On The Road Full Time Rving: White Mountain Recreational Area Prindle BLM Campground

Nome Creek

View around Prindle Campground

The ride into Prindle Campround

Nome Creek

View hiking above Prindle Campground

Here are a couple of my daily log entries

7/11/16 Monday Prindle BLM Campground Steese Hwy AK

Overcast cool

MM 57 on Steese Hwy to U.S. Creek Rd on left. U.S. Creek road is gravel good condition but gravel. The ride in is 11 miles to Prindle Campground off Steese Hwy. The views on the road into Prindle was breathtaking. There was no snowcapped mountains but it was just rolling hills/mountains. It reminded me of the mountains in Smokey Mountain National Park. The trees and foliage is different but similar views that you see when at the higher elevations of the Smokey Mountain Nation Park. At mile 7 on the U.S. Creek Rd you cross Nome Creek and continue on for 4 miles to Prindle or you could turn left and go to Ophir BLM Campground which is 11 miles from this intersection.

I opted for Prindle campground. A couple of weeks ago I had taken a road trip and visited both Cripple Creek BLM right on Steese Hwy MM 60 and Prindle BLM Campground. Prindle is in a little valley with the campground all 13 sites next to Nome Creek and plenty of mountain views. There were two other campers in the campground so my concerns of getting a site was unfounded. I looked at the one on the creek but I opted for one on the opposite side of the campground. I could set inside the camper reading and have a great view of a beautiful mountain side and tundra.

This area is off the grid I loss cell coverage about MM 25 on Steese Hwy no TV channels and only NPR and one FM radio station. I can pick up the weather band radio channel out of Fairbanks on my CCrane radio.

Camping fee is $6.00 per night or $3.00 with my senior park pass. The campground has pit toilets (clean and in good condition) and a hand pump for potable water no dump station. The closest dump station is in Fairbanks about a two hour drive and 70 miles 11 of which is gravel. Water management is going to be a high priority. My plans are to stay here 10 nights which is the maximum time allowed at this BLM campground and then move to either Ophir or Cripple Creek so I need to conserve both my potable water and holding tanks.

7/12/16 Tuesday Prindle BLM Campground

75 degrees and clear today

Beautiful day clear skies light breeze. Hiked up the mountain behind my campsite (site 8) today. The starting point I picked was pretty thick with undergrowth. There is a OHV trail about a mile from camp that offered a little clearer starting point but I decided to start at my campsite. The first section about ¼ of a mile was challenging but once I cleared the undergrowth the view was breathtaking. I hiked up to the top of the closes hill/mountain and had a light lunch there. The total distance to the top per my Garmin PN 60 GPS was .73 miles with an elevation gain of 700 feet. About half way up I found a lot of wild blue berries. The berries were not quite ready so I had to pick through to get a couple of handfuls of berries to snack on. I had a container with me just in case I did find some berries so I picked some for the pancakes tomorrow. The hike back down was not as challenging as going up but it was steep enough that I had to be careful and not take a spill.

The campground is almost empty there is myself, one other lone camper and a group of about 20 young adults with a sky club out of Fairbanks. The lone camper wants to be alone not very friendly. The group in training pointed out several hiking options for me. One trail I am going to try and do is the Prindle Mt trail, it is not an official trail just a path that people use to hike to the top of Mt Prindle. You have to cross Nome Creek to gain access to the trail and it is about 5 miles to the top.

7/13/16 Wednesday Prindle BLM Campground

51 degrees High today around 80ish

Made pancakes with the blue berries I picked yesterday…great pancakes.

I started at the entrance of the campground and fished downstream. I was using my 5 weight 9’ Redington fly rod and reel combo. I had my doubts about catching anything the creek looks like it was too small and fast flowing. I was there and I had to admit to myself I really didn’t know where the grayling maybe so what was there to lose.

Nome Creek is in the White Mountain BLM Recreation Area. This is what I came to Alaska looking for. The creek is about 20 feet wide in this area flowing a lot of water. A challenge to wade for the beginner but I figured it out and learn how to pick my way around the deep areas. The creek is about 18-24” deep and in areas has a deep channel that is too deep and fast to wade. But with a little planning and thought the creek is easy to find a crossing area to allow fishing the opposite side.

My first thought when I saw the flow of the creek was I would need to move more downstream to find any grayling. Was I ever wrong in lieu of moving down stream I figured may as well try fishing right here. It did not take long or very many cast to catch my first grayling. I saw that my problem in the pass was I did not understand grayling or their habitat I thought I did but books can only give you so much information. I now have the time and area to explore and lean how to fish for grayling. I read one blog that someone stated that Nome Creek is okay but not a lot of fish and just an okay place to getaway and do a little fishing. I probably don’t understand Alaska fishing but how could you ask for a better fishing area for grayling than Nome Creek…it is catch and release but plenty of fish and some great views. At times I would have to wade down maybe a hundred or so yards to find the next spot but there was plenty of hotspot at least by my standards. I fished for a couple of hours and caught 12+ fish and several in the 17” size most being in the 14” size which is a nice grayling, 18-20 inch is considered to be trophy size and I believe 23” is the record. In two days of fishing I have not seen another person fishing.