Robbin and Chris's Alaska

We've been in Sleetmute for 2 months now, and I've compiled a list of things you need to know to survive out here.  Most of these ideas are tested and found to work pretty well or not so well.  If you have any questions feel free to write and ask me at the above address.  An explanation of terms is at the end of this edition.

How to live without running water:

Don't use too much water! 3 cups can wash a whole day's worth of dishes.  Re-use your dishes until you can't possibly stand it any more.  Never wash your mug, it only holds liquids anyway.  Put your outhouse far from the house, as this will cut back on how much you drink; its too cold to walk too far.  Bathe infrequently, and never at your own house.  Become friends with someone who has their own steam, but be sure your phone works so they can reach you when it's ready.

Make a sled out of old skis and plywood to haul your water.  Buy big trash cans to hold your water so you don't have to you your embarrassing sled too often.  When there isn't any snow for your sled, do without, well at least with less water.  That 5 gallon bucket is really heavy to carry that far, and the trash cans are impossible.  We get out water from the school.  It's really a bad idea.  The water is not clear; it's rust colored (lots of iron).  All of our water containers are stained brown (even my hair and toenails are turning red).  The best place for water is over at housing.  Of course if you only have a ski sled, you don't want to drag it a mile to the water, so give up and deal with funny colored toenails; it will save you $10 a month anyway.  In the winter there is always river ice to melt down to water; I wouldn't though not after all the junk I've seen in the river.  Its really up to you, we're sticking with iron water for now.

The Restroom:

A toilet is a bad idea without running water.  Don't even think about it! The out house is the way to go.  Put if far enough away so that you can't smell it, but not too far that you have to hit to it (unless you're trying to conserve water, than farther is better).  Don't put a toilet seat in it, they're too cold.  Install blue styrofoam insulation for the seat, with a hole in the center (it also comes in pink but Alaska regulations demand blue).  Now if you're not too big on conserving water, and must get up in the middle of the night you may want a honey bucket inside.  That's just a 5 gallon bucket with a seat on top (there are actually seats that fit on 5 gallon buckets).  I would go with the blue insulation here also, just because if its so cold that you don't want to go outside, there will probably be ice on your honey bucket seat too.

How to get food and furniture:

Food is an essential.  The best way to get it is to bring it with you.  Of course then you'd have to leave your clothes and post and pans and everything else.  So you have to mail it.  If you're in Fairbanks or Anchorage go to the grocery store and buy a whole lot of bulk food.  Then pack it up in boxes and ship it parcel post.  It will get to you in two weeks if you mail it in the summer.  It may take a month in the winter.  Hope you don't run out!!  If you do, call the grocery store and ask then to ship it out parcel post; they will charge you extra for this service.  Then wait a month for you food to show up, and probably get half of what you ordered and lots of stewed carrots.  There is always the option of fresh meats; you just have to go out and hunt them.  Of course if you're allergic to them, like me, hunting does you no good.  The one good thing about Sleetmute is the abundance of food around.  Everyone hunts and fishes and when their freezers are full they look for some poor sap who hasn't gotten anything yet.  Our freezer contains a side of caribou, a leg of moose and lots of silver salmon, none of which we got ourselves.

Furniture is not essential and you can't really bring it with you, unless you charter a really big plane.  The best thing to do it to make it.  Chairs are the easiest.  go out and cut down some green trees.  Use the thick ends to make a sturdy frame and bend the thin ends to make the curving part of the chair.  A sofa is a little harder that the chairs and a lot heavier, but very comfortable.  You can then use recycled cushions to make the furniture even more comfortable (cushions are mail able).  Making a bed is the hard part.  Make a sturdy frame from alder, then beg around for someone to sell you an old bed they aren't using.  You might be out of luck in Sleetmute; I think we got the only one.

How to heat your house:

Rule number one is not to live in a rotting log cabin, with holes in the walls and single paned glass in the windows.  If you must live in a log cabin make sure you build it yourself and that you build it properly.  Don't chink it with anything that bees would like to bore into.  Also, make it small with lots of windows to the south.  If you must live in a rotting log cabin, make sure it has a good wood stove.  Be certain you have a way to collect firewood.  If you're around during the summer when the river rises you can catch plenty of driftwood and be set for the winter.   If you miss the summer floods you're out of luck; make do with the small birches you can cut down with your bow saw and drag on your ski sled.  You'll be out collecting wood every weekend.  If the wood hauling is too much for you crank up the temperature on your oil heater and buy new oil every two weeks.

How to travel:

There's really no such thing.  Once you're out here, you're stuck.  Unless you have a boat or a snow machine, getting in or out of Sleetmute requires a plane.  Planes travel in and out constantly when the weather is good, but they aren't cheap.  In the summer with a boat you can get to Red Devil in a reasonable amount of time, but there are only about 60 people there.  Who wants to go to Red Devil?  Once the river freezes you can snow machine a little farther, but why would you cant to go to Stony River?  It's smaller than Red Devil.  If you're lucky you have great health insurance that covers transportation and you break something non-essential and get a free trip to Anchorage (we haven't tried this yet).  In my opinion you should avoid Anchorage at all costs, but it has the closest doctors.

Glossary:
Sleetmute:  A native Yup'ik village on the Kuskokwim River, with a population of about 100 people.
Natives:  Yup'iks, eskimos
Steam:  An eskimo sauna, where lots of people go to bathe.  Much hotter than any sauna in the rest of the world.
Running water:  I don't know you  tell me
Phone:  A blue machine that rings when someone wants to talk to you.  They only work at the whim of the phone company and can be out for months at a time.
Red Devil:  The closest village to Sleetmute.
Henry:  Our soon to be sled dog, who is 4 months old.

I'm sure that I've left out many important survival tips.  I'll save then for the next edition, which at this rate will come out about 2 months after Christmas.
 

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