Off Grid Alaska

[BrickTop 477]

A few more pics of the light display from the other night. A buddy sent me these. He lives in Healy. 

I can only imagine experiencing that after eating a few edibles.

[ztejas 43,464]

16 hours ago, RPM said:

Now I remember why I GTFO of Alaska.

Only been in August. 

I saw a glacier and visited a snow-covered sled-dog camp. 

Edited December 1, 2022 by ztejas

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

On 11/29/2022 at 1:00 PM, Brisketexan said:

You have NO idea how long the Quest for the Perfect Shitstick takes each year.  Moose went into the woods a civilized man, and came back two months later, triumphantly bearing this year's shitstick, but looking like this:

I haven’t seen that movie

 

I’ve been told I should

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

10 hours ago, UT_OB1 said:

I’ve never been anywhere colder than 9 F. How dangerous of a threat is hypothermia at 36 below?  I mean can you run outside in jeans, slip on shoes, and a light jacket to grab firewood real fast, or do you have to have all crap on just to open the door? I can’t even begin to imagine what that is like. 

Long term exposure to those temps without the proper gear is a definite hypothermia risk

I always say this but no one ever believes me, the deep cold is not as bad as you think it is

Your first exposure to those type of temps sucks. Like examining your life type sucks, but you acclimate quickly
 

I’m a North man now. The blood has thickened, so to speak. Anything above 70 is miserably hot to me. I’m sure I’ll acclimate back when we get too old to do this anymore and move south

I was in flannel pajama bottoms and regular house slippers and shirtless when I took that pic of the lights. Went outside to take my old man piss at 2 am. The lights always come out late on cold nights, so I grabbed my phone in case they were out. I was rewarded. I was out at 30 below for about 5 minutes total dressed minimally. It’s cold, but bearable. Not dangerous. It’s feels nice to go back inside and warm the bones by the wood stove then crawling back in bed. Simple pleasures

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

1 hour ago, BrickTop said:

I can only imagine experiencing that after eating a few edibles.

On mushrooms standing around a campfire was my favorite experience

Never had that many neurons firing at one time in my lifE

[AeroHorn 749]

On 11/29/2022 at 11:34 AM, mooseoutfront said:

Still here. Been busy as fuck. This year’s fire and the plow truck shenanigans put me way behind on getting ready for winter. 
 

Winter officially showed up last night, 36 below when I got up this morning. 

The minimum is 36 above in CA bay area and I am shivering. I prefer 36C to 36F. If I don't wear socks, my feet will remain cold for hours under two blankets.

[Gil Bang 25,961]

24 minutes ago, AeroHorn said:

The minimum is 36 above in CA bay area and I am shivering. I prefer 36C to 36F. If I don't wear socks, my feet will remain cold for hours under two blankets.

Yeah, I live in San Diego for a good fucking reason, and I'm wearing a sweatshirt at this moment.

[BearSchlong 8,098]

I just spent a week at a place where it was in the low 20s and burned about 200 pieces of firewood. Thought of @mooseoutfront often while retrieving fuel.

[BrickTop 477]

Not sure how much land you’re on, and I’m certain you’re pretty well armed, but do you guys ever have any problems with animals, bears and wolves and such? Or have you been there so long you’re just a part of the background as well?

[BrickTop 477]

Disregard, reread the thread.

[smokebomb 357]

Not trying to promote Apple but the iPhone 14 looks like something moose needs to pick up:

https://mustreadalaska.com/apple-a-day-snowmachiners-life-saved-with-new-apple-iphone-14-sos-feature/

Quote

Apple a day: Snowmachiner’s life saved with new Apple iPhone 14 SOS feature

By Suzanne Downing

December 1, 2022

On Thursday, a man traveling on snowmachine at around 2 am became stranded between Noovik and Kotzebue, a route used frequently in the winter but not traveled heavily at night. The temperature in the area had dropped into the teens.

Alaska State Troopers were notified that a person had activated an Apple iPhone Emergency SOS via satellite on an iPhone. Working with local search and rescue teams, the Apple Emergency Response Center, and the Northwest Arctic Borough Search and Rescue Coordinator, the rescue effort deployed four volunteer searchers to the Nimiuk Point area, to the exact GPS coordinates provided by the Apple Emergency Response Center. The stranded man was located and transported to Kotzebue by the volunteer search team. There were no injuries reported.

This may be the first successful search and rescue operation in nation using this new Apple iPhone feature, which is found on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models. The feature supposedly only works as far north as the 62 parallel, while Kotzebue and Noorvik are at latitude 69, 33 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

With iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models, you can use Emergency SOS via satellite to text emergency service agencies when you’re out of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage. You can also use the Find My app to share your location with people via satellite, Apple says.

Emergency SOS via satellite can help people connect with emergency services under exceptional circumstances when no other means of reaching emergency services are available. If they call or text emergency services and can’t connect because they are outside the range of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage, their iPhone tries to connect them via satellite to the help that they need.

When using a satellite connection, the experience is different than sending or receiving a message via cellular. In ideal conditions with a direct view of the sky and the horizon, a message might take 15 seconds to send, and over a minute to send under trees with light or medium foliage, Apple says. If the user is under heavy foliage or surrounded by other obstructions like mountains and buildings, he or she might not be able to connect to a satellite. Connection times can also be impacted by the surroundings, the length of the message, and the status and availability of the satellite network.

The emergency SOS via satellite feature is free for two years after the activation of iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro. 

Just make sure when you’re traveling from Noorvik to Kotzebue in the dead of winter that you have a fully charged phone, because you’ll need to get it from your pocket and keep it in the open so it can communicate with a satellite. That battery life is noticeably shorter in cold weather.

 

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

On 11/30/2022 at 9:10 PM, BearSchlong said:

I just spent a week at a place where it was in the low 20s and burned about 200 pieces of firewood. Thought of @mooseoutfront often while retrieving fuel.

Cheers

Wood heat is just different.  Warms you to the bone.

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

On 12/2/2022 at 7:56 AM, smokebomb said:

Not trying to promote Apple but the iPhone 14 looks like something moose needs to pick up:

https://mustreadalaska.com/apple-a-day-snowmachiners-life-saved-with-new-apple-iphone-14-sos-feature/

 

The SOS stuff available on the new smart phones is pretty iffy up in these latitudes.  Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.    

If the company I work for didn't supply me a phone I'd still have a flip phone like my wife does.  She refuses to upgrade to a smart phone.  She does have an iPad though, but that's mainly for cabin entertainment.

[kevwun 15,790]

I heard the SOS stuff is causing lots of accidental 911 calls at ski resorts.  Apparently you can't go skiiing without your phone thinking you've been in an accident.

[Schulz2.0 28,957]

1 hour ago, mooseoutfront said:

Wood heat is just different.  Warms you to the bone.

That's what I try to tell my wife.

[SquishMitten 10,408]

3 hours ago, mooseoutfront said:

She does have an iPad though, but that's mainly for cabin entertainment.

That’s certainly one way of describing how she entertains her naughty bits

[Grade of D as in David 13,253]

3 hours ago, mooseoutfront said:

The SOS stuff available on the new smart phones is pretty iffy up in these latitudes.  Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.    

If the company I work for didn't supply me a phone I'd still have a flip phone like my wife does.  She refuses to upgrade to a smart phone.  She does have an iPad though, but that's mainly for cabin entertainment.

I too prefer to watch porn on a tablet 

[Gil Bang 25,961]

 

[Biff Tannen 45,691]

On 1/18/2023 at 2:04 PM, Gil Bang said:

 

Bear gonna bear

[Wally Fairway 5,550]

On 3/10/2022 at 2:00 PM, mooseoutfront said:

Here's some local flavor for y'all.

Time to get your Ice Classic tickets.  Jackpot is usually around $300K.  My wife missed it by 2 minutes one year.

https://www.nenanaakiceclassic.com/

Seems like an awesome game - love the webcam

And it hits close to home, somewhat. My son is taking a "summer" job north of Fairbanks, on the Tanana but further downstream. His job got delayed because it is still winter, like winter-winter. He was supposed to go there about 10 days ago to do prep work inside before the work moved outside, but it was -20 this week and they postponed the job and he doesn't leave until next week end when it is forecast to warm up to the mid-30's. 
I am not sure he is really ready for it, but he thinks he is. 

I hope outsiders can buy tickets, because I am now interested to see when the river starts to flow.

For those of you who haven't looked this is the 2023 ice measurements  at Nenana - as posted on their Ice Contest Site

 

 

Update - well crap, just saw that the contest closed on April 5, guess I should have been paying more attention to this thread. 
Good luck Moose - hope Mrs Moose guessed right this year!

 

--

--

Edited April 13, 2023 by Wally Fairway

[SquishMitten 10,408]

They delayed the job start until it gets 10 degrees colder?

[Wally Fairway 5,550]

2 minutes ago, SquishMitten said:

They delayed the job start until it gets 10 degrees colder?

mid-30's is a hypenated word, it is supposed to be above freezing for the high temps in about 10 days - it will be 50 degrees warmer than this week

more ramblings below - I don't want to thread hijack, but I may post later after my son hits the ground

Spoiler

And we all know the weatherman is always right. He is disappointed because he hoped he could get a chance to see the Northen Lights, but darkness will be a brief thing by the time he shows up. By May 1 twilight begins at 0404, sunrise is 0517, sunset at 2220 and twilight ends at 2335. Although Fairbanks isn't far enough north to get true midnight sun, they max out just under 22 hours of daylight on June 22, they do go over 2 months of no darkness as twilight stretchs from sunset to sunrise 

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/fairbanks?month=5&year=2023

 

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

On 4/13/2023 at 5:13 AM, Wally Fairway said:

Seems like an awesome game - love the webcam

And it hits close to home, somewhat. My son is taking a "summer" job north of Fairbanks, on the Tanana but further downstream. His job got delayed because it is still winter, like winter-winter. He was supposed to go there about 10 days ago to do prep work inside before the work moved outside, but it was -20 this week and they postponed the job and he doesn't leave until next week end when it is forecast to warm up to the mid-30's. 
I am not sure he is really ready for it, but he thinks he is. 

I hope outsiders can buy tickets, because I am now interested to see when the river starts to flow.

For those of you who haven't looked this is the 2023 ice measurements  at Nenana - as posted on their Ice Contest Site

 

 

Update - well crap, just saw that the contest closed on April 5, guess I should have been paying more attention to this thread. 
Good luck Moose - hope Mrs Moose guessed right this year!

 

--

--

I hope your son enjoys his time up here.  A summer in Alaska at a young age is something I would recommend for just about anyone, especially if they are working outside.

Winter will not let go.  It's been snowing for the better part of a week now.  Usually by this time the snow is noticeably retreating.  The weather worm is supposed to turn around about midweek with highs in the 40's.

Outsiders can buy tickets for the Ice Classic.  I believe there is a number you can call in to for that to happen if you are interested in getting in on the game next spring, or they might have upgraded to be able to do it online.  I do know that ticket prices doubled to $3 a guess this year.

My wife's guess is always April 24.  I think she bought 2 tickets this year.  With all the new snow I don't see that date as a realistic possibility, but you never know.  I picked May 2. 

Wally, DM me if you would like my phone number for your boy.  I'm sure he'll have plenty of support from the people where he is working, but it's always nice to have an oh shit number too.  I'll be in Fairbanks quite a bit this summer with my wife working there, so I'll be "in the neighborhood" so to speak. Also if he gets down to Denali I can give him some advice on where the locals go and what they do.

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

[Gatorubet 30,246]

On 11/30/2022 at 8:02 PM, mooseoutfront said:

I haven’t seen that movie

 

I’ve been told I should

I hear that nobody up there goes to drive-ins because the dogs always get in a fight. 

[RPM 26,322]

On 4/29/2023 at 9:15 PM, Gatorubet said:

I hear that nobody up there goes to drive-ins because the dogs always get in a fight. 

Hard to see the screen through a blizzard.

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

Beautiful weekend driving thru the Alaska Range. Those twin peaks peaking over the ridge in the distance is Denali. 

[Sam Lin 3,559]

Thanks for the pics, looks incredible.

[Wally Fairway 5,550]

Kid finally got up to the farm earlier this week, after spending about 10 days in Fairbanks due to weather, gathering supplies, car issue, etc. Took him a couple of days there before they got the satellite internet to work and he could tell us he was there and he has sent Mrs Fairway a couple of photos. 
Early work at the farm is shoveling the snow out of the hoop house footprint, getting the plastic pulled over the hoops and the envelope closed so they can start to heat them, and generally cleaning up winter debris all around the farm. Separately they have to get the cabins opened up,
This is his biggest change/challenge - it is a dry cabin, they try to keep 4-5 5 gallon jugs filled. The outhouse is not unknown but it is a change for it to be the only place to go. Showers and laundry are about a mile up the road; they do have a generator so they have some power when they are in the cabin, but this is a huge change but he has a good attitude to this adventure.
Spring has finally hit AK, it will be in the upper 50's for the next week or so, and the low will be above freezing starting Mon or Tues. 

Moose is good people, I want to thank you for sharing all of the information in this thread as it has made it much less stressful for  a parent who is now > 3,700 miles and 60+ hours (driving time) away.

[Kennythetiger 9,389]

Kid’ll need a good poop knife. 

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

On 5/5/2023 at 9:59 AM, Wally Fairway said:

Kid finally got up to the farm earlier this week, after spending about 10 days in Fairbanks due to weather, gathering supplies, car issue, etc. Took him a couple of days there before they got the satellite internet to work and he could tell us he was there and he has sent Mrs Fairway a couple of photos. 
Early work at the farm is shoveling the snow out of the hoop house footprint, getting the plastic pulled over the hoops and the envelope closed so they can start to heat them, and generally cleaning up winter debris all around the farm. Separately they have to get the cabins opened up,
This is his biggest change/challenge - it is a dry cabin, they try to keep 4-5 5 gallon jugs filled. The outhouse is not unknown but it is a change for it to be the only place to go. Showers and laundry are about a mile up the road; they do have a generator so they have some power when they are in the cabin, but this is a huge change but he has a good attitude to this adventure.
Spring has finally hit AK, it will be in the upper 50's for the next week or so, and the low will be above freezing starting Mon or Tues. 

Moose is good people, I want to thank you for sharing all of the information in this thread as it has made it much less stressful for  a parent who is now > 3,700 miles and 60+ hours (driving time) away.

Palabra

I hope he has stories to tell for a lifetime

[Wally Fairway 5,550]

Well folks - this thread will no longer be sidetracked by me.
The kiddo is getting a flight out of Fairbanks today, and has an interview here on Friday. 
The guy who runs (and maybe owns the farm) hasn't been able to start anything in the hoop houses because the water pump won't work. And since they are heated by the water drawn from the hot springs, no pump, no heat, no planting, no farm work, no employees). The guy is keeping one person there, to help with doing what they can, but in previous years it has been from 4-7 people working. They are getting things started late already due to late snows and cold weather, and now getting an even later start by not being able to start anything inside. 
So Jr's 6 month excursion turned into 3 weeks in Alaska; maybe next time. 
I am sad it didn't work out for him, but he seems okay with it and will find somewhere to work kinda local; but he had talked about looking into going to New Zealand for their summer to farm there and that seemed like a cool adventure. Maybe that still has some legs, but he hasn't mentioned it since this season got cancelled.

Adios Alaska

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

That’s too bad Wally. Wish things would’ve worked out so he could have spent some time exploring the state. 
 

Best of luck to him. 

[Gatorubet 30,246]

On 12/5/2022 at 3:37 PM, mooseoutfront said:

but that's mainly for cabin entertainment.

I took this as an OnlyFans-Alaska advertisement.

[RPM 26,322]

Ya'll OK up there?

 

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

2 hours ago, RPM said:

Ya'll OK up there?

 

Yeah, we're good.

Juneau is a long way from me.  Flooding isn't the problem for us, it's fires.  Not as bad as last year yet, but we have several large fires burning near our place...The Anderson Complex Fires if anyone wants to Google.

My wife is busy loading the tanker planes that are fighting the fires from above in Fairbanks.  She is happy being productive helping to fight the neighborhood fires.  It's also nice to have the inside scoop on the situation. 

[Schulz2.0 28,957]

A college friend lives in Fairbanks. He posted some pictures a guy took of the fires north of there.

[SurlyGator 865]

I miss regular updates on this thread.  This is not the kind of updates I want to see.  Less fire, more shit stick.

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

5 hours ago, SurlyGator said:

I miss regular updates on this thread.  This is not the kind of updates I want to see.  Less fire, more shit stick.

I'd like to update more, but this site has basically become unusable for me on a mobile device.  The ads plus all the embedded stuff crash my phone every 20 to 30 seconds.  I rarely have more than 2 bars worth of reception, usually only one.  I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not.

The only way I can browse or post anything is from a desktop computer, so that means at work.  

[sidis 9,828]

11 minutes ago, mooseoutfront said:

I'd like to update more, but this site has basically become unusable for me on a mobile device.  The ads plus all the embedded stuff crash my phone every 20 to 30 seconds.  I rarely have more than 2 bars worth of reception, usually only one.  I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not.

The only way I can browse or post anything is from a desktop computer, so that means at work.  

@immamac, i will pay for @mooseoutfront to be excepted from ads and shit.  please tell me where to send a year's worth of ad-free hostage money for his account.  his thread is one of the reasons i read this forum.

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

48 minutes ago, sidis said:

@immamac, i will pay for @mooseoutfront to be excepted from ads and shit.  please tell me where to send a year's worth of ad-free hostage money for his account.  his thread is one of the reasons i read this forum.

Well shit, if it's just a money/donation thing I'm in for that.  Been meaning to help out in that way anyway...football season is approaching.

[sidis 9,828]

7 minutes ago, mooseoutfront said:

Well shit, if it's just a money/donation thing I'm in for that.  Been meaning to help out in that way anyway...football season is approaching.

i got you covered stud.  just keep the northern lights and alaskan wilderness pix coming.  use the money to upgrade your shit stick instead.

[Kennythetiger 9,389]

1 hour ago, sidis said:

@immamac, i will pay for @mooseoutfront to be excepted from ads and shit.  please tell me where to send a year's worth of ad-free hostage money for his account.  his thread is one of the reasons i read this forum.

Definitely. Shaggy had Thujone, and Surly has mooseoutfront. 

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

Took a snow machine ride yesterday evening

[shadow_operative2.0 15,988]

Why does everyone ride with one knee on the seat? 

 

*Based solely on the various Alaska reality tv shows. 

[Updawg 2,267]

Do you get a new shit stick each year?

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

32 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

Why does everyone ride with one knee on the seat? 

 

*Based solely on the various Alaska reality tv shows. 

Mainly getting off and on a snow machine is kind of a pain in the ass with the boots and gear that you wear.  If you are only going a short distance it's a lot more convenient to be able to just step on and off the machine.  

Another reason is that snow machines are insanely unstable on uneven terrain.  It doesn't take much for the machine to turn over on it's side.  I probably turned over 2 or 3 times on the ride last night.  Putting your knee on the seat and a foot on the running board allows you to shift your weight to the high side of the machine, which hopefully keeps you upright.  I've got a big, heavy workhorse type snow machine.  It probably weighs between 800-900 pounds.  Turning over is a pain in the ass, but it happens at least once every trip if you are doing anything besides riding groomed trails.  Just part of the adventure.

[shadow_operative2.0 15,988]

Now I know. Good stuff. 

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

45 minutes ago, Updawg said:

Do you get a new shit stick each year?

The shit stick revelation really struck a chord with this board lol

Nope.  We've had the same shit stick for probably 10 years.  It's an old pickaxe handle that I cracked when I was digging our cold hole.