An Alaskan Adventure : July 1 - 29, 2026

Part 2 - Dawson City to Nome (Wales, Kougarok)

July 6: Dawson City - Fairbanks - Nome

Departing Dawson City, I did a brief aerial tour of the mining area before proceeding to Fairbanks for US Customs, and lunch with AOPA Alaska Regional Manager Tom George. From there, it was on to Nome, for a total of 684nm on the day.

Air North Charter 3705, also going to Fairbanks	Mining operations along Hunker Creek	cIMG_4814.JPG	cIMG_4815.JPG
Gold Bottom	pIMG_4823.JPG	A tour group at the mining site	pIMG_4829.JPG
pIMG_4834.JPG	Dredge No. 4	pIMG_4849.JPG	pIMG_4862.JPG
Dawson City	cIMG_4873.JPG	Top of Midnight Dome	pIMG_4880.JPG
cIMG_4886.JPG	Top of the World Hwy border crossing	Chicken Airport	Taylor Mountain RCO site
Eielson AFB	Tanana River	Final approach at Fairbanks	Gate on Taxiway Bravo to keep GA separate
pIMG_97083.JPG	At Fairbanks	Tanana River at Tolovana	Manley Hot Springs Airport
pIMG_4929.JPG	Oxbows on the Koyukuk River near the Yukon River	Near Koyuk	Moses Point
cIMG_4949.JPG	cIMG_4950.JPG	A boat on the creek	Fish River estuary
pIMG_4964.JPG	White Mountain Airport	pIMG_4971.JPG	Topkok Head
Nome-Council Road at Big Hurrah Creek Bridge	Solomon River and Safety Sound	Nome-Council Road at Solomon	Safety Sound Bridge

July 6: Nome

After getting settled in Nome, I had time to explore some ponds on the outskirts of town. The gulls there were quite defensive of their chicks, and started diving at me while I was still several hundred feet away.

pIMG_5011.JPG	Offshore placer mining	Aleutian Tern (?)	Sledge Island in the distance
Short-billed (Mew) Gull	pIMG_5038.JPG	pIMG_5047.JPG	pIMG_5056.JPG
pIMG_5057.JPG	pIMG_5060.JPG	pIMG_5062.JPG	pIMG_5073.JPG
pIMG_5076.JPG	pIMG_5080.JPG	Red-throated Loon	pIMG_5091.JPG
White Alice towers	pIMG_5107.JPG	pIMG_5116.JPG	pIMG_5118.JPG
pIMG_5128.JPG	pIMG_5136.JPG	Arctic Tern with fish	pIMG_5159.JPG

July 7: Wales flight

One of my goals for this trip was to see Russia from my plane. Another was to land at the westernmost airport on the continental US, at Wales, Alaska. While I succeeded in the former, a low cloud bank prevented me from achieving the latter.

pIMG_5172.JPG	Bob Blodgett Hwy at Feather River	Port Clarence Coast Guard Station	Cape Mountain, near Tin City
Diomedes Islands (foreground), Russian mainland (background)	Lopp Lagoon (right), looking northeast	Wales is under a fogbank :(	pIMG_5213.JPG
pIMG_5220.JPG	The end of the runway is just visible.	pIMG_5229.JPG	pIMG_5230.JPG
pIMG_5243.JPG	pIMG_5254.JPG	pIMG_5258.JPG	pIMG_5265.JPG
Looking south from Port Clarence	Tisuk River	Wooley Lagoon Road	Crete Creek, Wooley Lagoon Road, and Feather River
cIMG_5280.JPG	Bob Blodgett Hwy at Sinuk River Bridge	Sledge Island	Nome
pIMG_5312.JPG	cIMG_5318.JPG	cIMG_5323.JPG	School and hospital
cIMG_5336.JPG	Sulfur butterfly	pIMG_5351.JPG

July 7: Kougarok Road

In the afternoon, I did a drive down Kougarok Road. Officially called the Nome-Taylor Road, it stops 25 miles short of Taylor at the Kougarok River.

cIMG_5356.JPG	Why did the ptarmigan cross the road (so slowly)?	Willow Ptarmigan	Redpoll
pIMG_5377.JPG	pIMG_5378.JPG	pIMG_5380.JPG	pIMG_5383.JPG
pIMG_5385.JPG	pIMG_5388.JPG	pIMG_5395.JPG	pIMG_5415.JPG
pIMG_5465.JPG	pIMG_5497.JPG	pIMG_5514.JPG	Rough-legged Hawk
cIMG_5544.JPG	Salmon Lake	pIMG_5546.JPG	Grand Central River
American Robin	Sparrow	cIMG_5564.JPG	Snowshow Hare
Muskox	cIMG_5579.JPG	Bald Eagle and Northern Harrier	pIMG_5585.JPG
pIMG_5586.JPG	pIMG_5590.JPG	Kigiuaik Mountains	Tundra Swans
Tundra Swans with 3 cygnets	pIMG_5614.JPG	cIMG_5615.JPG	Snow Bunting (?)
Arctic Tern with a fish	Beaver	pIMG_5644.JPG	Beaver tail
cIMG_5653.JPG	Spotted Sandpiper (?)	Kuzitrin River	pIMG_5659.JPG
Are the swallows fishing?	pIMG_5670.JPG	pIMG_5672.JPG	pIMG_5673.JPG
pIMG_5676.JPG	Cliff Swallow	pIMG_5686.JPG	pIMG_5689.JPG
Coffee Dome	pIMG_5697.JPG	Home of the Bristle-thighed Curlew	pIMG_5708.JPG
pIMG_5710.JPG	pIMG_5713.JPG	pIMG_5718.JPG	pIMG_5735.JPG
pIMG_5737.JPG	Jaeger	pIMG_5744.JPG	pIMG_5753.JPG
Salmon fishing on the Pilgrim River	pIMG_5761.JPG	pIMG_5778.JPG	pIMG_5786.JPG
pIMG_5787.JPG	pIMG_5796.JPG	pIMG_5813.JPG	cIMG_5815.JPG
American Golden-Plover	pIMG_5828.JPG	Lapland Longspur	pIMG_5844.JPG
pIMG_5847.JPG	pIMG_5852.JPG	pIMG_5854.JPG	cIMG_5856.JPG
pIMG_5857.JPG	pIMG_5861.JPG	So many bunnies!	pIMG_5866.JPG
cIMG_5867.JPG	Greater Scaup with chicks	Common Raven	Long-tailed Jaeger
pIMG_5890.JPG	Arctic Tern	Western Sandpiper (?)	pIMG_5900.JPG
Offshore mining platforms	pIMG_5905.JPG