It’s easy to Monday morning quarterback this sort of thing, but if you live in the middle of nowhere and something like losing your cabin might be a death sentence, wouldn’t you keep a ‘lifeboat’ of some kind far away enough to be there for you if you needed it?
Even here in Montana its pretty easy to just check into a Motel 6 if you’re willing to drive an hour. Although, to be fair, there are parts of Montana where if you are suddenly without a house, and the nearest neighbor is several miles way, you might be in trouble.
I’m curious how a chunk of burning cardboard set his roof on fire what with all the snow. And the dripping, burning plastic part? Makes me think this was some sorta shack with a couple tarps over the top to make it waterproof.
Regardless, interesting story. Gotta give the guy points for keeping it together long enough to get rescued.
His outhouse looks a out as big as his ‘cabin’. Too bad about the dog – must have been leashed to the interior. If all his supplies were in that little shack, I don’t see how he was going to make it through the rest of the winter anyway.
Unconfined Ammo does not ‘explode’ with more force than enough to cause a bruise- tho I know everyone here knows that. On the other hand, propane…………
5 mile hike? Seriously? I’d done that on the first day the weather permitted.
Hats off for the loss of his buddy.
I think the article made it clear that he wasn’t certain if a neighbor lived at that lake or not. He could have hiked 5 miles in thigh-high snow just to find that there was no one there at the lake after all.
Staying put where he had shelter and food was the right decision.
Yup, thats what I took away as well. Too much uncertainty to risk leaving his position.
It’s very common in Alaska (was stationed at Fairbanks) for cabins to use tarps as the waterproof cover to roofs since they are lightweight and easy to transport and much cheaper vs more traditional roofing material which often has to flown in. I recall flying over vast empty stretches of territory with the very occasional cabin in the proverbial middle of nowhere and wondering just how they got supplies out there (usually the wood is cut down on the spot and milled using an Alaskan Sawmill – a chainsaw on a frame). Probably by water – most were within walking distances of rivers as I recall.
Regards
Two is One and One is None. But it is always easy to sit back and say what he should have done.
lifeboat. yep, i better get working on that. in va. we have dif problems that can result in being unable to get to our main supplies…..
Awhile back I watched a story on YouTube/Vice TV about Heimo Korth, who lives out in ANWR with his wife. VERY interesting. They have a cabin and a large “tent” at their settlement. He explained this was in case the cabin caught fire.
Heimo Korth that live up in the ANWR, keeps a tent set up with supplies in it and also supplies in 55 gal. drums around his place. He’s lived there 40+years.