disappearing into Alaska (Anchorage, Kenai, Wasilla: condo, jobs, hospital)

[mal_flisk]

You might try McCarthy out in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, but the road is limited at best in winter. If you come out about 60 miles, You can live in Copper Center area, about 15-20 miles from Glennallen. But in all honesty, you can try Paxson or Gulkana area on the road towards Delta Junction. The Interior gets a little cold though.

[amylewis]

Originally Posted by mal_flisk

You might try McCarthy out in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, but the road is limited at best in winter. If you come out about 60 miles, You can live in Copper Center area, about 15-20 miles from Glennallen. But in all honesty, you can try Paxson or Gulkana area on the road towards Delta Junction. The Interior gets a little cold though.

Thanky!

Don't care about the cold. My malamute will love it, and I can deal. My truck can make it, I'm pretty sure, 4x4 Cummins TurboDiesel w/liftkit, 35 in. tires, and extra horsepower put in. I'd like to use that to help others there, and contribute to the community. Is there a way to get kerosene there? Helps a lot cold starting my truck.

Remote is better.

How's the fishing and hunting there?

a.

[DannyL]

Well, I'm not gonna lie to you or blow sunshine up your skirt. You're getting enough of that as it is. Sorry.

[BudinAk]

Hey Amy:
Just went to the AMHS website, and there is simply nothing there concerning firearms, ammo, powder, or primers....nada...zip..zilch. Smokeless powder is not an explosive...it is a flammable propellant. (Black powder, however, is classified as an explosive). However, ever since 9-11, some people are extremely paranoid about such things, and may indeed cause trouble over this. The flammability part is what might be the problem.
I'd say to dispel conjecture and rumor, the best thing to do at this point is send them an email inquiry and find out what their rules are. I'd just tell them you have firearms, ammo, primers, and smokeless powder...because that is what you intend to sell in your new business you will start in Alaska. (Amy's Ammo & Guns ) How much of each are we allowed to have? Etc. Whatever rules they quote are probably not just "their" rules, it's probably gonna be federal or state transportation law pertaining to firearms, ammo, and ammunition components on a public vessel.
Since, apparently, none of us on this forum really knows what those laws are, at this point the best thing to do is just send them an email and find out. (Last thing you need is to drive all the way to Washington State, and then find out they won't let you on board!) Here's where to send your inquiry:
Ask_AMHS@dot.state.ak.us <Ask_AMHS@dot.state.ak.us>

Also: at the ferry terminal, be prepared to present a current vaccination certificate from your vet for your dog. Up to date rabies shots, etc. Not sure, but they may want an appropriate dog kennel too, while on the boat (ask them about that in your email)
Back to the flammability issue for a moment: one thing I do know for certain: if you land at Whittier, the only road out goes through a toll tunnel. They ask about flammable stuff before they let you through the tunnel. I know you are limited to just 12 gallons of gas, for example. Not sure about powder, but it would probably raise an eyebrow if you said "200 lbs". Therefore, I'd make my ferry destination Valdez, instead of Whittier. No such problem there.
Bottem line: in spite of all the afore-mentioned crap, Alaska still remains the best bet for the life style you want to live...it's definitely worse in every other state. You might get away from all the gov'ment rules and regs in some 3rd world country in South America, but then you'd probably have to ditch the truck and trailor first...and then there'd be the thieves who'd kill for a dime. IMHO, Alaska is what you are looking for, at least for the short term.
Want to go to the "end of the road?" Mal_Flisk mentioned McCarthy...it's definitely "way out there", but is a viable possibility. Remember the TV news a year or so ago about "Papa Pilgrim", and his large family of 12? Way out in the boonies of Alaska? Well, they were settled near McCarthy, on an old mining claim. Pretty darn remote...as far as you can drive. People there learn quickly how to hunt, fish, and raise crops to live on...'cuz there ain't no Safeway or Walmart across the street. As mentioned, Copper Center is another good bet...you can catch salmon out of the Copper River to smoke. They say Copper River reds are the best salmon there is, bar none.
Yes, there are quite a few other remote towns, but since you got the truck and 5th wheel, am not considering those at this point...because they are not on the road system.
I don't know about costs of acquiring wheel-weight lead. I found enough for my own use by trading from a private party. I've found wheel weights are "good enough" for most of my casting needs...I'm not out for max velocity anyway...a 45 cal at 800fps is perfectly fine. And they work great out of the 45/70, even at 1700fps, with gas checks...very little leading. Most of the larger towns have tire shops that might have used weights. Check at metal recycling plants in the larger towns also.
Kerosene is available here, generally in building supply and hardware stores in 1 and 5 gal cans, but is expensive...like $5-$6 a gallon.

Bud

[rotorhead]

Don't know much about smoke and skirts, but a few of the things you're asking for are pretty much diametrically opposed. Not that your situation is entirely impossible, sometimes there's a way even if its a bit unconventional.

In most states, remote means you get to someplace by dirt road. In Alaska, it means there is no road. Anyplace thats considered remote is reached by aircraft, boat, or snowmachine/dogsled. Get a map of the state and start looking at how few road miles it has. With a state over twice as big as Texas, its got fewer miles of road than Rhode Island does. Yes, a big truck with big tires can go lots of places that cars can't, but a Piper Cub or a flat bottom skiff are the vehicles that really open up the state for you. The best you can do by road is some place like McCarthy, as mentioned before. By lower 48 standards, its the end of the earth...but the real bush rats know better. A trip to most villiages is just starting when you reach the end of the road.

As far as putting a moose in the freezer goes, good luck. Everyone else wants one too, they're about the best eating of any game animal in the state (though the mountain sheep hunters will beg to differ). Any place that can be reached by a regular 4wd truck is subject to much higher hunting pressure than the truely remote locations. Almost nobody fills their tag with moose every year unless they're willing to go way out there by air or boat, and thats getting more and more expensive as gas goes up and up. Fortunately there is another option for those who live on the road, and believe it or not its roadkill. Every year thousands of moose are killed across the state by collisions with cars and trucks. Rather than let a roadkill moose go to waste and attract scavenging bears to the highway, the meat is salvaged according to a system where the local troopers office maintains a list of those willing to go out and butcher the downed animal. Around Anchorage most of the roadkill moose meat goes to the homeless believe it or not, as there are several charitable organizations who volunteer to go out and do the work. Further out away from the bigger cities, it's more likely churches and volunteer fire stations and fraternal organizations on the top of the list, some use the meat for charity, others for community gatherings. Further out than that, its mostly individuals who have expressed an interest in filling their freezer and have a flexible schedule. One of the guys I used to work with had a father-in-law living near Delta Junction who was one of their regular go-to guys when a moose met a bumper, and he had enough Bullwinkle in the freezer to hand out to his whole extended family.

The key is to be at the right place at the right time(ain't it always?) and be on the list when the call comes. They go down the list calling people until someone says they can go right away, and from what I hear they get pretty far down it sometimes so you never know. At my last job there were a couple of times when I saw the moose salvage team show up at an accident scene before the tow truck got there! Some fairly old retired guys salvage pretty regularly, and I've seen some clever systems to get the job done with the least amount of effort. One outfit had a small utility trailer with a winch up front rigged to a folding adjustable height scaffold, didn't even have to tow the carcass to the treeline to set up a crosspole. It had a small cutting table, a wash system, and racks for coolers built right in. Of course, your call might be a scrawny yearling with most of the good meat embedded in someones truck grill, but thats the breaks. I'm also willing to bet that there's an unofficial reward system for the guys that actually get out there in any kind of weather to do the hard, bloody work for some of the organizations. For example, I doubt that the homeless shelters get too many backstraps.

Another thing to keep in mind is that with very few exceptions, if you live anywhere reachable by the road system you are considered an "urban" resident as far as the Dept. of Game and Fish is concerned. The rules regarding subsistence hunting and fishing differ quite a bit for urban and rural residents, as they should. Don't expect that you'll be treated the same as the residents of some interior villiage just because your place is hard to get to, again, rural in Alaska means you can't get there by car at all. Probably the closest to a real subsistence lifestyle you can live by truck is trapping. The state still has most areas open to trappers, though conflicts with urban hikers (especially dog owners) are getting to the point where things may change in the state parks near Anchorage and Fairbanks. People don't take kindly to Fido wandering into someones Conibear set along a public trail, and the same bait that attracts foxes and martin is nose candy for dogs as well. Other people can tell you the deal about setnet fishing, but for most urban residents the closest you can come is a dipnet permit.

The other problem you're having is basically the fact that Canada happens to be in the way when you're driving up to Alaska from the rest of the US. It has nothing to do with OUR "guvmint" caring about how you conduct your life, its just a fact that our northern neighbors are a few decades ahead of where the US is unfortunately heading in respect to gun paranoia. I'd love to see Alaska connected to the rest of the US by a coastal strip extending down along the southeast, but I doubt we could convince them to give up Vancouver. As far as the ferry goes its legally considered a common carrier and they're required to worry about anything thats considered a hazardous material. The more there is, the more they get worried. If every car on board had a couple cans of smokeless powder on board it would add up pretty quickly to a couple hundred pounds, but thats not the same as having all 200lbs in the same vehicle. If your rig happens to catch on fire its going to be damn near impossible to put it out with all that nitrocellulose concentrated in one spot. Add in your 5th wheels propane tanks, your extended diesel capacity in the truck, assorted household chemicals and maybe some gasoline for your generator and its a pretty volitile combination to be putting on deck. That quantity of primers is another consideration, as they're considered a class A explosive when not assembled into loaded ammunition and subject to sympathetic detonation just like blasting caps are. Every year at work we were required to take hours and hours of hazmat training; the regulations on what could be transported by aircraft are ridiculously complex. I doubt its any easier for the marine operators, and the ferry has got to be a worst-case situation with all the vehicles on board.

One possible course would be to assemble what components you can into loaded ammo and find out how much bulk powder and primers you can carry up on the ferry without freaking them out. Sell the rest before you move, maybe it'll convert into the cash you need to help get you up there. Yes, you're going to pay more for them in Alaska; they're still hazmat regardless of who's shipping them up and it's not cheap to move. Thats a general rule about Alaska that you'd have to get used to anyway if you live there. Even things as seemingly innocous as the little CO2 cartridges for BB guns cost way more than they do down south since...you guessed it, they're hazmat too. Sometimes you gotta turn lemons into lemonade.

[Kingsnkali]

I haven't lived in Alaska since the late 70's. I remember people living way out in the bush outside of Delta Junction. In the winter, they would build a fire pit in a big hole in their dirt/snow covered driveway. Get the fire going when they get back from town or work in the evening and then let it burn down before moving their big Ford truck over the top of it. Seemed to keep the oil thin and things warm enough to start it in the morning even at way below zero temps. Simple but it worked. They had no power out there and lived by gold prospecting and whatever. Hippie types living like the 1800's in a log cabin. Of course, they never told me where they found all their beautiful gold nuggets.

[DannyL]

Bud and Rotor, thanks for the great response. A I apologize for the directness of my remark. Nothing personal was meant by it.
yes, we do live in a different world after 9/11.
We as Alaskans have no issue with a neighbor with 200 lbs of smokeless powder, the Bellingham PD and the AMHS might tho.
And calling ahead is the best route if you're truly relocating. Call the 800 #, and tell the person you're relocating, not on vacation. It's incredible how helpfull they are when you tell them that.

Something else you may not know, the ferry doesn't go past Haines after Oct 1st. No more runs till Feb the next year. And vehicle space can sell out by Aug. Last year it sold out by July. Walk-ons and motorcycles are not an issue tho.
I would look at shipping the reloading supplies, compare hazmat shipping cost vs. replacement costs. Or as mentioned earlier, loading up all the rounds you can, and then selling most of the remaining loose powder. Twenty lbs or so, locked in containers (like a GI 50 cal ammo can) would probably not even raise an eyebrow.
Security is really tight on the ferry, and it's supervised by the Alaskan State Police.
You 'll need a "car-carrier" for your puppy, and he/she must remain in the vehicle the whole trip. It takes 3 1/2 days just to get to Juneau. You are allowed a "visit" every 4 hours to feed/watter and to walk it around a bit so it can "do it's business" in the vehicle area, and you are required to clean it up also. After the 15 min visit, the puppy goes back into the vehicle and you must you go back upboard and the vehicle area is locked up till the next visit time.
Start you're planing now.

[amylewis]

I would look at shipping the reloading supplies, compare hazmat shipping cost vs. replacement costs. Or as mentioned earlier, loading up all the rounds you can, and then selling most of the remaining loose powder. Twenty lbs or so, locked in containers (like a GI 50 cal ammo can) would probably not even raise an eyebrow.
Security is really tight on the ferry, and it's supervised by the Alaskan State Police.
You 'll need a "car-carrier" for your puppy, and he/she must remain in the vehicle the whole trip. It takes 3 1/2 days just to get to Juneau. You are allowed a "visit" every 4 hours to feed/watter and to walk it around a bit so it can "do it's business" in the vehicle area, and you are required to clean it up also. After the 15 min visit, the puppy goes back into the vehicle and you must you go back upboard and the vehicle area is locked up till the next visit time.
Start you're planing now.

Okay Danny, thanky verymuch! Well, I keep my powder in the large ammo cans for 20mm ammo, so I'm sure that will work well too, but my "puppy" is 107 lbs. and they don't make carriers that big, and if they did I couldn't carry him in it . Someone else said I could keep him in my 5th wheel trailer on the ferry, which he sure won't like, but it's all I can do. I'm required to pick up after him here in condo-bondage land already, so that's no biggie.

[mal_flisk]

McCarthy road from the highway is usually closed after October and usually doesn't open until March-April. Fuel delivery in fall is supposed to last you through the winter. The other places I named are on the highway system itself and are accessable throughout the winter months. Beware of frost heaves.

McCarthy-Kennicott road has some serious problems. Railroad spikes top the list, but washouts, and subsidence as well. 60 miles to the highway is a long shot. One lane the whole way, and very few turnouts. Not plowed in winter. One lane does not refer to one each way. One lane. Period. But you are living inside of a national park. Hunting is limited because of it's status. Otherwise, you might try shipping your vehicle (with goods) out to somewhere like Naknek on the peninsula (no highway) and fly to King Salmon and meet it.

[Rance]

Rotor...do not connect Alaska to the main US please! Ever!