My move to Alaska
trawler
Member Posts: 62 ✭✭✭
I was very tired of the way Virginia politics had been going for several years, ever increasing gun laws, high taxes and crime, and the flood of illegals. I had all I could stand, so over a year ago my wife and I packed all we could into a motor home, towed a car, and hit the road for Alaska. For me it was a great decision. 3800 miles and 9 days later we crossed the border into Alaska and haven't looked back. Crossing Canada with about 50 guns was interesting to say the least. Don't take any handguns, AR's or AK's, and no high cap magazines. They have a list of what is allowed. We bought a cabin on a cliff overlooking the fiord called the Lynn Canal about 85 miles north of Juneau. I can watch the waves and the wildlife all around me. I have an eagle's nest behind the house, and have seen moose, black and lots of brown bears in my yard. I have watched humpback whales, sea lions, and seals from my deck. Salmon fishing is some of the best in Alaska.The huge mountains are everywhere and many are snow covered all year. Lots of large mountain goats are on the mountains, but no sheep or deer.Average high temperatures in July are around 65-70 degrees and night time lows around 50. There is about 20 hours of daylight during the Summer and about that much darkness in the Winter. We got 19 feet of snow last year but school was only closed 1 day due to weather. Winter temps are relatively mild for Alaska due to the vast amounts of ocean water. Low was 4 degrees at my house in January and Winter highs average 20-30 degrees. There is no State income tax here; instead residents get paid a dividend of between $1000-$2000 each from Alaska's Permanent Fund. Concealed carry is legal and no permit is required. There is no automobile inspection needed and it's fine to operate snow machines and ATV's on the highway during the winter months. My town (Borough) has about 2500 people and one school, 7 churches, a brewery, a distillery, a marijuana store (legal here), 3 ABC stores, a Post Office, 2 grocery stores, 2 gun stores, 2 building supply stores, 3 gas stations and a marina. There are assorted small restaurants but no fast food chains or Walmart. Life here reminds me of the way things were in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia during the 1950's. Almost all of elected State office holders are conservative The biggest negatives are
high grocery, housing, and fuel costs, and there are no hospitals nearby. A true emergency means being airlifted to Juneau, Anchorage, Sitka, or Seattle. We do have a medical clinic that is very good though. Total covid cases are rare, maybe 5-10 since it started. My point is, when things get unbearable where you live, it could be time to move. Alaska is not for everyone, but it works for me.
Comments
Welcome to Alaska, brother. Welcome home. I've only been here 54 years so I'm still a bit of a Cheechako. But yeah, you made the right decision. You picked a GREAT place to put down stakes.
Sure sounds nice.
That area is beautiful. We went past there last year on a trip. I liked Juneau weather the best of everywhere we went in Alaska.
Sounds like paradise!
Congratulations- that is a beautiful area! If there is ever a Virginia product you can't find there, drop me a note. I'm still here in the Commonwealth, putting up with our idiot politicians, but only due to my bride's medical condition.
I absolutely loved my life in Alaska, it was a dream come true. Hunting, fishing, exploring on 4-wheelers or snow machines let me see things no other human has witnessed. Hunting north of Kotzebue, fishing In Cook inlet or out of Seward has my mind filled with awesome memories. With that said if things go bad here in the lower 48 they will soon be unlivable in Alaska. Once the ships stop Alaskans starve. No fuel, no TP, no food, no building materials nothing will move or be able to move. As I age the pains and krippling injuries slow me way down. Alaska would be tough for me to deal with now.
I miss Alaska every day, it is not a place to live, it is a life altering experience. It is also truly a young and healthy persons place to live where the winds, water and wildlife are eager to kill you without mercy or notice.
You live in God's country for sure, I just pray you never see the ships stop sailing from Seattle. If you do your life expectancy is very short.
Good for you!
Stopped at gun store in Tok in '89 and asked owner what to do to get pistol permit. He replied "Son you must be from the lower 48, what permit, we are still FREE up here"
On the way down to Anchorage from Fairbanks came around curve and there sat Mt. Mckinley ( Denali). A few clouds and airplane below peak. Stopped at garage on left side of highway and owner said to me he came to Alaska to visit and saw Denali just like me and went home and sold his garage and everything in Jamestown, NY and moved up there. Owner said "got to tow a car to Anchorage now but if you ever come back to Alaska come and see me". My bride of 56 years really thought I was going to put her on a Greyhound and stay right there.
Met a Sargent in 57th MP's at West Point and this guy was a walking encyclopedia on Alaska. Several tours in Alaska. He told DA that he wanted his last tour to be in Alaska or he would resign from the Army. I guess he had some pull someplace. They sent him to Ft. Richardson. He was a game warden.
If you ever want to tour Alaska and rough it a little instead of sit on a tour bus the MP at the Point advised me to purchase The Milepost a complete guide to Alaska, It has everything, I mean everything and there is also a Wilderness version. Don't know if they still print it but to me it was the Alaska Bible. Don't know about now but in '89 it really was "The Last Frontier". I spent six weeks there and to this day wish I had returned and stayed.----------------------------------Ray
PS: bpost is correct. Alaska is a life altering experience. Only twice in my life has my heart stopped beating and the hair stood straight up on my whole body. The gun dealer in Tok said we are still "FREE" up here and my first look at Denali.
Great post trawler!!! Every day is an adventure in Alaska. Enjoy!
bpost said:
....I miss Alaska every day, it is not a place to live, it is a life altering experience. It is also truly a young and healthy persons place to live where the winds, water and wildlife are eager to kill you without mercy or notice....
Its living an adventure. We lived there for 35 years and watched it change...for the worse. Broke my heart.
I expect the Americommies to turn the entire state into a park. you will need a permit to pass gas!
So how did you bypass Canada and get your ARs and other such up there?
I lived in Alaska for a year way back in 1968/69. Great times, great memories but I am sure much of the great times were because of my age, a really ignorant 21 years old.
Spent some time up there at Elmendorf AFB!
If I were a younger man ................................................... sigh ...................
My dad’s brother went to Alaska in 1899. He was never heard from again.
Mohawk 600, I shipped my Colt AR and 2 AK's and 12 handguns by UPS to myself in care of a local gun store. When I arrived he handed over the unopened packages to me. High cap magazines were shipped by USPO in a flat rate box. Every time I fly to Virginia to visit family, I bring back 2-3 guns in checked luggage that are not legal in crossing Canada. They must be in a non-TSA locked case, declared at the airport, and inspected by a ticket agent. When I entered Canada by vehicle, my Canadian legal long guns were declared on a form and each was inspected. One female inspector thought she had found some loaded guns but the "ammo" was only commercial snap caps. When they were done searching my vehicles, all the guns, cases, and blankets were in one big pile. I had to uncock many of the guns, put them back in their cases, and repack everything. All in all, I spent about 2 1/2 hours crossing the border. At the US border in Alaska, crossing took all of 5 minutes.
Main Street, October 2020, Haines
with all the meds and blood thinners I take, I had to get a blanket just to look at your pictures.........
That sounds and looks like heaven. If I knew I could deal with snow at all we'd be planning a move ourselves. Being from the deep south like I am....snow puts the same fear in me like a category 5 hurricane. If I spend some time up there and didn't die on the third day I'd bet it would be a done deal and I would just miss my flight home and start working on how to stay.
When we moved from Alaska to Virginia in 2008 I purchased a container van and packed it myself. There were a number of guns (both long and short) as well as other forbidden items such as wolf and brown bear trophies.
I paid extra to have it shipped via barge to Seattle/Tacoma then by rail to Roanoke.
When the connex did not arrive on the appointed day I called the freight company and they said the container was delivered to a freight yard in Whitehorse, Yukon where they were holding it for my pickup!
I threw a fit! Mostly just for show. I never mentioned what was in the van other than housegoods but I did a bit of yelling about their deviating from the plan.
The idiot in the company office admitted they sent it by truck through Canada because it was cheaper for them (not having to pay the barge company) and they were at a loss of why it was sitting in Whitehorse.
I figured I had lost everything if Canadian authorites should inspect the van. So I did an arm-waving rant and demanded they deliver my "stuff" poste haste.
And they did. A driver picked it up and delivered it straight to the freight storage yard in Roanoke. BTW he then billed me for off-loading. So I reactivated my rant for the truck driver. After checking with his office he said rail offloading was covered in the contract and since they had deviated from the contract - no charge!
When we drove through Canada coming this way I was carrying a Commemorative Colt 1911.
I stopped in Haynes Junction, Alaska and mailed it to myself in Sweetgrass, MT using my C&R license. So the only time I was without my handgun was in Canada.
At the border crossings I declared one firearm, my Ruger 338 magnum. When asked what it was, I replied, "My moose And bear rifle and one box of shells." They never even asked to see it.
So for anyone contemplating a trip through Canada, trawler and I have it covered both ways.
Not for me. I will stay in South Carolina. They started the Civil War and if someday another happens well I will die with a warm gun.
In '89 when passing from Yukon to Alaska at border, agent asked me to open bolt on my 375 H&H. He actually looked in chamber. On the way home no one said a word to me about firearms. About five miles down road Mountie in old blue Chevy stopped me for speeding and let me go. His words "slow it down Yank until you get to the lower 48". Nice guy and I really was flying. -----------------------------Ray