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A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

bbc.com

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Re: A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

#41

Post by justusthane »

fxtentacle wrote: post #18
IncreasePosts wrote: post #12

Sounds like they didn't survive the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead, and instead survived in a city or in a provided structure while occasionally heading out into the wilderness and wasting their time producing nothing much of a value.

Sounds like they divorced and then the father died in a car accident while trying to make life in the wilderness work. And the mother moved to the city and never came back, which helped her have a long life with her daughter, so probably that was the better decision.

Sort of tragically ironic that he died in a car accident while trying to live outside of modern civilization.

Re: A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

#42

Post by s1artibartfast »

IncreasePosts wrote: post #38
s1artibartfast wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Im honestly curious where this hostility is coming from? Ideas of value are obviously subjective.

I would call it more of an honest statement about what happened there, as opposed to an overly positive one. Having said that, I do have a long-standing issue with the relatively small group of people who try to go their own way from society without a modicum of understanding about what kind of work and skills will be required. As well as an issue with the larger group of people who cheer on these folks and either en…

That makes sense, and I share your sentiment about the naiveite and idiocy for some of these people. that is to say, I think the dream of self-reliance is a noble one, but simply holding a noble ideal doesnt make someone praiseworthy. Execution speaks volume.

I think what I was most reacting to was your statement "wasting their time producing nothing much of a value". I took this to mean value to the greater community, and I strongly disagree that this should be the main benchmark which people should be judged against. It strikes me as oddly entitled to their labor.

Re: A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

#43

Post by s1artibartfast »

a2tech wrote: post #28
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I grew up eating bear sausage and it was delicious. Isn’t sausage the goto thing when you want to take meat that would otherwise be nasty and turn it into something palatable? I don’t think you statement contradicts the parent post about bear meat being not good

Correct. That and chili. I grew up without a lot of money and have eaten every game animal in North America and I can tell you that there isn’t any wild game that can beat the cheapest of ground beef for flavor or usefulness.

Sounds like you need a better cook. I love game meat and find most ground beef disgusting.

The main advantage of commercially produced beef, chicken, and pork is that you can eat it rare & raw.

Re: A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

#45

Post by canadiantim »

brianbreslin wrote: post #6
kibwen wrote: post #4

> In April 1964, Alaska was struck by a magnitude 9.2 megathrust earthquake that devastated much of Anchorage. This is a sidebar that I think is historically underappreciated. Take a look at this incredible graphic, which goes up to 2005: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_earthquakes#/media/Fi... For the period from 1906 to 2005, half of all the energy released by all recorded earthquakes came from just three ev…

Indonesia having over 2000 earthquakes a year is wild!

ring of fire, baby

Re: A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

#46

Post by Arrath »

solardev wrote: post #22
IncreasePosts wrote: post #12

Sounds like they didn't survive the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead, and instead survived in a city or in a provided structure while occasionally heading out into the wilderness and wasting their time producing nothing much of a value.

Are there any successful tales of Alaskan homesteading? It seems like we fetishize those foolhardy lone wolves like this couple or Alex McCandless from Into the Wild, but where are all those people who moved out there and actually managed to live happy, simple lives? One of my favorite book series is Woodswoman, about a lady who set out into Vermont to build herself a lakeside cabin from scratch and made a living off…

These college friends did it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3NWdFll2X8

Not super long term, but interesting!

Re: A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

#47

Post by marssaxman »

solardev wrote: post #22
IncreasePosts wrote: post #12

Sounds like they didn't survive the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead, and instead survived in a city or in a provided structure while occasionally heading out into the wilderness and wasting their time producing nothing much of a value.

Are there any successful tales of Alaskan homesteading? It seems like we fetishize those foolhardy lone wolves like this couple or Alex McCandless from Into the Wild, but where are all those people who moved out there and actually managed to live happy, simple lives? One of my favorite book series is Woodswoman, about a lady who set out into Vermont to build herself a lakeside cabin from scratch and made a living off…

There were ~3500 successful homestead claims in Alaska. My ex-wife's dad grew up on one of them, near Soldotna; she and I went out to visit once. It was not seen as an unusual experience in that area.

I don't imagine those folks spend much time writing about their lives on the internet.

Re: A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

#48

Post by pnathan »

IncreasePosts wrote: post #12

Sounds like they didn't survive the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead, and instead survived in a city or in a provided structure while occasionally heading out into the wilderness and wasting their time producing nothing much of a value.

> wasting their time producing nothing much of a value.

they lived. that is not nil. it enriched their lives.

But, eh, I wouldn't say they lived and thrived there.

Some other people have done the very far out life. Here's one: https://hellscanyon.tours/2022/08/15/all-about-buckskin-bill... is one example.

I think its very feasible.... for people who know what they are doing. This probably requires basically an apprenticeship.

Re: A New Jersey couple survived the Alaskan wilderness on a homestead

#50

Post by briandrum »

tula wrote: post #31
solardev wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any successful tales of Alaskan homesteading? It seems like we fetishize those foolhardy lone wolves like this couple or Alex McCandless from Into the Wild, but where are all those people who moved out there and actually managed to live happy, simple lives? One of my favorite book series is Woodswoman, about a lady who set out into Vermont to build herself a lakeside cabin from scratch and made a living off…

Dick Proenneke is one of the more well-known ones. He built his cabin all on his own, filming the whole process, as well as his life there. He lived in his cabin for thirty years. https://www.nps.gov/lacl/learn/historyculture/proennekes-cab...

The film, “Alone In the Wilderness” is terrific.

https://vimeo.com/767376634

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