Welcome To Weed Alaska!

Tried to decipher the land site but it confused me. I believe its a land auction. Says VET has to be a resident for a year before eligible? So where would I live for the first year? How many people are locked in at this point?

 

Slaveofthesystem: The site with the land listing is from the State of Alaska. The land was offered at auction and not sold. The price to buy is the minimum bid from the auction. Yes, the VET discount requires 1 year of residency, but on this land priced at $13,000. The discount is only about $1200, so really it should be worth the extra expense to have your own land quickly. Really, I expect more Vets in Alaska to take part than Vets from the lower 48. Simply a practical matter ~ they are already in Alaska, and understand what they are getting into.

The challenge of building a cabin in the Alaska bush is not that should be taken lightly. This project is going to take a lot of time and hard work to succeed.

 

Im a extremely experienced survivalist and have built in Tennessee at 4000 ft. And Montana in nasty weather so to me that's the easiest part. Income generation when I get there is the issue I'm considering. Pretty versatile and experienced in a vast array of work.

 

Are you looking for short-term or long-term living? The cost of a seasonal use "trapper cabin" is quite cheap. Tarp roof, dirt floor, couple of plastic windows, and logs cut onsite. Building a 12ft X 16ft good solid log cabin fit for a lifetime will cost at least $15,000 in materials. I plan to buy a RV in town for a place to stay and do business as needed. This will be especially important during the first few months while I am selecting the land. I would never recommend buying land without walking it first. Alaska has lots of swamp land for sale. For someone seeking a short-term stay, there will not be anything available until about June. Going up in March is something for people interested the land selection process - others interested in buying land of their own rather than building a cabin at my place.

slaveofthesystem How much would you expect to spend building your cabin? Will you need to buy everything all at once, or build a little ~ work a little to earn the money to build some more? You really want to haul as much as possible at time to remote locations because each flight is very expensive. A bigger plane charges less per pound. A plane that can transport 600lbs per load might charge $400 an hour, but a plane that can haul 1500lbs would only run about $600 per hour. A Super Cub can haul the pilot, one passenger, plus 40lbs, but cost around $300 per hour.

On the other hand, if you have $42.35 in your pocket in March and fly out to a remote area, and don't go back to town until Harvest in September, then that $42.35 will still be in your pocket. I can guarantee that you will not spend money in a remote location! There are plenty of backwood folks who only go to town once a year - usually in the fall around PFD time. It can be a very low cash lifestyle. Hunt, fish, and garden for most food (Getting a good garden the first year at a new site is tough because the ground is frozen and can't be worked until almost planting time.) Resident hunting licenses are something we can't get the first year, so meat must be bought in town and hauled out to the homesite. Then there is the need for a pressure canner and LOTS of canning jars. No refrigeration means canning is the best option for keeping meat.

I think anyone going to the bush is going to be too busy to do anything but build and garden. There are lots of things that can be done to earn a few extra dollars, but they take time that you won't have available. Expect to hit the bed at night dead tired. The expense of flying makes multiple trips to town impractical. The physical limitations of working on building make outside projects unlikely during the first year. Maybe shoot a few videos to be edited during winter when there is spare time. Basically, You must be able to survive until fall without income, and have enough money to then go to town and do business.

 

Where do you stand wether making a town a reality? How many people on board so far? Building on your property is possible? You have already purchased your land?

 

I am finding that most of the people want to try a short-term experience. Maybe a season or two, but not looking to buy land. This means the land by Lake Kindamina is not the best choice. The parcels there are small, but there are 4 close together. For people wanting to buy land, it would be great, but now perhaps I should just get a large - say 40 acre site, and let folks build little cabins here and there on my land. I suspect I am going to need a bunk house once people discover I have world class salmon fishing out my front door.

But, buying land without seeing it in person is a really bad idea. I will not buy land until after I go up North.

Here is what I have in mind:
Head North March 15. I am taking my truck up on the ferry with a big load of tools and supplies. Once in Alaska, buy a small RV for cheap "in town living" - absolutely vital to have a place to stay where in town while getting set-up, then use during trip to town shopping etc. Looking at the land is a matter of hiring a plane to fly me out to the place. First will be the river location, since the is frozen it should not be a problem to land. After checking things out, I will need to either buy or decide to keep looking. This land is only about 5 miles from my old homestead, and unless there is a problem, it will be the spot. I have 6 more serious places that could be checked if needed. Can't afford to be stuck with no choice about where to build. After buying it is important to return to the site ASAP! In late winter it is a rather simple matter to drag logs to where they are needed. This is a case where snow makes life much easier. Moving logs in summer pretty much requires heavy equipment (it can be done, but it's really hard.) A small trappers cabin only takes a week or so to build, but that means a week or so of camping in tents. Each tent must have a wood heating stove, but it can be moved to the trappers cabin as soon as it is ready. Then comes logging for the main cabin. A small, but nice cabin needs around 70 trees. Plus we need quite a bit of lumber to finish everything out, so make it 80 trees for each cabin. In addition, the plants will need a greenhouse to start in, so a small hoopy will need to be set-up and starter grow beds built off the ground. The greenhouse must have a wood stove and be surrounded with electric fencing. The greenhouse is critical for survival. Without it, most crops can not be started early enough in the season to still have time to finish growing before winter comes. There will be a time from early April till mid May that travel is not possible. (Spring break-up) Anyone coming at this time is here until the ice has all cleared. Milling lumber should start in June along with building foundations for cabins. This will take most of the rest of the first summer. Logs and lumber need to be seasoned before use, they will be ready when we are the next spring.

Of course it will not be all work. The river has world class fishing and there is a 5 star lodge about a 1/2 mile away if you need to escape for a while. There is also gold in these lands. Might do a little prospecting when time allows. A person could really relax here with some fine green to smoke while just watching the river go by a few hours. Maybe see a moose or bear wandering by.

Then back to work, this time in the greenhouse or stacking firewood. There is always something that needs done, part of bush living is learning to pace yourself. Too much too fast, and you will just 'burn-out', and return to town defeated. By September the logs will be dry, but with the limited time building will be limited. Unless heavy equipment can be rented from someone near by, there is almost no chance of getting the main cabin built the first summer. But, on the good side, by this time the trapper cabins will have everything done, and be ready for winter. Need to get the bunk house done before winter so it can be ready for the next summer's guests.

It truly will take 2 years to get this project up and running at full speed. We need nice warm cabins, good garden space cleared, clean water to drink, and the list goes on. Suppose I am able to get a nice boat to run the river. Then what adventures await? There is a small village about 35 miles down river with a post office. With the right boat, most anything needed can be shipped out. There should be phone service, but maybe only with a high-power phone (wireless residential service). The internet will be slow, but we will have it. - fine for email and such.

Each location has a little different schedule, but this gives you a good idea of what I am looking to get done this year.

 

Thought I would post a few photos from my old homestead. This is what 3000lbs of supplies looks like next to the two backpacks we used to carry it the 1.5 hour hike home.

 

This is the small cabin I built. All the logs and lumber were cut at the site.

 

Transportation was by float plane. It is a very happy day when you see this plane bringing in supplies for winter.

 

This is a really cute bear cub. It used to come into my front yard with mom and little sister at least once a week. They would play while mom laid my on front porch. This is something that is only REALLY COOL the first time.... Kinda trapped in the house until they decide to leave!

I even filmed the bears using a bluescreen for movie stock footage. No one believed that a bluescreen set could be used with wild bears, but it worked great. (Shot footage with arriflex IIC motion picture camera.)

 

The spring where I got water would freeze form time to time requiring a chainsaw to a new hole through 3 ~ 4 feet of ice.

 

I have a community in Alaska called sandy River. We are taking on people as of March. We are 2 miles from mile 77 of parks highway in the willow area. On 70 acres. Right ok the big Su River with boat access. We are starting a hemp farm, building an amphitheater, a mini resort, and a living community. We are off grid bug have cell phone range. If you want you can start here or just use us as a staging area. We require guests to work somewhere on property and long term guests gain ownership and land to build on. you can choose what you want to do and home cooked meals and housing in tent village is free. You can bring Rv and or vehicles. We have constant supply trips to anchorage and valley. We are right next to willow airport which is a great place to get local flights out of. We could be official sister communities and anyone headed to weed can stay in Sandy River along the way or way back. Maybe even start a supply line from here if your on a connecting River.

 

Sandy River Community, I will take you up on your offer. It is always nice to have a place to stage things on the road system. Really cool that you have river access. I don't think I will be able to buy a boat this year, but I will be having gear and supplies hauled out by boat during the summer. My place is on the Yentna a bit up stream from Skwentna.

 

Well, here we are in mid February, and I am getting ready to head North in about a 6 weeks. I had hoped that by starting this thread in August, I would be able to find a group to found a small community, but so far nearly all persons interested only want to stay a month or season. For this reason I am changing direction a bit in my offer. I am thinking more like a offer of rent for $1 per month plus helping around the homestead. Paying rent gives one certain protections under the law.

Let's do a backwoods "Barn Raising." Come help build cabins in the wilderness. Maybe catch a King Salmon or two while you're here. Learn backwoods living skills. Sort of a cabin building/mountain man school. If you decide to stay long-term, then we can do a barn raising for you.

 

Made the move to Alaska. I was able to buy some land outside Wasilla near Big Lake. The State of Alaska changed many of the rules regarding cannabis, so I had to adjust my plan quite a bit. Still, I am in Alaska, and have a few nice girls in the backyard. Have plenty of Blue Dream to last the summer - love to share. I was able to build a cordwood style cabin to live in while building the real cabin. It looks like it will take about another year for the laws to really be worked out here for growing. That give me time to get my residency status back. I have to say Big Lake is an AWESOME place to live. I have a very nice view of Denali from where my front porch will be located. Let me know if you are in Alaska, and I'll smoke you out!

 

Kind of cold isn't it, short growing season and high over head for indoor growing. Just a few of the obstacles to over come. It would take a huge bank roll to take something like that on in a remote area..

 

Thank you sir, and I look forward to it. Right now I am back in college (taking the summer off to fix my house), and in a year maybe year and a half I should have my foot in the door, so to speak, for college.

I am a vet as well, just no combat. How do you verify vet status?

 

So in March I'm going somewhere in Alaska. I'm very homestead savey. Where do you stand on being set up somewhere?

 

You haven't posted in a while. Any up date? Very interested.