Braving Alaska

[frostbite]

Greetings: Frostbite here, For those who are considering re-locating to Alaska, especially into the bush, National Geographic has a real good Documentary that was done back in 1996 I think, The documentary is based on four family's living in the wilderness. it will give anyone thinking about moving to Alaska a real good insight as to what to expect, and the rigorous requirements to live there permanently. The Video is called "Braving Alaska" and is sold by National Geographic.

[Kristianna]

Thanks for posting this, frostbite! I've seen it and you are right its a great resource.

I love that documentary and I rent it or borrow it from the library every so often.


K

[Washkeeton]

There is a book called the final frontiersman which is about the guy in the movie heimo. it is also an excellent resourse and there are many more. when i can get all the names together i will post them. It is not a place for the faint hearted. It is tough country and hard to survive in. you have to have your survival skills down and be confident with them. It is really easy to die out there.

[Kristianna]

I own that book. It was a great book and I can't wait to sit by the fire and read it again this winter. I loved that book. What a great (true) story.

K

[frostbite]

Yes it can be tough! I remember what Jean Aspen wrote about in her first book Arctic Daughter. That is the Book that hooked me on heading up to Alaska. Jean Aspen's second book Arctic Son, almost had a tragic ending, luckily they had some smarts and took along a airplane Crash Locator. With having over 8 years in Military Aviation, I know what happens when a signal is received from one of those radios.

I have lived most of my life wondering and exploring in the wilds. Alaska is no different than being in SA, only the climate is opposite. Knowing what you will be up against then Planning and preparing are your means to survival, to that add determination. What happens most times is people do not do their Homework! I've worked several seasons in Denali and outside of Juneau. As crew leader on Park Service and Forest Service projects, you would be amazed as to what some of our volunteers assume is adequate protective gear. I had a crew member that thought 1"and 2" pumps could be worn out on wilderness trails, that's what she brought. Not kidding here!

[Washkeeton]

I dont know that Fairbanks ever gets down to 70 below that much any more since i left almost 9 yrs ago. I was out when my alternator died and it was 50 to 60 below. I was on a lonely highway from no where to no where comming from white horse canada with some dogs. Luckely I was only 15 or so miles out of salcha. I had a really nice guy that stopped and gave my friend and I a ride into town. We ate, then got a tow truck out and hauled my truck back to North Pole. While out talking to the tow truck driver he told me he was very impressed that i was carrying sleeping bags, food, tent, and cold weather gear. he said many times out here when he does pick ups at the low temps the folks have on pjs or something like that and no coat or no shoes. Their car has no winter gear and they are not prepared for the emergency that they are facing. can freeze to death even in town if your not careful.

[wolfwoman]

Frostbite, I amazes me at the idiocy of people that come up here and surpirses me not at all about the pumps I work in a small general store and some of the questions that hubby and I get asked, well, we are working on compiling them and possibly publishing some sort of small book from it. Sometimes you want to look at people and ask them if there were actually born on this planet!!!

I only live 30 miles from Palmer and I commute there 4 days a week. During the winter I carry all sorts of cold weather gear in my car 'just in case' and that 'just in case' has happened to me more than once. I often grumble when I can't find enough room for groceries amongst the gear, but I'm really glad it's there!

Wolfie

[Washkeeton]

Your also kinda like out in the middle of nowhere until you get to palmer and wasilla area. there is although more traffic on the road to where you live than was on that highway the night my car broke down. it amazes me how many comute to anchorage from chickaloon.

[wolfwoman]

Yup, there are quite a few on the road from Chickaloon and points further north, problem is I go in a 3am when there IS no traffic on the road. Most mornings I can drive all the way in and not see another soul. So if I do break down, I either walk, or wait til someone else comes along. I couldn't/wouldn't do the trip to Anchorage from here, I did it from Wasilla for over a year and hated it. At least with the commute I have now all I need to worry about are me and the moose!

Wolfie

[frostbite]

Question? What is it about blowing your car horn at a moose that is crossing the highway? Oh! I bought the book "The Final Frontiersman" it will go with the Video.

[Washkeeton]

The blowing horn thing is cause folks really think that the moose will respond to it. lol they might turn and charge you but not move out of the highway. I give them their space and in turn wait for them to cross. Not rushing them seems better than trying to hurry them along. they can still do some damage if they wanted to charge.
By the way artic son and artic daughter were both good. I have them here in my library somewhere.

[frostbite]

Greetings: When I was on the Denali project, there was this moose in the road, I was driving in to the project one morning, I was gong to blow the horn and the project rep that was with me said don't do that! He went on to explain the instance where a trucker blew his air horn at a moose crossing the road, and the moose charged and literally destroyed his truck cab. There are good books written and there are some not so good books out there. Some of these books if you practice what the authors did will get you in some serious trouble. They give their readers a Siren call. Example, I read in this one book, and for the life of me I don't recall the author, but he wrote a book on his hiking across the Brooks Range. He took along with him as protection against the bears and critters--M-80 fire crackers. What a Ding Dong! I suppose that will buy a few seconds before you are possibly mauled. What is amazing there are a few "Wanna-be's" that will read articles like this and think they can do the same. Maybe there should be a tread--Ding Dongs we've encountered, and write about them in this forum. (Leaving names out) I can write about several from my service projects.

[Washkeeton]

Dont forget timothy tredwell who never bothered to take a gun with him. Most of the lower 48 heard about him when he was eaten by a bear. His problem is that he thought that he was safe and was a friend to the bears. What was hopefully learned was not to put your tent on a bear trail in the fall when they are gorging themselves before winter. He and his girlfriend were made into dinner.

[frostbite]

Harrumph! And I have to agree with the comment on Timmy! Timmy was a good friend of Sam "The Sleeping Lady" She told me about this guy Timmy (What I refer to as a Nutcase). So I wasn't surprized to read about his demise by a bear. What is sad is his girlfriend was not all that keen on what he was doing with the bears. Like the old saying--If you play with fire you are going to get burnt--eventually.

[ugashikrobert]

In my estimation Timmy Treadwell was a rare opportunity for the animals to upgrade the human gene pool.