Please talk me out of moving back to Alaska! (Fairbanks: fit in, home)

[tigre79]

I don't have a problem getting into the mountains. It's half an hour to Thompson Pass, where you can be walking in treeless tundra along alpine streams, or hiking up the lateral moraine of a glacier (or on a glacier), or skiing/snowboarding/snowmachining in some of the best snow on Earth a few minutes after parking your car. Heck, I've only been here one summer and I know of several places in the Copper River Valley area where you can hike, bike, or ride a 4-wheeler above treeline on old mining roads, or hike through forests along canyons filled with waterfalls flowing from glaciated peaks. That there aren't a bunch of people living up there and fencing it off is a bonus.

[Grannysroost]

Originally Posted by MeganAK

I know the OP has already moved back to Alaska, but I was reading this post because my husband and I have been missing Alaska in a terrible way. We have not entertained the idea of moving back, even though we still have land in Talkeetna, but we just miss it in a heart-wrenching kind of way. We often lay awake at night talking about it. Here we are just apathetic. We have what we came here for- a garden, a big shop, cheaper living, closer to family. But there are SO many things we miss. I miss my friends that were like family. I miss the attitudes, the independence. I miss the freedom to go anywhere and not find too many fences or no trespassing signs. I miss the lack of roads, the WILDNESS. We are thinking we may move farther West at some point, but I fear that we will never stop missing Alaska, never stop wondering, comparing everywhere we go to Alaska. I would be curious to hear what the OP feels over the next winter, after moving back. I suspect most of us that lived in Alaska long enough to call it home and then left will always miss it.

You went from Nome to WV? All that with getting down there, gun issues, blah blah...AK does get in your blood doesn't it, I was only in AK for a couple years, and loved having a winter with no snow here after having snow and cold all my life, but I wonder what if....We still have our house on the Peninsula too...new flooring went in today....I don't know what we'll do...right now work for man-guy is here....

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by tigre79

I don't have a problem getting into the mountains. It's half an hour to Thompson Pass, where you can be walking in treeless tundra along alpine streams, or hiking up the lateral moraine of a glacier (or on a glacier), or skiing/snowboarding/snowmachining in some of the best snow on Earth a few minutes after parking your car. Heck, I've only been here one summer and I know of several places in the Copper River Valley area where you can hike, bike, or ride a 4-wheeler above treeline on old mining roads, or hike through forests along canyons filled with waterfalls flowing from glaciated peaks. That there aren't a bunch of people living up there and fencing it off is a bonus.

Nah, you and I just have a different definition of mountains. I'm talking about the Alaska Range, the Talkeetnas, et al, not the little hills you're having no trouble accessing, and I'm talking about actually living in the mountains rather than dragging those god awful 4 wheelers up to them for a recreational afternoon.

The true mountain ranges of Alaska are not accessible to the average person and the Cascades of Oregon (for the most part) are; that remains my point.

My other home...and my true one...is in the Cascades. All I have to do to walk on a forest trail is open my back door. That's the sort of thing I mean.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

It's interesting you said that Met...the mountains in Alaska are stunning and impressive, but not too easy to get onto and enjoy and relax in. Some out West might consider our mountains in Northern New England just hills, but, they're just much older and worn down, and I'm 5 minutes from the mountains here and in an hour can hike up to the top, finding all kinds of berries on the way up and seeing various critters too...and it is noticeably cooler in the mountains on a hot summer day...there is something to be said for mountains that are accessible to a greater degree...although it's hard to beat seeing those mountains in the distance up there too...

Yeah...they always take my breath away. A clear view of the Alaska range is not something I've ever taken for granted no matter how many times I've seen it. Same thing with the Northern Lights.

Funny...this time of year, even though I'm in Southern SE right now, I still find myself going outside and looking for the aurora if it's at all clear out. We don't see them much here, and when we do they are mostly whitish wisps with maybe a bit of green, but I still keep hoping.

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Yeah...they always take my breath away. A clear view of the Alaska range is not something I've ever taken for granted no matter how many times I've seen it. Same thing with the Northern Lights.

Funny...this time of year, even though I'm in Southern SE right now, I still find myself going outside and looking for the aurora if it's at all clear out. We don't see them much here, and when we do they are mostly whitish wisps with maybe a bit of green, but I still keep hoping.

Now the aurora is stunning too...it's a pretty rare sight here, especially in central VT where I'm at now, though some years back there was a very impressive show of it...

[tigre79]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Nah, you and I just have a different definition of mountains. I'm talking about the Alaska Range, the Talkeetnas, et al, not the little hills you're having no trouble accessing, and I'm talking about actually living in the mountains rather than dragging those god awful 4 wheelers up to them for a recreational afternoon.

Um, have you even heard of the Chugach Range? Or the Wrangells? And I pointed out that to me (and surely I'm not the only one), not having people's houses sprawled out all over the mountains is a good thing. It just depends on what you're looking for - something with roads and people crawling all over it or real wilderness.

The true mountain ranges of Alaska are not accessible to the average person and the Cascades of Oregon (for the most part) are; that remains my point.

The average person seems to want everything handed to them. If Alaska's terrain makes it harder for them, then good. It's not as if nobody hikes, skis, or climbs the mountains of Alaska. They just have to earn it. I guess these days that's a travesty.

[Metlakatla]

Once again, tigre..I personally prefer the mountains of Oregon. Sorry you have a problem with that. I like the vegetation that grows in them, especially the columbine and the sword ferns. I have no interest in skiiing or in tearing them up with four wheelers.

You've obviously never been in the Cascades since you're bleating about "people's houses sprawled all over them".

Thanks for making me aware of the Chugachs and the Wrangells. Funny how I've never heard of them after being around Alaska for more than 30 years. It's great that every now and then someone who's barely spent a summer in Alaska comes along and sets us straight, thanks

Never had much of anything handed to me so I don't know where your silly little comment is coming from but guess what--I have a right to my own personal preferences. Kindly don't attack them here; it won't work out well for you.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

Now the aurora is stunning too...it's a pretty rare sight here, especially in central VT where I'm at now, though some years back there was a very impressive show of it...

Out of curiosity, I wonder what the farthest point south they've ever been seen is. Guess I could google it up but my satellite connection isn't working too well right now.

[richelles]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Out of curiosity, I wonder what the farthest point south they've ever been seen is. Guess I could google it up but my satellite connection isn't working too well right now.

I remember seeing the aurora when I was in Indianapolis some years ago. Don't recall the year but I went out to see friend somewhere Northwest of the city and when I drove into his driveway and turned the lights off I could see the color in the Northwest sky. He and I stayed out and watched the show for a while and I recall I finally got too cold to stay out so it must have been during the Winter.

[Nephler]

I have never seen the lights like I did many years ago on the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan. The lights were just about straight above me and in a circle in all directions.