Another "live off the land" story... (Anchorage, Lakes: neighborhood, camping)

[Metlakatla]

I wish I had some...I wasn't here that summer. It was maybe around 05-06, idk. They were living in a bus or some stupid ****. The only person here who remembers him at all says he was a jackass.

[AKStafford]

ADN has an update to the story, and it goes about like you'd expect: 'Nothing was as he expected': Trip to remote Interior Alaska ends in river rescue - Alaska Dispatch News

The land turned out to be a swamp and his satellite phone couldn't pick up a signal (darn curvature of the earth...). He was incredibly lucky that a state trooper spotted him...

[Frostnip]

I hope people reading that story come away realizing that that kid was actually pretty prepared - he brought the satellite phone, supplies, tools, made connections with people, was in good shape, had researched, etc. IMO his primary error was that he jumped in with both feet without checking out the real situation on the ground first. (Well, and not testing his tech before the plane left, nor having a backup plan for tech failure!) You see so many posts here from people who are like, "But it'd be different for me, I'm a real survivalist and I'm really prepared and I've done my research!" There is no research like actual boots on the actual ground.

I feel like the average person from developed Europe or the Lower 48 would not be cavalier about their ability to survive in, say, the desert or the jungle on their own, but they see photos of the subarctic north and it looks like ordinary enough forests and fields and rivers, so they just map their own experience of more temperate regions onto it mentally, with no comprehension of how different and extreme the North American arctic/subarctic boreal forest can actually be, and how difficult it is to traverse.

[6.7traveler]

While the kid definitely got in over his head, he was no McCandless. At least he had the decency to actually buy his own state land instead of squatting on state or federal or private land, I'll give him kudos for that. He also had a satellite phone and some other basic gear. It seemed he at least put some planning and thought into it. He also made it further "into the wild" than any of the copy cat "bus people" wannabes.

It sucks he had to get rescued on the states dime, but with the amount of money we blow on bloated government and frivolous projects up here, it's a drop in the bucket.

He is very lucky he didn't wind up dead, never to be heard from again and sounds like he learned his lesson and never wants to even see his land again.

[Snowball7]

Well, an interesting and humorous article that was..
I can't imagine how this young man thought he would make it
out there.
Another $9.400 blown on fantasy.. I guess he'll sell that small plot
for a discount to the next sucker.
Maybe he should just try North Carolina next time.. lol.

[stiffnecked]

Originally Posted by 6.7traveler

While the kid definitely got in over his head, he was no McCandless. At least he had the decency to actually buy his own state land instead of squatting on state or federal or private land, I'll give him kudos for that. He also had a satellite phone and some other basic gear. It seemed he at least put some planning and thought into it. He also made it further "into the wild" than any of the copy cat "bus people" wannabes.

It sucks he had to get rescued on the states dime, but with the amount of money we blow on bloated government and frivolous projects up here, it's a drop in the bucket.

He is very lucky he didn't wind up dead, never to be heard from again and sounds like he learned his lesson and never wants to even see his land again.

The Alaska State Troopers can and do recover Search & Rescue costs. My educated guess is that this rescue is gonna cost this lad about $750. If he would have had more patience with his Sat phone he might have been able to call for his own rescue.

[Marty Van Diest]

We have been using a device called InReach. It works great. You can text from it as well as allow yourself to be tracked. Would have been great for this guy. My son is out on a remote wier and texts every few days.

Having been rescued once myself because of my own risky behavior I refrain from judging this guy. In my case the "authorities" refused to fly because it was too cold so a friend made an 80 mile round trip from Bettles on his Elan at 68 below zero.

[Meemur]

Originally Posted by Frostnip

There is no research like actual boots on the actual ground.

I wish we could sticky that quote to the top of the forum.

I'm hanging around the Alaska forum today looking for stories like that. I know a man who is going through his mid-life crisis and is now on a "gotta move to Alaska" kick. He's 54, over 100 pounds overweight, takes several different meds, can't climb one flight of stairs without needing to sit down, and doesn't even have any job skills that would be in high demand in Anchorage. But he thinks he has what it takes to "live off the land."

Oh, but "It'll be different for me!" When I ask why, he says, "You'll see . . ."

OK. Whatever. I'm humoring him by trying to get him to bike short distances with me and go to the shooting range.

Need I mention that he doesn't own a gun, nor does he know how to shoot one?

Not that he needs a gun if he lives in Anchorage and gets a job at H&R Block, but I think the chances of that happening are about as good as me making onto American Ninja Warrior (I'm 57 with hip problems).

[stiffnecked]

Originally Posted by Meemur

I wish we could sticky that quote to the top of the forum.

I'm hanging around the Alaska forum today looking for stories like that. I know a man who is going through his mid-life crisis and is now on a "gotta move to Alaska" kick. He's 54, over 100 pounds overweight, takes several different meds, can't climb one flight of stairs without needing to sit down, and doesn't even have any job skills that would be in high demand in Anchorage. But he thinks he has what it takes to "live off the land."

Oh, but "It'll be different for me!" When I ask why, he says, "You'll see . . ."

OK. Whatever. I'm humoring him by trying to get him to bike short distances with me and go to the shooting range.

Need I mention that he doesn't own a gun, nor does he know how to shoot one?

Not that he needs a gun if he lives in Anchorage and gets a job at H&R Block, but I think the chances of that happening are about as good as me making onto American Ninja Warrior (I'm 57 with hip problems).

If you live in Anchorage you need a gun and body armor.

[Rance]

Or...be an Alaskan Ninja!