Nome, AK Trip

On July 11th and 12th we made a trip to Nome, AK. What is there to see in Nome, AK? Plenty! I loved visiting this quaint town. It’s charm is not your usually tourist spot, but that is why I loved it. It’s vastness is quite amazing.

Our first adventure, when we arrived in Nome, was to find Dorothy Falls. There are no signs to follow. The directions went something like this. Follow the road out of town, yes there is only one! Take a right before you get to the baseball field. Really its a dirt field with dugouts and a fence around it. Continue on till around mile marker 26 there is a red building. Cross the creek, follow the ridge line 1.5 miles or so to find Dorothy Falls. The first feat was actually finding the right spot, but not really knowing if we did until we found Dorothy Falls. We only say about 3 cars on the whole drive to the falls, which took about 45 minutes. Then on the way back from the falls we ran into a man who was mining his claim on the creek. He took some time to show us how to mine with a pan and where to look for gold on the river. He was able to show us a speck of gold! I was thankful for him because he gave me a ride on his quad so I didn’t have to cross the frigid creek again barefoot. It was mighty cold! The hike was totally worth it! Dorothy Falls was spectacular! We loved playing around on the falls. We had it all to our selves!

After this hike we headed down the road to find Pilgrim Hot Springs. The road was rough and the locals warned us to have plenty of bug dope. The gravel road was only 7 miles long, but it took 45 minutes to drive it. Yes, the mosquitos were horrendous, I was thankful for the ‘good’ dope! At Pilgrim Hot Springs there was a ghost town. About 100 years ago, there was a mission there that run an orphanage. This place was remote! Hard to imagine how they survived, even with the hot springs there. The church building was quaint in the vastness. A humbling picture to see.

We also put our feet in the Pilgrim Hot Springs. Unless you Greg and Esther who went all the way in! It was really hot!

One of my favorite parts on this first day was hunting for the spring water on the side of the road. Again the directions were, look for a pipe coming out of the hill around Salmon Lake. Right, we can find that! On the drive up we missed it, imagine that! At the Hot Springs we asked another local, he gave us the added directions: “look on the right for a white/black pipe, with orange cones…I think….and if you past Salmon Lake you have gone too far.” I’ve never drank water from the side of the road, but this water was amazing! We were all excited to fill our water bottles!

Day 2 we stayed more local to Nome. We found dredge number 5. Apparently this is the largest dredge made! It was mammoth! Crazy thing is we could walk right into this old, abandoned machine. Last time it was operated was in the 1950’s. Let just say my Mom heart was thumping. It was pretty cool to walk around in it and get a close look at it, though. Thankfully I have watched many times the Gold Rush with my Dad and actually know how it operates and how dangerous this equipment can be! Dad next time you should come with! Oh, and the locals use this as a swim spot in the summer! Crazy!

Next we went to check out ‘White Alice.’ Never heard of it? Yep me either! Apparently it was a radar station used it to defend Alaska, well the US, in the Cold War from Russia. Who knew! What impressed me was the view of Nome from up there! You see the whole town and the Bering Sea. God’s beauty never ceases to amaze me! Oh, fun fact, and we FaceTimed with our friends who live in Haiti from ‘White Alice.’

We ended our trip on the Nome beach. It was a sunny 65*F afternoon, couldn’t ask for better weather! We had a great afternoon panning for gold, building sand castles, making sand angels, and swimming in the Bering Sea. Well, do toes count?!? It’s cold!