poached salmon, salmon souffle, salmon jello....

On Monday, July 26th, Bucky and I will fly to Nome.  We're very excited about what we'll see and do there.  Our hope is that it won't be snowing!  Fisher will be staying with Carlisle who will be housesitting for a dog musher.  Fisher will have her first Alaskan experience of pulling with a team and living at a dog yard with 40 other Alaskan sled dogs.  If only she could blog about it.

Red Gold July 21-22

7/22/10
They finally came !  Word spread quickly that the Reds (Sockeyes) were in at Larson Creek.  As soon as Carlisle was home from work we grabbed our gear and hurried up there in the boat.  After so much rain, the Talkeetna was high with logs and other debris floating.  This can be troublesome if sucked into the intake of the jet motor.  Larson Creek is about a 45 minute ride upriver, maybe 7 miles.  Not far beyond Larson Creek is Larson Lake where the sockeye are headed to spawn.  We did our best to prevent that from happening.  When we arrived, the small creek was somewhat crowded, but quickly cleared out as the charters left for dinner.  Within minutes we had the place pretty much to ourselves and made fast work of getting our limit.  All this wasn't without incident as a young brown bear sent Mark running and hollering for the gun.  It was surprisingly bold to approach with so many people and dogs around.  Finally, it retreated back to the woods with no shots fired, but the realization that we needed to have more than one person armed.  Excited by such success, we were up early the next morning, in the boat shortly after 5am and fishing by 6.  Again, within an hour we had our limit and Lisle and Mark were able to rush off to work, sleepy but happy to know that Bucky and I would begin processing the meat.  We will begin the smoking process by soaking the fish fillets in a brine.  The fish to be canned will be filleted and prepared for the pressure cooker.  It's time consuming but rewarding.

                                                

Into the Wild

Carlisle spent the past weekend "remote" about 70 air miles from McGrath in the interior.  She has actively looked for land since becoming an Alaskan resident, but has been undecided as to where in this large state she would like to be.  The state of Alaska still offers its residents a chance to stake remote parcels of land through a lottery. When an area opened up near the Big River and the Revelation Mts., Carlisle put her name into the lottery and to her surprise, was chosen.  Arrangements were made to fly commercially from Anchorage to McGrath and then by private charter (bush plane) into the area open to staking.  It's a complex task and must be done correctly or the stake will not be honored by the State.  Bucky and I were amazed at Carlisle's attention to detail and knowledge about what had to be accomplished during the 4 days taken from her job to stake a possible 20 acres of land sight unseen.  Just choosing what and what not to take when weight on small airplanes is critical can be a challenge, particularly with the climate in Alaska.  We were impressed with her GPS mapping, math skills and how to make name plates from beer cans.  She seems to have become self sufficient.

The 15+ acres that Lisle chose to stake is mostly tundra with close access to the mountains.  She chose it for its proximity to the mountains, fresh water source and tundra landing strip.  The State will grant permits to harvest timber from surrounding property not within the staking boundaries which will eventually provide logs for a cabin and firewood.  She described the tundra surface as "loaded with blueberries", blue irises and the spotted lady slippers, as well as the black fungus about which she is asking on her job with soil conservation and invasive species. 

As she described it, the Revelation Mts. kept revealing themselves bit by bit during her stay as the cloud cover lifted, giving their name new significance.  Her mind pictured carving turns on their snowy faces during some upcoming winter.  Bucky and I aren't sure what to think about it all, only how nice it is to be young, strong and have the chance to drive a stake in the ground and call it yours.  Lisle said that she never thought of herself being possessive or needing possessions but when she heard the sound of an approaching airplane she started running to get her stakes into the ground for fear of losing her turf.  Being able to be pilot in command on the flight home was an added bonus and added another hour to her flight log book. 

Now, paperwork must be filed with the State and if the protocol for staking has been followed correctly, the land will be surveyed and appraised.  If Carlisle chooses to go ahead with ownership, she will begin making payments to the State.  No permanent structure can be placed on the property until three years of payments have been made to the State.