Day 3: Kougarok Road

Highlights Map

In the morning we make breakfast from our provisions. We have lots of eggs so of course it is scrambled eggs with some tomatoes and toast. Coffee is also helpful after a night where we were disturbed repeatedly by every movement that our neighbors did. The midnight sun didn’t help either with the sleep so for certain the coffee is very welcome.

Before starting on our way we explore a bit the machinery next to the inn. Likely most it is used in the winter to clean the road. And the winter just passed in Nome, only two weeks ago the road we are planning to go was closed due to snow.

There are also less road-worthy vehicles in the collection like a carriage that seems to be broken down for years. But for us the major attraction are the hens which are also our neighbors. They seem to be quite well taken care of with some even having some mini-sweaters to protect them from the cold.

Before even leaving Nome, just one or two miles from our lodging, we find our first major target for the trip, the muskox. A whole herd of them just by the side of the road. As the parking is a bit difficult we can’t stay too long but we still enjoy seeing them wander around exploring the area from the safety of the town.

To get to Kougarok Road, our road for the day, we use the Dexter Bypass Road. It passes close to the White Alice site and we are not sure which road is the best to reach it so in the end we give up for today. Still we have time to admire the wildflowers which are in full bloom across the tundra.

The Bypass Road is quite scenic as we pass through the mountain range before descending on the other side towards Kougarok Road. Right at the intersection is a delapidated home, or at least we think it is delapidated, it might still be lived in.

Soon we pass the small community of Dexter and enter the wilderness. The tundra extends as far as the eye can see with no trees and it is quite cold outside a sharp contrast with the heat in Phoenix.

There are still overhead electrical wires in this section of the road and they are highly sought out by the birds given the sparcity of trees. Besides gray-cheeked thrush and robins that we expect we also see a Wilson’s Snipe that we do not. It looks quite comical but then we read it is quite common behavior for the Snipes.

The road follows the route of an old railroad and we can see signs of it from time to time including trestles and the railroad grade. It is also relatively empty which suits as quite well as we plan to stop for any wildlife we encounter.

Along the way we stop near a side road to investigate a possible beaver pond. We do not see the beaver but there are quite a few interesting birds including a beautiful Hoary Redpoll playing near the road.

There is also a real bounty of flowers including Arctic strawberries which supposedly are very tasty but we are quite early in the season for the fruits.

There is also fighting going in the air with a raven attacking a bald eagle for some time until the eagle decides to move on. It is an interesting fight to watch especially as the eagle is getting more and more exasperated before giving up.

The views along the way are quite beautiful and we stop often to look for birds on the bodies of water along the road. We are also hoping that it will not rain as the clouds as gathering threateningly along the way.

The road continues through the foothills with limited opportunities to see wildlife easily due to the dense bushes. And then we find an unexpected sign on the road warning us that the road might be closed temporarily going forward.

It is not closed yet so we pass through the section in question and find out that the reason for the closure is a huge helicopter that is just starting to take off from a parking spot near the road. We spot it a bit later carrying something away into the wilderness, quite interesting.

On the next stretch we actually have quite a bit of luck while following the lead of other cars we see parked on the side of the road. We find a few Arctic warblers, a lifer for us, some of which display visibly in the trees and a herd of reindeer far in the distance.

The flowers continue to impress us with their diversity with the one plant that we are most impressed with being Tussock Cottongrass which is seemingly everywhere given the impression of snow in the green grass.

Our next major stop is Salmon Lake Campground where we plan to eat lunch and explore the area a bit. It is at the end of a side road with the road being covered in patches in snow especially near the campground. We decide to not brave the last part and pull over close by and explore the area a bit. There is the requisite abandoned Alaskan cabin, a beautiful lake with some loons on it and even some restrooms for the nearby campground.

The campground itself is quite empty bar one tent right on the shore. The reason, beside the remoteness, is likely the patch of snow we didn’t brave. And we chose correctly as another two cars that arrive after us actually get stuck in it and it takes a while for them to get free.

We eat lunch in the car to avoid mosquitoes and other biting bugs but still explore the area for some time to look at the beautiful flowers and butterflies that are all around us.

On the next stretch of road we are driving quite fast as there is nothing noteworthy in sight and we want to arrive at our destination before the rain. However after a turn we see something on the road so we brake carefully to avoid the Arctic hare that gives us an indignant look and then dissapears in the bushes before we can take the camera out. We search for it for a while to no avail and we have to continue on afterwards to reach our destination.

The next stop is Kuzitrin River Bridge, a bridge that was moved from relocated from Fairbanks in sections via barge and roads. It is quite an impressive and unexpected sight on the road and a good place for us to stop for a short break.

We explore a bit the area under the bridge which is full of cliff swallows which nest under the bridge and are quite busy collecting mud for their nests. This leads to a few conflicts for the best mud which however get resolved quite quickly.

The next stretch is the last before our planned hike. It has quite a few ponds and pingos, a term we just learned while learning about Alaska. They are created by the expansion of permafrost and are used extensively by wildlife.

However today we see more birds on the ponds with both Canada Geese and and Pacific Loons easily found on the nearby ponds.

And then it is time to take the trail to find the elusive Bristle-thighed Curlew. We are quite happy that the start of the trail is well marked and the going is brisk as there are quite a few mosquitoes on the trail.

We still stop for a few times to take a look at the beautiful flowers along the way, most of which we haven’t seen before.

Some of the things we didn’t even notice while hiking and taking photos were the really small willows along the trail. They do not even look like willows, but that is what the Arctic is doing to plant life, most of it is really small and doesn’t really look similar to the plants we are used to.

After arriving at the top we are faced with an unending expanse of tundra and we get a first idea of how difficult finding the curlew here would be. We see lots of people in the distance and there are a few persons waiting right where the trail reaches the plateau. We try to find out from them if the curlew was seen and the news are not encouraging, it was not seen today and the person was an actual guide leading people to see the curlew.

And we do not see the curlew after an hour plus of searching while being hounded by mosquitoes whenever we stop. At least we see our first American Golden-Plover and a Semipalmated Sandpiper as we search the plateau unsuccessfully.

After a brief rest we start our descent, we are almost the only people left on the plateau at this time. On the way back we stop only for the sparrows that are flitting in the bushes. To our surprise besides Savannah Sparrows we also see White-Crowned Sparrows, we had no idea they can be so far north from Arizona where we are used to see them.

It is now time for our return trip, while we are not that hurried anymore and we escaped the rain we still have a long way to go to Nome. Still we drive slower and stop more often including at the ponds we saw the Canada Geese on the way in. This time we notice a couple of Red-breasted mergansers that we didn’t notice on the way in, they are quite well camouflaged on their nest.

Even more exciting we see Alaskan Hares again on the way back and they are more friendly and let us take photos of them. In fact we see so many hares that for some time we are really really careful to avoid any jumping in front of the car but it seems they come in groups and after the stretch with lots of them we barely see any afterwards.

There are fewer cars on the way back, not that there were many on the way in, so we have time to stop and enjoy the stark beauty of the Alaskan landscape. While it is beautiful we do not think we could ever live here long term, it is quite isolated with no running water, electricity and six months winters, we really admire the people who plop a cabin here and try to tough it out.

We continue stopping as we find birds, as usual in this area most of them are red-throated loons or short billed gulls.

We stop at every major river to look for moose, bear, dippers or anything else interesting but with no luck on the animal front. At least the views are great even though it is getting cold at this point.

We forget all about the cold however when we see an animal on a distant pond. We zoom in with the camera and binoculars and lo and behold it is our first beaver. In fact it is a beaver pair busily collecting branches and bringing them to their lodge. We watch them for some time quite excitedly before having to move on. But not that far away as we start approaching Nome we have another exciting sighting of a Short-eared Owl hunting during the day. Not that there is night here during this season and really it is already 10PM so it makes sense for it to hunt but still quite exciting for us.

We stop a bit at the Swanberg Dredge just to take a photo in case tomorrow is a rainy day and also have an opportunity to take photos of a beautiful red-necked phalarope in a nearby pond.

We are quite tired and hungry when we arrive in Nome so we are happy to find that Milano’s is open and buy some food to eat back at the lodging. The food is quite good and soon we go to sleep as we are quite tired. Not that we can for a while given the noises from the neighbors but after they go to sleep we finally can to also as tomorrow is another long day.