#24155 - 02/07/04 08:16 PM
Earth's Wildest Places / Top Dozen.
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Old Hand
Registered: 01/07/04
Posts: 723
Loc: Pttsbg SWestern Pa USA N-Amer....
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The World's Wildest Places, -There are still Plenty! Here is my list of what I consider the Top Dozen, followed by that of my Own top 12.
All Lists are in a Descending Order,-from my Favorites on "Down".
The WORLD'S TOP 12 WILD PLACES -
- 1. Oceans Worldwide, both Undersea and Surface.
2. Antarctica and It's Icesheet.
3. Caves, -Undersea, Ice, and All Remaining Land Ones.
4. The Greenland Icecap.
5. The Highest Mountain Ranges the World Over, especially the Andes and Himalayas / Tibet.
6. The Sahara Desert, including it's Tibesti and Other Mountain Ranges.
7. Papua New Guinea and West Irian.
8. The Central African Rainforest. ( Congo-Zaire )
9. Australia with it's Deserts, Outback, and Great Red Center.
10. The Amazon and it's Basin / Watershed.
11. The Arctic Ocean with it's Large, Virtually Uninhabited Islands.
12. Saudi Arabia's Empty Quarter.
My Own Personal Top 12 World's Wildest Places-
1) The Sahara, 2) The Andes, 3) Antarctica, 4) The Himalayas and Tibet, 5) Caves of All Sorts, 6) Woods and Forests Everywhere, 7) New Guinea and West Irian, 8) The Greenland Icecap, 9) The Amazon, 10) Siberia, 11) The Wilds of Canada, especially it's North and Rockies / West, and 12) Patogonia and Tierra del Fuego. ( Along with it's Cape Horn, of course.)
Some Important additional personal Roundouts would be, (in also generally descending order), Kamchatka and the Kuriles, Iceland, Venezuela's Tepui Tablelands, China's Sichuan-Yunnan Area, Borneo-Sumatra and Other Indonesian Jungles, Australia and it's Outback, the Atacama, the Gobi and Sinkiang, Alaska and the Aleutians, the Great American West, the Kazakhstan Area, the Caucass Range, Madagascar, the Ethiopian Highlands, the Wilds of Maine, the World's Oceans, and Isolated World Islands, ( Kerguelen, Etc.)
Now perhaps Working from these Lists as an additional Aid, -What would be some of Your's? ( It Need Not be as many as a Dozen) Along the Lines of " 10 Greatest Tools", What would be Your Favorite Wild Places?, from Across the Face of our Still Vast, Wild World? [color:"black"] [/color] [email]ScottRezaLogan[/email]
Edited by ScottRezaLogan (02/08/04 12:26 PM)
_________________________
"No Substitute for Victory!"and"You Can't be a Beacon if your Light Don't Shine!"-Gen. Douglass MacArthur and Donna Fargo.
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#24156 - 02/08/04 04:31 PM
Re: Earth's Wildest Places / Top Dozen.
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Anonymous
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Scott, How many of these places have you visited? What was your experience there? Are you planning on visiting any of the others? Any clue how one would prepare and equip themselves to survive in any of these locations? Anything specific that you would add or substract from your current EDC if you were planning on visiting any of these locations?
Anyone else - same questions?
p.s. - Great, simple, on-topic post! I'm sure it will spark some interesting discussion.
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#24157 - 02/08/04 11:16 PM
Re: Earth's Wildest Places / Top Dozen.
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Old Hand
Registered: 01/07/04
Posts: 723
Loc: Pttsbg SWestern Pa USA N-Amer....
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Well, while Long and Always filled with that Traveler Spirit, I've done little actual traveling so far, and for Not all that Far. This is Due chiefly to being of small means for much of my life. Perhaps I've been there in Spirit many times!, but Not in actual Reality.
Not that I havn't Traveled any now! I've occassionally have been from Boston to NYC, (This only on a Late Night, Underground, Amtrak pass thru, so it was quite essentially no NY experience at all.).
I've also been to Philly, (The Liberty Bell a Highlight.), to Atlantic City and the New Jersey Pine Barrens, to Erie, to Cleveland, Columbus, Cincy, Wild Wonderful West Virginia, and Washington DC.
Onward across Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Richmond, Thru North Carolina, Westernmost South Carolina on one occassion, Myrtle Beach on another. Also to Northwest Georgia and the Atlanta Area, (including Stone Mountain of which I've already Fondly talked on.)
And an Airline Flight from Hartsfield to Orlando and Back, and another Round Trip Airline Flite from Cleveland to Tampa on another occassion, to the Kennedy Space Center, Alligator Alley from the Naples FL Area eastward to the Miami Area, then from there all the way down the Keys to Key West.
That's the Extent of my Traveling. Enuf to Feel that I've finally got to do some Real Traveling for Once! But still limited to the Eastern U.S. only. I've never yet been out of my own Eastern Time Zone, I havn't even yet been across the nearby border and Lake into Quite Nearby Canada. -I'm Thus Not International yet.
But No, Due to my usually limited means, I Havn't Really gotten into any Far Away or International Travel yet! But that takes Nothing away from that Traveler's Spirit and Mindset!, that I'm so Imbued with! From This, as well as from my Great Love of the Great Outdoors, and a Geographical "Globe Consciousness" -Do I come up with my list of the World's Wild Places, as I have! But No, I unfortunately have Not actually have been able to be at any of these Places yet! So I Cannot yet give any such Firsthand Accounts of Experience.
But I certainly Do plan to Get Out and Do some more Traveling, in my Lifetime! -Farther and "Better" kind of Traveling, of course.
Crater Lake, Oregon!, for instance, is a Must on my To Do list! This Spando Lake and National Park, has Always been More than a little Special to me! I've of course seen many a Photo of it all my Life!, I've Read About it, and Such! Gotta Go See that Place for myself!, Sometime! And I've Slated and Resolved that I Will!
The Grand Canyon is yet Another! President Teddy Roosevelt said something about that being the Site that every American ought to Go See! But that's not specifically why I want to go, I'd Want To Go just as Much, even had he Not said a single word.
Then of course there's Bryce Canyon, Arches and Zion National Parks, the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, and Many Things Else!
And as I say in the Thread, "Walking Around the World", I've got my Mind and Heart set on, -Someday Making a Trip Around the World myself!, -though again, Not by Walking!
I'm Gonna at Least Get to the Canary Islands!, Thats Quite a Place!, as my personal Likes and Tastes Go. It's substantially More of a Draw for me than even Crater Lake! The Azores is another Great Place, as is Madeira.
Yes, I certainly would Like to also Get to at least one, maybe at least some, of the World's Wild Places as I've mentioned,- sometime in my Lifetime! I may yet be able to Do so, or I may Not. Better of course if I Can. But even if circumstances have it that I do not, that's basically Allright too! I'll Continue to be Well Knowledged and Spirited of These!, as Always! Others will have to be Consulted, for Direct, On Scene, Impressions, regarding the World's Wild Places as I've mentioned.
I will Address your Asking of Survival Aspects and Implications of such Worldwide Wild Places, in another Post here in this Thread, -Towards keeping this one here from going on too long! It will Come. I'll also there talk some on, various Climatic, Geographical, and Etc Characteristics of these Areas, which Determine so much, their various Survivability Aspects.
I'll now go back to my original Wild Places lists, to mention some of my Topmost Places from such!, that I will Really Like to perhaps Someday be Able to Go to!
Concerning Antarctica, that Great Southern Ice Continent!, -I'd like to someday at least get down onto it's Palmer Peninsula. This may well not get beyond an Ideal, but it would sure be Nice to someday be able to go! I've Always had a certain Like and Love for Antarctica, and All the Great, Spandiferous Exploration as has Gone On there! Scott, Shackleton, Byrd, McMurdo, Amundsen, the Volcano Erebus, Ross Ice Shelf, -You Name It! This is some 90% of the World's Ice, as is the Next Item on my List, Greenland and It's Icecap, coming in at some 10% of the World's Ice. And It is quite comparatively Near!
I Want to Get Into a Good Cave or Two!, sometime. I've already been to my own local Laurel Caverns, Unique in it's Own Right. The Untouched Pristineness of Caves!, is Something Else! Of course there are Great Survival and Safety Factors in Caving too! How many Cavers might we have in our Gang?!
The Andes sometime?, Yes! as well as Venezuela's Tepuis, -Great and Unique, Mesa like Tablelands! There's a Good Number of those down there, as well. This is where Angel Falls gets it's Fame. And I'd also like to Take a Good Stroll, Deep in the Unadulterated Amazon. These and Other Latin American Aspirations, such as Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, -Do have some Actual Chance, of someday Actually Coming About!
I'd Really Love to Go to the Sahara, That May or May Not some day Come About. Papua New Guinea and Indonesia's West Irian, is essentially the same story. Australia Stands a Slightly Better Chance. Ayer's Rock and the Olgas, are Musts there! Saudi Arabia's Rub al Khali, or "Empty Quarter", I believe is Out! The Typical Westerner Can't even get into that Country!, No Derogation to Them Intended. This EQ is an Extension of the Sahara, in a general sense.
Siberia is a Possibility, of someday being Gotten To! It's Not All that Far over the Water, from Alaska's Nome and Seward! And Alaska and Canada aren't terribly inaccessible or anything from here themselves! Kamchatka!, to which I'd also Really like to Go someday, is less likely, but Still Possible!
Iceland!, I Really Want to Go there someday! And Well May! It's reasonably Near, and Icelandair Flites aren't all that costly or Difficult to Get!
Chances are Good that I won't get to various Isolated World Islands, but some of that remains on my Ideal Wish List! (The Canaries there Don't Count!, I Sure Want to be Going There!, and Quite Likely someday Will ! )
The Great American West!, the Adirondacks, Mt. Mitchell, and the Wilds of Maine certainly are at some time, gonna be within my Reach!, and I'll someday be so Going!
Due to Travel Limitations and Distance, I Havn't Been to any of Those Wild Places yet! But They Remain quite Fondly in my Heart and Mind!, I can in the Meantime Know and Familiarize myself with Such Well. And Someday when Possible, So Go! I may well be Going to One or a Few of These!, at some point. Of course Not to All of Them, -Save in Heart and Mind!
This is All for now! The Other Part concerning Survival Aspects shall come later. Again, I Don't want this post to be any longer than Neccessary! But I Want to Address your Points, and Answer your Questions too. Perhaps I could have done it with fewer words, -on this one, I'm not so sure about that. Concerning Survival Aspects, -I'll say right now, is that this still Newcomer me, is Not yet all that up on Kits and the like, though I've a Good Nodding Familiarity on them by now. So I'll be mostly Addressing the Environmental Conditions affecting such Survival Aspects. This is All for now.
Once Again, -My Regrets on my Length. I Don't plan to make a Habit of it!, and I've Cut a Good Page and a Half or so of it Off, in my Additional Editing. [color:"black"] [/color] [email]miniMe[/email]
Edited by ScottRezaLogan (02/09/04 07:20 PM)
_________________________
"No Substitute for Victory!"and"You Can't be a Beacon if your Light Don't Shine!"-Gen. Douglass MacArthur and Donna Fargo.
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#24158 - 02/11/04 07:19 PM
Re: Erth's. Wldst. Plcs. / The Survival Aspects.
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Old Hand
Registered: 01/07/04
Posts: 723
Loc: Pttsbg SWestern Pa USA N-Amer....
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As I said in Part One, I'll be Addressing the Survival Aspects of this Thread, here in Part Two. This is in the interests of Space Saving, Towards keeping a given post from getting longer than I'd like. I'm now Addressing and Answering such Survival Aspects here. However, my written out ruff drafts show that even this second part, may become as long as the first. Thereby, I'll divide this up into several Parts / Posts, as well. - "Cold" , "Arid and Desert" , "Jungle and Forest" , "Mountain", a brief one on "Caves", another brief one on "Swamps", follwed by another brief one on "Steppes and Grasslands" , to wrap up with "Oceanic". This post right here, is a general Introduction.
I also mentioned there in Part One, that I'll now be covering primarily the various Geographic, Climatic, or Other Environmental Conditions of such Wilderness Areas. In how they bear so much on Survival Aspects as they do.
Once again, I am still a Relative Newcomer to many of the Nuts and Bolts of Survival and Preparedness Gear, -our many Kits, BOBs, and whatall. And judging from the many Back Posts I've read, I'm Far from the only one. However, from reading such Posts, I've got a pretty good Nodding Acquaintence with them by now. But I by No means claim to be a Knowledgeable Expert or Such, in that particular Area yet. That shall come. Or at least I shall come to move a Lot Farther in that Direction.
Meanwhile, I Do have at least a Good Sense and Knowledge, of Other Areas and Aspects of Survival. Such as given Geographic Areas and their Conditions. I won't here Address particular Equipment Issues, but I will Address Areal Ones and such. These are some of the Other, Many Great Aspects, of our overall Survival and Preparedness Onions!
And so I'll be Addressing primarily these underlying Survival Related Conditions, here, regarding Earth's manifold Wildest Places. [color:"black"] [/color] [email]ScottRezaLogan[/email]
_________________________
"No Substitute for Victory!"and"You Can't be a Beacon if your Light Don't Shine!"-Gen. Douglass MacArthur and Donna Fargo.
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#24159 - 02/18/04 09:12 PM
Re: Erth's. Wldst. Plcs. / The Srvl. Aspects.-COLD
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Old Hand
Registered: 01/07/04
Posts: 723
Loc: Pttsbg SWestern Pa USA N-Amer....
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Here begins my mention of the Cold subareas of the World's Wildest Places, as they bear on their various Survival Aspects therein. It's in turn composed of several Subareas, beginning with the Antarctic and it's Ice Sheet. So gather up your Polar and various other Cold Wear and Gear!, -for that is the World's Wild Survival Focus, to which we shall now Go!
ANTARCTICA And IT'S ICESHEET - Antarctica, -a Very Very Cold, Windy, Bleak, Isolated, Desert Dry, Often Dark, and Mostly Lifeless, High Altitude Ice Continent! That's what she so very much is! Throw in Virtually Uninhabited as well.
If any places qualify as Truly among Earth's Last Wild Frontiers,- Then this all too often Forgotten corner at the very Bottom of our Planet, has got to be a Top Ranker among them! One of our Greatest Wild Places!, One of our Greatest Survival Challenges!
For Starters, it *Is* the Coldest place on our Planet! And by some Comfortable Margin. It so Outpaces even our North Polar Arctic and Siberia,-as Cold as we know those places to Surely Get. A Reading of Negative 128 . 6 Fahrenheit was measured at Antarctica's Vostok Station,-July 21, 1983. This is near what is known as Antarctica's Cold Pole,-it's Coldest Area, which does not neccessarily coincide with it's Geographic South Pole. ( It's Southern Hemisphere Locale, of course explains the *July* reading.)
Now thats just the Coldest we've ever measured. We've only been making readings for something like a Century. We can be pretty sure it's gotten even Colder, perhaps many a times, in the thousands and more of years before we ever arrived on it's scene. But -128.6 F still says it pretty well!
And this is before we even begin to talk about Wind Chills! The Likes of Hurricane Force Gales regularly blow down there!
And then there's the High Altitude effects of it all!, to Add in. The Continent with it's Icecap is typically around some 10,000 Feet Above Sea Level.
And then you have an entire, long Half Year of midwinter Darkness!, to have to contend with!
( Still, as Cold as this is, -Our Planet is Balmy Warm, -even here!, Compared to how Cold things can Get, and Do Approach being, out in the outer Solar System, for example. Things can conceivably get as Cold as -459.67 Degrees Below Zero Fahrenheit,-Absolute Zero. Were this to occur here on Earth, -I'd venture that you'd need a Mega Raging Bonfire, just to give you a Good Campfire's worth of Warmth! But Antarctica's Far Warmer Cold being considered Balmy?, -We Sure wouldn't consider it so here on Earth! )
At least there is plenty of water there, though in frozen form. And Fresh Water at that! Though you have absolutely No Firewood!, Nor Tinder or Kindling, in which to try to Melt it with, for thousands of miles around! The Continent is something like the size of the U.S. (with Alaska and Hawaii) *and* Half of Canada. With additional thousands of miles of Ruff Cold Seas, before you even begin to arrive at decent sources of Firewood! And you Sure Want one for plenty More than just Melting Ice for Water! Now Off along the Distant Coast, you might be lucky to find some Penguin Down, for Tinder, -but thats about it!
This Same goes for the Great Non-Availability of Shelter and Shelter Materials! In the Vast Antarctic Spaces, -You're Out in the Open! And we think our Great Plains Midwinter Winds Howl Hard? Try Down There! In some locales, you might be able to use Rocks or Ice Chunks to some extent, for Shelter. You more often may be able to build Snow Shelters or Igloos, and such like. But Forget Wood or other Plant Materials!
( I was Amazed to once have read in the National Geographic, of Antarctic Explorers actually being able to Smell Vegetation wafting on over!, from Distant South America! But come to think of it, I suppose that this could actually take place! )
Clearly, Were you to Suddenly find yourself Stranded somewhere in the Midst of the Antarctic, say in a Trans-Antarctic Airliner Crash, (Survival here a Tall Task in Itself !), -Your Immeadiate and Urgent concerns, after Crash Extrication and Medical concerns, would be Warmth, Wind Protection, and Shelter. Closely followed by a Light Source, especially if you Find Yourself Amidst the Mid Antarctic Darkness, -along with Signaling, ELTs, Navigability, Water, and Food.
Whats left of the Aircraft, along with what you find from it's Debris Field, may Very Much be your Main, or Only, Hope of Shelter. You might be lucky enuf to get some Firestarting and Fire Maintenence Materials out of that too.
You'd be even more fortunate to have any Food at all ! And here, -you're gonna Really Need It! Even if you just Sit Tight at the Plane Wreckage, and Not Heavily Exerting yourself. Let Alone if you are! Shud you have to Walk yourself Out! 2000 Daily Calories in the Temperate Mid-Latitudes can equal a 6000 Daily Demand, Down Here! You Need that, -But Where and How are you going to Get It? Forget Hunting, Fishing, Gathering, or Trapping!, -except maybe around the Far Off Coast! You'd be extremely lucky to even sight an Overflying Bird. Much Less Catch it! You just might be able to Scrap Up some surviving bits of Food from the Plane Wreckage.
BTW, I would save what additional, combustible materials, as I can, from being Reached and Uselessly Consumed by any Crash Started Flames! You're gonna Need these too! Grab some loose Seat Cushions and the like, that may be Lying about nearby, as you make your Exit. Don't just leave them sit there. Grab such to the extent you can!
Get one or more ELTs going, in the event none is Doing so already.
Get a Shelter quickly Together with what Wreckage you can.
Get a (Sheltered) Fire with what Firebuilding Materials as you may thereby be able to Access, a Going.
Begin Melting and Storing your Water, from the Heat of such Fire.
Bundle up Additionally, from what Surviving Chlothing, as you may find from the Wreckage / Scattered Baggage from the Debris Field.
Get Hold of any Surviving Light Sources from the Crash. This will Likely Result, if at all, from your initial Firelight Source. You'd Need some form of Light anyway, in order to Search any surrounding Debris Fields.
And Have some of your Combustibles and other Materials Ready to be Put into Play, for Signaling Purposes, on a Moment's Notice!
And Beware of Sudden Whiteouts popping up! Use the Buddy System, Whistle, Keep Talking or Shouting, Improvise some sort of Tether. But Don't Lose yourself, from the Site and Everybody Else!
Concerning Food, You may well have to Resort to Cannibalism. Of course only of those who have already Passed, or Shall Naturally come to Pass, shud be such Food Source Means. You Not Only have the Demands of the Moment and of the Site!, -But you may well have the Demands of a Long Journey Ahead of you! What Napoleon said of an Army Marching on it's Stomach, applies No Less!, Down Here! Speaking Purely Frankly and Factually, those who have Already Naturally Passed around you, ARE by Far, your Greatest Food Source! Avail Yourself of It! Do NOT just let it Pass You By! This may be the ONLY Food you have!, on your Long Journey to the Coast!
This is Precisely what you should Do, if you Judge that you Must make a Walk for It! Head to the Coasts! Or to Inland Scientific Stations. To the Nearest One(s) you can Ascertain and Gather. Far More Scientific Outposts are there along the Coast, than Inland, and even there along Coastal Waters, They're Quite Rare. But even if you Don't Happen upon a Station, -Your Food Availability goes comparatively Way Up here!, as oppossed to Inland. -Here at the Coast, and in it's immeadiately adjacent Waters. Though Food Gathering here too, may often be well Short of Easy!
Also, You'd be in the Warmest Parts of Antarctica, though this too is Relative. Especially if you shud be Fortunate Enuf to Reach it's Palmer Peninsula, it's Greatest Northward Extension. ( In Antarctica, -you Want to Go North!, Toward the Equator! ) But even here, You're still in a Tundra!
Also, You have the Greatest Chance of Rescue and Getting Back in Touch with Civilization, here at the Coasts, than anywhere else!
Watch Out, however, for things like Cliffs, Crevices, Bad Footings, Inrushing Cold Sea Waves, Hypothermia, and Getting Cast Off Seaward on a Breakaway Ice Floe, -Here at the Coast.
These are the sorts of Utter and Urgent!, Life or Death, Make It or Break It!, Survival Imperatives and Conditions one would Face!, if one were Unfortunate Enuf to so Find Themself Stranded!, in This Coldest!, of Earth's Wildest Places!
Remember if Nothing Else the Three Words "Warmth", "Shelter", and "Fire", -First and Foremost!. If This or Anything Like It!, -Shud ever so Unfortunately Befall you! Followed by but a Hair Behind, -by "Wind Protection"!
And May such a Truly Terrible Occurrance / Survival Imperatives as This, -Never Occur to Anyone!
This finishes the Antarctic Subportion of this. The Greenland Icecap as well as Other Subportions of EWP Survival Aspects COLD, will follow in other posts, towards keeping the Lengths down. [color:"black"] [/color] [email]ScottRezaLogan[/email]
Edited by ScottRezaLogan (02/18/04 11:50 PM)
_________________________
"No Substitute for Victory!"and"You Can't be a Beacon if your Light Don't Shine!"-Gen. Douglass MacArthur and Donna Fargo.
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#24160 - 02/18/04 11:38 PM
Re: Erth's. Wldst. Plcs. / The Srvl. Aspects.-COLD
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Old Hand
Registered: 01/07/04
Posts: 723
Loc: Pttsbg SWestern Pa USA N-Amer....
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This is now a Continuation of "Earth's Wildest Places,-COLD", which will now deal with "The Greenland Icecap"
THE GREENLAND ICECAP,- In many ways, this is quite similar to Antarctica. Some Notable Differences exist also, which Bodes somewhat Better, for a Survival Situation.
One of these is the Added Advantage that you'd have, in there being Far Less Distance to Travel to it's Coasts. For Greenland, -even as still the World's Largest Island, is yet Far Smaller than Antarctica.
Here too, you would want to head downward onto it's more Lowland Coasts. In many locations, you may have some Large Ice Cliffs, or Bare Rocky Mountainsides to Descend, in order to do so. Plus the ever present Dangers of Ice Crevices, Shiftings, and so on. If you successfully do so, you then have the same sort of Coastal Advantages, and Dangers, as mentioned earlier with Antarctica. As well as Much the Same Dangers and Survival Imperatives in the Greenlandic Interior!
For Greenland too is a Massive, Sprawling, Icesheet! It contains a Full 10% of the World's Ice! It's about as High and Thick as the Antarctic Icesheet. Some Two Miles Worth, in each case! It only Pales in Square Area, of such Sprawlance.
Antarctica contains some 90% of the World's Ice, to Greenland's 10% or so.
And Antarctica's in something of a Colder Position, Astronomically and Geographically speaking. But Not terribly much more so!, -Greenland Runs Up with it, Respectfully Enuf!
If Stranded and Forced to Survive thereon, You here too, Shud Do very much as you'd Do in the Antarctic. The Same sorts of Survival Imperatives, The Same sorts of Survival Practices and Priorities.
I'm sure that Wind is Much of the same concern, Temperatures are largely in the same league, High Altitudes are much the same here too, and you've got the same Half Year, Midwinter Long Darkness, as well!
Distances are only Friendlier, though. They are generally Much Shorter, in that this "Green" Land is Much Smaller.
Substantially More Population exists along it's Coasts too, as oppossed to Antarctica. Though this also is only Relative. There's No such thing, as a Greenlandic Eastern (or Western) Seaboard! And the Greenlandic Interior is as Entirely Uninhabited, as the Antarctic Interior, or some of the Earth's Other Wildest Places, -Are.
More Sea and Air Traffic, occurs along the Greenlandic Coasts, than over the Antarctic, as well.
And I think there's even more Coastal Animal Life, in the way of Seals and Birds, than you might find along the Antarctic Coast. There in the Antarctic, you might be Limited to it's Great Penguin Colonies only.
So though Much the Same, a Greenlandic Survival Situation Does have some Distinct Advantages over an Antarctic One.
Greenland and it's Icecap are incidentally Quite Surprisingly Near! At least from where I now type from in this World. ( the Northeastern U.S.) Thousands of Giant Icebergs Calve from it every year, Making for an Iceberg Alley that I am even Closer to. I've heard of the Very Loud Crunching Grind sound that they make!, as they come in say to the Newfoundland Coast! It must be Really Something to Behold and Hear!
Refer to the Previous Antarctic COLD Survival Post, for more specific Survival Techniques, Practices, and such. In that so Much the Same Applies here, as there. [color:"black"] [/color] [email]ScottRezaLogan[/email]
Edited by ScottRezaLogan (02/18/04 11:56 PM)
_________________________
"No Substitute for Victory!"and"You Can't be a Beacon if your Light Don't Shine!"-Gen. Douglass MacArthur and Donna Fargo.
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#24161 - 02/21/04 05:51 AM
Re: Erth's. Wldst. Plcs. / The Srvl. Aspects.-COLD
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Old Hand
Registered: 01/07/04
Posts: 723
Loc: Pttsbg SWestern Pa USA N-Amer....
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-THE ARCTIC OCEAN / NORTH POLAR ICE PACK- Along with it's Tundra, Permafrost, Isolated Large islands, Etc.
In ways this is a Cross between Oceanic and Antarctic Survival Conditions. As well as with all the well known, Standard Arctic, Mountain, and Cold Weather Survival Areas.
( Mountains of course Don't exist on the Arctic Ocean itself, -the Vast Majority of this Area. But they do exist on many of it's large islands, and surrounding Continental Land Masses. So even Mountain Survival Aspects figure in here.)
Here you have Not Only nearly Antarctic Cold, Wind, and Half Year Darkness, -but you've got to also Deal with Shifting Ice, Crevices, and Pressure Ridges as well! These can be Quite Large, -They are Nothing to just Pass Off or "Sneeze At".
For you *Are* on an Ocean now, though it's a Polar Desert type one as well. Unlike the Antarctic Continent literally on the Other Side of the World, from here. The Altitude effect is thus World's Apart as well. Sea Level here, some 10,000 Feet ASL down there. But this is Small Consolation, in this Other Polar, End of the World.
Though perhaps a Tad "Warmer" than Antarctica, -It's still well Colder than Siberia, -and it's only All Too Well known how Cold that Gets! Our Arctic North Pole is even Worse.
The Cold as it Is!, the Ice Block Filled Frozen ocean surface!, the Howling Winds!, the Months upon Months of Total Arctic Darkness!, -No Wonder it is Totally Uninhabited!, -No Wonder it is One of the Earth's Foremost Wild Places!
And it's just as Large and Extensive, as it's Great Frigid Partner to the Earth's South. This is No "Sneezeoff" either!
And it's All just Above us!, -Not Really all that Far Away! ( At least for one's as me, here in the U.S. and North America. As well as Forum Mates in Russia, Siberia, Northern Japan, Iceland, Greenland, and the Scandanavian Countries.)
It's of course the Source, of our Frigid Winters. This Vast, Empty, Forgotten Area, certainly Does have it's Direct Effects on U.S.!
I now type from ruffly Halfway between it's Central, Northern Pole, (Hint,-certainly Not it's Edge!), and our Earth's Equator. In fact, I'm a Little Closer to our Equator, - 5 Degrees Closer.
Where I once Lived in SW Pa's Washington County, -I was Not too far above the 40 Degree Parrellel. Now I'm at ruffly 40 and a 1/2 North. Taking the more Southerly Figure, ( Home is Where the Heart Is!, and Mine's certainly Back There in the Country! ), -We'll go with the 40.
This is a Whole 9th of the way Closer to the Equator! ( An 18th, if you're considering the Entire Pole to Equator Distance.)
And still our PA Winters get a Lot of that Arctic Ocean Cold coming Right Down upon us! Somewhat Warmed relative to Where it's From!, Yet often Cold as a Son of a Gun, as Far as we're concerned.
We Don't have to go too much further South, before much of these Arctic Effects disappears. But you often wouldn't know it up here! ( I know Quebec and the Area below James Bay gets Plenty Worse! )
I'm a Bit Substantially *Closer* to the Equator!, -yet this Arctic Wild Area of our World Effects me so!
And there's Much More Land and Sea Surface Area in our Equator and Tropics, than there is in Both of our Polar Areas combined. Still the Cold North Winds Blow further South, than from these one might Logically Think!
It's uniquely Interesting in it's Own Way, to actually Live nearly Half Way exact between one of our Planet's Poles, and it's Equator, -come to Think of it! I mean, for much of the World's Population, -What are the Chances?
Point here though is, is that I'm literally in Arctic Climatic and Survival Conditions, in our Winters, -even this Far South! As well as Tropical and Subtropical Ones of our Mid-Latitude Summers. Such is Another Characteristic of our Temperate Zone and Climate, when you really Think about it a Bit. ( I mean we're Not a British or Pacific Northwest Marine West Coast Climate.)
The Arctic is a Quite Near and Very Effecting, Typically Totally Forgotten Wild Area!, in other words! Such is our Arctic Polar Zone and Ocean.
Being an Ocean, and a usually Frozen One at that, -It may even be a Bit "Easier" to Extricate yourself from the Midst of Antarctica! (See such Post in this Thread), -Than from Here! At least Down There, -You're often on an Icy Plain or Plateau! Here in the North Polar Zone, though, -Foot by Foot, Mile by Mile!, -You've got Major Ice Blocks, Pressure Ridges, Crevices suddenly Opening Up on you!, Etc! On Top of Everything Else! Much More Difficult Going and Footing! As Bad as the Opposite Antarctic Footing too, can be!
For Survival and Extrication Aspects, -See what I,ve mentioned earlier under the Antarctic. Much of it's Quite the Same.
A Major Difference, is that you've got to Climb over Many Major Ice Blocks, and Avoid / Cross / and Round Crevices and the Like, the Whole Way Down!
And you're once again on an Ocean, -Not Ice Clad Continental Land! As with our More Familiar Freshwater Lakes, -One can always Crash or Slip thru Thin Ice, into this Very Frigid, Saline, Hypothermic Drink!
And you can Always Find yourself Cut Loose, on a Drifting Ice Floe too! And it can Drift North!, -Not South, where you'd Prefer to Go!
This and Pressure Ridges, -There's Nothing like this in the Antarctic South! With the Notable Exception of it's Great, Surrounding, Ice Filled Seas. Just Recall what happened to Shackleton, and his Ice Trapped Ship! But the Great Southern Ice Continent, and the Great Southern Ice *Ocean*!, -Are so Not the Same!
And That's just the Great Northern Ocean. The Arctic also has many Major, Bare, Bleak, Cold, Windswept, Mountainous, Utterly or Nearly Uninhabited Islands. As well as it's great Tundra Coasts.
Svalbard or Spitzbergen. Novaya Zemyla and it's Matochkin Shar. Canada's Baffin, Ellesmere, and Other Queen Elizabeth Islands. Wrangell. Franz Josef and the New Siberian Islands. Jan Mayen with it's Active Volcano. The Siberian Taimyr and Chuckchi. The Kola and Norway's North Cape. Alaska's North Slope. The Rocky,Wind Swept Faeroes. Iceland's "Fire and Ice" just "Below the Circle". And the Greenland Icecap Itself. The Kara, Barents, Beaufort, Laptev, and Bering Seas. Great Rivers by the Names of McKenzie, Yukon, Ob, Lena, and Yenesei,-Flowing On into It! Ptarmign and Permafrost. The Arctic is Far More than just it's Ocean Alone!
Survivalwise, You Face here a Frozen, Muddy, Treeless Tundra!,-Depending on Season. Which is of course Far More Winter, than Anything Else! You'd want to work your way South, into the Taiga and Boreal Forests! And so more often be working your way *Up* Rivers, rather than Down, here in these Arctic Parts. And Watch Out for that Spring and Summer Blackfly and Mosquito Seasons!
Nearly Last but Not Least, -When your in the Water and Not Contending with Ice, -You're in the Ocean!, on the High Seas! All Normal Ocean Survival Aspects Apply. On Top of All Else. Add Superfrigid Hypothermic Waters to that Too! Unlike many of the World's Oceans, You often may have Plenty of Ice Chunks to Grab On to for Flotation. But that is Both Literally and Figureatively, -"Cold Comfort"!
The Little Thought Of Arctic! Such a Topmost Earth's Wild Place! At Once Oceanic and Polar. Lucky to Rank an Afterthought!, If and When it even gets That Much at All! Yet it Really and Directly Affects us so Much! And Along with it's Great Antarctic Sister to the South, -It Counts as one of our Greatest Survival Sun of a Gun!, Sorts of Challenges! See it's Antarctic Sister, once again, -for Much of That!
P.S.--And Finally, on Places like the Former Soviet's Novaya Zemyla Islands, -You've got some Real Manmade Mess to Have to Contend With!, even Up Here! The Soviets tested a Lot of Nuclear Weaponry up there, including by Far the Largest such Explosion ever, (Around 60 or 61).! The Place is as Radioactive as All Heck!
My Regrets and Apology on my Unintended Length once again. I Did happen to do it in 4 (Viewing Frames) this time, rather than earlier " 5 ish " ones. I'll Shoot more towards 3 - 3 1/2, in Future Longer ones. [color:"black"] [/color] [email]ScottRezaLogan[/email]
Edited by ScottRezaLogan (02/21/04 06:03 AM)
_________________________
"No Substitute for Victory!"and"You Can't be a Beacon if your Light Don't Shine!"-Gen. Douglass MacArthur and Donna Fargo.
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#24162 - 02/21/04 09:37 PM
Re: Erth's. Wldst. Plcs. / The Srvl. Aspects.-COLD
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Old Hand
Registered: 01/07/04
Posts: 723
Loc: Pttsbg SWestern Pa USA N-Amer....
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KAMCHATKA And THE KURILES - This Large, Sparsely Populated, Volcanic, Great Outdoors Area, is one of my more personal Favorites.
It is an Eastern Extension of Siberia into the Pacific. Much like Siberia in many ways, It's also Different in Others, with a Character All it's Own.
It's well separated by a Vast Arm of the Pacific, -The Sea of Othotsk, on a Peninsula and Island String of it's Own. The Tip of our Alaskan Aleutians come Quite Near it's Northeast. Indeed, it's Final two islands, the Kommandorskis, are Russian. (As is Kamchatka and Nearly all of the Kuriles. The very Southernmost are Japanese.) From a Narrow Northern Neck joining the Kamchatka to Siberia, the Peninsula stretches and expands, then contracts again, in a smooth, tapered, oval, -for Hundreds of Miles to the South-Southwest. For most of this length, Siberia is Hundreds of Miles More to the West, across the Sea of Okhotsk.
Finally, from it's Southern Tip, the Kurile Island Chain stretches an equal distance even more Southwesterly, to Northernmost Japan.
Another Rather Large Siberian Island, Sakhalin, also almost touches the Northern Japanese Island of Hokkaido, from a more Northwesterly Direction. It too, is a very Unspoiled, Sparsely Populated, Great Outdoors Area.
In Fairness to Nearby Japan, They Feel that many of these Islands are Japanese, not Rushan.
Like Kamchatka, the Kuriles are quite Actively Volcanic. As with Iceland, Hot Springs and Geothermal Sources Abound. This and Volcanism extend Down Along both "K"s, from One End to the Other. Earthquakes are a Very Distinct Possibility here, as well. It Sits right along the Pacific Ring of Fire.
It may be a Little Bit Warmer than Siberia, but it still gets Pretty Darned Cold! This is True even Despite it's more Southern Latitude, for a North Area. It's at the Same Latitude as the Canadian Prairie Provinces. We all know that those aren't Exactly Warm. The Kuriles just Below are at the Latitude of Washington State and Oregon. Even at it's Far Southern End, -Japan's Hokkaido is described as having a Wisconsin Climate. And the Bulk of Kamchatka / Kuriles, goes much further North. Being Astride the Pacific Helps too, towards Climate Moderation, but this is the North Pacific. I know Not whether Warm or Cold Ocean Currents Predominate here.
Kamchatka is a Land of Crisp, Clean, Forest, Moors, Meadows, Rivers, Lakes, Spongy Land, Volcanos, Steam Pits, Mountainsides, Glaciers Possibly, Fish, Game, King Crab, and Bear!
Few Live here, though it can Support Life. May it Always Stay that Way!
The Kurile String is Much the Same, minus the Forests. Far more Bare Rock takes such place.
Over here in the Northwest Siberian Pacific, -Opposite the Aleutians and the Bering Sea, -Kamchatka and the Kuriles are in a Deep, Wild, Forgotten Backwater of our World!
Survival there combines Cold, Forest, and Mountain types. Also Ocean, especially Beach and Shore, and Island, and "Smaller Area" Survival Aspects, Come into Play.
( By "Smaller Area" Survival, I'm speaking of how Smaller, though still Large Islands of the World, New Guinea, Madagascar, and Etc, often Don't have Large Animals / Mammals. Or if they Do, they are often Distinctly Smaller versions of such. The Keys Deer comes to mind. It has to do with the Food Supply, and Other Survival & Life Demands.)
To Survive in the Kamchatka, and perhaps even Thrive!, -You must Know and Practice Cold Survival, and Forest Survival.
Mountain Survival is also Very Much a Given, Though Much of the Peninsula's Broad Eastern and Western Bulges are Not all that Mountainous. It's Towering, Challenging Mountains, Runs their Length in a Central Spine. If you want to Cross from one Side to the Other, you've got to Know and Go Over those Mountains. (Unless you're a Pilot or can get a Plane Ride.) Being so Actively Volcanic, -Volcano Knowledge and Safety / Survival Savvy, -would come in mighty Handy as well.
On the Plus Side, -Volcanic Areas often = Very Good Soil! Kamchatka's rather Far Northern location, -can also = a Short Growing Season, though. Again on the Plus Side, it's Northern Locale allows Long Summer Daylight Hours!, Right Within your Growing Season. Next Door Alaska, is only All Too Well Known, for it's King Sized Vegetables!, for this very Same Reason. I'd Bone Up on Plants and Gardening, and Save and Bring in Seeds with me!, -Before even Going. As well as bring Clear Plastic and Other Materials, with which to build Greenhouses and Such. Dark Plastic too, for Mulch Purposes. Find a Good, Suitable Spot in which to Grow your Garden. Being so Sparsely Settled, -This shud be No Problem. Not even for Plenty of Good Rich Bottomland! -Such Already being so well Taken,-in so many Other Areas of the World. Make Use of that Rich Volcanic Soil ! But Take Care to Stay Clear, of Likely Lava Flow Paths and the Like!
Make Sure you're able to Fish as well! And Take Along a Firearm and Ammo, Sufficient to Protect yourself from an Occassional Encounter, with their Equivalent of the Grizzly or Alaskan Brown.
You may want to proceed Eastward or Westward, to either Coast. To a Greater Chance of Sighting or Rescue. To a Greater Augmentation of Sea and Shore Life, to your Food Sources. Of course on a Downside, you Face the Added Danger of Coastal Storms. But you can Always Move Inland somewhat, during such Times. You're also quite Far and Comparativly Safe from much of the Volcanic Danger, there on the Coasts. Except for where they start Drawing back in toward the Mountains, -the further North or South you get, from the Center.
At least a Few Words of "Get By" Russian, -could come in Handy and Helpful evry now and then. Though it can be Quite Rare to even Run into Anybody, here in this Wild and Free Land! Some Words and Phrases in a Local Native Language, such as Koryak, -can likewise be Helpful and Handy.
I might also want to Work my Way South!, -Toward Warmer and Much More Populous Japan. Assuming I Didn't Want to Stay. But Better Yet, -Staying here in the "Kamchatk!", -I might Rather!
Kamchatka comes in somewhere Midway, between both the Advantages and Disadvantages of Continental Type Survival, and the Advs. and Disadvs. of Small Island Survival. It has about the same Land Area as California.
Food and Fish, -Shud be No Problem! Firewood and Shelter Materials, -No Problem There either! Water, -No Problemo! Game, -Aplenty! Fellow Human Problems or Presence, -Little to None! Beyond just Fuel and Shelter, -From the Forest Materials, you shud be able to Build a Cabin or Cabins, -to your Heart's Content.
A Goodly Amount of Long Lasting Cold, -You Do happen to Have a Good Deal of That! Prepare and Provide yourself Well for That! Some occassional Wildlife Dangers, -Yes, You may from Time to Time Run into some of that, -Prepare Accordingly. Such Animals overwhelmingly, Will of course Depart from *you*.
So Much of the Great Untouched, Unspoilt, Clean, Crisp, Clear, and Pristine Outdoors!?, -There's So Much of It for So Far All Around!!!
Kamchatka is a Place *to* Survive!, -Shud it Come Down to that! Shud you for any Reason Have To. Kamchatka is Moreover a Place that you may *Want* To Survive in ! Shud That Too, ever be your Want or Need. (The Kuriles, now, are Far Smaller and Rockier, with All the Advantages and Disadvantages of Isolated, Small Island Survival. Much like the "nearby" Aleutians, -The Seas and Weather there, -Aren't Exactly Kind! )
These are the All Round Survival Conditions aqnd Aspects of the "Kam Chatk". It is Worthy of our Consideration and Basic, General, Familiarity. [color:"black"] [/color] [email]ScottRezaLogan[/email]
Edited by ScottRezaLogan (02/22/04 03:50 AM)
_________________________
"No Substitute for Victory!"and"You Can't be a Beacon if your Light Don't Shine!"-Gen. Douglass MacArthur and Donna Fargo.
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#24163 - 02/22/04 10:52 PM
Re: Erth's. Wldst. Plcs. / The Srvl. Aspects.-COLD
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Old Hand
Registered: 01/07/04
Posts: 723
Loc: Pttsbg SWestern Pa USA N-Amer....
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SIBERIA- The SIBERIAN ARCTIC, TAIGA, And TUNDRA. (Along with All Else). I've so far made some occassional comparative Mention of Siberia, -Now Let's get to Talking Front Burner on Siberia Itself!
This may come as a Surprise, but Actually Siberia is the *Third* Coldest Place on Earth! But it's Rightly Quite Firstmost, in many of our Minds. It Runs Up with the Top Two, namely Antarctica and the North Polar Arctic Ocean, -Pretty Good.
The Coldest Temperature ever Recorded in Siberia, is of Minus 89.9 Degrees Fahrenheit at Oimekon in Yakutia / NE of Central Siberia, on Feb. 6, 1933, and of Negative 89.7 Degrees Fahrenheit, on Feb 5 and 7, 1892 at Verkhoyansk, also in Yakutia. This Area is Known as the Siberian Cold Pole.
(My Source, -"The Weather Almanac",-2nd Edition, Ruffner and Bair, Avon Books, 1977 Copyright, March 79 Printing. Page 266, 2nd Paragraph.)
I know Not whether an even Colder Record Low may have Since Occurred in Siberia since 1977. But whether or not, -This still communicates the General, Prevailing, Siberian Temps Reality, Spirit, and Idea here.
These Records Stood as the Lowest ever Recorded on our Planet, -Until much More Recent Antarctic Exploration Records, Took That Away. The Latest such one as of 1977 was of -126.9 F, at Vostok, Antarctica, which is also in *It's* Cold Pole. The Date was August 24, 1960. (Same Source and Page, but the First Paragraph) I know This Varies Slightly from a More Recent Figure I've given under "Antarctica and It's Icesheet", in Temperatures. And More So in Dates, 1960 vs. 1983. It's a Different and More Recent Record / Measurement. The Entire and Typical Spirit-Reality-and Idea, is also Given here. It comes as No Surprise that Antarctica would Beat even Siberia Out.
But in that Pre-Antarctic Records would Show Siberia to be On Top, This says something for it's Role as the NON Polar Cold Pole, of our Planet!
(The World's # 2, -The Arctic Ocean, -had No Weather Stations in it's Midst, -being an Ocean, -in which to Record such Second Coldest World Temperatures. This is how Siberia comes in as Actually the World's Third Coldest. But Don't let "Third" there, -Fool you!, in regard to Siberia!)
Where I live, here in the Northeastern U.S., Most of our Cold Blasts of course Come Down from the Polar Arctic, by way of Canada. But we on Occassion get one which Originates in Siberia and It's Cold Pole. And When we Do, -You can just Feel the Dryness of it!, on your Face and in your Nose! Beyond just it's Bitter Cold. This is the Difference between a Continental Land, vs. a Polar but Oceanic, Origin. Of course Siberia gets Arctic Blasts coming Down it's way too! But I think it's Vast Land Mass is enuf to do much Cold Generation of it's Own. Plus Arctic Originating Air, could be Further Dried there, Before getting here. Especially if it Comes via Alaska, without Crossing the North Pacific. Also let's Not Forget, that even Arctic Ocean Air, is Pretty Dry as it is!
OK, -We All Along know that Siberia is Cold. But now we have a Better Idea of just *How* Cold.
Siberia of course encompasses pretty much of the Entire Northern Half, of the Vast Eurasian Continent. With Rusha's Ural Mountains typically being given as the Dividing Line, between it's European and Asian Subparts,- -Siberia encompasses everything East of those Urals, North and Northeast of Kazahkstan and the entire former Soviet Central Asian Republics, North of China with it's Sinkiang and Manchuria, North also of Mongolia, North and Northwest of Northern Japan's Hokkaido Island, West of the Northwest Pacific Ocean on a line between Hokkaido and our Own Alaska, Directly West of Alaska Itself, and South of Siberia's Vast Arctic Ocean Stretch. This Leads you Back to where the Urals meet the Arctic, at the Two Large Novaya Zemyla Islands. They are an Extension of the Urals, and are considered a Part of Siberia. Along with most Other Large, Offshore, Arctic Ocean Islands. These are Discussed under the Arctic Subportion, -of Earth's Wildest Places,-COLD. The Urals themselves, can probably be considered to be a Part of Siberia as well! Their entire Persona is Far More Siberian, than European Russian.
Also, the Vast, Bleak, and Empty Areas of Northern European Rusha, Karelia, the Kola, the entire Syktyvkar Centered Area of NW Euro. Russia, -Shud be considered "Siberia in Spirit"! Though in European Rusha, and West of the Urals, and Not Technically a Part of Siberia, -it for all Practical Intents and Purposes, is as if it Were a Part of Siberia!
Anything within this Vast, Squareish Rectangle, is Siberia! This covers an Awful Lot of Square Mileage and Territory! We're Talking 4 Million, and 235,000 Square Miles! Our own United States, even with Alaska and Hawaii in Inclusion, -is Only some 3 1/2 Million Square Miles. This Gives you an Idea of Siberia's Size and Scale. Most of us already have a pretty Good General Idea of Such anyway, but This serves to "Refreshingly Sharpen" Such! Virtually All of this Vast Siberian Area, is North of the Latitude of Mosta the U.S.-Canadian Border. And perhaps something like a Sixth or Seventh of All Siberia, -is North of the Arctic Circle,-some of that Well North.
South of the Treeless Tundra spreading across it's North, are Vast Stretches of the Taiga and Other Northern Boreal Forests. -From Europe to the Pacific! This has been Described as the Earth's Other Great Forest Lung!, -Alongside the Much More Familiar Amazon. (The Alaskan and Canadian Boreal can be Included in This as well.)
Permafrost pervades Siberia, and Well South of the Arctic Circle, in Many Areas.
Siberia is Otherwise a Land of Vast Plateaus with Respectfully High Mountains, a Vast, Bleak, Swampy Plain in it's West, Large Raging Rivers with many Rocky Tributaries Thruout, the World's Largest and Deepest Rift Lake, -Lake Baikal, -in it's South, Just Above Mongolia.
Siberia is a Land of Pioneering Frontiersmanship!, From the Urals to the Kamchatka and the Pacific Chuckchi!, From Kazahkstan and Lake Baikal to the Top of the Taimyr! From the Kola or Novaya Zemyla, to Vladivostok Bay in the Siberian Far East, Almost on the North Korean Border. They are so with their Rushan East, in the Same Way as we are and have been, with our Own Great American West. It's a Land of Gold, Diamonds, Oil, Fish, Game, Furs, Primitive Nomadic Peoples, Reindeer, Rivers, and Very Few People overall. Frozen Mammoths are being Found in the Taimyr Permafrost. It is More than just it's Hallmark of Cold.
As with the Trans-Canadian, -It has a Continent Spanning Railroad in it's Extreme South. -The Trans Siberian Railroad. But that is Atypically only in it's Very South. It certainly offers some Travel Options, if one would ever want to either Tour there, or Survive there.
Siberia Stretches over some 8 or 9 Time Zones!
Siberia includes some of the World's Greatest, Longest Rivers!, which go by such Names as the Ob, the Irtysh, the Yenesei, the Tunguska, the Angara, the Lena, the Kolmya, and the Amur! Along with Many Others.
Most of these however, Flow Uselessly North into the Arctic Ocean, with their Vast Collective / Individual, Discharges of Water. How the Arid Lands of Kazakhstan, Sinkiang, and the Gobi can Really Use It!, -just to Siberia's South.
Finally, Siberia Incudes already mentioned Kamchatka and the Kuriles, along with Sakhalin Island,-It's Eastward, Pacific, Extensions. See that Subpart, for Info on Those.
Survival in Siberia now?, -This would entail Cold Survival, Forest Survival, Swamp Survival, and Mountain Survival. Along with at least some Significant Appearance of Beach and Coast Survival, and even Arid and Desert Survival.
You of course have the Long and Bitter Cold, and Winds, to Contend with! But you also have the Months of 24 Hour Darkness to Deal With!, in at least Much of Siberia.
You have the Great Disadvantages of a Very Short Growing Season, Coupled with the Advantages, of 24 Hour Daylight!, in such Growing Season, in Much of Siberia. Greenhousing would be a Very Great Growing Technique! There are more than a few such Greenhouse Operations in Siberia Today.
There are even some Sutropical Plants!, Growing in Siberia's Far Southeastern Amur River Area. Think of That!, -Such Growing *Within* Siberia! Albeit in it's Far Southeast. They Cannot and Do Not Grow within the Vast Majority of Siberia. this Points Up some Desirability of Making for the Amur Area. But Don't be Too Fooled! It gets Mighty Cold there too! This is North of North Korea, and it's Well Known how Cold that Place has got!, During the Korean War!
The Strengths of Siberia to a Survival Situation?, in Addition to the Above? These are Water, Food, Fish, Game, Firewood and Shelter Materials, Wide Open Spaces with Very Few People, and River Transportation, -Among what I'm Sure must also be some Others.
You may also have Comparatively Easy Access to Siberia, Across the rather Narrow Bering Strait. Though such Crossing is By No Means Neccessarily Easy! But for Survival Travel or Bug Out considerations, -This is one of the Better, More Appealing, Ones. If you can Make It so, Across that Relatively Narrow Stretch, -You've Got yourself a Gateway to Siberia and a Whole Nother Continent!
Some Disadvantages and Weak Points? -The Long and Bitter Cold!, of course! Along with many Months of Far More Darkness than Light, the Very Short Growing Season, the Howling Windchill, Disorientation Amidst the Forest without a Compass, (At Least the North Magnetic Pole is on the Opposite, Canadian, Side of the Arctic,-and Thus there shud be Less High Latitude Compass Distortion.), and the Language Barrier, with What Locals there that you Do happen to occassionally Meet.
Russian is spoken here, but you may more commonly Run Across one of the many Indigenous, Native, *Non*-Russian Languages. Boning Up on a Few Words and Phrases in at Least Russian, -Might be a Good Idea. Even something as Normally "Non-Survival" as this!, -Can End Up being a Major Layer of our All Round Survival Onion!, on the Real Life Scene here! Oh!, -The Areas of Life you Find Being Relevant So!, -When yur Out There in the Field! Of course we're to Get Fire and Many Things Else Down Pat, -Before we go worrying about More Ancillary things, -such as Language! But if in Siberia, -Try fo at least a Few Important Words of Rushan, Ahead of Time. Additionally, Locals are More Willing to Help you with Information and Materials, and Often for Less or No Cost!, -if you Show yourself to Have Cared and Bothered with at least a Few Words of their Own Language! So This can be More than just some Nice Little Thing to Do!
Forest Fires also Do Occur here in Siberia, Thruout it's Vast Stretches of Forest. The Brief Summers here, Do get very Hot, Dusty, and Dry! At First Glance, One might Not Expect that of Siberia, -But it's So! You'd Want to be at least Basically Familiar with Forest Fires, -and Matters concerning their Safety, Prevention, Fighting, and Forest Fire Survival. You Have at least the Same Chance of Running Directly Into This in the Siberian Forest and Dry Season, as you Do in our American South and West! National Geographic has Done a Very Good Article on Siberian Forest Fires and Fighting, a Few Years Back. I'm Sorry that I do Not Know just what Issue this is from, -But It Is from one of the Late 90's - Early 2000's Issues.
For Siberian Survival, -You're gonna have to Hunker yourself Down In Real Good, perhaps Deep within it's Forest or Other Areas, -and Make Sure you're Well Covered!, -on Everything from Food to Fuel to Shelter!, and Many just as Important Things in Between.
You might also Want to Dig some, towards getting somewhat Underground! As regards Far Warmer Temperatures, as well as All Round General Protection. Caves, while Cool, typically are Plenty Warmer than Frigid Surface Surroundings! I Recall learning this on one of my Visits to my Home Area's Laurel Caverns. It's Not all that Deep Underground, yet it Remains somewhere around a Steady 57 Degrees F All Year Round. This by the way, is At or Near the Average Temperature of our Entire Earth. And this is an Appalachian Mountain*top* Cave! Cool Upper 50s Sure Beats Siberian Surface Winter Temps in my Book, -Any Day! Now you'd have to get X Far Down, to Derive this Benefit. But it's still Not Terribly Far Down. Even if Short of that, -You Still can Build a Fine Conventional Shelter.
You'd also Want some "Moment's Notice Mobility" too! Camouflage, Concealment, and Cacheing can be Important. As can Trailing and Tracking. And "Trail Throwing", and Escape and Evasion Techniques, shud you Find yourself Having to Deal with Underworld Cons, Remaining Soviet PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER., or Other Seedy, Shady, Types. Even without such extra concerns, I would Want to Have More than just One, Central Abode, to which I could Go To! You'd Want to have "One Placeing" Well Established. But you'd also Want to have a Good "Multi Place Mobility" Capability, Down Pat!
Beyond just Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing, -Make Sure you Know How to Dry, Cure, Smoke, Salt, and Otherwise Preserve!, Meat, Fish, and Other Foodstuffs! Additionally, Use the Frigid Temps to such Advantage here!
If you Want to Extricate yourself from Siberia, or Otherwise Reach Civilization or Rescue,-Then Usually Head South! To or Beyond the Trans Siberian Railroad, (Which you Can also Make Use Of, -or at least Sooner or Later Hail Somebody.), To at least somewhat Warmer Places such as China, Manchuria, Mongolia and the Gobi, Sinkiang, or Kazahkstan and the Former Soviet Central Asia. Beware of course, that Red China is Still PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER., along with All that entails regarding your Chances, Survival and Otherwise. Plus at least in Siberia, You're Often a Fellow Caucasian, -While in China,-You're Gonna Really Stand Out!
If in either Eastern or Western Siberia, -You can perhaps also Make for the East or the West. The Pacific or the Urals. In somewhere like Sakhalin or the Vladivostok Area, You can perhaps Try to Reach reasonably Near Japan. And like Very Empty Canada, -What Cities as there are in Siberia, Tend to be in it's Far South. If you're Trying to Reach Civilization,-You may well Want to Try to Reach one of These.
Whatever you Do, -Usually Do NOT Try to Exit Siberia by Going Downstream on it's Many Rivers! They Usually Lead Nowhere but the Northern Arctic! Which is somewhere you Definitely DON'T Want to Go!, -Especially in the Siberian Fall and Winter! Many Tributaries True Enuf do Not Flow North!. But Usually they Soon Enuf, -Lead to a Major River that Does! Proceed Alongside or On Stream, -AGAINST the Flow! Thats by Far the General Rule, if Outward from Siberia is where you Want to Go.
There are some Notable Exceptions, of course. Primarily in Siberia's Very Southeast! Where on that Major Amur River with it's Many Tributaries,-You Definitely Want to Flow Downward and Predominantly Southeastward on! Towards Japan and Vicinity. Know where it's "Jumpoff" Point is however, so you Don't Suddenly start Going way Northeastward, -Towards Northern Sakhalin!
Likewise in the Chuckchi, for example, Try Striking Across the Bering Strait, to Nome and Alaska.
Finally, whether Staying or Trying to Depart, -Avail Yourself of All the Many Blessings that the Short Siberian Spring and Summer, -Will Provide you! While also being Conscious of and Prepared for it's Pitfalls, such as Soggy Ground, and Clouds of Blackflies and Mosquitoes! I'd also be Working my Way Southward in such Time!, -Before the Siberian Fall and Winter Soon Enuf Comes Back Around!
These are some of the Foremost Siberian Survival Imperatives. It's Quite an Advantageous Survival Place! -So Long as you're Fully Prepared, and "Bundle-Hunkered Up", for the Cold!, -It's Long and Very Bitter, Windy, Dry, COLD!
Many of you have Read or Heard of "The Longest Walk", by Slamovir Rawicz. As Have I. (I've Read This in a Long Length Reader's Digest Book Condensation, if Not the Entire Book.) For those of you Not Familiar, It's an Inspiring, even Riveting, True Life Story of a Number of People Escaping from one of Stalin's Siberian Gulag Camps, On or About WW 2. Southward Across Much of Siberia they Went, -Forests and Rivers. Then the Crossing of the Trans Siberian Railroad, and the Mongolian Border. Then Mongolia and it's Mountains, the Searing Gobi. As though that weren't Enough, -They then had the Ascent Up onto and Across the Tibetan Plateau, then Over and Down the Himalayas, All the Way to British India! Utter Hardships Thruout went with the Territory. Not All Made It. But a Good Portion of Them eventually Did. This Story can count for at least some Pre-Siberia, Preparation and Familiarization. As a True Life Survival Tale, -It is of course Most Highly Recommended!
"Siberia" Means something along the Lines of "The Sleeping Land", in one of it's Native Languages. In It's Long Winter's Sleep! Make Sure that if Ever you shud Find Yourself There!, -That you are Bundled up in the Equivalent of your Best Survival Winter Wear and Sleeping Bags!
Now for some Lighter "Comic Relief", -"Siberia" is "Iberia"!, if you just Take the "S" Off. A Quite Different Place!, to say the Least!
Sorry again about the Length. Try as I Might, I wasn't able to Keep this one to around 3 1/2 Viewing Frames, as I WAS Able to Do in the One Before This. This one here came in at a Not Too Bad, "Slightly Above Five" Until in my Previewing, -I had to Break a Paragraph or Two Down. This Brot the Final Viewing Frame Result up to 6. Once again my Regrets, and I Hope to Regularly Have More 3 1/2 ers at General Max, as my Last One was! With some Further Late Nite Editing, this has Expanded some More.[color:"black"] [/color] [email]ScottRezaLogan[/email]
Edited by ScottRezaLogan (02/23/04 08:50 AM)
_________________________
"No Substitute for Victory!"and"You Can't be a Beacon if your Light Don't Shine!"-Gen. Douglass MacArthur and Donna Fargo.
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#24164 - 02/23/04 08:46 PM
Re: Erth's. Wldst. Plcs. / The Srvl. Aspects.-COLD
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Old Hand
Registered: 01/07/04
Posts: 723
Loc: Pttsbg SWestern Pa USA N-Amer....
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ALASKA And THE ALEUTIANS. A Preliminary Note,- I was originally going to do perhaps Iceland here. But Tords Length Considerations and Better Reassurance on such, -I've Decided to do Alaska and the Aleutians. I Think this is going to be one of the Shorter Ones. And I Want to Better Show that it can be Done by me. So Let's now Head from that Mid North Atlantic Wild Place location, to this Mid North Pacific One!
ALASKA And THE ALEUTIANS- This, as Many to Most people know, is a Long, Curving Chain of Islands, to Alaska's Southwest. (It of course is a Part of Alaska Itself.) These Islands are either Actively Volcanic, or Volcanically Formed.
They are Much Like the Kuriles, in Many Ways. In Size, Rockiness and Treelessness, Rough Seas and Weather, Volcanoes and Hot Springs, Lengths, The Same Kind of Oceanic Curving Arcs!, probably in Other Ways as Well!
They're reasonably large Small Islands, All in much the same Size Range. (With the exception of Many Small accompanying Islets.) They're typically in the 10 - 50 Mile Range. ( 6 - 30 Km.)
There are at least 27 Major Ones. They Stretch for some 1500 Miles!, -Towards Siberia's Kamchatka. And we're Not even includeing, the Two Russian Kommandorski Islands, which are an Extension of Them, Separated by some Distance, and much Closer to Kamchatka. As to Climate, Topography. Etc, -They'd mayswell be considered Aleutian Islands.
These Aleutian Islands are Mountainous, Bleak and Treeless, and Very Often quite Rugged and Rocky! Coastlines more often than not, are Quite Jagged!, with many Twisting Bays and Whatnot. The Soil, or perhaps oftentimes Lack of it, and the Atrocious Climate Make them so Treeless! It's considerable Northern Latitude has something to do with this as well.
Cold, Wind, Rain, Fog, Ruff Seas!, -These are essentially the Everyday State of Affairs!, in the Aleutians!
It just so coincidentally Happens, that this Island Chain, Delineates the Meeting Place, of Cold Arctic Waters from the Bering Sea, and the Warmer Pacific Waters just to it's South. This Makes for the Ever Atrocious Cold, Wind, Fog, Rain, and Ruff Seas and Weather!
Beginning from the Southwestern Alaska Peninsula, Itself Nearly 750 Miles Long, (This is Before you even Get to the Aleutians), This 1500 Mile Chain begins. For all Practical Purposes, the Peninsula can be considered Aleutian as well. It has Things such as Mt.Katmai and the Valley of 10,000 Smokes! This Begins right Above Kodiak Island.
The Aleutians themselves then Continue all the way from Unimak Island to Attu. Well Known and Famous Names such as Unalaska, Umnak, Yunaska, Atka, Adak, Kanaga, Tanaga, Semisopochnoi, Amchitka, Agattu, Shemya, and Kiska, -Take their Places in Between.
East to West, They are Subdivided into 5 Ruff Subgroups, -The Fox Islands, The Islands of 4 Mountains, the Andreanofs, the Rat Islands, and the Near Islands. Nearest to Siberia, that is, These, in the form of Attu, are the Farthest from Alaska Proper. Or for that Matter, from anywhere Else in our Lower 49 U.S., North America, and Indeed, -All of the Americas.
Attu is on the *Other* Side of the (Non-Adjusted) International Date Line! It's at about 173 Degrees EAST Longitude! If you were from here to Travel Directly South, You would be Hundreds of Miles WEST of Most of New Zealand! Even the Start of the Aleutians at Unimak, would Take you Many Hundreds of Miles West of the Main Islands of Hawaii in this Scale. It just Goes to Show, the Actual Length and Breadth of our Nation and Continent.
Very Few People live here, including Not all that many Native Aleuts.
The Surrounding Seas, however, are Rich in Fish and Other Sea Life! This, along with some Local Livestock Grazing, and a Tiny Amount of Subsistance Farming, -Is the Economic and Livlihood Base of What People there Are. What Livestock there is, is probably Sheep more than anything else.
We have some Vital Military Outposts every here and there, The Japanese in WW 2 Actually Invaded and Occupied Attu and Kiska. We and the Canadians eventually Drove them back out.
Russians and Aleuts, had a Lot of Back and Forth Historical Activity here, Before we ever Arrived on it's Scene. That had to do primarily with Fishing and Furs.
Now as to How to Survive there! This Calls for Island Survival, Sea Survival, including Beach and Coast, Weather and Sea Wisdom, Cold Survival, Mountain Survival, Grasslands Type Survival, and Trying to Grow some Things in a Ruff Land! Add Hunting, Trapping, Gathering, and Fishing to that! Boating and Seamanship too.
One Thing you DON'T Have here!, Unfortunatey, is Forests! Or for that Matter, even a Single Tree! -In 99 . 99999999 % of Locations! You will Not be Able to Avail yourself of Forest Survival Techniques. It would Sure come in Handy if you Could! But here in the Aleutians, -You just Cannot!
You'd want to do a Lot of your Gathering on the Beach and Seashore. You may be able to Garner some Berries and other Limited Plant Life, as well.
Shelter Materials, as well as Firewoody Fuel, -Can be Quite Dicey and Iffy! Your Best Bets here, beyond Rocks and Stones, (Plentiful), would be Turf, Thatch, Sod, and Other Grasslands Survival Techniques. You'd have to Use such Grasslandish Materials for your Fuel and Fire Sources, too!
Food is Plentiful from the Surrounding Seas, and perhaps also from Onshore Bird Life. Other than perhaps Birds, Food may be a Good deal More Difficult, to Wrest from the Land.
Fresh Water on the Land is Plentiful, but you may have to Store and Catch it!
It might Not get as Cold here as Nearby Siberia, or much of Alaska Proper, (Somewhat Moderating Ocean Climate just to the South), but Along with the All Round Atrocious Weather, it still gets Plenty Chilly and Cold here. If you've Got to Prepare for the Cold, in even the Lower Rockies at Summertime!, -Then you Certainly've Got to Prepare for it here!
As Important, if Not even More Important, would be Rain and Wind Protection!
If Stranded or Having to Survive there, I would Seek to Find one of the More Survival Conducive Locations that I Can, here in this Harsh Land. I'd Fish and Gather, Collect and Store Fresh Water, and Get my Rocks and Grasslandish Shelter Established. I would Have much Securely Dry Storage Areas. Rain Protection here Remains a Prime Order of the Day!
I'd have a Small, Seaworthy Boat, by which I can Scoot between Islands, and Do some Marine Fishing. In the Not All that Many "Good" Sea and Weather Days!, Up here in the Aleutians, at least for the Most Part.
Signaling might be Possible with Offshore Fishing Vessels. Or Perhaps even with Airliners Heading on Down from Anchorage to Tokyo. This Latter is a Possible Option for Kamchatka Survival too, of which I earlier there Forgot to Mention.
I would Take Maximum Advantage of Rather Rare Good Breaks in the Seas or Weather. For All Calls of Livlihood and Survival. As well as of the Brief Aleutian "Spring and Summer". You again here have both the Advantage of Long Summer Daylight Hours! (Though here you're a Little Too Far South to Get the Midnight Sun.) (The Latitude of England!, as a Matter of Fact. The Curve of the Aleutians Does Dip so.) But also the Short Alaskan and Arctic Growing Seasons! Plus the Often Atrocious Aleutian "Soil" Conditions!
And then there's Always the Earthquake, Volcano, and Tsunami Dangers! Knowledge and Preparations along These Lines, -Shud be Added to your Survival Package ( Or "Onion" ), as Well.
Were I to Want to Attract Attention or Rescue, and Extricate myself from the Aleutians, -I would Work my Way to one of the Scattered Settlements. Preferably, and Especially if I'm in the Eastern Half of the Aleutian Islands, -to the Alaskan Mainland. Afterwhich I'd Want to Hug the Cool, ( but Plenty Warmer than Most of Alaska! ), South Coast of Alaska to Anchorage.
These are What I Find to be the Survival Imperatives and Characteristics of our Aleutians! This is How I would "Make Best" for myself, Up There!
Finally, the Aleutians can be Used as a sort of Island Hopping Land Bridge towards Kamchatka!, -if you for any Reason ever Needed or Wanted to Go there! The Devil of course, as the saying goes, would be in the Details! The Aleutians and their Climate, Sure Aren't Gonna Make it Easy for you!
Well I,ve just Noticed that I've Made a Boo Boo in my Title! -Of "ALASKA And THE ALEUTIANS", whereas this was Thruout, only one on it's Aleutians! This had been my Intention from the Start. So the Main Body of Alaska Itself, Shall Appear sometime Later on it's Own, -as Another of the World's Wildest Places,-COLD ! "Alaska" in a Way is still Appropriate in this Title, -but it can certainly be Misleading! Thats certainly Not my Intention! So Knowing this now, Please Understand This particular One, -to be Only about the Aleutians!
Well I did this in 4 (Viewing "Pages"). Not Too Bad on the Length Front, I Think. Plus Only Half over the 3 1/2 I was Shooting For. Since Found,- What Comes Out as 4 Viewing frames in the Review Process, -Comes Out 5 in the Final Posting. (Due to Yellow Sidebar) [color:"black"] [/color] [email]ScottRezaLogan[/email]
Edited by ScottRezaLogan (02/23/04 09:43 PM)
_________________________
"No Substitute for Victory!"and"You Can't be a Beacon if your Light Don't Shine!"-Gen. Douglass MacArthur and Donna Fargo.
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