Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Nome
(Part 2)
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
coast to Solomon next to a wide sand beach littered with silvery gray driftwood and hand-
fuls of tiny cabins and shacks and tents, each with its own drying rack. But the coolest
thing about this road is the driftwood tripods stationed at regular intervals, with reflectors
nailed to them to show the mushers the way into Nome on the last leg of the Iditarod. It is a
sobering reminder that, no matter how tropical things seem today, with the sun shining and
a soft onshore breeze kissing our cheek, the last leg of the Iditarod is often the worst, with
Bering Sea blizzards screaming on shore. It was at a checkpoint on this shore, during one
of those fabled blizzards, that the lead musher's dogs refused to get up again after a rest
stop. The musher returned to the roadhouse and started drinking whiskey. Not a whole hell
of lot else to do in that situation, it is still generally agreed, and the story has now passed
into the lore of the Iditarod.
At Solomon is the Last Train to Nowhere, the remains of the Council City and Solomon
River Railroad, three locomotives and a boiler that has fallen over on its side, standing out
rust red against the pure green of the marsh grasses. When Manhattan Railway converted
from steam to electric they sold off their locomotives, and three of them made it here. The
gold strike at Ophir was the inspiration for the construction of the railroad, but a huge
storm in 1913 took out the tracks and stranded the rolling stock where it is today, literally
dissolving under the influence of Bering Sea storms.
