Planning;
With no long-range plan, I had to learn my way to the next step. How did I get here from there?
Imagine being somewhere you have never been before. Yes, I had been in Alaska. Yes, I was the type that jumped in the truck on weekends and went as far as the road would go in four wheel drive!
Here, there is a "road". It's called the Iditarod Trail. This place is half way between Anchorage and Nome on a trail that with enough imagination could resemble a road. The Iditarod trail goes from Anchorage through the abandoned community of Iditarod to Nome. On the way, it passes many mining camps. The trail was designed to provide access to mining camps and reach Nome over land. Nome has pack ice in winter months and the only access is by air today. In the early days, air was not an option. As mining camps grew larger from increasing ambition of miners to get on the GOLD, a "road" was constructed from the village of Takotna to Ophir.
A River is an option;
Originally, steam ships could bring families and materials up the Kuskokwim River to the Takotna River. The two rivers meet at McGrath. The steamers would navigate the more shallow, meandering Takotna River to the Village of Takotna. A road was also constructed from the Ophir-Takotna Road to Sterling Landing, 12 miles down river, on the Kuskokwim. Today, ocean going barges bring Fuel and equipment to Sterling Landing and McGrath.
It is about 40 miles by road from Ophir to the Landing. It is about 23 miles from Ophir to Takotna.
Air is an option;
Scheduled commuter flights from Anchorage arrive twice a week at McGrath and Takotna. Freight can be flown in to McGrath on Northern Air Cargo. Ocean going barges can be contacted to back-haul freight, equipment from McGrath to Sterling Landing.
Hang on, there's more!
- Geowizard
