i've been asked a few times latly if you could get lost in alaska

Valduare · #1 09/08/05, 05:29 AM

what do you all think. do you think you could get lost in alaska and make a life for yourself off the land. lost being the key word. not worrying about restrictions and law's.

Cyngbaeld · #2 09/08/05, 09:08 AM

Better know what you are doing first! That land is brutal! Even the Eskimoes don't really live off the land any more.

Valduare · #3 09/08/05, 09:33 AM

i'd imagine they were wanting south east alaska where its mild

fordy · #4 09/08/05, 09:44 AM

...................IF , you had the requisite knowledge to build yourself a cabin , could shoot enough meat and knew how to preserve your food cache , etc . I'm still not really clear as to what are the prevailing customs "are" in the bush about setting up camp , being able to harvest as much game as needed to feed yourself and family . If this was tried here in say Montana or Idaho I'd think you would be arrested for killing game out of season and quite possible trespassing on government property .
..................In addition , you're going to have to have staples , bullets , meds , and other misc. items flowin which will require Money . Of course , IF you are independently wealthy then there is NO problem in this respect otherwise "thinking" you can make IT without sufficient funds to get started is a Fools dream . fordy..

jennigrey · #5 09/08/05, 11:55 AM

i knew a guy once who came down out of the mountains to work at the fish processing plant each summer and then hiked back up each fall. he had a cabin up there somewhere on land he didn't own. he worked at the fish plant in town to make money for supplies and also to dumpster dive all summer. his cabin was so far in that when the fishing season ended it would take him about a month to get all his supplies and dumpster treasures hiked in. this guy was about 60 years old the last time i saw him (which was about 10 years ago)

one summer another guy at the fish plant decided that this sounded like a really great way to live. this young man and his dog had been hitchiking all over north america and he'd been in alaska for two years so far. so the next spring he hiked up and found a good spot and built himself some kind of a cabin. over the spring and summer and early fall he'd show up in town every month and work for a week or so if there was any work to be had.

that winter his dog came back to town without him, skin and bones. never saw the young man again. someone in town adopted his dog.

Valduare · #6 09/08/05, 12:01 PM

sounds like agood life to me lol
am i weird?

texican · #7 09/08/05, 07:57 PM

...unless you have a doctoral degree in bush engineering, with a masters degree in McGuyverism, you'll only get to make one mistake, and the game'll be over...

Take this little test.

Walk outside, wherever you are, and try living 'off the land' for a month or so. If you can hack it, and actually put on a little weight, figure it to be a minimum of ten times harder in Alaska.

All the land in Alaska belongs to somebody. State, Feds, Natives, and teensy weensy bit of private. Come winter, and you're desperately burning wood to keep from freezing...you're putting out smoke, and when the *owner* flies over and sees someone squatting where they aren't supposed to be, they'll make a note of your location... especially if it's State or Feds...

good luck in your quest to disappear, just make sure it isn't one of the permanent disappearings........

...if you just want to drop off the radar, check out paladin press, or loompanics.......they have quite a few books available for 'second starters'...