Living Secluded, Alone and Totally Isolated (Anchorage, Metlakatla: house, to buy, restaurant)

[DannyL]

Ray, I found a copy of "Alaska's Wolf Man". So far it's an awesome read.
If anyone hasn't read " The Bear Man of Admiralty Island", get it. The man's a legend around my parts. I highly recommend it.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by DannyL

Ray, I found a copy of "Alaska's Wolf Man". So far it's an awesome read.
If anyone hasn't read " The Bear Man of Admiralty Island", get it. The man's a legend around my parts. I highly recommend it.

Thanks. I will look for "The Bear Man..." when I go to Sam's Club.

[DannyL]

It's a bio of Allen E. Hasselborg , a real hermit, not a nut, who became a legend.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by DannyL

It's a bio of Allen E. Hasselborg , a real hermit, not a nut, who became a legend.

Sounds very interesting. I like to read that sort of books.

[tidelines]

I've only read two pages of replies to your post, and since my computer is still operating on Win98 and it goes s-l-o-w-l-y, I'll resist reading further until I can use an up-to-date system and just put in my two cents worth.

I lived on an island for several years. I had plenty of summer guests but winters were extreme solitude. My only communication was via radio and marine operator if I need to call out (they're since defunct) or passing boats who would call and visit over the air. Occasionally a vessel would come in and anchor up for the night, but it was not the usual thing. I usually had the place to myself for nearly 9 months, then was inundated by the outside world in the form of summer folk. They could be irritating - pick and eat all the strawberries out of my garden without thought that they might be tresspassing and I really did depend on those for my jams or perhaps just over a hotcake; dragging bags of garbage off their boat and up to the beach - like I had garbage service 120 miles from nowhere? I would good-naturedly inform them the best place for their trash was back on their boat and deposited at the next dumpster, or burned at low tide where the incoming would wash out the ashes and unburned foodstuffs - a good idea in bear country. Other times folks would just ask seriously rediculous questions about living remote, but I'll kindly not get into that as this is not a stand-up comedy site.

With regard to actually living and how to get by, you plan well. Most of your time is not spent in front of the computer, television or on the phone. You're chopping wood or seeking same, figuring out your water system and how to keep it going or creating enough storage if you have to haul it a distance, putting by stores in the form of town orders, game, fish, produce/berries, etc. Making sure you have a way to charge your batteries is important if you have a radio or cell phone, storing enough fuel to run your boat or snowmachine or chainsaw, and getting the fuel to your homesite was always fun if it involved more than offloading it from the boat to the dock. Overall, you were well off to remember it was you against Mother Nature and she would always take advantage of your unpreparedness, so best set your mind to some serious planning.

I also lived in the Brooks Range. That is a place to test your mettle, believe me. Five feet worth of ice to chop through for your water, scrub to burn, and intense cold that no one survives unprepared. The smaller your abode, the easier and warmer your life.

It takes more than a dream to live remote in Alaska. It takes research and planning, a determination not to give up when things get difficult (and they will, guaranteed) and a plan for disaster. Otherwise, it's a truly wonderful life and one I'm returning to by winter 2008. Good luck in your quest for information.

[warptman]

What is win98???? lol.

[JustT&Me]

Originally Posted by CometVoyager

Actually sounds better to me than dying in a sterile hospital. One with the Earth & Nature! Does sound more peaceful!

ROTFL! If your back is broken in two (at least), then you'd not exactly be "one"! Lol. And yes - the "peace" of it! HA! Crack, crack, crumble to the bone! Lol. You are hilarious! Lol.

[tidelines]

Ha, I agree - Win98 demonstrates just how creative you become when you have to make do. One Man's Wilderness is one of the most-read, incredible books in my personal library. Over the years I have given away half a dozen copies of the original Alaska Geographic version (I still have two), and nearly a decade ago obtained the updated edition with a few more photos, as well as the video. I like to say it's my 'bible' for living and dreaming, and once you realize what you can live without and what necessities are absolute, you might begin a similar journey. However, the time of picking a spot and planting yourself on it is long gone and $$ are now required unless, of course, you inherit something remarkable.

I have owned and sold more than a few pieces of property in Alaska, and now that the last child is off to college, I'll write a check to keep the school happy then hit the road for destinations sought. As I mentioned the Brooks and perused previous posts, I inadvertently clicked past the Craigslist link for a piece near Gates of the Arctic. That might put it near Coldfoot or Wiseman, both places of austere beauty and true tests of fortitude and determination. Believe it or not, there are waiter/waitress jobs to be had in the netherlands of Alaska, but whether you'll be happily chained with the vast wilderness surrounding you is another matter. But I digress; mention of that property and the pictures further down the page brought back memories and a search for similar old trappers' cabins photos I could supply, but something tells me those are private holdings, visions I hold in my heart and mind and imagination. The first cabin I entered was a disappointment: I had thought to be the first, yet I found a People magazine in the corner. Some trash to leave, eh? But it's true you lose contact and there's no more evidence of that than picking up a People magazine and wondering who's being talked about and, really, who would actually care about that crazy stuff??

This is an interesting forum and I'm pleased to have come across it. I hope to contribute to more Alaska topics - not as an expert, by any means, but because I've spent a lifetime in the state and love it, every bit of it, and hate it just the same for the hold it has on my life. There is no place like Alaska, still. Dream on!

[CometVoyager]

Originally Posted by tidelines

I've only read two pages of replies to your post, and since my computer is still operating on Win98 and it goes s-l-o-w-l-y, I'll resist reading further until I can use an up-to-date system and just put in my two cents worth.

I lived on an island for several years. I had plenty of summer guests but winters were extreme solitude. My only communication was via radio and marine operator if I need to call out (they're since defunct) or passing boats who would call and visit over the air. Occasionally a vessel would come in and anchor up for the night, but it was not the usual thing. I usually had the place to myself for nearly 9 months, then was inundated by the outside world in the form of summer folk. They could be irritating - pick and eat all the strawberries out of my garden without thought that they might be tresspassing and I really did depend on those for my jams or perhaps just over a hotcake; dragging bags of garbage off their boat and up to the beach - like I had garbage service 120 miles from nowhere? I would good-naturedly inform them the best place for their trash was back on their boat and deposited at the next dumpster, or burned at low tide where the incoming would wash out the ashes and unburned foodstuffs - a good idea in bear country. Other times folks would just ask seriously rediculous questions about living remote, but I'll kindly not get into that as this is not a stand-up comedy site.

With regard to actually living and how to get by, you plan well. Most of your time is not spent in front of the computer, television or on the phone. You're chopping wood or seeking same, figuring out your water system and how to keep it going or creating enough storage if you have to haul it a distance, putting by stores in the form of town orders, game, fish, produce/berries, etc. Making sure you have a way to charge your batteries is important if you have a radio or cell phone, storing enough fuel to run your boat or snowmachine or chainsaw, and getting the fuel to your homesite was always fun if it involved more than offloading it from the boat to the dock. Overall, you were well off to remember it was you against Mother Nature and she would always take advantage of your unpreparedness, so best set your mind to some serious planning.

I also lived in the Brooks Range. That is a place to test your mettle, believe me. Five feet worth of ice to chop through for your water, scrub to burn, and intense cold that no one survives unprepared. The smaller your abode, the easier and warmer your life.

It takes more than a dream to live remote in Alaska. It takes research and planning, a determination not to give up when things get difficult (and they will, guaranteed) and a plan for disaster. Otherwise, it's a truly wonderful life and one I'm returning to by winter 2008. Good luck in your quest for information.

Thanks for the heads up Tidelines! What Island did you live on? Also I am looking towards a geographic area that has a reliable winter snow blanket, as from my research a heavy snow blanket will help with the heating deal.

Anyway I do appreciate your feedback! Thanks

[AHH70]

My husband and I have lived in remote Alaska (no roads, no well, no plumbing, no electricity, no problem) and are planning a homestead on 30 acres next year. People read books about building a cabin and living in remote Alaska but have no idea what it takes. People come here and actually complain about the lack of fast food restaurants or about the fact they have to drive a day to get to the nearest Wal-mart. These are the same people who come here and stop dead in the center of the highway to take a picture of a bear or walk up to a cow moose and her baby to get a better look. Young eco-hipsters and hippies move here thinking that living in a small town on a road system, peeing in an outhouse, getting drunk at a bonfire parties every night is "living" in Alaska but not one of them would survive one month at a true remote homestead. Living remote is not one long camping trip. It is the type of lifestyle that can cost you your life. And not in a chic I'm-A-Heroin-Addict-Because-It's-Cool kind of way but in a Oh-My-God-I'm-Gonna-Die-Alone-In-The-Woods kind of way. The point dude made about being prepared is not to be taken lightly. When you live in Alaska's remote wilderness, there are no do-overs, no time outs, no one to rely on except yourself. You can't call mommy if it's -70F and you run out of firewood. And oh yeah, you can't just go chop some more because at that temp, your axe head will shatter like glass. You prepare for the worst and prepare some more.
At the end of the day, however, when you've chased the bears away from your cache for the third time that day or cleaned the wolverine **** off the entire exterior of your cabin, you've hauled your water, hauled your dinner back to your cabin, fed your fire, boiled water for your "bath", and finally get to sit, unmolested, in front of your home in the woods, the reward defies description. You remember why you came here. Your mind reels with thanksgiving and awe at the beauty which surrounds you. It's like a spiritual reset button. It changes you forever. After living this way, you can never go back to traffic jams and mini malls. It would be too cruel. So just don't come here. Just read your books about it and dream about it but stay in your suburban hell. Take an Alaskan cruise if you must but save yourself the pain of realizing that you don't have what it takes to live in remote Alaska. Oh, and if any of you do make it up here and find yourself living remote near Fish Lakes, stop in, sit down, have a cup of coffee and tell me how wrong I was about you. I'd like that. We don't get many visitors around these parts.