Taken from the Facebook page of a friend and former co-worker:



I know we should all live in cities of 50,000 people or greater, so spare the lectures on what's wrong with the many small places in Alaska. But feel free to add other anecdotes that might convey a bit of the "living" that is rather normal in the day to day. I won't bring up the fact that gas is still $6/gallon....... oops!

Have to fly my gas out in a helicopter. 57 miles east of Denali at 2000 ft elevation. Running low on coffee creamer if anybody is in the neighborhood...

My gas station:

Imagine how much it would cost if it needed shipped to the moon.

I grew up 30 miles from the nearest town. I still miss it. There are too many people most places. Enjoy the serenity of your seclusion. I now live 3 miles from that same closest town; population 4500+

Amazon is your friend...........or not



I have presently been an apartment dweller....into a second year of it in Fairbanks. I sure miss Alaska most of the time, or at least the Alaska I've known for better than half my life. Fairbanks sure is a different world. It just reminds me all the more that the 'good stuff', wherever it is, should never be taken for granted.

Amazon prime member in good standing, drone delivery is a fantastic idea. We had a moose bedded down on my landing zone upon arrival. Wonder how the drone would deal with that situation?

Funny! Better than running low on coffee...

Fahq that. I have no desire to live in an urban area. I've spent the majority of my career in the bush villages. I'm about 5 years out from pulling the pin and I'm retiring to a community much smaller in population that the one I'm in now. The only difference is I'll have a paved road to make things convenient.

My post primary career life will probably be a rotating gig in...................you guessed it. Rural villages.

At least they have Facebook!

And they don't talk to the hospital in Nome via radio anymore. (I arrived in '82 which was the first year there was general phone service on many rural villages.) And the village generators ran on something other than 60 Hz during those hours in the day when it wasn't failing to operate. People have rejoiced recently for the monthly water/sewer billers being reduced from $250/month.

Cool pics.. Beware of Agenda 21, they have plans for us..

Amazing when gas is in the 1.20 range in areas here... the collapse of an economy is shortly behind at this rate though...

I'm not familiar with it, please enlighten me.

FWIW, I grew up in a town of about 200 people and no stop lights. I'm now 45 and the town still has no stop lights. The largest town in my county only has two. It's not nearly as rural as some places in AK, but as previously stated, no cities/large towns for me. My thought has always been, if I can see you; you're close enough. If I can hear you; you're too close.

Is this really your home or hunting camp? Looks like an awesome place to live. Beautiful country out there!

Both home and hunting camp. Black bear, grizzly, moose, wolf, coyote, lynx, caribou, beaver, porcupine, grouse, ptarmigan, marten, etc etc.

Here is a small bull moose using my trail. Lots of moose and black bear. Too many black bear.

Is that your chopper or do you have to pay someone to take you in and out? I didn't see any trucks, so I guess no roads other than snow machine?

The hell with the coffee and creamer, what the hell happens when you run out of beer?

Innanet via landline?

Beer is too heavy. Bourbon is the drink here. And I have line of sight to an ATT cell tower 8 miles away. Strong LTE connection. Solar to recharge everything. No truck or ATV access. It's either plane, helicopter or snowmachine. Still waiting on the creek to freeze over, maybe in another week or two I can make the 24 mile run to town.

My outhouse:



My neighbors outhouse:



As you can see I'm living large.

Forerunner of the Porta-Potty.

I can deliver creamer, but the catch is I get to stay a few days.

beautiful man, just beautiful, I'm as happy for you as a jealous man can be.

Here is a summer view

Impressive!

Interested as to your overall infrastructure-- So water from the nearby stream and solar charging of your 12V lights, refrigeration, etc. Propane for cooking? Import all your food or do you have a root cellar and/or seasonal greenhouse? Cure meat from local game & fowl? Generator for 120V power tools? Cut and cart firewood for winter's supply?

Yes.

Except no greenhouse. And I've never needed to use stream or lake water,roof water catchment/cistern system in the summer and melt snow in the winter. I do have a propane/electric refrigerator but rarely use it. I will be upgrading the 20 year old solar system soon. Then I will run a small freezer with that being used to make ice for the Yeti coolers and freeze meats. There is also a second small solar system on the workshop which powers lights and my shower sauna water pump. (Submersible bilge pump in a five gallon bucket that feeds the shower head) Also have an ATV shed with a 1984 Suzuki 250 with 460 miles on it. It was disassembled then flown out and reassembled on site. That is only able to go back and forth to the lake on the trail and almost to the float plane dock. Firewood is collected in winter when I'm able to tow the sled with the snowmachine. I do collect some in the summer but it becomes a huge manual labor task fighting alders and the terrain. Hills. Big ones.

It's a long 20 foot walk out onto my porch from my reloading bench to the 100 yard target. I also have a 25 yard set up near the outhouse. Then there is 500, 1000 & 1760 yard targets set out in the hills. Plus I have certain rocks I shoot at at various ranges.

Nice.

Where is this, exactly?

North of Talkeetna. 57 miles east of Mount Denali.

Question was mostly tongue-in-cheek, but appreciate the answer. That don't suck and have to agree w/ 2L2Q on the happiness quotient.

I hope to spend a few weeks in God's country before I can't.

Thanks for sharing. You are definitely living the AMERICAN dream. Or at least mine.

MM-
Much obliged for the edification. Use a JD tractor with a bucket to put up the winter's firewood in the summer months hereabouts. Doing the reverse as you are makes much more sense in your AO.

Use to frequent a dive charter service in Barkley Sound where the owner, a beloved, cantankerous Scot, built their remote lodge by hand. I was intrigued by his systems too. He also used a cistern to collect water from a seep in the cliff face behind the lodge. He and his bride also had a spectacular view from their porch.

Looking forward to more of your pixels & prose....

A bit of the wood collection effort this past week:

Looks like you're starting to nicely knock the new off that Stihl. *grin*

Do you find that the sap drops enough in winter to not have to season your firewood? Fortunately, have a big enough hunk of ground to clean up standing dead firs/alders and windfalls for 3 cords or so/year.

Enjoying the vicarious AK adventures....

that is some awesome looking land,,jealous for sure...
And moose walking thru your front yard..

No. (It's not hard to find spruce trees you can carry over your shoulder which are older than their bearer, or to find trees which pre-date the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock. Some of the wood can be pretty dense, not always inclined to drying fast.)

Do not see a cabin on google earth.

Did you build everything yourself or did you buy from the market? I assume it was built by you. Property taxes must be cheap lol. Only bad thing about living here would be if you got hurt cutting firewood or broke your back. Enjoy the picts keep em coming.

Everything was built already. No foundation issues because the cabin was anchored to the rock it's built on. The roof is cabled to the rock also. Taxes are $500.00 a year. Getting hurt would be an issue. Big issue if away from the cabin. I always carry first aid in my pack and have a decent sized kit in the cabin and lake box. I've had some pretty decent first aid training over the years and still need to keep my certification current, does me no good if I'm unconscious though. Spot Gen3 tracker goes with me all the time.

Here's a large moose posing 3 feet in front of one of my cameras:



A wolverine digging around where a hawk had eaten his kill several days prior:

MM,
Do you have a Plan B shelter should your cabin be damaged by snow/fire? I see a chimney in one of your out buildings. Also seen some in similar isolation have an insulated tent with a wood stove as an insurance policy.

Thanks again for sharing some pixels & prose.

Stunning property. Is that the one that was listed on Landinalaska about 6 years ago?

MountainMariner, thanks for the insights in your life. Really enjoyed the video of your helicopter rides and the aerial view of your place. Glad you have internet otherwise we wouldn't get to drool over your remote living, thanks.

The old rules of leaving cabins open - "just replenish the wood you use" have gone by the wayside. Anyone who matters knows where to find the key - or it can be found if you look a bit. Other than that, in respect for the sometimes need for emergency shelter (or in case we lose our main structure/shelter, we leave our log sauna unlocked. It has a wood stove, generator, extra gas inside in case anyone needs such provision.

You have good taste in whiskey. I can't imagine you pairing it up with a cheap cigar.

What that resting on the ashtray?

BTW, I'm mostly an AJ Fernandez fan, but I have yet to find a CAO that I don't like. Also just getting into some of the Drew Estate.

I'm not real certain but around the time frame that photo was taken I had mostly RP Edge, La Perla Habana Black Pearls and some Gurkha Beauty's.

MM,
Thanks for sharing this. I just last night,half jokingly, told my wife that I thought we should move up there and live off the grid. She said there'd be no internet. I said there'd also be not mail delivery! How do you deal with the solar charging system in the winter? I run a solar generator down here and the winter 's short days really strain the system. Your days are presumably much shorter. Is the sheet metal/coil stock on your building's water tables to prevent porcupines from eating the T111. They love the glue.

Beautiful pics. Thanks again.

You got it. The sheet metal is to keep the porcupine off my wood. The short days in the winter do take a toll on the batteries but I use very little power. Just recharge my devices. No lights or any other use. It's my next project is to upgrade the solar system. I also have the generator if needed.

MM,
I've been reading this thread and I'm curious about your lifestyle.

What do you do for income? Trap?
Have a wife out there?
Nearest neighbors?

Thanks in advance.

I'm a mariner who currently works on an icebreaker. I don't trap at all. My nearest neighbor is a trapper and he has been there for 30 years. He's only out there in the winter. His place is a half mile away. The next nearest neighbor is 4.5 miles away. No wife, I'm divorced, but I am accepting applications for girlfriend. The only other cabin in sight is about 20 miles away and I have to crank the spotter up to 60 x to see it on a clear day. Only two lights are visible at night, the airfield beacon 13 miles away and the cell tower light.

I'm guessing that you have a ship-board work schedule that allows for blocks of time at your retreat?

Cool. I have samples of each in my own treasure chests.

Fresh Blueberry pancakes anyone?

Glassing the hills from my couch.