wanting to move to alaska!

[RockyMountainSawyer]

The wife and i are seriosly concidering moving to alaska. We really like the idea of living completely off the grid, and being self reliant. Obviosly we cannot just pack up and go, we would like to make this happen within the next five years. We have alot of questions and concerns, that is why I am posting this on this forum, there is alot of knowledge here i would like to tap into. Our plan right now is to have a sawmilling business of somekind. We have heard that aquiring timber in alaska is fairly easy, we would like to know if this is acurate. Also we would like to get to know people who live there to get a better idea of what we are up against. Thanks in advance i'm sure this will be an eye opener.    RMS

[Piston]

I would like to marry your wife.... :D
Just kidding, but I wish my wife would consider that  ;D  Good luck, I'll be following this post with interest.  I've only been to Alaska once and can't wait to go back, it seems like the most amazing place. 
I have worked with a few people from Alaska and they have all loved where they live. 

[Qweaver]

Hey Rocky, you might want to read this account of moving to the great north.  http://www.jenninewardle.com/
These two people planned it out well and it's been pretty tough...way to tough for me...and I'm pretty tough.  Read this from the beginning.

[red]

I hear you can see Russia from there  .......

[RockyMountainSawyer]

I really do think that sarah has the right idea, i will just have be sure and keep my distance when she has a shotgun(wouldn't want to be there for another dick cheney shot). 

Also i took a quick look at that blog, looks like there is going to be alot of good insight there, thanks. We would like to go up and visit at least once during each season to get a good feel for the weather. I am sure that it will be tough, but i also believe that it will be worth every challenge. We have a great support group of family and friends that agree that alaska is the place for us. The dream of living off the grid i believe is shared by alot of people, the problem is finding someone with the same dream, i got real lucky with my wife to say the least. The ideal situation for us would be to buy about 100 acres or so of good mature timber ground. We have built cabins together before and believe that we could build a very comfortable dwelling in about a years time, if i am able to get my mill on site. I figured that a d-log shell with a gambrel roof system would be our best bet. That isn't the fanciest way to do it but i believe it is the quickest and easiest way. Also if we could find a property that has a year round spring or creek with good slope to build a dam would be great. In my mind if a person has a dam there are limitless possibilties, power being the big one. Having a cheap power supply allows you to have more luxeries. Anyway i plan on building everything at least once here before i go. I  think it would be easier to work all the bugs out in an area close to a hardware store. I plan on selling these things also to help fund our dream. So bear with me on the first project of building a cabin in the middle of an idaho winter. Any suggestions to make it Alaska frindly would be much appreciated. Thanks again RMS

[northwoods1]

I'd visit there 1st before I got to far along thinking seriously that it is something you might want to do. And then if your real serious , go up and stay for 1 winter and see if you can take that.

Living in Idaho might give you a basic idea of what a severe winter is like , but do you think you could take 6 months of it being dark most of the time. For most folks that is the determining factor. You might think you can but just try it. It drives people wacky

[Warbird]

We have heard that aquiring timber in alaska is fairly easy, we would like to know if this is acurate. Also we would like to get to know people who live there to get a better idea of what we are up against. Thanks in advance i'm sure this will be an eye opener.    RMS

Where did you hear this about obtaining timber?  I do not own a mill, nor have I spoken with the big mills here in the Interior of Alaska but it sounds suspicious to me.  We already have large commercial mills here and breaking into the market in this area would likely be difficult.

There used to be a large mill/pulp mill in SouthEast Alaska, in Ketchikan.  I'm pretty sure that mill went out of business (a long time ago) due to regulations of timberlands there.  It hurt the local economy very bad.  I have relatives living there and might be able to get further information.

As for what you are up against, what do you want to know?  Moving here can cost a lot, depending on what you bring with you and which part of the State you move to.  You should also be prepared for the cold and extended darkness.  The further north you go, the worse it is.  And it can really screw with your head.  Here in Fairbanks, we get ~3 hours of sunlight on the shortest day of the year.  In the Arctic, where there are no trees, the sun goes down and doesn't come back up for ~2 months. 

What, exactly, do you mean by "living off the grid"?  This seems to have turned into a trendy term that can mean a few different things.  Do you mean no electricity? No phones? No running water?  All of the above?  If all of the above, you need to be aware that this is hard living and also gets more difficult the further north you go.

What sort of people are you?  What sort of skills do you have?  If you work a desk job in a big city and have never lived very rustic, my recommendation is you be careful. 

[Buck]

This thread will be one to follow.....

[jim king]

I think between Warbird and Plicketycat you have two great resources here to draw from.  There may be more.  The cold and darkness to me would be  unforgiving.

A lot of people come here and fall apart for other reasons.  The life is to easy and to much fun.  Every vice is readily available from the sweet little night life charmers in abundance to lots of drugs and plenty to drink.  There is to much fun to work and think.

Changing lifestyle in a drastic way is not easy and on your own is worse without a group..  As said go there on an extended vacation and survive for six months, if it works and you are ahead of how you arrived you will probably be a candidate.

Here are of couple of examples.  Go slow, in a new land without money can be tough on anyone-----

[Chuck White]

My only suggestion would be to get the facts before you head out.

Alaska has some very unforgiving territory, and the weather can change quicker than most of us can think.

[D Hagens]

  Without getting in to great details of one of my experiences building a cabin and having no source of power, water or phone.
Here's something for you to try that you can do in your own backyard!
Set up a tent, bring enough food for a week. Leave your phone, laptop, radio and other things like that and see if you and your wife can do it.
Determine a set amount of time that you will live like this and see if you can do it. Like others have said, the darkness is the hard part.
When me and my wife go to the cabin we have no power, just batts and some solar that's limited in the winter.
The first thing that we notice is that we work well together and you sure find out fast what true love is!
I enjoy the isolation as I love being as one with nature but there sure are a lot of people that get cabin fever real fast! :D

[Magicman]

I've harbored my dream of moving to Alaska for 50 years.  We've only visited once for 2 months, and that was during the "daylight" time.  Sadly, my dream now is only to be able to visit again.

I'll also follow this thread closely.

[SwampDonkey]

Check this out.

http://www.faroutliving.com


This guy is a computer programmer. ;D

[RockyMountainSawyer]

I guess it would help if i gave some background. I was raised on a cattle ranch in nebraska, where in the winter's get to be in the -30 to -50 degree mark. The work still had to get done, like calving 24 hours a day. If anyone of you have ever calved out 2 year olds in nebraska in the middle of febuary, then you can know i'm no stranger to harsh conditions. Once our family moved to idaho i got into carpentry, and soon started my own business in timber. First building track homes then log and timber homes and know i support my family cutting pallet cants with old crappy equipment that i refurbished in and of my own resources. My wife has stood by me through it all. The reason we want to go to alaska are as follows: we don't mind idaho, but we want to live somewhere that is concidered frontier, we want our kids to learn how to live on nothing and have everything. Alaska is an enabler for people who want a challenge. I know that we have what it takes, and don't think that we are just going to run off to the tundra and not prepare. Like i said this is a five year plan. Everything that we can mimmic here to help us get it right there is what we are going to do. Also my idea of living off the grid would be to produce our own power, food and water source. We would like to have the internet, we don't want to live like hermits. We just want to rely on others as least as possible. I apprieciate the comments about the long dark winters, that definatly will be a challenge. We plan on building a shop to work in in the winter, that ought to help with the dark issue. I am really excited to be getting this big of a responce, and i apprieciate all of your comments, keep them coming. RMS

[DouginUtah]

I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that everything you want to do in Alaska you could do just as well in Idaho.

[Buck]

Go for it, Post until you go off the grid. I think you can do it cowboy sawyer. No question about your grit.

[Carpenter]

     We have a pretty similar background.  What part of Nebraska did you come from?  I've always wanted to do just what you're planning.  I probably won't get the chance to now, but can I come visit?  I think you'll do just fine.

[RockyMountainSawyer]

Carpenter you are more than welcome to come and visit, by the way i grew up near dunning on the circle 5 ranch in brewster. There is just something about trees and mountains when all you have ever known is rolling hills.

[Left Coast Chris]

What part of Alaska are you thinking about?  I worked for about 5 years on the panhandle on Prince of Whales Island.  We worked both summer and winter on a sawmill, dock and power house.  I was in college and flew back and forth to and from school. 

I would suggest you start by working up there a summer and establishing some connections.   That is assuming you need to make a living working a job.  If you have funds to sustain yourself then you could research communities and go from there.  The southern part of the panhandle is really great for fishing, hunting and lots of trees.  Not sure how many priviate timbered parcels are available.  Only smaller lots in town as far as I knew other than mining claims.  The winters had maybe 6 hours of sunlight.  Lots of rain and access is by air and barge.  No Doctor.  No law enforcement that I ever saw.  I did metal fabrication at the saw mill.

One thing to consider, is raising your family and oportunities for the kids.  On Prince of Whales Island there was fishing, loging the sawmill a couple of bars a seasonal cannary and a couple of stores.  Oh, there was one guide service also.  Very few if any kids past grade 8 there.  No  High School and not many oportunities after that through High School and College.

Food for thought.

[Brucer]

I knew a couple who did just what you're planning to do -- in Northern Washington State.

[SwampDonkey]

There is just something about trees and mountains when all you have ever known is rolling hills.

I lived on the wet coast for a time. And for me it's more than just trees and hills, it's Acadian forest timber on them hills and dryer weather and sun. And being able to grow a garden in good soil that isn't constantly soaked like a mud flat. ;D  8)

[sandhills]

This truly is interesting, I'm sure you're very capable of doing this but I would definetely listen to the locals and learn as much as I could before attempting it.  I grew up pretty much the same, just a little further east and the cold doesn't bother me either, but this is Nebraska, I honestly don't know if I could handle an Alaska winter off the grid, seems like it would get old really fast.  I too am interested in what part of Alaska you're considering, I got to spend part of a summer in the Haines/Skagway area, that is also why I have no trouble understanding why you would want to do this.  It is by far the most beautiful country I've ever seen.

[Warbird]

The areas these guys are talking about are very far to the south.  Something to understand about Alaska is how HUGE it is.  If you take a scaled map and lay Alaska over the United States, you begin to understand just how large it is.

The further south you go, the more daylight you have during the winter and the easier the living is.  However, the flip side is that in a place like Ketchikan, they get enormous amounts of rain during the winter.  This means almost every winter day is gray, rainy, and dreary.  While you do have more daylight there, you still have to contend with that.

Lots of pretty trees in Southeast Alaska, though.  Lots of huge cedar.

[Stephen1]

This will be another good thread to watch same as PC's

[fishpharmer]

Here you go, this link shows what Warbird was talking about...

http://www.birds-eye-view.alaska.edu/ch2/story2-3.htm