cabins (Tok, Delta Junction, Talkeetna: for sale, work, hospital)

[rotorhead]

The "vertical gasoline" comment specifically refers to standing trees, and how flammable the surrounding forest is when it's dry. If you get a look at a stand of them it'll be instantly obvious why, they're typically very closely spaced, fairly thin barked, and have lots of small-diameter branches trailing off down the trunk virtually all the way to the ground. They don't usually get bushy up top like most other pines, and have a lot of dead wood thats perfect as tinder. Add that to the fact that huge swathes of the Kenai and parts of the interior have been decimated by the spruce bark beetle and it means tens of thousands of acres of dead trees, and a fire waiting to happen.

Black spruce is no more or less flammable than most other evergreens when it comes to building a cabin out of it. It's typically not an ideal choice for cabin building, as they don't get very big around. Your workload goes WAY up when you choose to build a cabin out of small logs, lots more joints and chinking.

People with more time than money use the logs they've got on the property. People with more money than time buy pre-built kits with logs that come either from the rainforest of SE Alaska or Canada, or have them custom built on-site by log building pros. The former usually have more "character", the latter are usually the better houses, it's a very steep learning curve doing that kind of work.

As far as getting those logs way, way up there to build a cache (or a second story for that matter) theres several methods. The easiest is to rent a crane, obviously not an option in true remote locations. Kit built log cabin homes are usually built with one for at least part of the heavy lifting. If you're out beyond the road, you can either use log ramps and roll them up using a come-along, or get a "chainsaw winch" , or both. The whole enterprise is fraught with considerable peril, those logs are HEAVY and you're working with some inherantly dangerous tools. Going up a second story complicates things considerably.

I highly recommend that you seek out some books on log cabin construction, there are several good ones out there on the market. None of which I can find on my bookshelf right at this moment, or I'd recommend one. No use re-inventing the wheel, all the hard lessons have been learned a LONG time ago when it comes to building with logs.

[Glitch]

I whole-heartedly agree with rotorhead's advice. Using spruce to build your cabin assumes that you are only using the materials you have available on your land. Cedar logs would be the best choice, but that is not something that grows in interior Alaska. If you can afford it, like rotorhead suggested, buy a log cabin kit that comes with pre-treated, pre-formed logs and detailed instructions.

You will find that come-alongs and chainsaws will be your best tools if you don't have access to heavy equipment. If you are going to build your cabin from scratch from surrounding materials in a remote setting, then you will need tools that haven't been in much use since the 18th century, like draw blades for debarking logs, and an adze for shaping logs. If you can get fuel to your property, then you can use a wide-variety of chain-saw attachments that will accomplish the samething and require less physical labor.

In either case, it will not be an easy task and you won't have much time. Winter comes early to Delta Junction. Whatever you plan on building should be completed no later than mid-September. You may want to consider hiring some local experienced summer help. Like rotorhead said, there is a steep learning curve to building a log cabin and you can't afford to make many mistakes.

The site of your cabin is also important. If you build your cabin on permafrost, then the heat from your cabin will turn your floor into a muddy mess that could cause your cabin to collapse. If you have no choice but to build on permafrost, then you will need to build it on posts, raised off the ground in order to keep the permafrost from melting.

Here are some additional references:

Building A Log Cabin In Alaska
Building the Alaska Log Home
Alaska Log Builders (Girdwood)
AlCan Log Homes (Tok)
CMM General Contractors (Eagle River)
Elkhorn Log Home Builders (Wasilla)

[memawandpapaw]

hey we have come across some land for sale that we might be interested in but cant actually find out where it is exactally. maybe someone out there can help us. its about 50 miles "as the crow flies" from big lake alaska. it is in the susitna drainage (whatever that means) does it mean that the lake drains there and it isn't good for anything except flooding or what ? I mean the land sounds good but there is a reason it's for sale so cheap. so can anyone out there kinda give us the heads up on this area ? ?

[mal_flisk]

The susitna is a river with many creeks and branches draining into the Cook Inlet (eventually). Which part of the Susitna or Little Su. The valley is BIG. I'd get some coordinates and enter them into Google Earth for an aerial view, but before I put money down, I'd go see it first hand. The Susitna drainage is in the Mat-Su Valley immediately north of Anchorage and the Cook Inlet.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by memawandpapaw

hey we have come across some land for sale that we might be interested in but cant actually find out where it is exactally. maybe someone out there can help us. its about 50 miles "as the crow flies" from big lake alaska. it is in the susitna drainage (whatever that means) does it mean that the lake drains there and it isn't good for anything except flooding or what ? I mean the land sounds good but there is a reason it's for sale so cheap. so can anyone out there kinda give us the heads up on this area ? ?

You didn't say which direction from Big Lake. I'm going to presume north of Big Lake, but it could also be west and still be in the Susitna drainage. The Sustina River enters the Matanuska-Sustina Valley near Cantwell, about 200 miles north of Anchorage, and cuts through the valley flowing south all the way to the Cook Inlet. All the rivers and creeks that flow into the Susitna River are known collectively as the "Susitna Drainage."

Roughly 50 miles north of Big Lake would be around Montana Creek. A very nice area, and a popular fishing spot and camping area in the summer. Only a couple miles from Talkeetna and Trapper Creek.

You should definately plan on visiting the area before you buy. You don't want to find out after purchasing the land that it is covered with muskeg. Also, if you can, find out whether there is road access to the land, and get latitude/longitude coordinates. That could be why is it so cheap.

If it is 50 miles west of Big Lake, then it is on the west side of the Susitna River, and there is no road access. Skwentna is also around 50 miles northwest of Big Lake, just north of Mount Susitna. The Lake Creek and Yetna River confluence is another hot fishing spot. Plane and boat access are the only two ways to get there in the summer.

[Marty Van Diest]

The advise about looking at the property before buying is absolutely right on. The Susitna Drainage is huge, as large as many states.

There is a lot of land out there in the middle of nowhere. You can only fly in, or take a snow mobile in. You can get 5 acres out there for about $5000 if it isn't on water front.

I'm a Realtor in the area but I specialize in residential housing, not more remote properties.

If you give me the legal for the property I can probably pinpoint it on a map for youl.

[memawandpapaw]

thanks for the help. the legal is lot 19 block 3 trail ridge subdivision. the ls # 81-177
anchorage recording dist. sits app. 1/2 mile east of yensus lake and anderson creek on the west. that is all i can tell you.

[memawandpapaw]

also have found some more land in the Kashwitna area. it is east of kashwitna rd ak mls # 07-9571 just south of 93 parks hwy. any info on these two pieces will be greatly appreciated. this is all the info i have on this one hope itwill help .....

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by memawandpapaw

thanks for the help. the legal is lot 19 block 3 trail ridge subdivision. the ls # 81-177
anchorage recording dist. sits app. 1/2 mile east of yensus lake and anderson creek on the west. that is all i can tell you.

Thanks for the information. I found the land you are referring to here (broken link). I also punched in the GIS coordinates (+61° 34' 32.22" N, -150° 34' 28.32" W) in Google map to give you a wider area view here.

It is in the middle of nowhere. The reason they are only asking $14,900 for 24.77 acres is because there is no access, no services, and no utilities. The good news is that according to the topographical map the land is slightly elevated, so muskegs and flooding shouldn't be a problem. The property is only a couple miles west of the Yetna River/Susitna River confluence, and about half a mile west of the Iditarod Trail.

Getting to the property in the summer could be a problem. There is no nearby airstrip. You could charter a float-plane and land in the southern Yensus Lake then hike in. Or you can take a boat up the Sustina River and either hike in or take a couple ATVs. As far as getting equipment to the property to build a cabin, the best time would be haul it out during the winter using snowmobiles following the Iditarod Trail. Then wait until Spring to begin building. If you got lots of money, you could fly out the equipment you need via helicopter, but that will run $900+/hour.

I would still pay a personal visit to the property before putting any money down. There may be enough spruce on those 24 acres to build a cabin, or there may not be. If there is a lot of permafrost, the spruce trees will be stunted and completely unusable for building. We also had a fire in that area this last summer, but I think it was further north, on the north side of the Yetna River.

[Marty Van Diest]

I sent you a pm with the google maps for both places as well.

Glitch is right, you need to visit these properties. It really is interesting to look at all of these on the internet, but you need to be prepared to come up for a couple weeks to actually walk these properties. You will likely find that the remote properties are too much of a challenge. People who haven't experienced remote Alaska just don't understand it. When the plane drops you off, you are all alone. I have lived in the Brooks Range by myself, and even for someone who is almost a born hermit, I craved human company after just a few weeks.

They are a challenge for people who have lived in Alaska all their life. In these places that you can only get to by snowmobile in the winter you will find that winter is when you are the least isolated. All the swamps and rivers are frozen so that you can actually get around. In the summer you are stuck. If you can't land and taxi up to the property you will have a tough hike to get there...and it is really tough.

You can find a 5 acre lot somewhere close to Talkeetna or Willow for $30K or so that you can drive to. You may not have power but at least you can drive a truck to it in the summer and maybe close to it in the winter. You can likely build a cabin out of the logs on the property as well. It's not that hard to build a small cabin. It's when you want such luxuries as running water and electricity that things start getting complicated.