BAZflyer: There’s no place like Nome

During the summer of 1898 three lucky Swedes climbed aboard an old flat-bottomed boat and made their way to the mouth of the Snake River near the site of what is today the town of Nome, Alaska. It was there on the beach these canny prospectors found gold and so settlement began. Two years later the tent town of Nome had a population of over 30,000. Nowadays the place has a population of somewhere around 3,700 and small claim gold mining is still a significant local activity.

Nome has had a long and interesting relationship with aviation. During WW2 it was a critical staging post for aircraft being supplied to the Soviet Union under the Lend-Lease program. US pilots would ferry aircraft to Nome where they would be picked up by Russian pilots and flown across the Bering Strait and onto the Eastern Front where the Soviet Union was fighting Germany. Then there was Jimmy Doolittle. He grew up in Nome, sold newspapers for the Nome Nugget and delivered clothes for his mothers laundry service before becoming a famous aviator.

Even today this frontier town exhibits strong sentiments to its past. Muddy sidewalks, seemingly haphazard construction, salon bars and local identities combine to give Nome an unmistakable frontier character. As a local catch-phrase goes...”There is no place like Nome”.

Nome, like so much of the northern latitudes the Bazflyers have flown through in the past couple of weeks, is frozen-in for three quarters of the year. Although there were still patches of snow and ice to be seen in the streets a Bazflyer walk around the town’s boat harbour revealed the seasonal gold recovery activity was well underway. It was also an opportunity to meet some of the folk who call Nome home.

What a surprise it was to engage in conversation with a gold claim worker named Ryan only to discover he hailed from Ipswich, Australia. Ryan and his mates Michael, James and Mikel of Lucky 7 Mining ere frantically working on their gold sluicing boat in preparation to work a claim located some 15 km up the coast. At this time of the year it doesn’t get dark in Nome which facilitates very long work days.

Then there was Adam. He’s a crab and Halibut fisherman. Bazflyer2 says his manly bear hug embrace is an awesome experience. Sandra was another long time Nome dweller the Bazflyers spent time with and is the subject of a video interview.

There might still be gold in the ground at Nome, but for the Bazflyers meeting some of Nome’s real characters was pure gold indeed.

Circling to land at Nome (PAOM) for landing Runway 21

The team of Lucky 7 Mining