Nome sweet Nome!

It’s been a few weeks since we hung up our winter gear and settled back to our former lives. Since personally that means lounging about Miguel’s at the Red River Gorge, I thought I’d take the opportunity to post a few pictures from the end of our adventure.

Last stop in Canada, Tuktoyaktuk

Pingos (mounds formed by thawing and refreezing tundra) rise in the distance

Another failed fishing attempt by Dave (moments before Ningo nabbed the onsight!)

Dave checking out the local ice-cave, an underground freezer dug into the permafrost

Ever heard the phrase “sitting ducks”? Dave finds out what that really means on his hunting trip with some locals!

Tuk is at the mouth of the Mackensie river so there is a LOT of driftwood

A critter swims across a puddle

Dave caught with his figurative finger in another pie

Andrew surveys the bridge of a very kind tugboat that hosted us for a few days

The Dodo entertains for a change. Hard liquor (a novelty in a dry town) mixed with game and dried Arctic Char (kind of like smoked salmon), not a bad evening!

An early warning base (remnant of the cold war)

A scene from another early warning base (this one torn down)

Steve coming in for landing on an abandoned airstrip

A cool license plate

Locked and loaded! The guys load up their lockers with treats for the final stretch to Alaska

Stormy seas hit us hard on the final stretch

Steve showing off his handiwork (a 2 metre rip in the main)

We sailed by some crazy colored slopes…

…and enjoyed some amazing slow-motion sunrises

Dave taking down the sail for the last time, a somber moment

Bob making the final peach and rhubarb crumble of the trip

Steve, as usual video editing while the real work gets done

Clint giving his famous celebration pose

And finally we reach the US of A!

The land of gas-guzzlers!

Our last port of call, former gold-rush town, Nome Alaska

After we landed in Alaska we rented a car and explored some of the surrounding country including an amazing hot spring in the middle of nowhere

A creepy abandoned homestead near the hot spring

First-ascentionist of the Northwest Passage (1903-6), Roald Amundsen

No, we couldn’t see Russia across the strait!

Nome’s primary industry these days? Extreme gold digging, performed with giant under-water vacuum cleaners and men in wetsuits (under the ice in winter), all filmed for reality television of-course. Pictured here is one of the many trawlers that cruise around.

Local bling, moose antlers

Yup, it ends here…

Another faux-la-bear sighting

Hangin’ out at the local saloon

Andrew peering out from a bright pink outhouse toilet

Snow capped peaks around Nome

Our first caribou sighting!

Found in the Nome museum! Unfortunately we couldn’t find any locals who would play it for us…