Ray Ordorica - Alaskan Retreaters Notebook: One Mans Journey into the Alaskan Wilderness

Cookie

This book is dedicated to the memory of my dear friend Cookie.

Copyright 2016 by Ray Ordorica

Sections of Chapter 7 excerpted from Guns for the Last Pioneers, February 1980 The American Rifleman by permission of the National Rifle Association.

Photography by Ray Ordorica, unless noted otherwise.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Qualcom

Cover photograph: Thinkstock

ISBN: 978-1-63450-247-4

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-51070-082-6

Printed in China

Contents

Acknowledgments

M y first and most profound thanks go to Lennie Fitzpatrick, who had to leave early. Without his kind help I doubt this story would have been written. He gave me the best possible help and a good start on my Alaskan adventures, and I miss him.

Great thanks to Jack and Jan Hansen who went far out of their way to ease my burdens in the bush. Thanks also to Sue and Lance Fitzpatrick, and to the late Andy and Ruthie Runyan, the late Harry Billum, and the late Bob Plouffe. Thanks to Don and Eva MacArthur, Dean and Janet Williams, Fred Lauffenberger, and to Becky and R. B. (Willie) Willie, and even to Paul Kuske. Thanks to Sherman and Peggy Reynolds for their friendship at Red Cabin. All these folks, some of whom have crossed over, helped out this pilgrim and taught him lots about Alaska.

I extend my gratitude to the National Rifle Association for permission to reprint my story, Guns for the Last Pioneers.

Special thanks to Dr. Jasper I. Lillie and Danny Daniels for moral support all along the way, to Don Fisher who made sure I got my sixguns, and to John Linebaugh who made sure I got em back when I left Alaska. Finally, thanks to my old friend Curt Lund who kicked me out into the cold when it was time for me to head north.

Introduction

I n the fall of 1978 I packed everything I thought would be useful into my Toyota Land Cruiser and drove north to Alaska. I came to a land I had never seen to find something I wasnt even sure existed: a wilderness cabin to use for a year or more to live, think, relax, read, and write. I found my cabin, fixed it up, and, although it was just an uninsulated twelve-by-sixteen-foot one-room log structure, it was good enough to keep me almost comfortable for three winters.

My life in that cabin fulfilled a dream of more than ten years standing. I had many problems and made many mistakes, but learned a lot about Alaska. Some of the tools, equipment, and supplies I brought with me were good, some useless. Left behind were some tools and other items that I wished for, many times. I brought whimsical items that turned out to be worth their weight in gold.

It occurred to me that there must be many others who have put off an extended wilderness visit to Alaska out of ignorance or fear. They have as many questions about Alaska as I had before I arrived: How do you cope with 40 below? How do you get water? Is it totally dark in midwinter? And I had a thousand other questions about survival in an icebox.

Im sure there are many people who would like to get away for a spell, for whatever reasons they feel the need to do so. It might be it a simple desire to get away from too much noise, or a need to escape pressures of job or family, or even the desire to build a survival retreat for avoiding any social upheaval that would follow a nuclear confrontation, or what-have-you. These folks might choose interior Alaska for their retreat if they knew how to deal with the unknown terrors of our annual deep-freeze.

If you wish to build a retreat cabin in Alaska, study the maps and all the literature you can get on Alaska, and try to pick where in this extremely vast state you want to live. Pick your locale before you leave your present home. Then come up and have a look around. Fly over the areas you want to see. Many areas of wild Alaska are inaccessible except by aircraft. Theres no better way to get the lay of the land than to see it from the air. If possible, camp out in your chosen area. Camp there for as long a time as you can, in as many seasons as possible. I believe the best way to get a feeling for the land is to spend time camping on it. Thats probably the fastest way to find out how suitable your area is for year-round habitation.

When you have decided where you want to build, buy the land from whoever owns it. Much of Alaskas land is presently closed to entry due to federal or state restrictions. However, there are good maps available which show you where you can and cant go. Much of the state is privately owned and can be purchased. Some of it can be obtained through state auction, and the authorities in Juneau or Anchorage can give you all the information you need on how to obtain these parcels of land. At the time I lived at Army Point there were even some homesteading plots available, though most of the parcels were mighty remote. Be sure to get a place near good water, and with timber for burning and building.

The problem with a really remote piece of land is how to get your tools, building materials, etc., as well as yourself to the spot to begin building. You can fly in to the nearest lake, which may be miles from your remote parcel. Then you have to figure out how to transport yourself and your equipment to your own parcel of land before you can even start building. However, when you successfully solve all these problems and get your cabin all built, youll be rewarded with complete solitude... if that is what you really want. It is possible to get too remote within Alaska, in that youll be a very long way from supply centers with no way but air travel to get there.

This overlay map shows just how big Alaska really is. From Ketchikan to the tip of the Aleutians spans the distance from Florida to California, and its as tall as from Texas to North Dakota. Most of Alaska has no roads whatsoever.