Alaska is called the Last Frontier. If you have seen the movie Into the Wild by Sean Penn that features the fate of Christopher McCandless when trying to live alone in the wild of Alaska in a bus, you have a glimpse. Alaska is a front, a front at which one has to do everything to ensure a chance for survival. Read how you can increase your chances for survival in the wild.
- Alaska’s River and Snow Threads
- The Risk of Hypothermia Even when Wearing Weather-Appropriate Clothing
- A Must-Do: Tell a Friend the Time You Expect to Be Back
- A Wellness Check Might Save Your Life
- Have Several Backup Plans for Survival in the Wild
- LOTD: Leather Pencil Skirt with Gingham Shirt
Alaska River and Snow Threads
There are not only creeks or rivers that over night due to snow-melt or rainfall may turn into wild waters that cut the way off and imprison you to your side of the river. Such a situation started the fate of McCandless that led to him eating poisonous plants that finally caused his death. Read which Alaska weeds you can eat.
Besides the hard to predict undeveloped and risky rivers in Alaska there are bears, wolves, wolverines that are all carnivore. The biggest enemy, however, is the cold. Nearly every winter, you see fliers looking for a missed person. During breakup, people find a body that had been buried by snow or that is swimming in the Chena river. Every winter, at least one person dies from hypothermia only in Fairbanks. Often alcohol is part of the game. When a person is drunk and lays down to sleep outside, they never wake up again.
Snow-machining is a big thing not only for fun, but also for travel in rural areas off the road system. Alaska’s undeveloped rivers offer good and risky opportunities as the travel paths in summer by boot and in winter by snow machine or dog team. However, thin ice may occur even in deep winter and may become a deadly trap. Even when you succeed to get back out of the water, it may not mean survival when you don’t get into the warmth fast.
The Risk of Hypothermia Even when Wearing Waether-Appropriate Clothing
However, even not being drunk you can become a victim of hypothermia. Imagine you travel a lonely road in winter and your car slips into the ditch. Even though there is an Alaska unwritten law of supporting each other, a by-passing driver may not see you in the darkness of winter. If you are injured and can’t get out of the car by yourself, even when a car passes by the driver may not see you, especially when it snows. Forget the cell phone! There is no cell phone contact once you are 30 miles away from a settlement. This scenario can even happen on a highway as many of them are unpaved roads over long stretches. The Dalton Highway is a scary adventure in rain.
The Last Frontier is tough. However, there are many ways to increase your safety on travel in Alaska.
A Must-Do: Tell a Friend the Time You Expect to Be Back
Alaskans always tell a trusted person (friend, family, neighbor) where they go, when they go, which way they go, and when they expect to be back. When the traveling person is overdue according to the given travel schedule and the traveling person has not reported a delay or change in the travel plans the trusted person initiates a search troop of friends for a wellness check. Some save lives, some don’t, and some even don’t find a trace.
A Wellness Check Might Save Your Life
A couple of years ago, a woman traveled with a snow-machine to visit family. She never arrived. The wellness check didn’t find her nor her vehicle.
Some time ago, a young couple was on a snow-machine trip over the weekend. One of their snow-machines failed. They abandoned that snow-machine and continued with the other. It had snowed too much for the remaining snow-machine to bring them to the next cottage. They built a snow igloo to stay warm and became overdue. Their friends found the cabin empty, found the abandoned snow-machine and finally the couple halfway between the cabin and snow-machine and brought them back to safety.
Another example is a of a hunting party. A misinterpretation of a landmark led to one part of the party going into another valley. The part of the party that made it back initiated the search for the part they did not meet up with as planned. They found the lost part of the party after an extended air search.
The Civil Air Patrol makes such air searches when an aircraft is overdue. Recall, Alaska is the US state with the most pilot licenses and small aircrafts.
Have Several Backup Plans for Survival in the Wild
There are many stories like these that document the necessity of having not only a plan B, but also plan C to Z in place to survive in Alaska’s wild. Caring means sharing
Do you sometimes hear the call of the wild?
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LOTD: Leather Pencil Skirt with Gingham Shirt
While leather is generally not considered a summer thing, a white leather pencil skirt can look very chic in summer. I styled the “sexiness” of the pencil skirt down with a gingham shirt in a casual style and adding mules. A perfect look for exploring the not so wild terrain of an urban river.
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Photos: G. Kramm
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