Is everyone from Alaska

[ohland]

NOTE [121515FEB2015]: The following is a reaction to another show where folks are working through their chain of thought in what it takes to live in Alaska. Alaska, for all it's beauty, is NO place to be working out basic needs (food, shelter, heat...) or the extremely important cooperation needed to get things done in the short time allowed by Alaskan climate. I still do NOT consider this "reality show" to accurately reflect what people that live in Alaska do on a daily basis. And now to return to our regularly scheduled program...

Heaven help us, but does everyone in Alaska maintain a running monolog about the dangers of freezing in sub-zero temps, or the dangers of floods, or the need for food?

Or... do they all work together as ant-like socialists, all for the common good? Like a state filled with Mitt Romney clones?

The truth is out there. But I _do_ think they are a lot smarter than McCandless. You decide.

Christopher McCandless

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_McCandless
"Alaskan Park Ranger Peter Christian wrote: When you consider McCandless from my perspective, you quickly see that what he did wasn't even particularly daring, just stupid, tragic, and inconsiderate. First off, he spent very little time learning how to actually live in the wild. He arrived at the Stampede Trail without even a map of the area. If he [had] had a good map he could have walked out of his predicament [...] Essentially, Chris McCandless committed suicide."

[ShooterAZ]

To the pit.......

[wlc]

For one thing, that dude wasn't from AK. Secondly where does the "are all Alaskans whiners" come from???? Living up here is definitely different from living anywhere else I've lived. If you've got specific questions I'll try to answer the best I can, but don't lump all Alaskans into the same mold. That doesn't work, regardless of where folks live.

[Plate plinker]

I don't know but this I do. When I visited Alaska it seems to be full of dreamers and doers. My kind of place.

[ohland]

For one thing, that dude wasn't from AK. Secondly where does the "are all Alaskans whiners" come from???? Living up here is definitely different from living anywhere else I've lived. If you've got specific questions I'll try to answer the best I can, but don't lump all Alaskans into the same mold. That doesn't work, regardless of where folks live.

First, if I had to live off my hunting, I might be pretty thin. Thank God for the Agri-Mechanical complex....

My question was rhetorical, wondering if the two types of individuals in the show were reflective of Alaskan residents. If you read about McCandless, going up there and starving to death, it is not a place for impractical folks to be.

Myself, the idea of being in an area with more and bigger game than down here in southern Wisconsin is alluring... _BUT_ we don't have Grizzlies down here. A fair trade-off. But we do have wolves.

[texaswoodworker]

Most people from Alaska that I've come into contact with seemed to be pretty tough, independent people. I'd love to go live up there for a month or so and hunt.

[3leggedturtle]

Been there 5 times, never met an Alaskan that whined about anything. Just keep in mind its "reality show" I.E. staged propaganda for the masses

[wlc]

First, if I had to live off my hunting, I might be pretty thin. Thank God for the Agri-Mechanical complex....

My question was rhetorical, wondering if the two types of individuals in the show were reflective of Alaskan residents. If you read about McCandless, going up there and starving to death, it is not a place for impractical folks to be.

Myself, the idea of being in an area with more and bigger game than down here in southern Wisconsin is alluring... _BUT_ we don't have Grizzlies down here. A fair trade-off. But we do have wolves.

There are two types of folks in Alaska. Ones that love it and never want to leave it and those that can't get out fast enough. There are a lot of folks that probably are here and wish they were elsewhere but don't have the choice (military etc) or means to leave. Weather can be tough, temps can be brutal. Winter lasts from Oct till May in parts of the state and longer in others. Alaska is not a very forgiving place when out in nature, especially in winter.

There are some folks that live a subsistence lifestyle for sure. You might be surprised when I say I would much rather live in the lower 48 when it comes to hunting opportunities vs hunting opportunities in the part of the state I live in. Moose are huge, but they aren't behind every tree where in many parts of the country white tails are. Hunting them is tough and can get expensive. Caribou are in higher numbers, but if you don't live where they do then that hunting can get expensive too. Fish makes up a large portion of subsistence foods. We are home to the largest salmon runs in the world as far as I know. All 5 species of Pacific salmon run in this state. We have eaten salmon till its not a treat anymore as it once was. I'm not complaining mind you, it just is what it is. I would hazard a guess that most folks that live up here anywhere near civilization graze at the grocery store like folks everywhere and the outlying villages have stuff shipped in. Prices get outrageous the further you get from "civilization" simply from the transport costs. Milk at $10 a gallon, soda at $2-3 for a can etc etc. Fuel prices are even worse. I'm lucky as far as prices where I live. We are only about 50-60 miles from Anchorage (largest city in the state and home to about 50% of the total population of the state). I can go to Wal-Mart in 20 minutes or I can drive 20-30 minutes the other way and be out in the middle of nowhere. Lots of "wilderness" up here.

We grow a garden and plant stuff that grows well in our climate. Taters and carrots are great growers here and our carrots have more nutrition in them than carrots grown elsewhere. Cool season stuff grows like gangbusters, warm or hot season or long season stuff is more difficult to get a crop from. I've tried corn, but the return is not worth the input and time. Tomato's are pretty much a greenhouse proposition. I don't figure there would be any way for us to grow enough to "live" off of without the grocery store and I honestly hope we never have to find out.

I love it here and do understand the delicate balance we live in as far as just in time delivery of groceries, goods etc. We keep a pretty well stocked pantry, grow part of our food and know that were are at the end of the supply chain and that we are not on top of the food chain.

I've been blessed over the course of my life to have been able to travel to many different parts of the country. Everywhere I've been has had its pro's and con's and everywhere I've been has been beautiful in it's own way. But I truly believe God blessed Alaska just a bit more than anywhere else I've been. This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen with some of the most magnificent scenery.

As far as the bears, they aren't behind every tree either.... I've had many more folks tell me to be wary of moose than bears.

That MacCandless guy, IMHO was an idiot. Sad that he died and I am sorry he met his end in the way he did, but if he had only done just a bit of research and preparing he would/could have been fine. You can't just "wander" off into the wilderness and expect to live off the land without knowledge, common sense, practical skills and tools.

Sorry for the longwinded post, probably more than you wanted to read.

[.30-06 fan]

i have met a few Alaskans, they all seemed like nice folk.

[Sig]

I've visited Alaska 12 times now & the people have been great. Yet to run into a whiner like i do here at home.

[ohland]

Just keep in mind its "reality show" I.E. staged propaganda for the masses

You mean that it's like the WWF?

[shoot-n-lead]

There are two types of folks in Alaska. Ones that love it and never want to leave it and those that can't get out fast enough. There are a lot of folks that probably are here and wish they were elsewhere but don't have the choice (military etc) or means to leave. Weather can be tough, temps can be brutal. Winter lasts from Oct till May in parts of the state and longer in others. Alaska is not a very forgiving place when out in nature, especially in winter.

There are some folks that live a subsistence lifestyle for sure. You might be surprised when I say I would much rather live in the lower 48 when it comes to hunting opportunities vs hunting opportunities in the part of the state I live in. Moose are huge, but they aren't behind every tree where in many parts of the country white tails are. Hunting them is tough and can get expensive. Caribou are in higher numbers, but if you don't live where they do then that hunting can get expensive too. Fish makes up a large portion of subsistence foods. We are home to the largest salmon runs in the world as far as I know. All 5 species of Pacific salmon run in this state. We have eaten salmon till its not a treat anymore as it once was. I'm not complaining mind you, it just is what it is. I would hazard a guess that most folks that live up here anywhere near civilization graze at the grocery store like folks everywhere and the outlying villages have stuff shipped in. Prices get outrageous the further you get from "civilization" simply from the transport costs. Milk at $10 a gallon, soda at $2-3 for a can etc etc. Fuel prices are even worse. I'm lucky as far as prices where I live. We are only about 50-60 miles from Anchorage (largest city in the state and home to about 50% of the total population of the state). I can go to Wal-Mart in 20 minutes or I can drive 20-30 minutes the other way and be out in the middle of nowhere. Lots of "wilderness" up here.

We grow a garden and plant stuff that grows well in our climate. Taters and carrots are great growers here and our carrots have more nutrition in them than carrots grown elsewhere. Cool season stuff grows like gangbusters, warm or hot season or long season stuff is more difficult to get a crop from. I've tried corn, but the return is not worth the input and time. Tomato's are pretty much a greenhouse proposition. I don't figure there would be any way for us to grow enough to "live" off of without the grocery store and I honestly hope we never have to find out.

I love it here and do understand the delicate balance we live in as far as just in time delivery of groceries, goods etc. We keep a pretty well stocked pantry, grow part of our food and know that were are at the end of the supply chain and that we are not on top of the food chain.

I've been blessed over the course of my life to have been able to travel to many different parts of the country. Everywhere I've been has had its pro's and con's and everywhere I've been has been beautiful in it's own way. But I truly believe God blessed Alaska just a bit more than anywhere else I've been. This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen with some of the most magnificent scenery.

As far as the bears, they aren't behind every tree either.... I've had many more folks tell me to be wary of moose than bears.

That MacCandless guy, IMHO was an idiot. Sad that he died and I am sorry he met his end in the way he did, but if he had only done just a bit of research and preparing he would/could have been fine. You can't just "wander" off into the wilderness and expect to live off the land without knowledge, common sense, practical skills and tools.

Sorry for the longwinded post, probably more than you wanted to read.

Thanks for posting...this is probably the most honest and descriptive post that I have ever seen, concerning average folks in Alaska.

[starmac]

LOL Sounds like somebody has been watching tv. lol
For the majority of people living in Alaska life is not much difference than in a town down south, except it is BETTER here. lol The country is not very forgiving to idiots, or even just mistakes. Either can be fatal for a variety of reasons, one is access, many places is fly in only, bad weather means no ambulance can come to you even if you could somehow call them. One difference is if you want to walk out in the wilderness barefooted in the winter and starve to death, nobody is going to stop you.
Last week we had tw0 tourist go out on a late night (cold) sled dog tour, to watch the northern lights. Some how one of the tourist broke his arm, I don't know if they wrecked the sled, or if he fell down or how it happenned, but the musher cut the tour short to get him back to a vehicle, which would be normal. You would think the broken arm would have been enough to ruin the trip, but then the musher had a heart attack and died, leaving them to get back on their own, they made it fine, but it could easily have turned out way worse than it did.

[MaryB]

I had an aunt who had a fly in fishing camp when I was growing up. I got to spend some summers up there working for her and it was not whining. It was more of a we need to get this done today, you take care of the garden I will go get some fish for supper. She hunted a couple times a summer for moose and bear or whatever else she could find(nearest grocery store was a 2 hour flight) and I got to go with. She canned a lot of food, what the fly in camp ate was flown in and part of the cost of staying there except she would add in moose etc of she had extra. She lived there year round and in winter it was pretty lonely for her. She was a ham radio operator back then and I talked to her via morse code a few times. I would have lived up there in a heartbeat if I could have afforded to take over the camp when she sold out. Being alone has never bothered me, in fact people drive me nuts in big cities. Bunch of mindless zombies either talking on a phone or texting.

[AkMike]

I've heard a bunch of bad things about folks that live "North of the Cheddar Curtain" also but I tend to dismiss rumors that are based off of dorky TV shows or some blog by an unknown wannabe unless I've seen it for myself.

[starmac]

LOVE IT. lol

[dakotashooter2]

It's seems to be a lifestyle one cannot just jump into. I suspect most of those who exist in the wilderness were either born to it or transitioned to it after they obtained enough skill. I am reasonably adept in my outdoor skills and spent part of my youth in some pretty primitive living conditions but think I would still need about 5 years in a community up there before I would feel comfortable striking out on my own.

[trapper9260]

For how I see it these TV shows throw alot of bull,also make it look better then it really is.As for what is stated about the guy died is just another eye open to some one that is not doing what they need to do to live.There is too many mindless ones out there and say this and that, but when it come to do it, alot will not know what to do or find out it is not what they see on TV. It gose for any where that one is from mainly the city try to live out in farm land or the country.They can not take it time because they are not near every thing they where use to.

[snowwolfe]

There are two types of folks in Alaska. Ones that love it and never want to leave it and those that can't get out fast enough.

Make that three types. We lived there for almost 35 years and it was where our son was born and raised. Couldn't pick a better place to raise a boy. The hunting and fishing used to be fantastic and we did as much as we could. Kept one freezer stocked with halibut and salmon and the other with moose and black tail deer.

But the winters and extremely high prices finally got the best of us and we moved out almost two years ago. Property taxes, house prices, utilities, gas, food, no matter how you cut it they are super expensive. Plus in the lower 48 we can mail order powder and primers.

Don't get me wrong, we loved our time there but it gets old and the winters and darkness have a cumulative effect on you year after year. We have zero desire to move back. Its a heck of a lot different to visit than it is to live there. Today it will be 60 in Colorado and 62 tomorrow

That being said, every Alaskan reality show we watch on TV is simply a joke. NONE represent how people up there really live.

[Randy C]

I have a neighbor from Alaska he's in his 70s Nice guy and there is nothing he cant do, now he surfing the internet-oh he can crash a computer to. He will set you straight if you don't know what your talking about.