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Old 10-10-2020, 03:15 PM
 
Location: Not far from Fairbanks, AK
20,243 posts, read 36,912,118 times
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The "Island That Humans Can't Conquer" is a very interesting article about St. Matthew Island, Alaska. I was looking at the news links published by "Drudge reports," and found this link:
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/featur...-cant-conquer/
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Old 10-11-2020, 10:12 AM
 
Location: Virginia
10,045 posts, read 6,317,631 times
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Originally Posted by RayinAK View Post
The "Island That Humans Can't Conquer" is a very interesting article about St. Matthew Island, Alaska. I was looking at the news links published by "Drudge reports," and found this link:
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/featur...-cant-conquer/
Interesting. I've been on the Tiglax (sorry, I don't know how to do the umlauts), but I was much farther out in the Aleutians in the Rat Islands. We flew to Adak and then took the Tiglax to Amchitka and spent a week there doing water testing from a previous radar site to comply with State of Alaska requirements. There were no foxes on Amchitka, but the rats were huge (they ate all the old stores in the abandoned buildings) and the avian life was amazing. Bald and golden eagles were everywhere. I made two trips there and both were amazing. We let the crew of the Tiglax salvage a lot of Navy equipment that was abandoned, as well as the Fish and Wildlife people that were with us. It was better to let it go to groups that could use it than just let it rust and rot there, IMHO. Amchitka has great rain showers: 55 MPH winds and horizontal rain.
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Old 10-11-2020, 12:45 PM
 
Location: Not far from Fairbanks, AK
20,243 posts, read 36,912,118 times
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Originally Posted by Bungalove View Post
Interesting. I've been on the Tiglax (sorry, I don't know how to do the umlauts), but I was much farther out in the Aleutians in the Rat Islands. We flew to Adak and then took the Tiglax to Amchitka and spent a week there doing water testing from a previous radar site to comply with State of Alaska requirements. There were no foxes on Amchitka, but the rats were huge (they ate all the old stores in the abandoned buildings) and the avian life was amazing. Bald and golden eagles were everywhere. I made two trips there and both were amazing. We let the crew of the Tiglax salvage a lot of Navy equipment that was abandoned, as well as the Fish and Wildlife people that were with us. It was better to let it go to groups that could use it than just let it rust and rot there, IMHO. Amchitka has great rain showers: 55 MPH winds and horizontal rain.
I have been in Alaska for quite a long time, and never had traveled to those remote islands. Would be nice to try some metal detecting, but it's just too remote, and one could be stranded out there for weeks at a time
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Old 10-11-2020, 06:48 PM
 
72,805 posts, read 62,121,069 times
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Originally Posted by RayinAK View Post
The "Island That Humans Can't Conquer" is a very interesting article about St. Matthew Island, Alaska. I was looking at the news links published by "Drudge reports," and found this link:
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/featur...-cant-conquer/
I read about this on facebook. Sounds like it would be a hard place to live, to say the least. I've teased myself about the idea of living there.
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Old 10-11-2020, 07:05 PM
 
Location: Not far from Fairbanks, AK
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Originally Posted by green_mariner View Post
I read about this on facebook. Sounds like it would be a hard place to live, to say the least. I've teased myself about the idea of living there.
It would be almost impossible to live there because the lack of trees, food, and shelter.
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Old 10-12-2020, 10:42 AM
 
1,680 posts, read 1,783,289 times
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Originally Posted by RayinAK View Post
It would be almost impossible to live there because the lack of trees, food, and shelter.
I can say with great certainty; the thrill to stomach 365 days and a wakeup provide a rush.
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Old 10-12-2020, 03:11 PM
 
72,805 posts, read 62,121,069 times
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Originally Posted by RayinAK View Post
It would be almost impossible to live there because the lack of trees, food, and shelter.
It's a thought I've had.
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Old 10-12-2020, 04:25 PM
 
Location: Virginia
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Originally Posted by RayinAK View Post
I have been in Alaska for quite a long time, and never had traveled to those remote islands. Would be nice to try some metal detecting, but it's just too remote, and one could be stranded out there for weeks at a time
There's a massive amount of U.S. metal left there from WWII when the Navy had an air strip on the island. They had metal shelters to use when Japanese bombers came over and also put long metal stakes with curly tops on the tops of land rises so that if the Japanese came up the hills they would, supposedly, fall on the stakes and eviscerate themselves. One of the guys on my team actually managed to smuggle a couple of thoem back home in his luggage - I have no idea how he got them through the metal detectors. When our command had the radar site on-island the winters were horrendous. One contractor died of a heart attack and the weather was so bad they couldn't get him off-island until spring, so they stored him in the snow until then. He knew he had a heart condition beforehand and should never have signed up to be over 16 hours from any medical care, even in good weather. You can be stranded for way longer than just weeks, believe me.
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Old 10-14-2020, 04:59 PM
 
Location: Not far from Fairbanks, AK
20,243 posts, read 36,912,118 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bungalove View Post
There's a massive amount of U.S. metal left there from WWII when the Navy had an air strip on the island. They had metal shelters to use when Japanese bombers came over and also put long metal stakes with curly tops on the tops of land rises so that if the Japanese came up the hills they would, supposedly, fall on the stakes and eviscerate themselves. One of the guys on my team actually managed to smuggle a couple of thoem back home in his luggage - I have no idea how he got them through the metal detectors. When our command had the radar site on-island the winters were horrendous. One contractor died of a heart attack and the weather was so bad they couldn't get him off-island until spring, so they stored him in the snow until then. He knew he had a heart condition beforehand and should never have signed up to be over 16 hours from any medical care, even in good weather. You can be stranded for way longer than just weeks, believe me.
Good points. in relation to metal detecting, I am more interested on coins and other pocket-carry objects the Japanese and Americans lost in those islands. However, I don't plan to ever metal detect in such remote areas of Alaska. Some are probably off limits to the public, too.
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Old 10-15-2020, 08:49 AM
 
Location: Virginia
10,045 posts, read 6,317,631 times
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Originally Posted by RayinAK View Post
Good points. in relation to metal detecting, I am more interested on coins and other pocket-carry objects the Japanese and Americans lost in those islands. However, I don't plan to ever metal detect in such remote areas of Alaska. Some are probably off limits to the public, too.
Well, trust me, even if you could get to those islands via a marine vessel like the Tiglax, one trip in a gale would be sufficient. The normal sailing time to Amchitka is 16 hours. We left in a gale once, and the trip back to Adak took 22 hours. I was never so sick in my life, prone in my wooden bunk with a roiling stomach (after I chucked everything in the head) and a migraine to boot. Good times!
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