IN NOME, THEY FISH FOR KING CRAB from snow machines. Local resident Carl Emmons has a pet reindeer who hops in back of his pickup and rides around in it like a dog. After the holidays Nomeites stick their Christmas trees in the frozen surface of Norton Sound and put up a sign that reads…
Absolutely no seal oil is permitted in the vehicle, or an extra charge of up to $200 may apply. —Car rental agreement, Nome FRIDAY WE PICK UP Peggy Fagerstrom, who describes herself as “our trusty Native guide” to everyone she introduces us to, to the great hilarity of all, and we drive east down the…
Where the river is windin’ Big nuggets they’re findin’. North to Alaska, They’re goin’ North, the rush is on. —Johnny Horton, “North to Alaska” IT STILL IS. In the spring of 2003, a Nome miner found a nugget the size of a man’s clenched fist worth $75,000. Nome sits on the southern coast of the…
Dana Handeland already has one lodger, a Norwegian tourist and “I get five people tomorrow, four volunteers who are working their way up the trail and a guy who says he’s a stand-in on NYPD Blue who is bringing a lot of camera equipment.” “The Iditarod traveler is a different kind of traveler,” Dana says.…