Nome Home!

World's largest gold pan - life-sized bronze statues to the right of gold miners.

Nome feels less like Arctic Alaska and more like the final western frontier!  When the world's basket is given a good shaking, all the nuts fall to the bottom and land in Nome, last repository of the wild, woolly, weird and dreamers... since Australia has become civilized.

Nome sits on the southern shore of the Seward Peninsula, somewhat protected by Norton Sound from the heart of the Bering Sea to the west. Nearly 40 miles of beaches of black, volcanic rock, stones the size of peas to large boulders, smoothed by time, pressure and friction; miles of driftwood size of huge timbers to little nubs.




The Gnarly Oak Finish Line sits next to Nome's City Hall most of the year 
and is hauled out into middle of street for the race in March.



Everyone knows Nome for the Iditarod and well it should...forget Mission Impossible and Tom Cruise!  This is real edge-of-your-seat, nail-biting story of race to get diptheria serum from Seattle via Anchorage to stricken-Nome during a blizzard in early 1900s - planes had open cockpits then and couldn't fly in such bad weather; a train brought serum as far as Nenana- above Anchorage- and from there teams of mushers and their heroic dogs took the 20 pound life-saving package in relays, a trip over some of the world's harshest landscapes in midwinter.  This was not the age of Gore-tex.

The lead-dog Balto is most well-known, a bronze statue of him stands in NY's Central Park and movies have been made about him -- but the librarian, Nadiya, at the Nome Museum tells me Balto was considered a somewhat weak lead-dog; however, he did get his team across a treacherous stretch of frozen Norton Sound just prior to the ice breaking up, was last into Nome and is thus remembered.

Seppala and Togo
Photo credit to NorthernLightMedia website
See "Much Ado About Mushing" link

  
Musher Leonardho Seppala and his dog Togo are credited with the most harrowing segment of the nearly 700 mile race but that fact has been lost in mists of time. 

Today's racers must make it down Front Street under the burled Arch to win the Iditarod after a 1,000+ mile long race, after a ceremonial start in Anchorage. 

And, far from its origins, the Iditarod is now called "The Mardi Gras of the North" - let your imagination run with it. 

Ovibos moschatus - otherwise known as musk ox. 
This is mixed herd with youngster between two adults on the right. 
Photo by Finnskimo taken outside of Nome

About 3000 or so people call Nome home, along with a rather large herd of muskoxen that have made themselves comfortable this summer on the outskirts of town (tundra cows, yummm). 

Mostly misty and cool while I was there - only sunny day of the week was time spent in village of Unalakleet, further south on Norton Sound.

Looking east along Nome's beach




That's Nome's harbor in the distance, such as it is, made of local materials, volcanic boulders and gravel; it can be a busy place at times when
cruise ships, NOAA, US Coast Guard and barges tie up here.



4 foot rollers coming in with fog and clouds; balmy 45 degrees




This is not what Front St. looks like in March
when the mushers cross the finish line.

 




In the park stand two umiaqs - boats once used for many centuries by hunters - walrus hides are stretched over the frame (actually half a hide, I was told); apparently, some villagers in the NW burroughs still use the traditional umiaq in ceremonial hunts.  That's a whale vertebra in front on the ground. To give you sense of scale, the umiaq frames are about 20 ft long and stand on poles about 8 feet tall.  This should give some appreciation for the courage of the men who took to sea against the mighty leviathian - the village's very existence depended on a successful return.



A longer view to capture the juxtaposition of the ancient and the modern (kids on their honda ATVs and playing on swingsets).  Kids joyfully running around the grassy field playing frisbee just beyond those incredible testaments to their ancestors' life-link to the sea.  



Below are views of the autumn tundra from the Teller Road. Nome is unique in the Northwest Burroughs because it has a 300-mile road system - they don't really go anywhere but can get you out of town when you've had enough!  The colors are true....purples, golds, yellows - reds show well with sunshine, not in good supply today. 

The other interesting point I wanted to make is that the tundra is not barren and FLAT - it's quite rough and busy!  Any hike would be quite challenging without a path.  There are tangles of willow, alder and birch about hip-high that probably only a moose or bear could get through easily.  Photo above is taken from a camp on banks of small river that runs to Norton Sound.  Seems everyone has a 'camp' in Alaska, to get away from the hustle and bustle of the 'city'.




Interesting historical artifact for those of us older than 50:  up on the hill in the misty fog you can barely make out the now-defunct DEW line structures - it was how we monitored Russia during the Cold War.  And -- I'm not a Sarah Palin fan, and neither are many Alaskans - but you really can see Russia from certain places in Alaska!
More about that in the next post.