Salmon of Nome

Just wanted to update everyone on the local salmon available here in Nome...

Chinook Salmon

SIZE: Chinook can be 1.5 metres long and weigh 58 kilograms! That's bigger than most kids! Average adult chinook are about 90 centimetres long and weigh 14 kilograms. A CHINOOK'S LIFE CYCLE: Chinook lay their eggs, or spawn, in late summer to late fall in larger and deeper streams than other salmon. Young salmon usually stay in their birth river for 1 to 18 months. Then they travel towards the ocean where they stop to spend time in estuaries, where they remain up to 189 days. Estuaries are places at the mouth of a river where fresh water and salt water mix. There are usually lots of wetlands in which to hide and lots of food to eat. After leaving the estuary, chinook salmon spend 1 to 8 years at sea before returning to their birth stream to spawn. Chinook feed on insects and other small creatures while young and mostly on other fish when older.

Chum Salmon

SIZE: An average chum can weigh from 4.5 to 12 kilograms. They are the second larget salmon after chinook.A CHUM'S LIFE CYCLE: Chum salmon usually spend very little time in freshwater, generally only to reproduce. Newly hatched chum called fry usually migrate to estuaries right after coming out of their gravel nests. During their first spring of life, chum salmon travel, or migrate to estuaries to spend several months before heading out to sea. Chum usually return to their birth rivers to spawn after 2-4 years at sea. They are the last salmon in the season to return from the ocean. When in freshwater, chum feed on insects and other small creatures.

Salmon -Thirty-Salmon

Passenger Capacity:
12 First / 132 Coach
Range:
2,370 miles (3,815 km)
Length:
119 ft, 7 in (36.4 m)

Typical Cruise Speed:
502 mph (808 km/h)
Wingspan:
94 ft, 9 in (28.9 m)
Max. Cruising Altitude:
37,000 ft (11,300 m)

Coho Salmon

SIZE: Coho salmon are smaller and slimmer than the chinook salmon. Coho salmon can reach up to one metre in length and weigh up to 14 kilograms but usually they weigh between 3 to 6 kilograms.
A COHO'S LIFE CYCLE: Adult coho spawn from November to January and the eggs hatch the next spring. Young salmon, called fry, stay in their birth streams for over a year. After spending three years in the ocean, most adult coho return to their birth rivers to spawn. Some male fish return after just two years. These guys are called "jacks." Most coho fry feed on underwater insects and small fish.

Pink Salmon

SIZE: Pink salmon can be up to 76 centimetres in length and weigh up to 5.5 kilograms but on average, pink salmon usually weigh from 1.5 to 2.5 kilograms.
A PINK'S LIFE CYCLE: Pink salmon begin to move downstream towards the ocean almost right after hatching from their eggs and coming out of the gravel. They live near the shore and in shallow saltwater areas but don't spend very much time in estuaries. They feed on insects and other small creatures. After only 18 months at sea, adult pinks return to their birth rivers to spawn. They don't travel very far up the rivers and spawn mostly in parts of their rivers near the coast.

Sockeye Salmon

SIZE: Sockeye can be up to 83 centimetres in length and weigh up to 7 kilograms.
A SOCKEYE'S LIFE CYCLE: Sockeye are one of the only species of salmon that spawn in streams that begin from a lake. Young sockeye spend from 1 to 2 years in freshwater and a lot of this time is spent in lakes. Once they begin the journey downstream, sockeye salmon move steadily toward the ocean. After 1 to 2 years in saltwater, sockeye return to spend 1 to 8 months in the lake before spawning. A kokanee is a sockeye that is land-locked and cannot travel to the ocean. It spends its whole life in lakes and streams.

Denali Park

Poems and Pumpkins

The other day, James and I attended a pumpkin carving party. Here is what James had to say about it....





I always thought those jack-o-lantern carving kits you could get at the grocery were retarded. What could they possibly have in them that you couldn't find in your kitchen? A knife will do me just fine, thank you. I went to a pumpkin carving party the other night and they had said kit. I was baffled, curious, and cautious. So, carefully watching my flank for secret snickers from the other pumpkin partiers, I started playing with the funny little tools. Turns out, it wasn't something from the kitchen that was the trick - it was the garage. Saw blades. Yessiree, a little jigsaw blade on a stick work wonders on the hide of pumpkin. Now I know how they get those intricate designs. So witches and kitties it is. (written by James)




Mine, is suppose to be a witch with a cauldron and fire....











The final products. James did the Cat, and the witch on the broom. Milan did the ship and mine on the end, the witch.









With the entire creativeness going on, James and Heidi were inspired to write poems about the season, both of which follow. I on the other hand, was not inspired to write, but instead, went and played in the mud (I am taking a ceramics class, pictures of pieces to follow once they come out of the kiln.)

Poem by James:

Orange and round but once was green
Is the festive gourd I've seen
Raised with a farmers special care
Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere

In a store or by the road
All such places they are sold
By the bushel, pound or pair
Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere

Ripened pumpkins out on the vine
friends inside sip upon mulled wine
A time of harvest when we share
Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere

Are those roasted seeds I spy
As I eat my pumpkin pie
Fine autumn treats baked with such care
Pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhere

With sharpened knives that cut just right
Jack-o-lanterns shine through the night
A glowing pumpkins light to share
Pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhere

Ghost and ghouls cause such a fright
On brooms fly witches through the night
by the gravestones please take care
Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere

Knock! knock! upon the door
greedy kids just wanting more?
without their treats vengeful tempers flare
Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere

A chilly wind disturbs dry leaves
You pull your hands into your sleeves
Summers warmth is now more rare
Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere

To the fall we shall say goodbye
And soon the first snow will fly
Winters chill is in the air
Pumpkins pumpkins everywhere

Poem by Heidi:

There was a young girl, lovely and fair
who decided the confines of PA were too much to bear...
So she packed all her things and hiked up her skirts to a place much more vast, with igloos and yurts.
"This won't be so bad!" She thought in her head,
"I'll be saving lives, and helping sick beds!"
The summer was lovely with temperatures warm,
she didn't even mind the occasional storm.
But all too quickly, the world turned cold,
"Get some warm gear!" She promptly was told.
With a wave of her hand and a "don't be alarmed,"
she explained to them all, she was raised on a farm.
"I can handle it," she said with a laugh,
others who heard her, thought she was daft.
Then one dark morning, as she readied for work,
she noticed the streets no longer covered in dirt.
There was a blanket of snow so pretty and white,
that she guessed must have fallen while she sleep through the night.
She hopped on her four-wheeler and stepped on the gas,
thinking..."What in the h---! The seat's stuck to my ass!"
She rode into town, ice stuck to the rims,
she made it to the office, with a permanent grin.
When she stumbled in doors and let her cheeks thaw,
she didn't feel quite so lovely at all.
Gone was her arrogance, her pride and her laughter,
everyone that saw her asked "What is the matter??"
Humbly she asked where she could get some warm gear,
"You don't understand...the seat's stuck to my rear!".
She now faces weather with a timid stance,
and never goes out, without her snow pants.

Not bad for a few paramedics!

Road Trip with Mom

When mom came to visit, we left Nome and headed out on an 8 day adventure. Zondra let us borrow her car, so off we went. First stop was Valdez, 6 hours from Anchorage. The drive was like driving through Colorado but on a 2 land highway. I think we only passed 5 cars the whole way down. We also visited the North Pole, Fairbanks, Denali Park, Seward and Anchorage. Blogger only lets me post a few pictures at a time, so each of the other places will be posted individually.




A road side picture stop outside Palmer.



















Once in Valdez, we took a 9 hour cruise from a Stan Stevens. The cruise took us to Columbia and Meares Glacier and stopped for the wild life along the way. The also fed us lunch, snacks and soup. All in all, not a bad deal!

On board this 9 hour journey you will have a chance to view ice calving from Meares Glacier as well as the huge icebergs at Columbia Glacier. Enroute you will view the wildlife of the Sound including Bull Head Sea Lion haulout. Learn about the mining, oil, earthquake, and fishing history and hear stories about the first people to explore and live in the Sound. On board lunch and an afternoon snack is served.



Seals on the ice along the way.

Mom with Columbia Glacier in the background.

Mom tasting Glacier ice.
















Me with Columbia Glaier in the background



















in Valdez, the salmon run was just finishing. These are the dead salmon in a net so they don't pollute the rivers

Mom comes to Alaska!

In August (I know I am late in posting this....) Mom came to Alaska for about 2 weeks. She started here trip by visiting me up here in Nome for 4 days. After that, we went to Anchorage and traveled around the state. With me having to work for part of the time she was here, I directed mom out into town, armed with her camera, for a few days of site seeing and fun. I also booked her a flight with Bering Air (the same company that we use for a medevacs) so she could see some of the villages and the surrounding areas.
One other day I sent her out with Richard, our local tour guide, for a trip around town and out onto the tundra. Richard has lived in Nome almost 15 years, coming from a back ground as a Broadway singer. Richard is very knowledgeable about Nome, the history and the local flora and fauna. If I had only known how much fun they were going to have, I would have gone along!

Nome from the air, mom took the picture as she landed after her trip up the coast.

The local sign in town. Look how far away Denver is...

The welcome to Nome sign by the Bering Sea.

Up on the hill, outside of town, there is a place called Anvil Mountain. These are structures left over from WWII. This part of Alaska was used as a monitoring site for the Russians.

The dredges in town. These were used to find gold in the old days as well as moving sand around to make the sound.

Iditarod dogs in there homes. Most racers have up to 50 dogs at a time. When people in town talk about “head” of animals, they are not talking about live stock, they are referring to dogs.

Mom next to the Bering Sea. We walked on the beach every day she was here.

Mom at the Safety Roadhouse. This is a bar about 17 mile out side of town. It is in the town of Safety, which is the last check point for the Iditarod race before the racers get into Nome. The bar is run by Tom and his wife and is usually only open in the summer and for Iditarod.

Notice they sell Coors.....

Dollars at the Safety road house. Now everyone who stops by will know mom was in town.

Sculpture along the Safety road. The boat represents one of the old skin boats that are still used today.

The church across the street from my office.

Me on the grass but the beach. This is the only grass in the area!

the "milk run" goes from Nome down the coast hitting White Mountain, Koyuk, Elim, Golovin, Shaktoolik, and Unalakleet. Bering Air runs mail, food and people everday. Cliff was the pilot.

On the milk run, this is the coast by Koyuk. It is very green this time of year. I wish there were roads down here so I could walk on this beach!

Trees by Golovin. The shadow is the plane mom was in....

Coast line along the "milk run".

Coast near White Mountain.

Out of Unalakleet. I like the river and all the trees! I wish there were trees in Nome....

Alaskan swamp land south of Nome. This is still tundra.

Nome Eskimo Dance Contest

Last week there was a native dance contest here in town. We went to see a friend's daughter dance and compete in the fashion contest. Here are a few photos of the native kids in native clothes.

A Fish Story

I went out fishing to the Penny River on Tuesday, to try and catch what would be my first salmon of the season. Everyone else I hang out with had to work, so I went off by myself.

Here is the story:

1. See the fish



Here we see the Humpies or Pink Salmon swiming up stream. It is kind of cool to watch them swim. With there hump, the look like small sharks coming up the river.


More fish joining in. Once I saw them, I knew I had to catch them.

When the fish are running to spawn, they don't normally feed. To get them to bit the lure, you have to bug them, pester them and generally piss them off until they get mad enough to bit at the lure. It took about an hour and a half, but I am good at pestering things so...







2. Catch the fish


Here is the one I finally caught! He (the females do not have the hump) got pissed off enought that when he did bit the lure, there was no letting go!

These fish normally get between 2-4 lbs on the river I was fishing. This one ended up weighing in at 5 lbs.








Because I was out fishing alone, I had to go back to the office to have my picture taken with my fish.














3. Eat the fish

I also caught Dolly Varden trout with the salmon. The Dollies sit behind the spawning salmon and when the eggs are laided, they eat the eggs. At this point in time, the dollies are really agressive and easy to catch. This the the cooked up dolly.

We also cooked the salmon on the grill. As soon as I opened the tinfoil, I knew it was not going to be good eating. The fish had a strange smell and a really bad taste.

Point to remember, do not eat salmon when they are at the end of their spawn cycle....




Eating the Dolly.






4. Drink beer and tell fish stories!

Kicking back on the back porch, drinking beer, full of fish, in the sun at 10:30 at night!

What a day off!