I thought I would continue with a few more posts from Alaska.
My husband and I were in Nome, Alaska during July – September 2012. On sunny (and some stormy) days we were generally working. However, on days with poor weather and high seas or winds, we often had some time to explore Nome and the surrounds. One day, we drove up the road to visit The Last Train to Nowhere, a set of three 1880s era steam locomotives that were brought to the Solomon River area outside of Nome in the early 1900s. These locomotives and a few other scattered pieces of metal are all that remains of a failed attempt to build a railway along the Solomon River to a place called Council City, where gold had been discovered. The railway ran for two summers under terrible conditions “unfit for either man or beast” (according to a sign near the trains) and then filed for bankruptcy in 1907. In 1913 a large storm destroyed a railway bridge and washed away most of the tracks, stranding the locomotives where they sit today. Since the train doesn’t go anywhere today, locals have dubbed the stranded locomotives, “The Last Train to Nowhere.”
To reach the train, we drove along a dirt road in a beat-up pick-up truck on a cold and windy August day. Along the way, we also visited a place called “The Safety Roadhouse”, which serves as the last checkpoint of the Iditarod sled dog race, and we explored some old gold dredges.
The Last Train to Nowhere #2.The Last Train to Nowhere #3. An informational sign about the train.Another informational sign about the train.Posing with the train. Yes, I am wearing two jackets and a hat in August!Last Train to Nowhere #4.Last Train to Nowhere #5.Last Train to Nowhere #6, with husband for scale.Another abandoned item near the train. This looks like a ship's hull, but we think it used to be part of a water tower.Waving through a window.Continuing up the road past the train, we found some weathered, old buildings.An abandoned gold dredge.A closer view of the dredge.Waterlogged dredge buckets.Another view of the dredge buckets.Remnants of winter snow along the road.An Alaskan flag, flapping in the wind.The Safety Roadhouse, located on Safety Sound.The walls inside the roadhouse are covered in dollars and other bills.The ceiling is covered, too...We added a South Africa R10 note... next to one left previously by some colleagues of ours.
I still have a few more posts about Alaska coming in the future… hope you’re enjoying these!
Clearly, I’ve already shared a fair amount about the two months I spent in Alaska. However, I still have some more to share! I’ll start out with a post about Anchorage and a very big earthquake.
My husband Jackie and I spent a few days in Anchorage back in July before traveling up to Nome, where we spent the months of August and September doing field work. One day when we were in Anchorage we had lunch at a place called Gwennie’s Old Alaska Restaurant, a place that had been recommended to us by some locals.
Outside of Gwennie's Restaurant.
Gwennie’s is full of kitsch and crazy: taxidermied animals and antlers are strewn about everywhere, and in-between one finds everything from Iditarod posters to stained glass windows depicting gold prospectors. The food is served on cheap plates with cheap cutlery, but it’s pretty good. Both my husband and I enjoyed the reindeer sausage with fries and a large drink since we were dehydrated from running errands all over Anchorage on a beautiful, sunny, warm summer day.
Gold panning themed stained glass.Jackie and his bear friend.Wishing pool and more taxidermy.A bear rug... attacking from above!Restaurant decorations: antlers, a saw, a sewing machine, and a piano.Posing next to a muskox head.Iditarod posters.
Jackie and I enjoyed looking at all of Gwennie’s unusual decorations, most of which had an Alaskan theme. As we were wandering around looking at the various decorations, one of the waitresses suggested that we go over to the bar to take a look at all of the newspaper clippings from the 1964 Alaska earthquake. This earthquake was enormous, registering 9.2 on the Richter Scale. For reference, that’s the same magnitude as the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that created the large tsunami that devastated parts of Asia. Jackie and I had heard and read about the 1964 Alaska earthquake before, but seeing the newspaper clippings and pictures really put the earthquake in perspective. The clippings put a human face on the earthquake, which was so destructive that some Alaskan towns never bothered to rebuild but simply were abandoned. Looking at the pictures of the earthquake’s destruction was fascinating, humbling, and awe-inspiring.
Here are some of the earthquake newspaper clippings that we saw at Gwennie’s:
1964 Alsaka earthquake newspaper clippings on the wall of Gwennie's bar.Another view of some newspaper clippings on the bar wall.A closer view of a newspaper front page.Pictures of earthquake destruction in downtown Anchorage.More pictures of earthquake destruction.Yet more pictures of earthquake destruction.More earthquake newspaper clippings on another wall of the bar.A closer view of more earthquake newspaper clippings.Even more destruction.
If you’re ever in Anchorage, I highly recommend going to Gwennie’s for a bite to eat and a look around. At least have a drink and take a look at the earthquake newspaper clippings.
When my husband Jackie and I were working in Alaska back in late July through mid-September, we spent time both in Anchorage and in the little town of Nome. While we were in Alaska, we learned a fair amount about the famous Iditarod sled dog race. This is probably because the Iditarod starts in Anchorage and ends in Nome. We traveled to Nome by airplane, not sled dog, but we did make a point of visiting the start and finish points of the Iditarod.
Here I am at the Iditarod’s starting point in Anchorage:
Start of the Iditarod. I'm not sure that I'm at the exact starting point, but we were close and there was a sled dog statue. Note how Anchorage is warm and sunny in late July.
And here I am at the Iditarod’s ending point in Nome:
Finish of the Iditarod. Note how the weather in Nome (also in late July) is a bit colder and more dreary than in Anchorage.
Salmon Lake #1. The sign for the Salmon Lake Campground.
On one of our last days in Nome, Alaska, my husband and I had the opportunity to drive up the road to a little place called Salmon Lake. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management operates a summer campground on the shore of Salmon Lake. We drove up to Salmon Lake to check out the beautiful scenery (especially the gorgeous, snow-capped Kigluaik Mountains) and also to take a look at some regional geology. We were fortunate enough to have a beautiful, sunny September day for our drive. I thought I would share some pictures that we took along the drive. Enjoy!
First, here’s a map showing the location of Nome:
And here’s a map showing the route from Nome (A) to Salmon Lake (B):
On our drive, we actually continued past Salmon Lake for a few miles before turning around and heading back to Nome.
Second, here’s an informational blurb on Salmon Lake from the BLM website:
The Nome Field Station maintains Salmon Lake Campground, 40 miles north of Nome on the Nome-Kougarok Road. The campground offers 6 campsites with fire pits and picnic tables, a natural boat launch at Salmon Lake, and an outhouse. The campground opens in late June after the Nome-Kougarok Road is free of snow and remains open until mid October, depending on snow and road conditions. The Salmon Lake area offers outstanding recreational opportunities. It’s the spawning grounds for the northernmost run of sockeye salmon in the United States.
And now for the pictures:
Salmon Lake #2. Fall colors, arctic tundra style.Salmon Lake #3.Salmon Lake #4.Salmon Lake #5. Those are the Kigluiak Mountains in the distance.Salmon Lake #6.Salmon Lake #7. The sign reads "No Road Maintenance Beyond This Point."Salmon Lake #8.Salmon Lake #9.Salmon Lake #10.Salmon Lake #11.Salmon Lake #12. My handsome co-driver. Salmon Lake #13.Salmon Lake #14.Salmon Lake #15.Salmon Lake #16.Salmon Lake #17.Salmon Lake #18.Salmon Lake #19.Salmon Lake #20.Salmon Lake #21.Salmon Lake #22.Salmon Lake #23.Salmon Lake #24.Salmon Lake #25.Salmon Lake #26.Salmon Lake #27.Salmon Lake #28.Salmon Lake #29.Salmon Lake #30.Salmon Lake #31.Salmon Lake #32.
Today I thought I’d share a few more pictures from the two months that my husband Jackie and I recently spent working in Nome, Alaska. You can find more pictures of Nome in Part I and Part II. Enjoy!
A little dredge named the "Golden Wave"-- a converted pontoon boat.Checking out the famous (from the TV show "Bering Sea Gold") dredge named "The Christine Rose."Gas prices in Nome!Food prices in Nome are rather high. A box of granola bars is $6.29 and a box of oatmeal is $7.19. Food is so expensive because nearly all the food is brought in by airplane or boat since no roads lead to Nome from bigger towns or cities.Liquids are very expensive in Nome. A 12-pack of soda costs $15.99.I really hope this isn't Nome's only vet... or that it's bigger on the inside.Jackie trying on a polar bear fur hat at "The Russian Shop," as we call it.The really neat painted wooden camel that I acquired from "The Russian Shop." I have a collection of camel figurines. Feel free to donate any interesting camels to my collection! 🙂The Nugget Inn.Breakers Bar and the Anchor Tavern.Nome City Hall.One of Nome's churches.An abandoned building on main street. Looks as if there may have been a fire?One of Nome's restaurants.
My husband Jackie and I in front of Nome's gigantic gold pan on the town square.
Here are some more pictures from the two months which my husband and I recently spent working in Nome, Alaska. Today I thought I’d share some pictures of the town square, which is called Anvil City Square. The town square is adorned with several items which honor the town’s gold mining history (a giant gold pan, gold dredge buckets, statues of the people who first discovered the gold, and information signs) and the famous Iditarod sled dog race (statues and information signs), which ends in Nome. You can find more pictures of Nome in Part I here. Enjoy!
Another view of the town square. The town square is edged with metal gold dredge buckets which have been turned into flower pots.Another view of the town square showing the giant gold pan and the statues of "The Three Lucky Swedes."Making friends with one of the lucky Swedes... I hear he's rich!Jackie and I checking out some of the Three Lucky Swedes' gold.A sign about the Three Lucky Swedes and their gold discovery in Nome. There are many such informational signs around Nome. I'm not sure who was responsible for putting them up, but they are much appreciated! Click to enlarge the picture if you want to try to read the sign.A closer view of the pictures of the Three Lucky Swedes on the information sign.They say that even the flower pots in Nome contain gold... perhaps that's because all the flower pots are old gold dredge buckets!
For those who don’t know, this is what a gold dredge looks like:
An abandoned gold dredge about a two hour drive outside of Nome. Note the buckets on the right side of the dredge.A closer view of some dredge buckets on the dredge in the above picture.
I’ll be writing more about some of Nome’s gold dredges in a later post, so stay tuned!
Posing with some Iditarod sled dogs.And Jackie and I thought we were clever and had thought up that slogan...
I haven’t done an “…in Pictures” post for awhile, and I have many, many photographs from Nome, Alaska to share with you. I just spent 2 months living and working in Nome, which is an unusual town filled with gold miners in the summer and sled dog racers in the winter. About 3,000 people call Nome home year round. No roads lead to Nome, so everything (people, cars, mining equipment, etc.) is brought in either by airplane or by boat. Because of this, nothing ever leaves Nome. Well, people do, but things (aside from gold, of course) rarely do. The yards of many of the houses in Nome are filled with years of discarded cars, equipment, tools, and so on. Various fields at the edges of town are piled with mounds of junk. I guess it’s just too expensive to remove worn-out items. At first, I found Nome overwhelming and a little bit scary. After a few weeks, however, Nome– piles of rusted junk and all– began to grow on me. While I’m happy to be back at my home base in Cape Town now, I can truly say that I enjoyed my two months in Nome.
Today I’m going to share some pictures from Nome. I took all of the pictures in this post during a walk on a rare sunny (well, overcast… but the sun poked through the clouds sometimes) day back in August. In future posts I’ll share some additional pictures from Nome. Enjoy!
Nome #1. Those are little gold dredge boats on the horizon.Nome #2. Again, those are little gold dredge boats on the horizon.Nome #3. Some houses and a wood stockpile.Nome #4. More houses.Nome #5. Seagulls and a sign.Nome #6. Another view of some little gold dredge boats.Nome #7. A closer view of some gold dredge boats.Nome #8. The nicest house in Nome?Nome #9. A bush plane flying over some houses.Nome #10. A closer view of the bush plane.Nome #11. Interestingly, many of the locals are Green Bay Packers fans.Nome #12. Bible & Bookstore.Nome #13. Another house.Nome #14. An interestingly shaped house.Nome #15. A sidewalk mermaid.Nome #16. Little gold dredge boats everywhere.Nome #17. Another close-up view of some gold dredge boats.Nome #18. Some of the little gold dredge boats seem to barely float!Nome #19. A little gold dredge boat with another little boat in tow.Nome #20. An ominous sky over the little gold dredge boats.Nome #21. Looking back towards town from the beach.Nome #22. The Nome Trading Company.Nome #23. Well, I bet you won't see this creative home decoration in Martha Stewart's "Living."Nome #24. A crazy caravan and an American flag.Nome #25. Abandoned mining equipment from one of Nome's previous gold rushes. Nome #26. Gears and tundra flowers.Nome #28. An old cement mixer truck.Nome #29. More old gold mining equipment.Nome #30. Gold dredging equipment, old and new.Nome #31. Addressed to Nome.Nome #32. An old Ford.Nome #33. A painted gas tank.Nome #34. Truck trailers.Nome #35. Big Jim's Auto Repair.Nome #37. Junk everywhere!Nome #37. Beaver digger.Nome #38. Containers.Nome #39. Subway... and Nome's movie theater!Nome #40. Nome's best restaurant (in my opinion, anyway): The Bering Sea!
Hope you enjoyed these pictures from Nome. I’ll share more soon.
Gold-bearing garnet sands on Western Beach in Nome, Alaska, Summer 2012.
Above is a gorgeous beach sand picture for this week’s Monday Geology Picture. I took this picture a few weeks ago in Nome, Alaska after a summer storm. The beaches of Nome are rich in red garnet grains. The beaches of Nome are also very rich in grains of gold, and you can bet that if you pan some of the red garnet sand along the Nome beaches, you will find dozens of small flakes of gold. If you pan some of the more gravely beach material, you may even find yourself a gold nugget!
The beaches of Nome are always a rich red color, but after a storm the beaches look particularly red. This is because the storm waves remove some of the lighter beach sand grains (quartz and such) while leaving behind a lag of beautiful bright red garnet… and dark heavy minerals… and gold!
Here are two more pictures of the red garnet beach sands in Nome:
More red garnet sands along Western Beach in Nome, Alaska, Summer 2012. More red garnet sands– and beach cobbles– along Western Beach in Nome, Alaska, Summer 2012.
And here’s proof that if you pan some garnet sand from Nome, you will find gold:
Panned garnet sands from Western Beach in Nome, Alaska, Summer 2012. Note all the little gold glakes on the left side of the pan. Click to enlarge picture.
Gold panning is a gravity concentration process in which a large plastic pan and water are used to separate minerals according to their density. Gold is a very dense material (pure gold has a density of ~19.3 g / cm3), so gold will be sink to the bottom of the pan while much lighter sand grains are washed off during the panning process. Panning first removes the lightest sand grains such as quartz (density of ~2.7 g / cm3) and muscovite (density of ~2.8 g / cm3) and leaves behind heavier grains such as garnet (density of ~3 to 4 g / cm3), magnetite (density of ~5.2 g / cm3), and ilmenite (density of ~4.7 g / cm3). Eventually, the panning process leaves behind a dark-colored, heavy mineral concentrate that is rich in gold!
Here I am with just such a concentrate from Western Beach in Nome:
Me, with a gold pan and a bag of gold-bearing heavy mineral concentrate in Nome, Alaska, Summer 2012.
That’s an old gold dredge in the background of the above photo; I’ll write about the some of Nome’s old dredges in another post.
I just finished my last work shift here in Nome, Alaska and will soon be headed home to Cape Town, South Africa. I’ll just be in Nome for a couple more days to pack and wrap up a few loose ends. By Friday, I’ll be back home!
The weather in Nome has mostly been cold and rainy over these past 2 months, but yesterday was a warm (for Nome, so in the 50s), sunny day that was ended with a spectacular sunset over a very calm Bering Sea. I thought I’d share some pictures here of last night’s sunset, which provided a wonderful backdrop for the end of an enjoyable, if tiring, 2 months of work on the Bering Sea.
Here’s a little biological interlude: pictures of some muskoxen which I encountered on the arctic tundra just outside of Nome, where I’m currently working.
A small herd of muskoxen near Nome, Alaska, August 2012.A (slightly) closer view of some muskoxen near Nome, Alaska, August 2012.
There is some tension between the muskoxen and the citizens of Nome. Muskoxen can be aggressive towards dogs and small children, and they often wander into people’s backyards. Here’s a recent example of some of the tension between muskoxen, people, and dogs. Personally, I like observing the muskoxen… but from a safe distance.
Georneys 
