Alaska Calling

What are the unavoidable bills you were talking about? how much would you estimate they would come to for the year? And it sounds pretty amazing, i would love to hear more about it when it is up and fully running

 

No noobie to the north. I have a pretty good idea of the location you're talking about. Skwenta's about 20 miles away? How were the runs in the
Upper Su last year? Any reds run up there? A small community - or "tribe" as
you put it, would certainly make things easier. sure helps with cabin building.
Are there healthy stands of birch? Any cottonwoods? I'm interested. Could you pm me? I have a lot more questions.

 

I know that you are not replying until maybe june, but wanted to post and say hi. My husband and I have been looking to homestead our whole lives, but have been holding back due to lack of real knowledge and money. It may be three or four years before we have the means to get out there, but I found this thread and both of us are very interested. We both want something out of the way, but I need to have community for long term purposes. We love the idea of how isolated it is, and the fact that we can learn and get a grip on the living while there. I think something very important would be to have a midwife or two to help with delivering the babies that might come along. I am training to be a midwife and would love to do this. You are realistic about the hazards and the problems that could be faced, so I have a couple of questions that haven't been addressed yet. For clothes washing, how do you do that? by hand, I am asuming, but would like to know. For families that would like to go up there, I assume that cloth diapering would be almost necassary due to the waste from disposables. Nursing your infants practically a must. Right now we have a 10 month old boy, by the time we could leave he would be three or four, and we will homeschool him. But there is always the possibility of more babies.... we are very serious about wanting to do this, but it will take a few years to get it done right, as we are on the poor side

 

I decided I should make one last trip to town for supplies. There should have been plenty of time to shop and fly home. Then, Redoubt Volcano erupted. The ash has closed all air travel in this area, so it looks like I will be in town until spring - late May. Such is life in The Great Land.

In response to "What are the expenses..." First, there is the cost of hiring a plane to transport you and your supplies. Tools, such as a chainsaw, need fuel. I'm sure you will want light in your cabin at night - lamp oil, candle wax, batteries? Food staples such as salt, flour, and sugar must be bought in town. What if you fall down and break your arm? You need to be able to simply call a plane to take you to town for medical care. There will always be a few things that require cash.

So here I am, stuck in town for a few months. On the good side of things, the volcanic ash should be good for the garden.

 

i just heard air quality was much better and air traffic was almost back to normal.. you shouldnt be stuck for a few months unless you choose to be.

 

Here's a little better detail of why the volcanic eruption is causing my problem.

The air traffic at the Anchorage Airport will be back to normal fairly soon. However, there, the problem is ash that is airborn. The problem at the homestead is ash on the ice. The small bush plane is on skis. Skis don't slide on rock very well (volcanic ash is rock). So, while air travel will resume to normal in Anchorage, It will take more than a week for the volcanic ash at the lake to be covered with enough snow to solve the problem, but the lake ice is only safe to use as a runway for about another week. After the first week of April, the rotten ice becomes too soft for skis but still too hard for floats. The pilot I normally use has parked his plane for the season.

Just another challenge of life off the beaten path. I'll have to wait until the lake-ice clears before going home - end of May - early June.

 

Hey cookiecache,

Have you considered hovercrafts to get in and out?

They sell plans to build your own here.;
http://www.hovercraft.com/content/index.php

 

i was in oregon when mount st helens erupted,i remember it well. the ash was so fine it was the consistency of baby powder. i really fail to see how that could affect the way skis slide on ice, but whatever..

 

I like this !

im not coming but I like this!

its the no roads thing that gets me.....I really like the highway

 

Thanks for the kind words blinkin.

Summer will soon arrive in Alaska. These days the sun rises about 5:30 and sets around 11:00. Even at 2:00am, the Northern sky holds the glow of sunset/sunrise. Soon, it won't get dark at all. During mid-summer, the sun does set, but it doesn't actually get dark - just a little dim (one has to go North of the Arctic Circle - such as on the Alaskan North Slope - watch the sun simple go in a circle around the sky). Often, people moving to Alaska expect the darkness of winter to be a difficult adjustment. However, often the endless light of summer is a greater challenge. There is a tendency to work and play until it gets dark. This means they sleep very little, and become completely exhausted. Sometimes people going through this are said to be "sun happy." A person arriving mid-summer often will awake around 4:00am, see the sun shining brightly, and rush to "not be late." It's a very strange experience to think it is mid-day, and then discover it's not even time for the chickens to be up! I black-out my bedroom windows during summer.

 

my boyfriend works on the oil rigs in alaska... i wonder if he has roads there. probably but not paved... i can't imagine pavement holding up to well with the weather as extreme as it is in milne point

 

what about children? i'm 6 mos pregnant. are children welcome and would this even be a safe environment for an infant?

 

It has been a great summer. I am closing my offer for this year. If I get enough interested people, I might let people come to my place here in the Alaskan wilderness next summer.

I still don't have internet service at the homestead - it's going to take a bit more equipment. I will be in town for the next few weeks, and will be able to respond to questions.

As to the safety of small children at the homestead, it would be very difficult for a single parent to construct a cabin while caring for an infant or toddler. Both are full-time jobs. A child can't be left unattended in a play-pen out in the middle of bear country. After the cabin is built, I don't think there would be much in the way of extra danger for the child. Also, cloth diapers would have to be used as the cost of transportation is too high to fly in disposable diapers. This could be a REALLY big deal for some parents. I haven't tried hand washing dirty diapers, but my guess is that it sucks.

Anyway, let me know if you want to live in the wilds... maybe you will be invited next season.

 

Isn't too bad, but it does take some little time. I guess the hardest is the poop, after they start eating solids, when it starts to stink. even so, you won't get the stains out by hand, without bleach, let me assure you.

Also an observation....my once-10-month-old son is now 20 months and where I thought a toddler would be relatively easy to handle, they are not. Babies would be simple as you could just put them in a good carrier. Toddlers you would have to watch. Food for thought.

 

Out of curiosity, how much does the flight on the floatplane cost, generally?

 

The floatplane charges by the hour, and the size of the plane. To haul one person with a backpack costs around $350 USD. Transporting supplies in the larger plane (1300 LBS of cargo) costs about $600 USD.

Flying during winter is cheaper because we can land on skis. The hourly rate is lower, and the amount of weight that can be transported in each flight increases.

 

Just a few thoughts for ya to consider,,,

#1: Chainsaw fuel - Low grade Methanol derived as a byproduct of making your own charcoal

#2: Lamp oil: "Bio-diesel"

#3: Candles: Refined parrafin from byproducts of charcoal making, or using vegetable waxes or rendered tallow or a mix of all of the above depending on availability and abundance

As far as flour and sugar are concerned there are some high yield varieties of various grains I'm sure you could grow up there provided you could at least set up a simple mill.
And perhaps you could find a type of sorhgum that would make it up that far north?

Most of the info you would need for the methanol or wood alcohol, the biodiesel and processing tallow and so forth can be found in the books I posted here, all online and free to download in full.
http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=389747&f=327

And just to be clear on the subject, you mean to say that you're fine with someone growing up to 25 marijuana plants provided of course they have a prescription right?

 

Interesting ideas.

- I never heard of using methanol in 2-cycle engines. The energy output is much lower than gasoline, so I'm not sure it would work.

- Bio fuel is something I'm interested in trying, but I don't have any diesel powered engines.

- As for candles, I don't use them - serious fire hazard. (I just keep a few around in case of emergency)

Growing the crops? Hey, donate a tractor, and I'll give it a try!

 

Yea, I was just thinking of the bio fuel as an alternative to lamp oil really.

And as far as the Tractors go, ever hear of no-till gardening? It's gaining popularity amongst the more ecologically concerned gardeners and while it doesn't give great results from the go, it does eventually do well once you've been at it for a few years or so I hear.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...&cd=1&ved=0CBYQBSgA&q=fukuoka+no+till&spell=1

Or perhaps if you do get into charcoal making, you can look a bit further into Terra Preta which would make for some great raised bed filler.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=opera&rls=en&hs=22V&q=Terra+preta&aq=f&aqi=&oq=

:cheers2: